- "Holy crap, I've made out with the Flash!"
- —Linda Park to Barry Allen after he revealed he is the Flash[src]
Linda Park is a sports journalist for Central City Picture News and a former news reporter for KSFZ Channel 8. She is also the ex-girlfriend/friend of Barry Allen and a good friend/former co-worker of Iris West. As part of a failed plan to capture "Zoom", Linda briefly masqueraded as Dr. Light, her Earth-2 counterpart.
Biography
Original multiverse
Working for KSFZ Channel 8
Linda reporting on the particle accelerator explosion.
Linda was reporting live from S.T.A.R. Labs right before they were going to turn their particle accelerator on. As they turned the accelerator on and it became unstable, she continued to report.[1]
Dating Barry Allen
After Barry Allen and an intoxicated Caitlin Snow sang "Summer Lovin'" at a bar, Linda approached Barry and complimented his singing. She then gave him her number and told him he could do whatever he wished with it. A couple days later, she was picked up by Barry from the Central City Picture News headquarters for a lunch date. Linda introduced herself to Iris West, CCPN's newest reporter, before she and Barry left.[2]
Linda meets Iris West.
Afterwards, Linda and Barry went on a dinner date to a Mexican restaurant, where they ate spicy tacos. Barry had little tolerance for them and admitted Linda to be "the spice champion of Central City." Afterwards, they had coffee at CC Jitters. At the end of that night, the couple shared a kiss, with Linda affirming another date.
On their third date, Linda cancelled Barry's plans to go out in favor of simply making out with him in his living room. Before they could go further, Barry briefly vibrated due to his increased heartbeat. Enjoying the feeling, Linda asked him to repeat it. Just then, Barry was called away and cut their encounter short.
After talking with Iris, Linda considered calling things off, believing Barry still had feelings for Iris. However, Barry to proved his dedication to her by threatening to eat a ghost pepper if she didn't agree to go on another date with him. Endeared and impressed, Linda agreed, declaring Barry to be "[her] spice champion of Central City."[3]
Later, Linda and Barry end up going out bowling. They start flirting and kiss when Iris spots them. They end up joining Iris and Eddie Thawne on a double date. Linda and Barry begin flirting again when Iris goes up to Barry and wipes a bit of sauce off his face. Iris and Barry's closeness agitates both Linda and Eddie.[4]
Barry met Linda at the CCPN headquarters and eventually decided to break up with her after he found out that Iris loves him (though his relationship didn't kick off due to his time travel).[5]
Meeting her Earth-2 counterpart
After Iris made the front page with her story on a duo of corrupt real estate agents, Linda came to congratulate her.[6]
Later, she rejected Eric Larkin's request to interview a football player, as the latter abuses steroids and hit his wife.[7]
Linda meets her Earth-2 counterpart.
During one of her night shifts at CCPN, a super villain named Dr. Light attacked her workplace and everyone escaped except for her, Iris, and Eric. The villain told Linda of her plan to kill her and take over her life. Eric tried to stop her but Dr. Light accidentally killed him in the process. Iris shot off Dr. Light's mask revealing herself to look exactly like Linda, who escaped shortly after. Linda was shaken that someone who looks like her wanted to kill her and murdered her boss, but was thankful for Iris' intervention. She was taken into police custody by Patty Spivot until the Flash captures her villainous counterpart.[7]
Linda Park posing as Dr. Light.
After Dr. Light escaped from the The Pipeline by hijacking the security systems, Barry devised a plan to have Linda pose as Dr. Light and pretend to kill The Flash in an effort to trick Zoom into emerging from the breach where he could be captured by the team. Donning Dr. Light's suit, helmet and gloves created by Cisco Ramon to simulate Light's powers, she was trained to practice her accuracy by shooting cardboard cutouts of The Flash. Having doubts about her abilities to pull off the plan, Barry visited her and motivated her that she could do it and that he believed in her, before removing his mask and revealing himself as The Flash, leaving her stunned. Flash and "Dr. Light" managed to successfully pull off acting like Light and removed Barry's emblem, throwing it through the breach. However, Zoom, onto their plan, failed to show up.
