History
Linda Park is a second generation Korean American, born and reared in Chicago. She became an investigative reporter in Keystone City. Her first husband was Rick Shavers, an impulsive marriage made out of young love. Rick was a chemist working for Royal Industries. In total, their marriage lasted two weeks.
About a year later, Linda worked on a story about Porcupine Man and his altercation with Captain Cold. Captain Cold was then reformed and head of Golden Snowball Recoveries. Porcupine Man was in truth the Flash after a rather unfortunate series of events. Wally was wanted for the murder of several missing boys, but proved his innocence by finding and returning them home. Needless to say, they did not exactly hit it off. She hounded him about his involvement on their first meeting and he returned the favor on their second – criticizing her as a sensationalist only caring about her reviews.
She thought Wally West was brash and arrogant – she was right. Linda also saw something else in him, the spark of a better man. As their relationship developed, that spark became the flames of love. First they were friends, even helping each other out on cases. When Wally was duped by a cult, the Celestial Enlightenment Ranch, Linda helped him reveal the truth behind the religious group. When Linda was seemingly possessed by the spirit of an 800 year old Irish Bard named Seamus O’Relkig, Wally helped her. By the time that Seamus O’Relkig was revealed to a way for Kilg%re to lure Wally into thinking it was gone for good, the two of them had a bond that was difficult to break.
Of course, even after realizing how much they meant to each other, even after realizing that they thought of the other as more than just friends, it proved a little bit harder to move into a romantic relationship. Like many new couples, Wally and Linda had their share of awkward dates and boundary disputes. But their slow and steady progression in falling in love kept them going. Only after Wally’s house was demolished did they move in together, starting a new life in the suburbs of Keystone City.
When Wally was believed dead at the hands of Kobra, Linda Park was ready to go after each and every member in retribution. So strong was their bond that it enabled Wally (as Flash) to find his way home – regardless of time, dimension or location as they discovered when he pushed himself past his previous limits and joined the Speed Force. When Wally was seemingly killed when taking out Savitar, John Fox, a speedster from the future, arrived to take Wally’s place. Linda, grieving Wally, found comfort in John, to the point that they shared a mutual kiss. John even thought of her as his new girlfriend. However when Wally came back into the picture, John gracefully stepped down, knowing that Linda cared more for Wally.
It took some time for Wally to propose, partly because the two of them were content with their current relationship. On the same day he was going to ask Linda to marry him, Mercury Max discovered that Wally was supposed to die. Although Wally was saved due, Linda was seemingly killed by a supernatural entity called the Black Flash, which sent Wally West spiraling into depression. The Flash ultimately rescued Linda from within the Speed Force and they made plans to get married. Dick Grayson was the best man and Wally’s younger cousin Bart Allen was the ring bearer. Linda knew just the right way to handle Bart’s impulsive nature, making the wedding into the storyline of a video game.
As the wedding ceremony was taking place, Linda was kidnapped by Abra Kadabra and the world’s memory of her was erased. All except for one person. Due to Bart Allen’s time traveling origins, he is somewhat impervious to such changes. Unfortunately for Linda, the flash family treated Bart’s invisible friend Linda as if she was imaginary. Fortunately, the Flash sorted everything out and the couple married at last and Linda enrolled at Central City Medical College.
A short time later and pregnant with twins, Linda was attacked by Zoom and suffered a miscarriage. A time anomaly restored her pregnancy and she gave birth to twins Iris and Jai. After spending some time on an alien world, where Linda learned to become the twins’ doctors as well as being their mother, eventually they returned to Wally and Linda’s natural time. Despite her medical training, Linda struggles to keep pace with the twins’ growing abilities.
Other Media
Animation
Justice League Unlimited
Linda appeared in the episode “Flash and Substance.” She was shown covering the opening of the Flash Museum, and ended being rescued by the Flash after the Rogues attacked the building. She was shown harboring an obvious crush on the hero, and a running joke involved him being completely oblivious to this. She reappeared in issue #38 of the cartoon’s tie-in comic, where she successfully asked the Flash out on a date after nearly being killed by a jealous Giganta. She was voiced by Kim Mai Guest.
Live Action
The Flash (1990)
Linda makes a cameo appearance in the “Pilot” episode of the 90’s CBS series The Flash as an onscreen television reporter.
Arrow
In the end of the episode “Three Ghosts,” in which Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) makes a guest appearance, Linda Park is shown on Barry’s television. She is reporting on a particle accelerator created by S.T.A.R. Labs. Something goes wrong with the accelerator. There is a massive explosion, the TV goes out, and Barry ends up being hit by lightning, sending him flying into the chemicals stored on his shelf. She was played by Olivia Cheng.
The Flash
Linda Park appears in the spin-off series, played by Malese Jow. This version of the character is a sports reporter and a coworker of Iris West. She enters into a relationship with Barry Allen midway through the first season.
In season two, it is revealed that Linda Park has an Earth-2 counterpart. That Linda is a thief and is named Dr. Light. In episode five, her counterpart tries to kill her and take her place as a means of hiding from Zoom -this resulted in the death of Linda’s boss when he tried to intervene. In the following episode, grief-stricken by the events of the previous episode, Linda decides to help the Flash capture Zoom. She and Flash — who reveals his secret identity as a show of trust — stage an unsuccessful trap for Zoom. It is rather unclear whether Linda will continue as Dr. Light, but some lines of dialogue do foreshadow her return. It should be mentioned that Linda’s Earth-2 counterpart escapes from S.T.A.R. Labs and has not been seen since.
