(This is a very disorganized rant I apologize) I think a good example of "The Flash treats its female characters as disposable" and "The Flash consistently has cool ideas but executes them in the most boring way possible" intermingling is found in 2x16. TRAJECTORY/ELIZA HARMON SHOULD HAVE HAD A BIGGER ROLE!!! Holy shit she was so cool. A speedster scientist faster than not only Barry, but Zoom and Reverse Flash? Unabashedly ruthless and cruel to get her fix? Sign me up!!! We also see very little of her and Caitlin's friendship, which makes me sooo sad. I wish we'd gotten to see them interact, even just in that little bit in 2x1 where we see Caitlin at Mercury Labs. A lot of people complain about Caitlin's character being male-centered in the early seasons, and I think this could've quieted that noise just a bit. The female friendships are so underbaked and underutilized in the show, and this would've been a good chance to flesh out Caitlin's character AWAY from the group. it also would have just been FUN!!! We were already robbed of Iris/Caitlin scenes so perhaps I'm being greedy but come onnnnnn. Forget just being coworkers, in my mind Caitlin and Eliza were college roommates!!! They were cringey about science with each other!!! Also, I think having Eliza show up early in the show would have fleshed out Jay/Hunter/Zoom's character as well: 1. Eliza/Trajectory is a parallel to Hunter/Zoom. We actually do not get to see the "speed-junkie" side of Zoom all that much, despite Eobard Thawne's quips about it in the finale. I think seeing subtle signs of Eliza deteriorating and becoming more shallow in her interactions with other people as her dark side took over would have acted as a red herring to the viewer for Jay/Hunter's dark side AND allowed a looking glass into his headspace. Not only that, in a universe where Eliza was a character that showed up every few adventures like the Golden Glider, in the short time before his fake death I wonder if he would notice another Velocity-9 junkie? Food for thought! She also parallels Zoom in the way that she takes advantage of Caitlin's kindness in order to gain access to the speed serum. 2. Speaking of taking advantage of Caitlin....Eliza having a bigger part in the story would have allowed a glimpse into Jay/Hunter's true nature. I think cutting the scene where Caitlin opens up to Hunter about Ronnie was really unfortunate, because it is a rare instance where I actually think the writers properly communicated that Caitlin is STILL in a vulnerable position and that Hunter is taking advantage of her grief in order to further ingratiate himself with Team Flash (this is not to say he didn't have love for her, that is a whole other post waiting to happen). Point being, I think Eliza's character existing as a support for Caitlin OUTSIDE of Team Flash would have given the writers another way to breadcrumb that Hunter's intentions with her weren't exactly pure. It would also have allowed for really thoughtful commentary on how real life abusers often isolate their victims. Okay this is really disorganized and I repeat myself a few times. I just really like Trajectory (minus the cornrows. what are you doing white girl)
