According to TVLine, Jesse L. Martin has returned to The Flash.
Martin, who plays Detective Joe West in the hit CW series, has been dealing with a back injury. Eventually, this injury got to the point where he had to take a temporary leave of absence from the show. TVLine broke this news as well, stating that Martin had suffered the injury during the Summer hiatus between season four and season five. Jesse L. Martin will return to his role as Joe West later this season, more specifically in episode 15.
For anyone who has seen The Flash this season, it was apparent that something was off about Martin. In just about every scene he appeared in, Martin was seen either leaning against a wall or sitting down. Ever since season five episode “News Flash”, the show has been creating excuses for Joe’s absence.
Todd Helbing, showrunner for The Flash, has stated that there will be an on-screen explanation for Joe’s disappearance. Helbing told TVLine:
Jesse L. Martin is an amazing actor and has been a big part of The Flash’s success since its pilot episode. Season five has handled his brief departure extremely well considering the circumstances and thankfully, there are only a few more episodes until Martin returns. It’ll be interesting to see how Joe will be involved with this whole Cicada business, as well as the developments around Nora and the Reverse-Flash.
The Flash returns Tuesday, January 15th, on The CW at 8 PM EST.
