What happened in “Flashpoint” didn’t stay in “Flashpoint,” and the aftereffects are about to hit Wally West hard on “The Flash.”
In Tuesday’s episode, Wally will have visions of having been speedster hero Kid Flash in the other timeline. And, it appears that the mysterious villain Dr. Alchemy, who has been working with metas to try and get them to remember their alternate past, will be getting inside of Wally’s head.
“Shade” is a big episode for Wally, and Keiynan Lonsdale, who plays the character, told AccessHollywood.com more about what’s ahead.
Access Hollywood: I’m scared for you in this episode [based on the trailer]! Give me your reaction to reading [the script] when you found out all this crazy stuff was going to happen.
Keiynan Lonsdale: I mean, yeah, it was unexpected. I think with Wally being so invested in getting these powers, I knew that something was up and that maybe he would be tested at some point, but I didn’t know it would be this intense and I think from what we saw in the little sneak peek, he’s really struggling. These visions are sort of taking over and he’s not in his right mind at all.
Access: I know they sometimes they go over character arcs with you guys on the cast. I’m curious if after ‘Flashpoint’ they gave you any hints that something like this might be coming after you knew that they were giving [Wally] powers, but then taking them away in the season premiere?
Keiynan: There were little hints, but I didn’t know completely where it was going and that happens often, which is sort of exciting at the same time. Even with ‘Flashpoint,’ I had no idea that Wally was going to be Kid Flash in episode 1. So, those surprises can be really nice. But yeah, there are times when you just sort of go with it and you read the script, and you get really excited that way.
Access: Obviously ‘The Flash’ likes to do twists, so I’m curious if we’re going to be exploring the fact that Wally had powers and obviously in the trailer Joe says, ‘Now you’re getting powers’ – if they’re going to be similar, or if we should prepare ourselves for some sort of switcheroo?
Keiynan: (Laughs) I think with this show, you should always be prepared for any sort of surprise. It never seems to go the exact way that people predict … And right now, it is this confusing time for Wally, so things could really go either way.
Access: The relationship between Wally and Barry is good finally, after it being a bit rocky when it started out. When he finds out that he had powers in ‘Flashpoint’ – will that affect their relationship again in not great ways?
Keiynan: I think that Wally will definitely be upset and disappointed in the fact that this was kept from him when he’s openly expressed his feelings about wanting to be a speedster. But, they all agreed to not know their alternate lives, so Wally can’t be too mad at Barry for that. I think that they’ve been through a lot now and I would hope that a mistake doesn’t just switch them back to where they were. But yeah, they’ve been through a lot of ups and downs and I think Wally, at this point, has a lot of respect for Barry and he understands that mistakes will be made at times.
Access: It looks like Dr. Alchemy is in Wally’s head [in this episode, based on the sneak peek]. So does that mean you kind of had to play two characters a little bit in this episode? A new challenge?
Keiynan: It was definitely a challenge. … [I was excited about the challenge of] getting to play someone that’s completely out of control in a sense and struggling with that — having someone in your head. And yeah, so I played around. There were times where I was like, I’m sure I look like an absolute idiot, but I may as well go all in (laughs). You gotta commit. It’s more fun that way. But yeah, it was a nice challenge.
Access: One of the things I haven’t gotten to ask you about yet is the costuming process. … Did they go through a lot of versions with you? It’s such a cool suit that they gave you. It’s really, really nice.
Keiynan: Thank you. No, we didn’t go through a lot of different versions. They were pretty clear on what is was that they wanted. I definitely had a few fittings just to make sure everything was — [so] it fit your body the right way, and also, before we were doing ‘Flashpoint,’ we had just been on hiatus and I was like, ‘Just so you know, my weight can go up and down very quickly, so I’m not sure where I’m going to be,’ (laughs). So that, I’m sure was interesting. But yeah, a lot of fittings, but they had a really strong vision of what they wanted.
Access: Did it take a lot of time to get used to moving around in the suit? It’s very different from the type of clothes you normally get to wear on the show and in life?
Keiynan: Totally, yeah. It definitely takes some getting used to and there were so many times I was just like, ‘Yo, Grant, how do I do this? How do I slide?… Can you hear anything?’ Everything is very tight, very fitted to make it look as sleek as possible, but then the great thing is that you have a team there [and] they’re always asking you what it is that you need to be comfortable.
“The Flash” continues Tuesday at 8/7c on The CW.
— Jolie Lash