[SPOILERS ahead for those not caught up on The Flash.]
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Throughout the third season of The Flash, Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) has consistently struggled with the emergence of her ice-based metahuman powers and controlling them, while suppressing her Killer Frost persona. With the recent development of her burgeoning relationship with Julian Albert (Tom Felton) - who is no longer acting as the villain Doctor Alchemy on the side - some of Caitlin's motivations have come into question by characters on the show and fans alike.
Carlos Valdes, who played Cisco Ramon a.k.a. Vibe, has revealed that when some of Caitlin's secrets come to light in the latter half of the third season of The Flash. Moreover, Valdes says that there will be a subsequent paradigm shift that could alter Caitlin's relationships with the rest of Team Flash, forever.
Here is what Valdes had to offer EW's Spoiler Room, with regard to what awaits Caitlin and Team Flash later this season:
“Caitlin has some secrets of her own that are going to come to light and are going to change not just the dynamic of the team, but also her own feelings about her dynamic within the team. It all comes to a head.”
Fans of The Flash already know that in the future timeline the team is heading toward, there is a news headline ("Killer Frost Still At Large") that looms over Caitlin's immediate future. No further details have been given as to the circumstances that cause her to be at large - maybe there was a misunderstanding and she's actually still a hero? - which leads to the question: do these secrets that emerge lead Team Flash to alienating Caitlin?
This will not be the first time Caitlin has kept secrets from her S.T.A.R. Labs friends and colleagues. The aforementioned emergence of her Killer Frost powers was something that Caitlin sought out her own estranged mother for insight into, rather than trusting in her metahuman compatriots to preserve her secret. Thinking all the way back to the beginning of The Flash, Caitlin kept the circumstances of her fiance's death from Barry Allen for quite a long time, which could have forged a meaningful connection between the two of them and possibly expedited the search for Ronnie Raymond a.k.a. Firestorm (Robbie Amell).
The exiling of Caitlin Snow (whether that be in her everyday persona or at her Killer Frost alter ego), would definitely be a big change to The Flash and may allow this character to really come into her own. Cisco has had the opportunity to define himself this season as a separate hero - Vibe - from Flash and as someone with something more to offer than just as Barry Allen's right hand man. It would be so nice to see a female character have the opportunity to break out of her rather restrained shell, even if that means that she turns into a villain and elopes with Draco Malfoy.
Conversely, if this secret that drives a wedge between Caitlin and her friends is too far out of left field, it could alter the way fans of The Flash see the character and risk damaging her as a character. This seems unlikely, as the DCTV/CW team treats their properties with respect and has actually had great success with deep character reals in the past (i.e. Alex Danvers coming out arc on this season of Supergirl that has endeared her to fans even more). The revelation is also under the unique pressure of not feeling forced; it must carry with itself enough gravitas to justify why the separation happens. Arrow famously sent off Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), under what have come to be considered weak circumstances. This secret must be executed just so, in order to do the character justice.
NEXT: The Arrowverse Needs a Female Big Bad
The Flash continues with 'Attack on Gorilla City' on Tuesday, February 21st at 8 pm EST on The CW.
Source: EW