The Flash executive producer Andrew Kreisberg discusses the reveals from the season 2 premiere as well as what to expect in the upcoming episodes.

Warning: This story contains spoilers from The Flash season 2, episode 1, “The Man Who Saved Central City.”

In the season 2 premiere, we picked up six months after Eddie’s death and the singularity opened up over Central City. We learned via flashbacks that it took the combined efforts of Barry and Firestorm to close the singularity, and Ronnie did not survive.

Filled with guilt, Barry pushed his loved ones away and fought crime on his own. Meanwhile, Central City held a Flash Day to celebrate its hometown hero. However, a confrontation with a new metahuman that left Barry the worse for wear and a conversation with Joe convinced Barry to reunite his team.

Additionally, Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne left behind a video confession for Nora Allen’s murder, which resulted in Henry Allen being freed from prison. However, Henry decided to leave town so Barry wouldn’t be associated with his legacy.

Core wounds

“I think Barry Allen, and the show itself, have grown up a little from season 1 … Whereas [before] Barry would’ve pushed people away or made a slightly more immature decision when faced with the problems he’s gonna be faced with in season 2, he’s tending to be more mature about his decisions and his reactions,” Kreisberg tells Variety.

“[W]hat’s really going on for [Barry] emotionally is what Wells said to him on that videotape: ‘You’re never gonna be happy.’ I think that’s really the thing that’s eating at Barry all year long — it’s this belief that maybe he made a mistake, and maybe he should’ve saved his mother.”

He adds, “[I]t’s somebody who had the chance to heal their core wound and didn’t take it. And in some ways, at the time, everyone was so proud of him for making the heroic choice, but as the season goes on, it starts to wear on him … he begins to question whether or not he did the more heroic thing by not doing it.”

Freeing Henry

As for the decision to free Henry from prison, Kreisberg says, “[T]he thing I love about the Wells character is that you literally never know what he’s going to do. He basically tells Barry, ‘Even though I’m dead, you’re never gonna win, and to prove it I’m gonna give you the thing that you want, and guess what, you’re still not gonna be happy.’

“We just love the idea that even though he’s been erased from existence, he’s still Barry’s nemesis, and in giving him the gift that Barry has long desired, it still doesn’t quite feel like victory. That’s the thing that’s going to be haunting Barry.”

As for having Henry decide to leave Central City, Kreisberg says, “It was part of the maturing of the show; Barry’s a grown-up now and he would’ve been infantilized if he was constantly having to be there for his dad.”

Dr. Stein

Another shift in dynamics we saw in the Flash season 2 premiere was the addition of Martin Stein to the S.T.A.R. Labs team. According to Kreisberg, over the last six months, Stein has “been dealing with the loss of his superhero self, and Professor Stein was really the perfect person to step into this world — he was one of those weirdo kooks who believed in time-travel and aliens and metahumans, so that he got to be part of it just made sense.”

Before his transition to Legends of Tomorrow, Stein will “represent a little bit older, a little bit wiser, a little bit more cautious voice amongst the team. Obviously, his connection to Firestorm is not over and is going to continue in a fairly ‘Legendary’ way, if I can make a horrible pun, but as long as we could have him on The Flash, we were so happy to do so, because he so feels of the Flash word.”

Jay Garrick

Moreover, we also got the introduction of Jay Garrick in the premiere. We first saw him following Barry at a crime scene. He then appeared at S.T.A.R. Labs in the final moments, introducing himself. Kreisberg says, “I think what’s so interesting about this is that last year Barry had mentors and fathers and [we explored] the search for fathers, and this year, Barry’s relationship with Jay is a little bit more like an older brother.

“Jay has already been to war, Jay’s been The Flash a little bit longer than Barry and he’s a little bit more hardened by experience and a little bit more solitary. But he knows things about being The Flash that Barry doesn’t know yet because he doesn’t have the wealth of experience, and Jay is able to teach Barry some new Flash tricks that didn’t even occur to him.”

Kreisberg adds, “But by the same token, Jay has lost something and he’s a Flash without a secret identity; he’s a Flash who worked on his own; he’s a Flash who didn’t have a team at S.T.A.R. Labs; and that’s something that Barry’s able to give back to Jay, that sense of community and a sense of what it is you’re fighting for and home and friends.”

Watch a trailer for The Flash season 2, episode 2, “Flash of Two Worlds”:

The Flash season 2 airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.