The Flash Season 3, Episode 20: I Know Who You Are

Sorry this review is so late, but it was unavoidable. For the past three years I've been watching The Flash over the air on my local The CW station, Channel 7. This past Tuesday I sat down to watch it, and Channel 7 was just... gone.

All the other channels were still there, but for some reason that one wouldn't come in. I have this stupid indoor antennae that looks like a black plastic placemat, and I moved it all over the room trying to pick up the signal, but no dice. I even called the station to see if they were having technical difficulties, and they had no idea what I was talking about. 

Apparently sometime in the past week, someone erected a fifty story, lead-lined building between my house and the Channel 7 broadcast tower. So I didn't get to watch The Flash on Tuesday, and had to scramble to find an alternate source, hence the delay. I guess I'm gonna have to invest in a bigger and better antennae. Or move to a new house with better reception.

This week on The Flash, we finally, at long freaking last, learn the true identity of Savitar. It's about goddamned time too! I like mysteries as much as the next person, but this one was dragged out wayyyy too long. As I said last week, I hoped they revealed the secret soon, because I was about five seconds away from no longer giving a sh*t.

MASSIVE SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON, INCLUDING DISCUSSIONS OF SAVITAR'S TRUE IDENTITY! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Welp, I've been trying to guess Savitar's identity for weeks now, and named virtually everyone on the show as a possibility, including Barry. I'm not gonna say I called it though, because every week my choice of prime suspect would change. First I was sure it would be Wally, then I started suspecting HR, then Barry, Julian and even Eddie Thawne and Ronnie Raymond!

The writers laid the clues right out in the open for us all season. The biggest one of course came back in The Wrath Of Savitar. In that episode, Julian channeled Savitar, who spelled out a series of prophecies for the Gang, and ended with the somewhat cryptic statement, "I am the Future Flash!" 

There was much online debate over what Savitar actually meant here. Was he saying, "I am the future, Flash" with a big ol' comma? Or was he declaring his identity by saying, "I AM THE FUTURE FLASH!" We now know it was the latter. This is why punctuation is important, kids!

I'm not particularly crazy about the Barry As Savitar revelation, especially since it doesn't make any sense (more on that in a bit). I think Eddie Thawne would have been a much better candidate, and it would have been a cool way to bring him back to the show. Ah well.

The idea of introducing yet another Future Barry after we just met Future Barry in 2024 a couple weeks ago is a bit silly, and more than a little confusing. I guess this version is Future Future Barry?

The way Cecile suddenly received so much prominence this week, I was half expecting her to climb out of the Savitar armor at the end! That didn't happen of course, but I'm convinced the writers were using her as a last-ditch red herring.

Actually I think there's another reason why the show's desperately trying to remind us that Cecile exists. I'm calling it right now— she's going to get the spear through the heart instead of Iris in the season finale. Check back and see if I'm right.

I like this Killer Frost story arc, as she's one of the coolest (heh) and most kick-ass villains the show's ever had. The writers seem reluctant to let her cut loose and actually kill though. No doubt because that would taint the legacy of the Caitlin Snow character and prevent her from returning to Team Flash. 

I actually wouldn't mind seeing Killer Frost become the Big Bad of Season 4, but I know it'll never happen. The writers aren't that bold, and will no doubt restore Caitlin sometime in the season finale.

This week we're introduced to brand new character Tracy, er, Brand. It seems awfully late in the season to be adding new characters to the show, but what do I know?

On the other hand, what if the sudden appearance of Tracy Brand means the writers are grooming her as Caitlin's replacement, and Killer Frost is here to stay? That would mean HR is probably going to stick around too. That would be a first, as so far each season of the series has featured a completely different version of Harrison Wells.

Man, I swear, eighty percent of this week's budget must have gone toward writing pep talks for the characters. I counted at least five of them. HR gives Tracy Brand two, possibly three, Barry gives one to Joe and Julian gives a big "I believe in you, mate" to Cisco. It's grating enough when we get the requisite one pep talk each week, but five in the same episode is intolerable.

