The Flash is rounding home on Season 5, and showrunner Todd Helbing has teased a lot of things will go down in the final episodes. This includes the exit of "at least 2" characters, which may be bad news for fans who have grown attached to the current lineup.
So who's up on the chopping block? There have been rumors and behind-the-scenes news that makes some characters more likely than others, but we don't know anything for sure. With that said, here are a list of the characters that The Flash could be writing off following Season 5's finale.
Cisco
As painful as it is to write, Carlos Valdes' Cisco seems to be the most likely exit in The Flash Season 5. Rumors surfaced that the actor has been looking into other gigs, and wanted Season 5 to conclude his role on the show. Additionally, the season has shown Cisco becoming receptive towards life without powers following an injury and successfully developing a metahuman cure. He may take that cure and leave Team Flash to have a normal life.
If that isn't enough evidence, Todd Helbing recently told TVLine that Cisco will make a "bold decision" that apparently plays into the Season 5 finale. That seems like code for "he's leaving," but perhaps it's a red herring Helbing intentionally put out there because he's aware of the rumors. That's what Cisco fans can hope anyway, as Team Flash can't possibly come up with as great of villain names in his absence.
Sherloque
The Flash's great detective recently tried to leave Season 5 early, but was ultimately pulled back in by Ralph to help further aide the adventure. That said, we can't imagine he'll continue to stick with Team Flash after the season's up, as his work to this point has been largely pro bono. He has lots of alimony to pay, so unless Barry and the gang have some money, he needs to move on!
That's what we can assume anyway, as The Flash is no stranger to saying goodbye to various incarnations of Harrison Wells. We could get another for Season 6, or it's possible Reverse-Flash plays such a big part going forward that adding two characters for Tom Cavanagh to play may just be too much. Whatever the case may be, it feels like Sherloque won't be a Wells that sticks around in the long run.
Cicada (Grace)
Let's be honest, Cicada turned into a B-level villain the minute The Flash revealed Thawne was involved. Now we have Cicada II, a.k.a. adult Grace, who is almost an afterthought now that Nora's gone rogue. Season 5 hasn't shown a lot of respect towards the serial killer villain in the later stages, and it doesn't feel like that's happening because she'll be utilized more in Season 6.
Team Flash will probably stop Grace or get Young Grace to take the metahuman cure which would likely erase the Grace of the future. Another possibility is that she could escape and continue to be that villain that got away, although the grand plan she's teasing appears to mean she's making some big stand. Few Flash villains survive those bold moves, but maybe she'll join the ranks of Reverse-Flash and somehow defy the odds.
Nora
Nora West-Allen is officially down a dangerous path, and it's one that may lead to her destruction. There's no telling what channeling the powers of both the Speed Force and Negative Speed Force have had on her, but even if that's no big deal, Nora's reckless. She's hanging out with Rogues, she's mad at the world and sound decision-making was never her strong suit to begin with. That all sounds like a recipe for disaster in the Arrow-verse.
Plus, let's not forget that Nora is just as malleable as the timeline she's manipulated. Thawne originally believed Barry would have a daughter named Dawn, and that still might happen if Nora accidentally erases herself from existence. As we learned during the Savitar season, events and circumstances of the future are never certain. It's very possible Nora might just be a potential future person who gained the ability to time travel before she ceased to exist.
Joe
Any time there's talk of a character leaving The Flash, one should immediately assume Joe West is on the table. Jesse L. Martin is a fan favorite, yet not so important to the story that him being gone really affects things all that much. At least, that's what we gathered from Jesse L. Martin's medical leave, in which the show had Cecile kind of fill his mentor role.
It would suck to see Joe die, and while Cecile is great as well, it may be best if the whole family decided to ship up out of Central City to raise the baby elsewhere. Wally's still got a place in Tibet, so maybe they can jump overseas and live with him until this whole thing blows over.
Reverse-Flash
This is an unlikely pick, but one that could happen nonetheless. As the ringleader of this whole thing, Reverse-Flash may find himself facing the wrath of a very angry Barry Allen. Could his manipulation of Nora drive Barry to kill his arch-rival? Man, if he did, imagine where The Flash would go in Season 6! With Arrow set to end, someone has to take up the mantle of being the more violence-driven show!
As we mentioned though, Reverse-Flash leaving is a long-shot at best. There's plenty of evidence that he's going to have a hand in the "Crisis On Infinite Earths" crossover, so it wouldn't make much sense for him to disappear especially when he hasn't really done anything. He's playing innocent now, but I'd imagine things would be very different should he happen to be free of that containment cell.
The Flash is close to the end of Season 5, but fans can still catch new episodes on The CW Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Those with something to say about characters they'd like to see the show, or one's they wish stayed until the very end, can share their thoughts in the comments.