Zoom takes Linda Park.
Later that night at CCPN, Linda talked with Iris about the situation before preparing to leave. Just as she exited, Linda was confronted by Zoom, much to her horror, who kidnapped her. Linda was taken to the roof of S.T.A.R. Labs to lure out The Flash. Zoom tossed her tossed off but Barry rotated his arms to create wind tunnels and slow Linda's fall, allowing him to catch her. She was told to run as Barry fought the evil speedster.
To protect herself from Zoom and Dr. Light, Linda relocated to Coast City to stay with some friends of hers for the time being.[8]
Dominator invasion
Likely following Zoom's defeat, Linda returned to Central City and CCPN. In December 2016, she wrote an article on the Dominator invasion, which was thwarted by Team Flash and their new allies.[9]
Anti-Monitor Crisis
During the Anti-Monitor Crisis, Linda as well as everyone in the multiverse except for the seven Paragons, was killed in an antimatter wave by the Anti-Monitor on December 10, 2019,[10] only to be restored a month later, after the Paragons and the Spectre created a new universe.[11]
New multiverse
Linda still reported on S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator being turned on in the new universe.[12]
Personality
Linda is proven to be outgoing, she is also very fast in relationships and dating as she was already making out with Barry on their second date as well as trying to seduce him almost right off the bat. When Barry had made plans for them to go out, Linda is also proven to be very emotionally mature and understanding, accepting that Barry's romantic feelings are still towards Iris and ultimately she had a very civil and friendly break-up with him.
Linda is also now good friends with Iris and has been proven to highly respect her as a writer. She is also proven to be very brave as she agreed to the Flash's plan for her to masquerade as her Earth-2 counterpart to draw out Zoom, despite the risk.
Abilities
- Journalism: Linda is a sports journalist for Central City Picture News,[2] and former news reporter for KSFZ Channel 8.[1]
Equipment
Former equipment
- Dr. Light suit: After Dr. Light escaped S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry Allen devised a plan for Linda to briefly masquerade as Dr. Light wearing her suit.[8]
Appearances
Arrow
Season 2
- "Three Ghosts" (television)
Season 5
- "Second Chances" (flashbacks; television)
The Flash
Season 1
Season 2
Season 6
|
Books
Trivia
Behind the scenes
- In the DC comics, Linda Park is the girlfriend and later wife of Wally West, the third Flash.
- Linda Park was originally simply an Easter egg in the Arrow episode, "Three Ghosts". Portrayed by Olivia Cheng, she was seen on Barry Allen's Central City Police Department laboratory television, reporting on the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator disaster. Since that scene was crucial to the plot of "Pilot", Cheng's Arrow scenes were reprised in that initial episode of The Flash. Technically then, Cheng never filmed scenes specifically for The Flash. As Season 1 progressed, the producers decided to bring back the character as the fourth leg of the "love rectangle" also involving Barry, Iris West, and Eddie Thawne. This time, the character wasn't a television reporter, but instead a print sports reporter. According to actor Malese Jow in a February 2015 interview, the casting and character change was something "we don't really clarify".[13]
- Furthermore, in the appearances of Linda Park in the Arrow Season 5 episode "Second Chances" and The Flash Season 6 episode "A Girl Named Sue", she was once again portrayed by Olivia Cheng, despite the recast. However, in the latter case this is because it was once again reused footage from the original Arrow episode.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Three Ghosts"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Crazy for You"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The Nuclear Man"
- ↑ "Out of Time"
- ↑ "Rogue Time"
- ↑ "Family of Rogues"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "The Darkness and the Light"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Enter Zoom"
- ↑ Supergirl: The Secret Files of Kara Danvers
- ↑ "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three"
- ↑ "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four"
- ↑ "A Girl Named Sue"
- ↑ "Barry Allen, Meet Linda Park! 'The Flash' Star on Their Intriguing New Romance" - Entertainment Tonight
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