The Flash‘s Season 6 premiere debuted tonight, putting Central City’s various heroes on new footing. Following the tragic demise of Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy) in the show’s last season finale, Team Flash started to cope with their new normal in an interesting array of ways — and Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker) was no exception. The season premiere added a whole new layer to the relationship between Caitlin and her antihero alter ego, and changed the dynamic of the show going forward. Spoilers for The Flash’s Season 6 premiere, “Into the Void”, below! Only look below if you want to know!
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Caitlin’s storyline in the episode was set in motion by the death of Rachel Rosso, a doctor who had served as her mentor in medical school and ultimately helped her get her job at STAR Labs. Caitlin attended Rachel’s funeral, where she reconnected with the woman’s son, Ramsey Rosso (Sendhil Ramamurthy). Throughout the episode, Caitlin’s Killer Frost powers began to occasionally bubble to the surface, but didn’t come through when a literal black hole opened outside of Jitters. Caitlin began to wonder what was wrong, and Ralph Dibny (Hartley Sawyer) suggested that Killer Frost was having anxiety surrounding death — and about not having felt like she’s really lived a life to begin with.
Killer Frost confirmed this in a later conversation with Ralph, but was unsure if Caitlin would actually let her “take the reins” and control their shared body for a stretch of time. Towards the end of the episode, Caitlin quickly agreed to the idea, arguing that it was the least she could do for how much Killer Frost has helped her. She then transformed into Killer Frost permanently — at least, for the time being.
There’s no telling at this point exactly how long the Killer Frost persona will be in control, although it’s certainly an interesting progression, especially considering the threats that Team Flash has to face in the near future. For one thing, Ramsey has now mutated himself into Bloodwork, something that will surely affect both the Caitlin and Killer Frost personas in the immediate future. And of course, there’s the upcoming “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, which basically any of the Arrowverse’s costumed heroes will be useful for.
Plus, given the evolution that both Caitlin and Killer Frost have had since the show’s inception, this latest development definitely feels earned.
“It’s been different for different seasons, but this year, in particular, it was really important to me that they start to explore the relationship between Killer Frost and Caitlin Snow,” Panabaker told ComicBook.com in an interview earlier this year. “I felt that in season four, Killer Frost became a little bit of a punchline, and they hadn’t taken the time to really delve into her character and understand how Caitlin felt about Killer and how Killer felt about Caitlin, and I think they really did that this year, and I’m incredibly grateful.”
What do you think of this latest development for Killer Frost on The Flash? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
