Since she started working at the Central City Picture News midway through The Flash Season 1, Iris West has used her reporting not only to build her journalism career, but to help Team Flash gather information on their mission to protect Central City. Unfortunately, her side activities are going to be more difficult when Season 2 resumes next year, as the show has added comedian Tone Bell as Scott Evans, Iris’ new boss who’s determined to uncover the truth behind this season’s crazy events.
As the Central City Picture News’ “brash” new editor, Evans will push Iris and the other reporters to “dig deeper into their stories” and find out what’s really happening in the city. Variety reports that Bell will be around for a multi-episode arc, though they didn’t state in which episode he’ll debut. Evans is replacing Eric Larkin, who was killed in “The Darkness and the Light” by the Earth Two’s Linda Park, a.k.a. Doctor Light, when she cornered her Earth One counterpart.
The Central City Picture News doesn’t have a great track record with its employees staying safe. Last season, Iris’ mentor Mason Bridge was killed by Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. Reverse-Flash, when he was about to publish incriminating evidence about Harrison Wells. Then Larkin was killed in November, and after everything that happened with Doctor Light and Zoom, Linda Park is now in Coast City so she can’t be drawn back into this insanity. While we’re not wishing any harm to befall Evans, the odds are stacked against him, especially when the city he’s working in is filled with metahumans from two different Earths and criminals using crazy tech.
However, in terms of working with Iris, his dedication to hard journalism is certainly going to make her role as a Team Flash member harder. Since learning Barry’s secret identity last year, her reporting and position at the Central City Picture News has helped Barry and the others on several occasions. With Evans looking over her shoulder, it’s going to be harder for her to pass along information to her friends. He is also going to get their relationship off to an uncomfortable start, as TV Line stated last week that Evans (then unnamed) will cancel one of Iris' “puff pieces” about the attacks on the city, though they also implied that he may be a new romantic interest following Eddie Thawne’s death. Hmm.
Bell’s previous work includes RJ on Whitney and Edward on Bad Judge, and he can currently be seen as Russell on NBC’s Truth Be Told. He is the second new actor who’s been officially announced for the latter half of The Flash Season 2, following Heroes Reborn’s Marco Grazzini, who will play supervillain Tar Pit.
The Flash will return with new episodes Tuesday, January 19, on The CW.
