When did you decide to have Wells help exonerate Henry after last season’s cat and mouse game?
It was sort of based on last year, trying to get Wells’ confession. It was one of the earliest ideas we had for the premiere as we were thinking about things: what could we do that was different and giving Barry a different start to the year … and not feel like “oh god, every time we go to the prison it’s gonna be depressing.” But the thing I love about the Wells character is that you literally never know what he’s going to do. He basically tells Barry, “even though I’m dead, you’re never gonna win, and to prove it I’m gonna give you the thing that you want, and guess what, you’re still not gonna be happy.” We just love the idea that even though he’s been erased from existence, he’s still Barry’s nemesis, and in giving him the gift that Barry has long desired, it still doesn’t quite feel like victory. That’s the thing that’s going to be haunting Barry.
It was sort of based on last year, trying to get Wells’ confession. It was one of the earliest ideas we had for the premiere as we were thinking about things: what could we do that was different and giving Barry a different start to the year … and not feel like “oh god, every time we go to the prison it’s gonna be depressing.” But the thing I love about the Wells character is that you literally never know what he’s going to do. He basically tells Barry, “even though I’m dead, you’re never gonna win, and to prove it I’m gonna give you the thing that you want, and guess what, you’re still not gonna be happy.” We just love the idea that even though he’s been erased from existence, he’s still Barry’s nemesis, and in giving him the gift that Barry has long desired, it still doesn’t quite feel like victory. That’s the thing that’s going to be haunting Barry.
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Why did you decide to kill of Ronnie?
Robbie is amazing and is a friend of ours, and will hopefully continue to be a part of the show in some capacity, but given his amazing talent, he obviously has a lot of other projects on the horizon and we wanted to support him in that. But it also made sense to us story-wise, since we are going to be introducing a new FIRESTORM and give that character, along with Dr. Stein, something new to play as the FIRESTORM character moves into [spinoff] Legends [of Tomorrow].
What does this mean for Dr. Stein in the immediate future?
In the immediate future, he got a little bit of a taste of being the hero, in his brief time with Ronnie. Now that Ronnie is gone, he finds himself joining the STAR Labs team as the professor emeritus of sorts. Like all the best heroes, once they get a taste for it, whether they still have their powers or not, they still want to help. With Harrison Wells gone, he steps in as that paternal figure, that voice of reason, incredibly expert scientific explainer of complicated concepts role. (Laughs). He's definitely part of the team and you're going to see that his connection to FIRESTORM is not over yet, though he might think it is.
How is this going to affect Caitlin moving forward, losing Ronnie for the second time?
What is interesting is in the premiere, everyone thinks that the other person is blaming them for what happened, and the truth is, she blames herself. Last year, she had the chance to leave with Ronnie and she didn't take it. She's more upset at herself. But Caitlin is not as broken as she was last time she lost Ronnie. She's gone through it once before and she's grown up and gotten stronger from it. She's going to find herself possibly opening herself up to the prospect of a new relationship.
Robbie is amazing and is a friend of ours, and will hopefully continue to be a part of the show in some capacity, but given his amazing talent, he obviously has a lot of other projects on the horizon and we wanted to support him in that. But it also made sense to us story-wise, since we are going to be introducing a new FIRESTORM and give that character, along with Dr. Stein, something new to play as the FIRESTORM character moves into [spinoff] Legends [of Tomorrow].
What does this mean for Dr. Stein in the immediate future?
In the immediate future, he got a little bit of a taste of being the hero, in his brief time with Ronnie. Now that Ronnie is gone, he finds himself joining the STAR Labs team as the professor emeritus of sorts. Like all the best heroes, once they get a taste for it, whether they still have their powers or not, they still want to help. With Harrison Wells gone, he steps in as that paternal figure, that voice of reason, incredibly expert scientific explainer of complicated concepts role. (Laughs). He's definitely part of the team and you're going to see that his connection to FIRESTORM is not over yet, though he might think it is.
