The Flash is currently going strong in its seventh season, and catching up to Arrow as the Arrow-verse's current record-holder for the longest-running series. Now, unfortunately, Flash fans are going to have to say goodbye to not one but two original series stars who won't be around beyond the current Season 7. Both Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdes are bowing out of The Flash. That said, it's not all bad news.
But to start with the news that likely won't be welcomed by many Flash fans, Deadline reports that Carlos Valdes (whose departure has been rumored many times over the years) is set to conclude his run as a series regular as Cisco Ramon in the Season 7 finale. As for Tom Cavanagh, the actor who has played a wide variety of characters with the same Harrison Wells face over the years of The Flash actually already ended his series regular run in the third episode of Season 7.
This cuts The Flash's remaining original cast members from six down to four, with Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, and Jesse L. Martin still attached to the series, although Gustin is the only one whose return for Season 8 has been confirmed at the time of writing.
All of this said, fans don't need to despair that the end of Season 7 will be the last time that they'll ever see Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon, or that the third episode of Season 7 was The Flash's final goodbye to Tom Cavanagh as one of his many characters. Flash showrunner Eric Wallace (who debunked rumors of Cisco's departure after the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover in Flash Season 6) had this to say in a statement:
Tom and Carlos have been an integral part of our show for seven seasons, and will be greatly missed. Both are incredible talents who created beloved characters that fans and audiences around the world have come to love. Which is why we are happily keeping the door open for return appearances.
Not only has The Flash boss not ruled out returns for Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdes, but his comment that the show is "happily keeping the door open for return appearances" indicates that the Season 7 finale won't be killing off Cisco, and at least one version of Wells must be out there somewhere, unless flashbacks or visions would be necessary for a return. It's also worth noting that Cavanagh will appear as a guest star in future episodes of Season 7, so fans haven't seen the last of him regardless of what happens in Season 8.
The Flash was renewed for Season 8 back in February, so there's no question of the Scarlet Speedster's journey ending with Cisco's departure in the Season 7 finale. For now, you can find Cisco and the rest in new episodes of The Flash on The CW Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Finale season is coming up fast, so be sure to keep current on your favorite shows before hiatuses begin all over again.
