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Full speed ahead for 'The Flash' Season 7
After nearly a year, “The Flash” is back for Season 7 with new heroes, villains, and twists that blur the distinction.
The Flash is one of the most recognizable if not iconic DC superheroes in comics, film, and TV, and Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen holds the record for being the longest-running one (pun unintended). In the series’ first few seasons, Barry described himself as an “ordinary forensic scientist” working in the CSI lab of the Central City Police Department, who secretly uses his super-speed to fight crime and other metahumans like him.
So much has since happened over six seasons, involving musical numbers, crossovers, and travel to different timelines and dimensions — with usually drastic side effects.
Photo courtesy of WarnerTV
Season 7 is no exception. The new Mirror Master (Efrat Dor) is at large in Central City, and The Flash must regroup in order to stop her and find a way to make contact with his missing wife, Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton). Barry gets from Team Flash—Caitlin, Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), and Nash Wells (Tom Cavanagh)—along with Barry’s adoptive father Joe West (Jesse l. Martin), metahuman lawyer Cecile Horton (Danielle Nicolet), tough cub reporter Allegra Garcia (Kayla Compton) and brilliant tech-nerd Chester P. Runk (Brandon McKnight).
In defeating Mirror Master, The Flash may unleash an even more powerful and devastating threat on Central City: one that threatens to tear his team — and his marriage — apart.
During an interview with GMA News Online, actress Danielle Panabaker, who has played dual characters Dr. Caitlin Snow and supervillain Killer Frost since the series debuted, shares what it’s like to be on set again.
“It was great to see everyone, we were all happy to be back together, but obviously very nervous and very anxious,” she says. “A lot of us haven't left our houses in six months so to be back out in the world. Obviously as an actor, I have to take my mask off so there’s an extra level of fear there.”
Danielle, who has directed a few episodes of “The Flash” including this season, adds that masks and social distancing have affected the level of intimacy between a director and an actor. “When they collaborate and a director gives notes, that’s not typically something you’d want to shout across the stage. But it was nice to see everyone again.”
The actress has been playing two very different characters — Dr. Caitlin Snow, a bioengineer at S.T.A.R. Labs and provides medical support for the team, and Killer Frost, a metahuman that can manipulate ice and cold. Depending on the timeline and universe she’s in, Killer Frost is sometimes a supervillain, sometimes a superhero, and sometimes resides in the same body as Caitlin who sometimes is a different person altogether.
“I like that I get to play them both. This season, they’re going through some stuff and we get to see them struggle in a different way,” says Danielle. “Filming that has been a challenge but also a lot of fun.”
The best part, she shares, is when she gets to interact with “The Flash” fans in events like the San Diego Comic Con. “When either parents or kids come up to me and say, ‘I wanna be a doctor because Caitlin is a doctor,’ especially young girls? That means the world to me.”
When asked what she considers to be a challenge after eight years with this role, she’s quick to say that it’s definitely the medical jargon.
“Sometimes I think they just sit in front of a thesaurus and are like, ‘What are the hardest words we can think of for Danielle to say?’” she says with a laugh.
Another answer comes up moments later, when the topic shifts to becoming a parent in the pandemic—Danielle and her husband welcomed their first child in April. “I think the most challenging thing for me right now is probably what’s challenging for a lot of people. The isolation,” she says.
“I thought I’d bring my baby home and my friends would be able to come over, and we’ve just been alone,” adds Danielle, who says none of their family has been able to visit them, not only because of the pandemic, but also because they film “The Flash” in Vancouver, Canada. “So when this pandemic is over, I’m gonna give a lot of people a lot of hugs.”
Catch Killer Frost, Team Flash and the rest of the characters on “The Flash” Season 7, exclusively on Warner TV. “The Flash” airs every Wednesday at 7pm back-to-back with “Superman & Lois” at 9:50pm. —JCB, GMA News
