The Flash: Could Alternate Timelines Be The Way We See Vibe And Killer Frost?

By Nick Tylwalk | May 19, 2015

Supporting characters Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow are just fine the way they are on The Flash. Barry Allen’s friends have come through for him more times that he could probably count, providing not only scientific expertise but much-needed moral and emotional support. We wouldn’t change them for anything.

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The thing is, there are questions about Cisco and Caitlin that won’t go away. Specifically, why would the producers choose to use the names of the secret identities of Vibe and the New 52 version of Killer Frost if they weren’t at least hinting at the duo getting their own super powers at some point?

The man who plays the Fastest Man Alive, Grant Gustin, may have given us the answer today. Gustin said we’ll soon be seeing alternate timelines and perhaps even defined other dimensions like the glory days of Earth-One and Earth-Two in DC Comics.

While that might not seem to have anything to do with the S.T.A.R. Labs crew, it seems like the perfect mechanism for the producers and writers of The Flash to have their cake and eat it too. In other words, the Cisco and Caitlin in the regular timeline can remain their normal selves while we get to peek into worlds where Vibe and Killer Frost exist.

It’s not even difficult to think how their origins could be set up with just minor changes to what we’ve seen happen on the series so far. Say the Flash interrupted Harrison Wells while he was vibrating his hand into Cisco’s chest. That would sure be an easy way to explain how he’d become Vibe.

Or maybe there’s a world where Caitlin went after Ronnie Raymond while he was attempting to prevent the particle accelerator explosion from hitting the other people present at S.T.A.R. Labs. Boom: instant ice powers, especially if she was carrying something to reduce the temperature of the accelerator or otherwise put out a fire.

The point is that it’s already been established that messing with the time stream can have unintended consequences, and having Barry’s friends experience the gift and the curse of becoming meta-humans would certainly qualify. I actually like this idea better than transforming the “regular” Cisco and Caitlin into super-powered characters — particularly if it would mean the latter turning bad — so I’m hoping this is something the Flash team will explore in Season 2.

Next: Why a Flash/Supergirl crossover is unlikely for now

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