Julian’s Guilt Will Drive Him on The Flash

When Doctor Alchemy was unmasked in the seventh episode of The Flash‘s third season, his identity – Julian Albert (Tom Felton), Barry’s CSI partner and a result of the new post-Flashpoint timeline – was met with a mixed response from fans. While many were shocked by the reveal, some felt it was the show simply repeating itself, as past big bads Reverse Flash and Zoom both ended up being people within Barry Allen‘s (Grant Gustin) inner circle.

But as the show has gone on, Julian has grown to become an asset to Team Flash, in part to make up for the wreckage he caused while brainwashed into being Doctor Alchemy. And according to one of the show’s executive producers, Aaron Helbing, this remorse will continue to be a large part of Julian’s character, especially in the coming episodes.

“As you saw in episode 12,” Helbing explains, referencing the episode ‘Untouchable’, “[guilt] definitely played into his psyche. He created Clive Yorkin, and Yorkin was trying to kill Joe and almost killed Iris, and he killed Julio Mendez and some other folks.”

This motivation for a big bad-type villain is a new thing for The Flash, as both Reverse Flash and Zoom were motivated to become evil by their own personal desires, and openly expressed how little remorse they felt for those around them. In contrast, Julian was essentially brainwashed by the season’s real big bad, Savitar, to become Doctor Alchemy, and commit nefarious actions like bestowing metahuman powers on many of the villains in The Flash’s third season. Even though Julian himself wasn’t committing those actions, he still has placed the blame on himself.

“He’s essentially a conduit to Savitar. He doesn’t really enjoy the fact that that’s who he is.” Helbing clarifies. “He’s trying to figure out how to help the team with them knowing, and he knowing that he created a lot of the villains they’re facing off with.”

This includes, as recent episodes have shown, a budding dynamic between Julian and Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), who has been struggling with her own disconnect to her metahuman abilities as Killer Frost. Julian even accompanied Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) to Earth-2’s Gorilla City, which he later admitted was because he wanted to keep Caitlin safe. Although his and Caitlin’s relationship has yet to turn romantic, it sounds like his dynamic with her and the other members of Team Flash – and his desire to make up for Alchemy’s past actions – will factor into his future appearances on the show.

MORE FLASH NEWS: Latest Episode Recap & Discussion | Savitar’s Plan for Barry | Why Flash Won’t Call The Legends for Help

The Flash’s next episode, “The Wrath of Savitar” will air next Tuesday, March 7 @ 8/7c on The CW.

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