New series regular Chester P. Runk seems to be the only character on The Flash who knows the Post-Crisis timeline. While resetting the multiverse in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” should have changed everyone’s memories, the Arrowverse has played fast and loose with the Earth-Prime timeline. Most characters seem to know both or only remember their original Earth, so having someone who knows Earth-Prime is needed to help make sense of the new status quo.
As shown in “Grodd Friended Me”, Chester pretty clearly knows the new timeline. During Flash’s confrontation with the newly-villainous Pied Piper, Chester not only knows what Barry did to make him an enemy again, he reacts to it as a personal slight to Hartley Rathaway that Barry has no memory of this incident. This establishes that he knows the Earth-Prime timeline, possibly even being the only Team Flash member who does, giving him a solid place on the team.
From his appearance in the season 6 premiere of The Flash, Chester established himself as a tech genius. This new Post-Crisis knowledge sets him apart from just being a clone of Cisco, which he could easily come across as otherwise. While he’s new to the audience and presented as a wide-eyed recruit to Team Flash, there’s enough to suggest that he’s a somewhat established member of the team Post-Crisis.
So far, the Arrowverse shows haven’t dug that deep into what’s new Post-Crisis, putting more of an emphasis on continuing the stories they were already telling. The Flash has done the most to explore the new world, with new versions of old villains, Nash Wells’ hallucinations of his doppelgangers, and Cisco leaving temporarily to see what else is new on Earth-Prime. Even then, there’s only so much that the team (and the audience) knows about the new history of Earth-Prime.
That gives the writers the opportunity to do multiple things at once with Chester. His memory of the Post-Crisis timeline clearly sets him apart from being a second Cisco (or possibly his replacement). Not only does the team need this knowledge, but the audience does too. There’s not yet a clear picture of what’s new post-Crisis, even though it's having effects everywhere in the story. Even if it’s just small things, like why Hartley is a villain again, Chester can be the gateway to Earth-Prime’s past.
This would also help the audience accept him as part of the team more easily. So far, Chester's limited appearances have made it difficult to get to know him. Being in more episodes with a role beyond just “other tech guy” will help make him feel like a more integral part of the cast while filling the audience in on the new status quo for The Flash and the Arrowverse in general.
For having made such big changes, the fallout of “Crisis on Infinite Earths" hasn’t been fully explored in the Arrowverse yet. With Chester P. Runk knowing that timeline and becoming a bigger presence on The Flash, that can change quickly. He should be the guide to the Post-Crisis Arrowverse, helping to fill in what the characters and audience don’t yet know is different about this new world.
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