‘The Flash’: COVID Diagnosis Changed Up Zoom/[Spoiler] Reunion

Did you hear the one about how COVID managed to slow down the fastest man alive?

Grant Gustin stopped by TVLine’s New York office on Tuesday to talk up the remainder of The Flash‘s final season (airing Wednesdays on The CW) as well as reflect on his 184-episode run as Barry Allen.

During the course of our upcoming, in-depth video Q&A, when asked about the slew of encores on tap for the Arrowverse series’ farewell run, Gustin revealed that one reunion — between him and series alum Teddy Sears, who reprises his role of Zoom — had to get reworked.

“Teddy is one of my favorite people, and his work [in one of the final episodes], I didn’t get to be a part of,” Gustin lamented. “Though I was originally supposed to.”

“I dodged COVID for three years,” Gustin continued, “and got it six days before we were supposed to wrap [the final season].” With The Flash‘s front man sidelined, “We had to readjust story and readjust production.”

As a result, Gustin wound up not getting to share screen time with Sears’ Zoom.

“There was one scene we were supposed to be in together, where I won’t say specifically who, but I was playing a different character in a scene with Teddy playing Zoom,” Gustin explained. “And that was one of the casualties of production changing.”

Yet despite Gustin’s unavailability, the Zoom and… whomever… scene was salvaged, albeit in a slightly different form.

“They didn’t double me,” Gustin said. Instead, “they ended up having to ‘conceptually’ change it up a bit.”

Stay tuned for TVLine’s multiple videos with Gustin, who talks about (literally) hanging up his supersuit for the final time… teases what’s ahead in the final run of episodes… sings his castmates’ praises… and entertainingly answers many TVLine reader questions.

Want scoop on The Flash, or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.