Joe West (''The Flash'')

Joe West
The Flash character
First appearance "Pilot" (2014)
Created by Geoff Johns
Greg Berlanti
Andrew Kreisberg
Portrayed by Jesse L. Martin
Information
Full name Joseph West
Occupation Police detective
Affiliation Team Flash
Spouse(s) Francine West (deceased)
Significant other(s) Cecile Horton
Children Iris West
Wally West
Jenna West
Nationality American

Joe West is a fictional character portrayed by Jesse L. Martin in the CW television series The Flash. Created by Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, the character was introduced in the pilot episode. He is the foster father (later father-in-law) of protagonist Barry Allen / Flash, father of Iris West, Wally West, and Jenna West, and future maternal grandfather of Nora West-Allen. Joe works at the Central City Police Department as a detective, heading its metahuman task force, and aids Barry in keeping the city safe from superpowered and dangerous criminals.

Fictional character biography

Central City police detective Joe West originally was married to Francine with whom they had their daughter Iris. During their marriage, Francine developed a drug addiction that Joe failed to recognize early on, and despite his attempts to help, Francine left Joe when Iris was a child. Joe eventually lost track of Francine and told Iris that Francine had died to spare pain, since Iris had little memory of the woman. Despite his wife's abandonment from her family, Joe did not file for divorce from her. Unbeknownst to Joe, Francine gave birth to their son Wally after leaving the family. The Wests were neighbors to the Allen family: Henry, Nora and their son Barry. After Nora was murdered and Henry tried and convicted of the crime, Joe became Barry's legal guardian, taking the boy in to live with him and Iris. Joe provided Barry a stable, loving home and family environment; Joe to this day regards Barry as his son, and the adult Barry considers Joe to be just as much his father as Henry. Joe remained convinced Henry killed Nora, despite Barry's insistencheof witnessing mysterious figures fighting that night and his pursuit of other claims of metahuman activities to establish Henry's innocence.

In season one, Joe realizes that Barry may have been right after the S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator explodes and transforms various individuals in the city into metahumans (including Barry). He aids in Barry's crime-fighting efforts as the costumed speedster known as the Flash, and agrees to help exonerate Henry. Joe becomes one of the few who knows Barry's secret early on, alongside Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon.[1] In addition to his partner Eddie Thawne dating Iris, he insists Barry not reveal the secret for Iris' safety. Joe later secretly investigates S.T.A.R. Labs director Harrison Wells.[2] Joe, Barry, Caitlin and Cisco ultimately discover Wells' true identity is the time-travelling speedster Eobard Thawne who murdered Nora.[3] Thawne later seemingly ceases to exist when Eddie, his ancestor, shoots himself dead.[4]

In season two, Joe becomes head of C.C.P.D.'s metahuman task-force, working with Cisco and Patty Spivot.[5] He relies on Cisco's inventions to deal with superhuman criminals and becomes a mentor to the two. Joe later struggles with his disintegrated marriage with Francine after she resurfaces, leads him to face widowhood after learning that she is dying. Joe ultimately finds out about his son Wally through Iris after she discovers her brother's existence. Once they are introduced, their connection is uneasy; Joe is unsure of how to be a father to Wally, and Wally is somewhat resentful that his detective father was not part of his life. But after the speedster Hunter Zolomon kidnaps Wally, father and son become close. Joe is proud of Wally's aptitude in mechanical engineering and strong need to help others. After Wally is exposed to Harry Wells' dark matter experiment,[6] Joe suspects that his son has become a metahuman.[7]

At the end of season two, after defeating Zolomon, Barry creates an alternate timeline[8] later dubbed "Flashpoint". In the season three premiere, Barry encounters a radically different version of Joe.[9] Changes to Joe's life are made even after the timeline is reset, primarily that he and Iris are not speaking because Joe never said that Francine was alive. However, they settle matters after Barry reveals the timeline changes.[10] Joe fears for Wally's life after discovering Wally's dreams as Kid Flash and that he was badly injured in Flashpoint. After Wally becomes a speedster, however, Joe eventually accepts his son's destiny thanks to H.R. Wells. He begins to move on from his widowhood by dating district attorney Cecile Horton.

