‘The Flash’: Danielle Panabaker on [Spoiler]’s Death & Her New Character’s Innocence & Connections

Danielle Panabaker in 'The Flash'
Spoiler Alert
The CW

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Flash Season 9 Episode 2, “Hear No Evil.”]

In its final season, The Flash kills off a character who had been part of its DNA since before the series premiere (having appeared in an episode of Arrow first).

“Hear No Evil” reveals that the plan to try to bring back Frost (Danielle Panabaker) resulted in Caitlin’s (also Panabaker’s) death. Someone new, going by Snow (also Panabaker), emerged, but Mark (Jon Cor) remains determined to resurrect Frost. When it becomes clear that Snow can go back into the CRC, but only Caitlin or Frost can be brought back, there’s a vote, but in the end, they leave it up to Snow to decide. She chooses herself — honoring Caitlin since “she created a person with feeling and free will” — and her new name: Khione.

The end of the episode also saw Red Death (after using the villains working for her) looking over Central City — a broken bat symbol on her armor — and promising justice would be served.

Panabaker shares a bit about Khione and teases about what’s ahead.

Talk about finding out that Caitlin would be dying. How has it been saying goodbye to her, especially after saying goodbye to Frost, and you’re also getting to know this new character you’re playing?

Danielle Panabaker: I will say that that was a bit of a surprise to me. I think Eric had this great idea that I could play another character, which obviously is super flattering that they’ve trusted me to play so many different characters over the last nine seasons. I was surprised to hear that the birth of a new character would come at the death of another character, but also excited. As an actor, particularly on a show that’s gone this long, to be able to constantly have new challenges and new characters to create and new things to do has been a real gift.

Let’s talk about Khione because she is a blank slate, which can be freeing and terrifying as she gets to know who she is and can also mean she might be open to manipulation without realizing it.

I think it’s a really interesting conundrum that she finds herself in. Khione is really innocent and is really naive, which is a different character and a different perspective than I think we’ve ever seen from someone who walks in sort of knowing who Barry [Grant Gustin] is and knowing about The Flash so quickly. So she is young and naive, but she’s also being given information at an incredible rate.

Danielle Panabaker in 'The Flash'

The CW

How are we going to see her going about figuring out who she is and who she can trust? Because she got her information initially from Mark, and we know how he feels.

Yes, and that is definitely the tricky part, that, as we learn in storytelling, sometimes you have an unreliable narrator, and I would not consider Mark the most reliable of narrators, and he’s the one sort of guiding her, and we see that sort of moment of tension early on in the episode where it kind of feels like Mark is grooming her for something. And she is unfortunately naively going along but I think it’s going to create an interesting journey for her as we see Khione really come into her own.

At times in this episode, it seemed like Khione was a bit more perceptive than the average person. And there was also that moment of she said she loved the rain and all of nature, and it made her feel at peace. Then there’s the history of her name, the nymph and the Goddess of Snow. So how much will we see any of that coming into play going forward?

I think you’ve clearly done your research. We will see a lot more of her connection to nature and her affinity to all things natural. That’s definitely going to be a big part of her identity moving forward.

And it seems like you have to play a character with some connection to Snow.

I would say that you will not be disappointed if you think that.

It seems like Khione and Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) are already bonding. What are we going to see from those two going forward?

That’s really nice to get to see Khione establish different relationships with different characters, like Caitlin and Cisco [Carlos Valdes] always had their rapport and that relationship, but Frost and Cisco never had the same relationship because Frost was a different person. And it’s nice to get a new fresh perspective on these different relationships with these already-established characters.

Brandon McKnight and Kayla Compton in 'The Flash'

Bettina Strauss/The CW

Who else from the team does she have the easiest time getting to know?

I think perceptive is a great word to describe Khione. She is in some ways kind of like a new audience member, and she’s walking in and seeing these relationships and these different characters and taking her own assessment of them and sometimes is a bit more accurate than the characters themselves even realize, so she is going to forge different relationships and different bonds. In particular, at first, we see her have some sweet moments with Chester [Brandon McKnight], but also with Allegra [Kayla Compton], which I think is a little complicated for Allegra considering the affection she had for Frost and the decision that the different team members make about whether or not Khione should stay. It’s fun to explore all those relationships.

Is she clashing with anyone?

I would say her most complicated relationship is definitely with Mark, which we get to see unfold because he’s the one introducing her to this team and this world. But it’s hard to know how much she can trust him and if he has ulterior motives.

Because it’s hard to imagine him giving up on any chance of seeing Frost again.

Yes, it is hard to imagine that.

We also got those great moments of Khione with Hartley (Andy Mientus) in this episode, and he was the one to then destroy the CRC to help his new friend. Are we going to see more of that bond going forward?

Yes. I think there is an affection between Hartley and Khione as well, and they do have each other’s backs, which you will see again later in the season — not too much later — but they do have a special relationship. You also get to see a bit more of Hartley’s motives too and where his true loyalties lie.

The episode also ends with Red Death. What can you say about what’s coming up there and Khione’s role in that arc?

I will say that Eric [Wallace] always has a plan in mind, and he’s incredibly thoughtful about how he does these storylines with these various characters. So I think Red Death is a great villain, and it’s going to be exciting to see how Team Flash fares against them.

I have to say; I love this episode ends with that fun dance scene because it seems like that’s something that everyone needed.

Heart, humor, and spectacle are important elements of our show. And while Barry is still saving Central City every episode, it’s nice to have a little bit of levity and get to see them be real people.

And getting to see Khione dance…

And what she enjoys and she’s really a free spirit and incredibly present, which is fun to play as an actor.

How has it been for you to be seeing goodbye after nine seasons — and also a bit longer because you were in an episode of Arrow before The Flash even premiered?

It’s true. This show, these people, this Berlantiverse has been a part of my life for close to a decade now and a really transformative part of my life and my career. I remain incredibly grateful for the opportunity. It’s a little bittersweet to say goodbye. Obviously, I’m excited for new adventures and to see what’s next, but I will, in particular, miss the people here and the people I’ve gotten to work with and gotten to know over the last nine years.

The Flash, Wednesdays, 8/7c, The CW