Zoom took the Flash’s speed and in Season 2 episode 19, “Back To Normal,” we witness Barry learn to cope with his now average life. He feels so hopeless that he’ll do just about anything to get his speed back, even if it means replicating the particle accelerator explosion. Beware: Season 2 spoilers ahead!
Collider caught up with Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg and Flash actor Tom Cavanagh after a screening of “Back to Normal,” and the two talked not only about what’s to come for the remainder of Season 2, but Season 3 as well. The producer mentioned Caitlin Snow in particular, whose backstory is still a deep, unexplored mystery.
Last night saw Caitlin Snow come face to face with her Earth-2 doppleganger, Killer Frost. Caitlin’s conversation with Killer Frost is the first time she reveals any clues about her family. Interestingly enough, Killer Frost reveals she had a brother, Charlie, who died very young. Her mother couldn’t cope and became “cold.” After she flunked out of medical school, she was forced to move back home. Killer Frost eventually married Ronnie Raymond (aka Deathstorm), also Earth-1 Caitlin Snow’s boyfriend. After Earth-2 Harrison Wells’ particle accelerator explosion, she was gifted with the ability to generate and manipulate ice.
Earth-1 Caitlin Snow has not shown any sign of metahuman powers. She has tested herself for the meathuman gene, and came up negative. When she first met Killer Frost, she became anxious that would be her own fate as well. Cisco assured her that she would never become “cold” like her Earth-2 doppleganger. However, in “Back to Normal,” it appears the two Caitlins have more in common than they originally thought, specifically when it comes to their unnamed mother, who they both describe to each other as a not-so-pleasant person.
“It gave us an opportunity to deepen both characters,” Kreisberg said. “We haven’t met Caitlin’s mother yet. We got a little talk between the two women, which will probably play out in Season 3.”
Seeing how we don’t know a single thing about Caitlin Snow’s past, the CW has full range to blow our minds with this one. We don’t know anything about her family, but it is clear that Caitlin has experienced a lot of loss in her life: Ronnie Raymond, her father, and Jay Garrick. Caitlin seemed extremely surprised to find out Killer Frost had a brother, and she doesn't. If Caitlin has a brother she doesn't know about, that would be a good place to start delving deeper into her life in Season 3. Killer Frost had multiple identities in the comics. Along with Caitlin Snow, other versions of the character are named Louise Lincoln, and Crystal Frost.
All of this analysis begs the question, is Caitlin’s fate to become Killer Frost? Zoom actor Teddy Sears spoke to E! Online about the chances of this happening earlier this week.
“We all know from seeing her doppelganger that she has that potential. She begins to internalize what she has to do next with this new information. Who will she become? How will she react?” Sears said. "We've seen her be Killer Frost. We see her heart wants to grow cold, is how I can put it," he tells E! News. "Then she then has to begin to struggle with [the idea that] here's another guy who I thought I loved who is now gone—not physically gone like Ronnie, but he's gone. The prospect of him is gone. Just like in life, how does one react to that sort of thing? There are two very distinct ways to go."
You may remember the battle where Deathstorm and Reverb (Vibe’s Earth-2 doppleganger) had The Flash cornered, but Killer Frost stepped in and reminded them Zoom would punish them for their actions. She was right. Zoom killed both Deathstorm and Reverb, but spared Killer Frost’s life. She became a reluctant ally to The Flash, helping him and Jesse escape from Zoom’s lair by blasting the villainous speedster with ice. However, this wasn’t the case in “Back To Normal.” She convinced Caitilin to help her break out of Zoom’s carbine cell. The duo was successful, but then Killer Frost tried to kill Caitlin before she escaped. Zoom stepped in and saved Caitlin’s life, but stabbed Killer Frost in the chest.
Kreisberg explains why Killer frost had to die in the episode. “Even [Killer Frost] said, the only reason [Zoom] had to keep her alive was that she was a living reminder of him caring about Caitlin.”
Reincarnating characters in multiple forms is not unusual for CW shows, particularly Arrow. Team Flash is currently working on a way to re-create the particle accelerator explosion so Barry can reconnect to the speed force. Could this be how Caitlin Snow gains metahuman abilities? Will she be a second, warm-hearted version of Killer Frost? Let us know in the comments below!
