The Flash: Carlos Valdes Says Cisco Got a “Perfect” Sendoff

Tonight’s episode of The Flash, “Good-Bye Vibrations” saw Team Flash say goodbye to Cisco as he and his girlfriend Kamila (Victoria Park) announced to the team their decision to leave Central City to pursue their future elsewhere. The episode, which was also the series departure for original cast member Carlos Valdes, saw the original iteration of Team Flash take on one last villain together before giving Cisco a proper sendoff. For Valdes, who has brought Cisco to life since the character’s Arrowverse debut in an episode of Arrow, the sendoff was the perfect one for the character.

Warning: spoilers for this week’s episode of The Flash, “Good-Bye Vibrations”, below.

At the end of the episode, Cisco gets together with Joe (Jesse L. Martin), Barry (Grant Gustin), and Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) for dinner and a little karaoke on his last night in Central City. The touching scene saw Cisco gift each of his friends one of his trademark graphic t-shirts before they all did some singing — to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”, a brilliant throwback to the series premiere — and for Valdes, it was perfect.

“I thought it was the perfect sendoff for Cisco because Cisco obviously, he doesn’t take himself too seriously, which is kind of part of why we love Cisco so much because he’s always able to imbue the right amount of levity in the right kind of situation,” Valdes recently told ComicBook.com. “So it’s not something that’s like super poignant or anything like that, and yet at the same time, we recognize that these silly shirts have carried tremendous emotional weight for Cisco, and his friends and family understand that. So yeah, I think it was the perfect sendoff for Cisco.”

As for Cisco’s wide collection of graphic tees, Valdes revealed that he did get to keep some of the shirts, but for now, he’s letting those shirts live with the character while he personally explores other wardrobe options.

“I spent seven years playing this character,” Valdes explained. “It’s like going into work and putting on these shirts and wearing them for 12 to 14 hours a day every day for nine and a half months, for seven years. So I’m not really trying to wear a graphic tee right now.”

And with Cisco’s departure leaving the door open for Valdes to return as a guest in future episodes, it’s possible we might see Cisco get a wardrobe upgrade, too. The episode sees Cisco leaving Central City to take on a major job with A.R.G.U.S. in Star City.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.