Sue Dearbon Is Returning to 'The Flash' — What's She Been up To?

The Arrowverse seems to be growing larger every day. The last time we saw Sue Dearbon, portrayed by Natalie Dreyfuss, in The Flash, we were gearing up for her comic book romance with Ralph Dibny. But then a scandal involving Hartley Sawyer, who played Ralph, came to light, ending Ralph’s time on The Flash. So if Ralph is out, what happened to Sue Dearbon?

As Season 7 of The Flash progresses, many of us are also wondering if we’ll ever see dear Sue Dearbon again. Luckily, she's set to return to the screen in March 16's surprising episode. So, what has she been up to before her long-awaited return?

Sue was brought onto The Flash by Ralph Dibny, who was hired by her parents to search for her. We learned, however, that Sue was actually looking into Joseph Carver (Eric Nenninger) because she believed he was extorting her parents (and she was right). In her first episode, she had actually tricked Ralph into helping her rob a criminal.

The last time we saw Sue, however, she was wearing a Black Hole lapel. She explained to Ralph that to end Joseph’s extortion of her parents, she agreed to work with him, but she full intended to double-cross and kill him. A fight broke out between Eva McCulloch’s (Efrat Dor) team, Team Flash, and Joseph's security guards that ended with Eva framing Sue for Joseph’s murder. Sue and Ralph went on the run.

The sixth season of The Flash, like many other television series, was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this wasn’t the worst timing because it gave the writers the chance to add more to Sue Dearbon’s storyline, especially considering what happened with Hartley Sawyer. 

Hartley, who played Ralph, was under fire for some old racist and misogynist posts that resurfaced, and was consequently fired from The Flash. This led to some questions around Sue’s fate on the show going forward. Showrunner Eric Wallace told EW, "I called up Natalie and said, 'Don't worry, you're still going to be part of this season. We'll find a way.' Now, when I told her that, to be honest, I wasn't quite sure [how]. But I am happy to report we found a way."

"Now we can expand her character and give her more backstory and more growth in ways that we hadn't initially planned." he said. "[It's] really exciting to see how she's going to interact more with Team Flash once her name has been cleared — because we are going to clear her name obviously. But then what's the reason for her to come back to Central City? And that's going to be a bit of her story this season."

Luckily, Sue’s storyline was left completely open, and Ralph’s exit from the show gives Sue the chance to be her own independent character. We can’t wait to see how this unfolds.

Watch The Flash every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.