The Flash star Carlos Valdes on Cisco’s long-developing exit, his ‘goofy’ final episode 


The CW’s long-running superhero seriesThe Flash is losing two of its original stars — Carlos Valdes (Cisco) and Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) — this season, and now Valdes has opened up about what it’s like to say goodbye after seven years on Team Flash.

Ahead of his final appearance as a series regular on Tuesday, June 8th, Valdes told TV Line he’s been preparing to big farewell to the series for a “long time,” going back a few seasons, to when he started taking stock of his career and just how long he wanted to stay on staff with STAR Labs.

"[R]ight around Season 4, I started debating what the end for this character might look like,” he said. “So, that seed was always there, but it didn’t really start becoming a reality until much later on — like, the end of Season 5, Season 6, where I started to become more comfortable with the idea of, 'Oh, I think there’s a good way to put an end to this chapter.’”

So what will that exit look like? Surprisingly enough, Valdes said it should make for a less stressful departure than most major character exits over the years. The storyline has been planting the seeds for Cisco’s departure the past several episodes, with the character preparing to head off into the sunset with the love of his life to start a new chapter together. 

“Leaving a show after years of working on it can be such an emotionally complex event, but to get the chance to be irreverent and kind of throw caution out the window and just play, just be silly, that ended up being a very cathartic experience for me,” he said. “Because if it had been this very significant, intense, monumental goodbye, I think the pressure of delivering on that — and making it feel meaningful, for myself… I don’t think that would have been the right way to go. I’m actually really grateful that Eric and the writers chose this route for my departure from the show. It’s very silly, very goofy, low-stakes departure.”

As for who might fill that Cisco-sized void on Team Flash, the show has been introducing a fresh crop of supporting players the past few seasons to help fill out the ranks. Cisco’s tech genius role will likely be filled by new addition Chester (Brandon McKnight), while the rest of Team Flash has grown with the addition of Iris’ new protege Allegra (Kayla Compton) over the past season or two. So, there still won’t be too many empty seats at STAR Labs — there will just be some newer folks in them.

The Flash airs Tuesday nights on The CW.