In season four, Joe learns that Cecile is pregnant with his child.[11] Having a child young enough to be their grandchild cause him and Cecile to experience a midlife crisis that the couple eventually overcome together. When Barry is incarcerated at Iron Heights, Joe does everything he can to help prove Barry's innocence. When Cecile goes into labor during Barry's final battle with Clifford DeVoe, Joe stays by Cecile as Caitlin helps to deliver their child; he and Cecile later name their newborn daughter Jenna. He later talks to Wally at the party that follows, being proud of his son's new confidence, and be delightful with Jenna's birth. His family also meets another speedster: Nora West-Allen, Barry and Iris' future daughter and therefore Joe's yet-to-be born granddaughter.[12]

Other versions

In season two, Barry meets Joe's Earth-2 doppelgänger Joseph West, a lounge singer who does not share a father-son bond with that Earth's Barry, who is married to Joseph's daughter Iris, a police captain. Joseph is killed when Deathstorm hurls an energy blast at him.[13]

In the Flashpoint timeline of season three, Joe is an alcoholic, uncommitted to his job and preferring to stay home and drink. He is estranged from both of his children and is unaware that Wally is secretly the Flash.[9] In an alternate 2024, Joe is shown to still be grieving Iris' death and Wally's paralysis and catatonia, both caused by Savitar.[14]

In a simulated reality created by the Music Meister in the episode "Duet," a gangster named Digsy Foss resembles Joe and is a rival of "Cutter" Moran (who has the likeness of Malcolm Merlyn). In addition, he has an unnamed husband who looks like Martin Stein.[15][16]

Development

Executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, and DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns, created the character of Joe West for the CW series The Flash. In January 2014, Jesse L. Martin was cast in the role, described as "an honest, blue-collar cop who is a surrogate father to Barry", and the biological father of Iris West.[17] Although Barry's foster father in the comics is Darryl Frye,[18] and Iris' father is William West (as seen in the New 52),[19] Joe West is an original creation for the TV series.[20] However, like Iris' family in the comics since the launch of the New 52, he and Iris were written as African-American for the TV series.[21] Regarding Joe's relationship with Barry, Martin said, "When something is bothering [Barry], he will come to [Joe]. He won't go to Harrison Wells to talk about his real life. He comes to [Joe]."[22]

Critical reception

Reviewing the pilot episode of The Flash, IGN's Jesse Schedeen praised the dynamic between Joe and Barry, calling it "solid".[23] In 2015, Leah Thomas of Bustle ranked Joe fifth in her list of "original characters who help complete DC Comics' TV Universe".[20] Irina Curovic of Comic Book Resources felt that Joe lacked a clear purpose in season 3 since, unlike the previous two seasons where he was an important ally for Barry in catching criminals, "the third season mostly used Joe for the purposes of exposition". She felt that for this reason, the series no longer needed him.[24] Screen Rant's Jason Berman ranked Martin eighth on his 2016 list "20 Best Actors in the Arrowverse".[25] The following year, Katerina Daley of the same website included Joe in her list "7 Best (And 8 Worst) Arrowverse Characters", saying, "One of the most loving and committed fathers on television right now, Joe West portrayed with beautiful conviction by the esteemed Jesse L. Martin, is everything that a father should be."[26]

Other appearances

Martin reprised his role in the Supergirl episode of the four-part crossover event "Crisis on Earth-X".[27] When he and Cecile are attending Barry and Iris' wedding, it is suddenly interrupted by invaders from Nazi-dominated Earth-X led by Dark Arrow and his Kryptonian wife Overgirl. While Barry and his allies fight the invaders, Wally takes Joe and Cecile to safety.[28] While Joe does not appear in the remaining three episodes of the crossover which take place across Arrow,[29] The Flash[30] and Legends of Tomorrow,[31] after the deaths of Dark Arrow and Overgirl in the Legends of Tomorrow episode, John Diggle officiates Barry and Iris' wedding, therefore making Joe the father-in-law of Barry.[32]

