Jesse L. Martin is taking a medical leave of absence from The Flash

The Flash type TV Show network The CW genre Superhero Where to watch Close Streaming Options

Jesse L. Martin is stepping away from The Flash for a bit.

EW has confirmed that the Broadway vet, who plays Detective Joe West, is taking a medical leave of absence from the Greg Berlanti-produced superhero drama. According to TVLine, which broke the news Wednesday morning, Martin suffered a back injury during the hiatus, which is why he has been seated in almost all of his scenes this season.

“Jesse Martin is taking a medical leave of absence from The Flash. We wish him a full and speedy recovery and look forward to his return as Detective Joe West,” said the studio in a statement provided to EW.

Image zoom Katie Yu/The CW

As of right now, it’s unclear how long Martin will be off-screen; however, sources told TVLine that Joe’s absence will eventually be addressed on the show.

So far this season, Joe has mostly been confined to the West home, where we usually find him seated on one of the living room’s many pieces of furniture. However, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t had anything to do this season, which began on the day Joe and Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) brought their daughter newborn daughter Jenna home from the hospital. He’s been there to comfort and help Cecile and Iris (Candice Patton) as they deal with the new struggles of motherhood, and in episode 3, he even had a frightening encounter with season 5 big bad Cicada, who took him hostage in order to lure out Vibe (Carlos Valdes).

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.

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