How is this going to affect Caitlin moving forward, losing Ronnie for the second time?
What is interesting is in the premiere, everyone thinks that the other person is blaming them for what happened, and the truth is, she blames herself. Last year, she had the chance to leave with Ronnie and she didn't take it. She's more upset at herself. But Caitlin is not as broken as she was last time she lost Ronnie. She's gone through it once before and she's grown up and gotten stronger from it. She's going to find herself possibly opening herself up to the prospect of a new relationship.
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Can Team Flash still turn to Wells’ (Tom Cavanagh) A.I. Gideon for answers?
Gideon is no longer there.
Jay (Teddy Sears) appears in the closing moments of the episode. How does Barry feel about his arrival?
He’s very wary. The last time somebody said, “I came from another place and I’m here to help you,” it turned out to be the guy who tried to kill them all. Barry is dealing with a little bit of that. What’s interesting about their dynamic is last season Barry really saw Wells as another father figure. This year, Barry has grown up a little bit. He doesn’t need that as much. We’re looking at Jay as more of a bigger brother who went to college and has come back. He’s experienced what it’s like to be The Flash, and he’s able to teach Barry a whole bunch of new Flash tricks and new uses for powers that Barry and his team hadn’t even considered, some of which Wells probably never bothered to show him because he didn’t want him to get too strong. That’s exciting watching Barry as he learns to master some of these new talents.
Barry’s father is out of jail, but he left Central City. What role will he play this year?
You’ll see him just as much as you saw him last year. He’s already in a bunch of episodes coming up. We were really conscious of not wanting to repeat ourselves. Freeing Henry (John Wesley Shipp) gave us part of the Harrison Wells story for the beginning of the year, which is that even though he’s been erased from existence and couldn’t be more dead, he still got the last laugh. And it wasn’t by defeating Barry, it was by giving Barry what he wants and still telling him, “Guess what? You’re still not going to be happy. You’re still going to be running and chasing an enemy that you can’t beat.” Part of Barry’s journey this season is wrestling with the fact that he has gotten what he wanted, and he’s going to meet a girl, be happy and his dad is out of prison, but there’s still this ache inside of him and this echo that maybe he made the wrong choice in not saving his mother.
Gideon is no longer there.
Jay (Teddy Sears) appears in the closing moments of the episode. How does Barry feel about his arrival?
He’s very wary. The last time somebody said, “I came from another place and I’m here to help you,” it turned out to be the guy who tried to kill them all. Barry is dealing with a little bit of that. What’s interesting about their dynamic is last season Barry really saw Wells as another father figure. This year, Barry has grown up a little bit. He doesn’t need that as much. We’re looking at Jay as more of a bigger brother who went to college and has come back. He’s experienced what it’s like to be The Flash, and he’s able to teach Barry a whole bunch of new Flash tricks and new uses for powers that Barry and his team hadn’t even considered, some of which Wells probably never bothered to show him because he didn’t want him to get too strong. That’s exciting watching Barry as he learns to master some of these new talents.
Barry’s father is out of jail, but he left Central City. What role will he play this year?
You’ll see him just as much as you saw him last year. He’s already in a bunch of episodes coming up. We were really conscious of not wanting to repeat ourselves. Freeing Henry (John Wesley Shipp) gave us part of the Harrison Wells story for the beginning of the year, which is that even though he’s been erased from existence and couldn’t be more dead, he still got the last laugh. And it wasn’t by defeating Barry, it was by giving Barry what he wants and still telling him, “Guess what? You’re still not going to be happy. You’re still going to be running and chasing an enemy that you can’t beat.” Part of Barry’s journey this season is wrestling with the fact that he has gotten what he wanted, and he’s going to meet a girl, be happy and his dad is out of prison, but there’s still this ache inside of him and this echo that maybe he made the wrong choice in not saving his mother.
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