'The Flash' Season 6 Episode 12: Barry is away from the spotlight and this gives Team Flash their due airtime
The article contains major spoilers for 'The Flash' Season 6 Episode 12: 'A Girl Named Sue'
It has been three episodes of 'The Flash' following the Arrowverse's epic crossover, 'Crisis on Infinite Earths'. Over each episode, the spotlight has moved away from Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin). 'Marathon' saw the departure of Carlos Valdes' Cisco Ramon while 'Love is a Battlefield' gave Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) an extended storyline in investigating Black Hole, the shadowy criminal organization.
Harrison Nash Wells (Tom Cavanagh) and Allegra Garcia (Kayla Compton) had their relationship explained while Danielle Panabaker's Caitlin Snow, Jesse L. Martin, and Danielle Nicolet as Joe and Cecile have all made one-off appearances and managed to get some screen time. The pre-'Crisis' storyline saw these characters just pop in and out with a major part of the story focusing on the 'Crisis' and Bloodwork, and now it's like they're getting their due.
While fans might be disappointed there's less of Barry, it also makes sense to see Team Flash functioning as an independent unit, something the Scarlet Speedster always wanted them to be. It's also refreshing to see Patton get her own plot with the whole Black Hole investigation and the encounter with the Mirror Master.
The Ralph Dibny-Sue Dearbon angle was heavily teased over the last season and the filler episode in Season 6, 'License to Elongate', sparked hopes of seeing the character, except that we finally managed to see her in the flesh in 'A Girl Named Sue'. It is only a matter of time before 'The Flash' puts Barry back in the focus, but for now, there are enough plot points around the supporting characters that need explaining.
Also, whether Cisco will come back was one of the biggest doubts the show cast after 'Marathon' and showrunner Eric Wallace gave a bit of assurance. "No, [Cisco and Carlos] are not going anywhere," he told TVLine. "Cisco's off on his journey to catalog the world, but he'll be back very quickly."
What are your thoughts on Barry not being in the spotlight post 'Crisis'?
'The Flash' Season 6 airs Tuesdays 8 pm on The CW.