Caitlin's Mom May Bring Trouble To 'The Flash'

The Flash just said its goodbyes to Earth-2 Harrison Wells and Jesse Quick, losing another one of its most established parental figures. But already, we'll be meeting a new parent in the Nov. 1 episode of The Flash: Caitlin's mom, Carla Tannhauser. We don't much about her yet, but Entertainment Weekly described the character, who will be played by Susan Walter, as "a world class biomedical engineer and CEO of a major research company" to the world, but "cold and withholding" in the eyes of her daughter.

When CinemaBlend reported on Walter's casting, the website described Carla as "frosty," and reminded fans that the last time Caitlin's mom was mentioned, it was when Caitlin was bonding with Earth-2's Killer Frost over their childhoods. Maybe the addition of Caitlin's mom hints that she, too, will start embracing her villainous side now that she's gaining the abilities to emit below-zero ice blasts from her fingertips. So far, Caitlin has been keeping her powers secret, perhaps out of of being associated with Killer Frost, but with her hair changing color, that secret will be a lot harder to keep. According to another Entertainment Weekly article, this will lead Caitlin to ask her mom for help, though the pair will eventually have a "major blowout."

Given all of the chilly puns associated with her mother and their strained relationship, it seems very possible that Carla could push Caitlin from hero to villain, especially if she puts her intellect to work experimenting on her daughter. Both women are brilliant scientists, but one wrong step could turn Caitlin into Killer Frost permanently. And while Team Flash knows that messing around with powerful science like time travel is bad, Caitlin or Carla might be worried enough to attempt something along those lines, throwing the rest of the season into chaos.

If you're wondering if there any clues about Carla in DC Comics, there is no character in DC or Flash history called "Dr. Carla Tannhauser," so she seems to be an original character created for the series. In the comics, there are two other women who had the Killer Frost identity, college students Crystal Frost and Louise Lincoln, who used their powers to get revenge on those who had ignored them. Louise actually helped Crystal realize that her powers were killing her, and I just hope that Caitlin won't come to the same painful realization.

There will undoubtedly be tension when Carla Tannhouser comes to The Flash, but hopefully, she won't be the one to push Caitlin over the edge into Killer Frost territory.

Images: Katie Yu/The CW (2)