Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Flash episode "Rayo de Luz." Read at your own risk!
Danielle Panabaker is typically known for her work in front of the camera on The Flash but has slowly been building her resume as a director on The CW series. Season 7's "Rayo de Luz" marked her third episode directing the series, and while there are advantages to being on both sides of the camera, Panabaker has found it a challenge.
Danielle Panabaker spoke to CBR about the latest episode, which saw Allegra go head-to-head with her cousin Ultraviolet. Panabaker also made an appearance in the episode as Killer Frost, and she explained the challenges of working as an actor and director all at once on the set of The Flash.
Tom [Cavanagh] loved directing himself; I don't love it. I much prefer being able to watch the camera and make sure we're getting all the beats and the moments that I'm looking for. It's a little bit harder, mentally, to be in two places at once: to be performing in a scene and watching all the other actors as well, because invariably, we have at least two cameras rolling at a time. So to keep an eye on everything that the director needs to keep an eye on, while acting in a scene is challenging for sure.
One person doing two different jobs at once can be challenging. Unfortunately for Danielle Panabaker, unlike her Flash character, she doesn't have a dormant personality that got separated into an entirely different person. Jokes aside, Panabaker is often doing double duty as both Caitlin Snow and Killer Frost, so adding the work of a director on top of that has to take some serious skills to pull off.
Danielle Panabaker's latest directing credit for The Flash was certainly an interesting one, especially because she was in charge of an episode that was missing much of the main cast. Barry and Iris went on vacation, which created an adventure that was headed up by Chester, Allegra, and Sue Dearbon. It's a talented group of characters, though not necessarily ones as iconic as Barry, Iris, Cisco, or Wells. Yet, Panabaker played a part in creating an entertaining adventure with the trio.
For all the good of the episode, the latest batch of episodes has certainly felt like The Flash is at a standstill. The only prominent "big bad" to speak of is Kristen Kramer, and that's largely speculation on the part of Joe West. One has to think the action will drum up soon, but the question of when that could happen is still very much up in the air.
The Flash airs on The CW Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. For all we don't know about the upcoming action on the horizon, there are a few things we know about Barry and Iris' children appearing. Read more on that, and hope that it's a large part of why we keep getting these awkward romance scenes between Barry and Iris. For now, at least Superman & Lois is delivering the game-changing twists!
