‘The Flash’ EP Eric Wallace Previews Season 7’s Return and One Star’s ‘Best Work Ever’
Preview
The Flash finally returns tonight (March 2) for Season 7, and he’s bringing with him some big thrills for fans of two of the ladies in his life.
The season premiere, titled “All’s Wells That Ends Wells,” picks up where Season 6 was abruptly upended by the pandemic shutdowns, with Barry (Grant Gustin) determined to find a way to artificially amp his dwindling Speedster powers and get Iris (Candice Patton) out of wherever she’s trapped.
Inside the Mirrorverse, however, our heroine is starting to piece together her own plan to best captor Eva McCulloch (Efrat Dor), who had entered the real world the last time we saw her.
Since the hour was supposed to be a leadup to last year’s season finale instead of this year’s season premiere, showrunner Eric Wallace had to do some tinkering in the interim.
“We changed about 20% of it,” he says. “But in doing so, we were able to enlarge the scope and the emotion of the episode. And I think now it really works well as a re-introduction and as a premiere for Season 7.”
Since the hour does not feature appearances by fellow S.T.A.R. Labs staples Cisco (Carlos Valdes) or Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker), he also “had to really pump up the roles for our newest series regulars Brandon McKnight and Kayla Compton and say to the audience that after this episode, Chester and Allegra graduate to full-time status team members.”
Candice Patton as Iris in The Flash Season 7 premiere, “All’s Wells That Ends Wells” (The CW)
How they do so is a huge twist that you can read all about here on TV Insider after the episode airs, but suffice it to say that nothing will be the same in Central City after tonight, and that Grant Gustin brings it.
What we can definitively reveal, however, is that Wallace has grand designs for a pair of other Flash favorites going forward.
Danielle Nicolet as Cecile Horton (The CW)
First, “Cecile’s going to go on a wild ride this year as her powers expand and she explores them,” he previews of Danielle Nicolet‘s empathic attorney. “The problem is, the more powerful you get, the more problems you have.”
Tonight, those problems emerge when Joe’s lady love interrogates Ashley Rickards‘ villainous Rosa Dillon, aka Top, after she’s captured doing some dirty work for Eva.
The fallout will “dip its toes into ominous waters,” hints Wallace. “The challenge for Cecile will be, ‘How do I not become someone as evil as The Top?'”
At the same time, Wallace will be setting the stage for Iris’ return to the real world and some serious screen time for Candice Patton.
“One of the blessings of Season 6 is that having Iris in this Mirrorverse has just given us so much great, great material for Candice Patton as an actress,” he raves. “And she’s turned in some of what I think is some of her best work ever on the show…that continues especially in the first four episodes this season.”
Pointing to the fourth episode as a standout for Patton, the exec producer says “I think the audience is going to be very happy, especially because within those first four episodes…because I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Barry and Iris will get back together.”
(L-R): Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen (The CW)
But just because they reunite, don’t think that means the end of Iris’ evolution. Wallace is quick to note that there will be more Team Citizen stories coming up as the show heads into its third “Graphic Novel” arc following the culmination of Eva’s tale.
“We don’t want to forget that Iris is also a journalist,” he offers, adding that Iris will definitely be impacted by her ordeal with Eva. “All the time they spent together in Mirrorverse means something to both of them and that has to come into play with the end of Eva’s story…It’s a great, spectacular twist that Candice Patton plays absolutely wonderfully.”
The Flash, Season 7 premiere, Tuesday, March 2, 8/7c, The CW
