Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg explains the decision to kill off the protagonist character and teases the possibility of his return.
- Oct 7, 2015
AceShowbiz - "The Flash" lost yet another good guy, just an hour into its second season. In the Tuesday, October 6 episode, [SPOILER ALERT!] Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) needed help after he accidentally opened a singularity that threatened to swallow the entire world.
Firestorm came to his aid and separated into its two entities as they flew into the eye of the storm. Barry was able to save Professor Stein (Victor Garber), while Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) sacrificed his life to save the world.
To EW, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg explains the decision to kill off Ronnie. "Part of the decision was Robbie's burgeoning film career," he says. "He's on his way to being a very big star, which he completely deserves both professionally and personally. We didn't want to stand in the way of that."
Asked if Ronnie is really dead, he coyly replies, "Well, you're never really dead when you're on 'The Flash', a TV show where there are universes and time travel. He was, in fact, killed in that moment, but that doesn't mean that we've seen the last of Robbie Amell on this show."
For the show, this twist "will have a major impact" on all the surviving characters. Kreisberg tells The Hollywood Reported how Ronnie's death will affect his wife Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker), "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."
Asked if the assumption that Ronnie could be on a different Earth will drive Caitlin to become Killer Frost, Kreisberg says, "Everything that happens on this show is going to slowly push her there. How and when it happens is obviously something we'd like to keep on the down low. For those people who are hoping to one day see Caitlin do that, I can't promise it'll be as soon as you want, but it's definitely in the future."
Now without the other half of Firestorm, what will happen to Professor Stein? "For Stein in the short-term, it means he's a superhero without powers. But like the best heroes, you can't keep a good scientist down," Kreisberg reveals, "For his character, he had a taste of being a hero and found himself a little bit lost after the events of the finale and found his way again to the team full-time."
The season opener also introduced Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears). According to Kreisberg, Jay will "teach Barry new tricks that didn't even occur to Barry." He adds, "Jay represents more of an older brother. He's like the older brother who went to college and is coming back."
In a preview for next week's outing, Jay will first teach Barry how to handle the Sand Demon, a villain from his world. The episode titled "Flash of Two Worlds" will air October 13 at 8 P.M. on The CW.