References

  1. ↑ "Pilot". The Flash. Season 1. Episode 1. October 7, 2014. The CW.
  2. ↑ "The Flash Is Born". The Flash. Season 1. Episode 6. November 8, 2014. The CW.
  3. ↑ "Who Is Harrison Wells?". The Flash. Season 1. Episode 19. April 21, 2015. The CW.
  4. ↑ "Fast Enough". The Flash. Season 1. Episode 23. May 19, 2015. The CW.
  5. ↑ "The Man Who Saved Central City". The Flash. Season 2. Episode 1. October 6, 2015. The CW.
  6. ↑ "Rupture". The Flash. Season 2. Episode 20. May 3, 2016. The CW.
  7. ↑ "The Runaway Dinosaur". The Flash. Season 2. Episode 21. May 10, 2016. The CW.
  8. ↑ "The Race of His Life". The Flash. Season 2. Episode 23. May 24, 2016. The CW.
  9. 1 2 "Flashpoint". The Flash. Season 3. Episode 1. October 4, 2016. The CW.
  10. ↑ "Paradox". The Flash. Season 3. Episode 2. October 11, 2016. The CW.
  11. ↑ "Luck Be a Lady". The Flash. Season 4. Episode 3. October 24, 2017. The CW.
  12. ↑ "We Are the Flash". The Flash. Season 4. Episode 23. May 22, 2018. The CW.
  13. ↑ Trumbore, Dave (February 9, 2016). "'The Flash' Recap: "Welcome to Earth-2" – It's Zoom's World and We're Just Living In It". Collider. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  14. ↑ "The Once and Future Flash". The Flash. Season 3. Episode 19. April 25, 2017. The CW.
  15. ↑ Doviak, Scott Von (March 21, 2017). "A musical crossover with Supergirl is the cure for what ails The Flash". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on March 3, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Duet". The Flash. Season 3. Episode 17. March 21, 2017. The CW.
  17. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (January 21, 2014). "CW's 'Flash' Adds Jesse L. Martin". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 22, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  18. ↑ Holmes, Adam (July 14, 2016). "7 Important Flash Characters Who Should Show Up In The Upcoming Movie". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  19. ↑ Rogers, Vaneta (March 14, 2014). "Analyzing DC's Clues About New 52 WALLY WEST — Young? Iris' Nephew? Black?". Newsarama. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  20. 1 2 Thomas, Leah (March 11, 2015). "Ranking The Original 'Flash' & 'Arrow' Characters". Bustle. Archived from the original on June 6, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  21. ↑ Betancourt, David (August 6, 2015). "Now that Wally West is cast, questions about new 'Flash' season hurtle toward us". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  22. ↑ Gelman, Vlada (October 14, 2014). "The Flash's Jesse L. Martin Talks Joe vs. S.T.A.R. Labs, the Metahuman Threat". TVLine. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  23. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse (September 4, 2014). "The Flash: "Pilot" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  24. ↑ Curovic, Irina (September 7, 2017). "8 Useless Arrowverse Characters We Want Gone (And 7 We Desperately Want Back)". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  25. ↑ Berman, Jason (September 10, 2016). "20 Best Actors In The Arrowverse". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  26. ↑ Daley, Katerina (November 9, 2017). "7 Best (And 8 Worst) Arrowverse Characters". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  27. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse (November 28, 2017). "Supergirl: "Crisis on Earth X, Part 1" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 1". Supergirl. Season 3. Episode 8. November 27, 2017. The CW.
  29. ↑ "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 2". Arrow. Season 6. Episode 8. November 27, 2017. The CW.
  30. ↑ "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 3". The Flash. Season 4. Episode 8. November 28, 2017. The CW.
  31. ↑ "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4". Legends of Tomorrow. Season 3. Episode 8. November 28, 2017. The CW.
  32. ↑ MacDonald, Lindsay (November 28, 2017). "Wedding Bells Were Ringing in the Arrowverse Crossover Finale". TV Guide. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
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