“The Flash” continues to develop its cast, as it added “The Vampire Diaries” actress Malese Jow as Linda Park. As you may know, Linda Park is in fact a character from Flash lore, as she was once a love interest of the Flash…just not this one. Park was once the girlfriend and then wife of Barry Allen’s successor, Wally West, and a huge part of what made that character and his story so fulfilling. She wasn’t just a significant other, she was a badass, as you can see in the image above from the arc “Terminal Velocity”.
Now? She’ll be a reporter, like she was in the comics, doubling as a friend of Iris and a potential love interest for Barry. Set to appear in the 12th episode of the first season, Linda could be a big addition to the cast, and from what I’ve read Jow is a fine actress, but I have one little bone to pick with this. Excuse me while I put my fanboy hat on.
Why couldn’t they have just created a new character? I know the show works really hard to incorporate comic elements into it, and they do so in a way that isn’t overly grating like “Gotham”, instead feeling relatively natural. But Park’s a character who very specifically belonged to a time and a place in the story of the Flash, and it wasn’t this one. If they just use her as a side character, not a love interest, that’s cool. I’ll call that world building. But if they throw her in there as a one size fits all love interest for Barry, I have to ask again, why couldn’t they have just created a new character?
We’ll see how they handle it later this first season. If it’s like the rest of the show so far, I have to imagine they’ll handle it quite nicely indeed.
