With the upcoming departures of Cisco and Nash, The Flash can finally address its biggest problem: underused female characters. The Arrowverse show has often had too large of a cast, which results in too little time to tell supporting characters’ stories. The Flash season 7 in particular is leaving its female characters on the sidelines, which is holding the show back from achieving its maximum potential.
For several seasons, The Flash struggled to give its leading ladies Iris and Caitlin active roles — beyond Iris being Barry's love interest and Caitlin offering scientific support. Recent seasons have worked to rectify this by placing Iris front and center in the Mirrorverse arc, giving Candace Patton a worthy showcase. Additionally, Caitlin’s ongoing relationship with her other half Frost has proved to be especially moving, especially after a dramatic series of events that split the two into separate individuals.
Other female characters on The Flash are still waiting to be fleshed out, and some are already missed opportunities. Cisco’s girlfriend and Team Citizen photographer Kamilla is departing the show just as audiences were getting to know her. Alexa, the Hulk-like Fuerza, was wiped off the board almost as quickly as she was introduced. There was a great opportunity to learn more about her and Speed Force Nora, but that will be limited now with both in the Speed Force. Out of the characters who are still on the show, Cecile, Allegra, and new antagonist Kristen Kramer are all largely flat characters. Exploring the perspectives of these women and (meaningfully) increasing their participation in the show’s events would only enrich The Flash.
Introduced as a savvy and driven district attorney, Cecile Horton quickly became a dynamic professional and romantic partner for Joe West, as the two fan favorites worked together on cases. Cecile being on equal footing with her love interest in terms of power and influence set her apart. While she still has an impactful career defending metahumans as she did at Frost's recent trial, she receives less and less screen time — despite her having developed metahuman powers. There is a great opportunity for The Flash to pair up Cecile and Iris more, as their careers in law and journalism would naturally intersect. Additionally, with Iris telling Barry she’s ready to start a family, it would be only natural for her Cecile — who has a young child herself — to bond further. Meanwhile, Kristen Kramer has remained an enigma since coming onto the show and could be shaped as either a formidable antagonist or a powerful frenemy. The Flash has done Kramer a disservice by making her unlikable and unsympathetic, but not particularly compelling. Her reaction to the court’s decision to accept Frost’s deal for life imprisonment begs further exploration — as does her seemingly tragic backstory.
Arguably, the character The Flash has mismanaged the most is Allegra: Along with the soon-to-be-departing Kamilla, she represents one of the show’s biggest ongoing missed opportunities. While the two played significant roles in the character development of Wells and Cisco respectively, their own personalities, relationships and feelings have been completely ignored. The Flash doesn't seem to know who these women are — and as a result, they're primarily used to give Iris someone to talk to, without developing their own independent storylines (or personalities). Kamilla was instrumental in helping Cisco finally decide to face the future he wanted; yet, the show barely touched on who she was as a person. Allegra’s metahuman powers have been revealed to be a very formidable form of electromagnetism; yet, recent episodes rarely feature any mention of those powers or their impact on her. Allegra deserves a chance to join Team Flash proper — or at the very least, get something more to do than help Iris.
The Flash’s top priority going forward should be taking advantage of Cisco and Wells’ exits to give its female characters their overdue turn in the spotlight. The show has nothing to lose and everything to gain by utilizing its already intriguing female characters as major players in upcoming stories. Most importantly, by allowing the women of The Flash to interact on a deeper level with each other, everyone from the cast to the audience will benefit from the richer, more authentic storytelling.
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