Fans raced from the parade at a lightning crawl to see some of their favorite characters on the “Flash: Which Way to Which Earth” panel Saturday morning in the Hilton Grand Salon. Danielle Panabaker, John Wesley Shipp, Katie Cassidy, Michelle Harrison, and Rick Cosnett spent a delightful hour answering questions from the speedy members of the audience who had somehow managed to arrive in time.
An early question got the panelists rolling on which costume they liked best. For Shipp, it was no contest. “The new one!” Apparently, he couldn’t wash the old one, and with all that racing around, it wasn’t exactly April fresh. The new costumes have washable under-suits, he revealed with obvious relief. “[It was] tough to get back into that suit after 25 years,” he said with a grin, “but everyone was very kind.” Cassidy was just happy not to end up in fishnet stockings, which would have been dreadfully cold in Vancouver. Cosnett said he felt lucky because he got to wear a warm, five-piece suit.
Panabaker appreciates her deeper role, and feels lucky to be able to portray both Caitlin Snow and her evil alter ego, Killer Frost. “I was so excited,” she said, and she hopes that more of her character’s journey is still to come. How did she feel about Julian? She loved that Caitlin wasn’t completely sold on him and wasn’t swept up in another romance so soon. Asked which she preferred, Caitlin Snow or Killer Frost, she replied that she was “lucky to do both.” She enjoys the theatrical stretch required to act opposite to her instincts, and she hopes that Season 4 will explain why Killer Frost is so evil and why Caitlin turns that way simply by using her powers. After all, that doesn’t happen to Barry or Cisco. She thinks here must be some deeper reason, and she’d love to explore that idea further.
Harrison noted that her characters scenes involved a lot of time “on the floor, crying.” Each time the show returned to that scene, she had to reshoot it anew, with each filming asking for something a little different, a little deeper, which was quite a challenge. Cassidy didn’t get too much leeway with costumes, but she enjoyed exploring the relationship between Nora and Henry Allen during “Flashpoint.”
The panelists all agreed that Tom Cavanagh is so fantastic at creating different personalities from parallel earths that he makes it easier for everyone else. All they have to do is follow his lead. They also agreed that Cavanagh is quite the prankster. Panabaker recalled one time when he kept saying her lines from somewhere behind her back while she was filming. She couldn’t keep a straight face.
When asked if all the crossovers with the other shows were confusing, Cassidy agreed that they were, but she also thinks the crossovers make the each show more fun and dynamic. Her favorite scene is when Laurel tells Cisco that she is the Black Canary. It’s “a sweet, fun light scene,” she said. She also told fans how tough it was to have to reshoot her death scene.
Cosnett’s favorite scene was when Eddie was on pain killers in the hospital. But which season did he like best? “Season 1, duh.” The audience laughed with him at that obvious choice, but everyone made it quite clear that they’d love to have him back on the show—permanently. He loved it when Carlos sang his lines, and when Grant Gustin danced. According to Cosnett, Gustin was always dancing, so the two of them, Cosnett and Gustin, came up with their own dance. To the crowd’s delight, Cosnett proceeded to give a demonstration of this sexy masterpiece of full-body undulation.
Panabaker promised that Season 4 will be a lot lighter than Season 3, more like the lighthearted, funny, optomistic atmosphere of Season 1. “We’re working really hard to get back to that,” she said. How long do we have to wait? It’ll be here in a flash. Season 4 is due to be released on October 10th.
