Posted in: DC Universe, TV | Tagged: barry allen, cw, entertainment, flash, HRL, jesse l martin, Joe West, television

Joe West: A Reason Flash Fans Should Be Thankful

Now in its fourth season, The Flash is the show where everything is possible, and the odds are if a character doesn't have superpowers yet, they will soon. We've seen that with Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), Jesse Quick (Violett Beane), and Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale). Even John Wesley Shipp, who started out as Henry Allen, became Jay Garrick and gained super-speed — which means Flash fans should be thankful for Joe West (Jesse L. Martin).

Martin, along with Tom Cavanagh, were the two familiar faces going into season one. And when you're doing a show about a superhero who is also a crime scene analyst, who better to make the cop portion of the show feel legit than the guy who was on Law & Order for almost 200 episodes? He made the police work Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) seem legit. He is also the only surviving 'father' of the triangle of dads that Barry had when the series started — his real dad, his adopted dad and his mentor. He lost Wells at the end of season one, Henry in season two… but Joe is still there for him.

And in many cases, Joe is not only the heart of the series as he watches his children deal with things way more powerful than he could ever fight, but he's also the realist. He's the guy who calls out what's gross, crazy, or just way too complicated. Joe is the everyman — he's the audience — and he is the character we are thankful keeps going.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.

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