The Real Reason Rick Cosnett Left The Flash
"The Flash," featuring Grant Gustin's Barry Allen, is still going strong. Fans are currently watching Season 8 after a long journey since the series premiere back in October of 2014. Of course, that wasn't the first time we met Barry, as his official introduction was in fact during Season 2 of "Arrow" in the episode titled "The Scientist." From that moment on and during the first season of "The Flash," we're introduced to Barry's origin story and his process of getting a handle on the speed force.
"The Flash" quickly introduces us to characters involved in Barry's life from DC Comics. We meet his true love, Iris West (Candice Patton) almost immediately, along with her father Joe (Jesse L. Martin), Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), and even a character that would effectively draw the attention of many fans — Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett). Anyone who knows about The Flash from the comics knows that the last name Thawne coincides directly with Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. The Reverse Flash, one of Barry's deadliest enemies.
However, when we meet him, Eddie is a Central City detective along with Joe West, and he also happens to be Iris' true love. Eddie never appears as evil or sinister; actually, he's quite the opposite as he sacrifices himself to save the entire Flash team during the Season 1 finale from his descendant, Eobard. Cosnett's time was effectively finished on "The Flash" after that, as he left the show's regular cast. Here's what we know about Rick Cosnett's departure from "The Flash" at the end of Season 1.
Rick Cosnett left The Flash because it fit his character's storyline
Not too long after the Season 1 finale of "The Flash" in 2015, creator Andrew Kreisberg talked with Entertainment Weekly about the shocking events that occurred in the episode, the main one being, of course, the death and sacrifice of Eddie Thawne. When asked about the decision to kill Eddie off, Kreisberg explained that Eddie sacrificing himself to save Team Flash from Eobard Thawne was always a possibility during their creative process, although it wasn't always certain to happen. Kreisberg would continue to note that it was a terrible and difficult decision to make, and the intention was to show that ultimately, Barry isn't the only hero in the group, and it was a Thawne who ended up saving the day when they needed it most.
Along with explaining just how much he and the cast and crew love and respect Cosnett as a person and an actor, Kreisberg proceeded to relate Cosnett's character exit as something similar to Colin Donnell's Tommy Merlin or Caity Lotz's Sara Lance. Both would go on to appear again in "Arrow" in some fashion, and Kreisberg implied that for Eddie Thawne, it would be similar.
As fans of "The Flash" know, this proved to be very true as Cosnett's Eddie has appeared again on multiple occasions throughout the series. He most recently returned as a recurring character in Season 8 (via Deadline), and Cosnett himself has expressed his joy of returning to play Eddie again on Instagram.