FINAL SPOILER WARNING!

The Plot:
We begin with Barry confronting Savitar on a deserted street as he says, "I know who you are!" Houston, we have a title!

But because the writers need to drag this mystery out as long as humanly possible, we then cut back to a few hours earlier. Joe and Cecile return from a run. Cecile's training for a marathon, and talks about needing to shave thirty seconds off her time, in an effort to make us wonder if SHE'S really Savitar. Joe makes a joke, and she casually says she loves him, which freaks him out. Fortunately for him he gets a call from Team Flash, and heads for STAR Labs.

At STAR, Barry fills the Gang in on his trip to the future last week. He tells them about Tracy Brand, a scientist who will eventually invent a way to trap Savitar in the Speed Force, and says they need to find her pronto.

Barry, Cisco and HR track Tracy down at Central City University. She's nothing like they expected, as she's scatterbrained, clumsy and disorganized. She says the university rejected her work, and Barry gives her Patented The CW Pep Talk #1, telling her not to let the "naysayers" get her down, as she's brilliant. He mentions her paper on "relativistic quantum mechanics and its application to inter-spatial theory to manipulate matter on a subatomic level," and quickly realizes that was a mistake, as she hasn't published it yet.

Before he can explain, Killer Frost appears and fires a deadly icicle at Tracy. Barry's able to shove her out of the way in time, and after a brief battle, Killer Frost leaves. Barry takes Tracy to CCPD to file a police report, though I can't for the life of me understand why. Barry tries to get her to stay at the station for her own protection, but she refuses and leaves. At the station, Cecile talks with Joe and says she's worried that confessing her love freaked him out.

Killer Frost meets with Savitar, who says she's not living up to her name. He orders her to kill Tracy Brand— or else.

Tracy goes to Jitters, and HR just happens to show up to keep an eye on her. He impresses her with his knowledge of her theoretical work (with the help of Cisco and Julian, who are feeding him info through an earpiece, Cyrano de Bergerac-style. Barry and Joe are also staking out Jitters, to protect Tracy from Killer Frost. Joe frets about bringing Cecile into the Team Flash fold, and Barry gives him Patented The CW Pep Talk #2, saying he needs to tell her soon or risk losing her.

Tracy tells HR that she's been studying speedsters, and she thinks they draw their powers from some energy source. HR says, "Like a Speed Force?" Tracy says that's exactly right, and the two begin hitting it off. HR takes a sip of his coffee, and sees it's frozen.

They rush outside, which seems like a bad idea, as Killer Frost appears and fires another icicle at Tracy. Barry saves her again, and Killer Frost forms an ice slide to zoom away, which may be the coolest thing this show's ever done. Barry chases her through the city, but apparently Killer Frost is somehow now at least as fast as he is, if not faster.

Barry radios Cisco and says he's going to try and herd Killer Frost toward him, and to be ready to blast her with a vibe. As she heads toward Cisco, he starts to vibe her, but hesitates. She fires a blast of ice at him. Barry manages to knock him out of the way, but is hit by the ice blast and falls down a staircase into the subway. Killer Frost follows, stabs him in the leg with an icicle and gets away.

Back at STAR Labs, Team Flash decides they have no other choice and bring Tracy in. They tell her everything that's going on, and— how she's destined to invent a way to trap Savitar inside the Speed Force, and that they need her to do it like, right now, in order to save Iris. She flees from the building in a panic, and rightly so.

Julian asks Cisco why he didn't vibe Killer Frost and stop her when he had the chance. He says she's his best friend, and he's afraid of accidentally killing her. Barry asks Joe if he's told Cecile about Team Flash yet. Joe says no, as she's the only thing in his life that's still normal. 

HR tracks down Tracy, who's sitting in front of a statue of Galileo at the university. He brings her another cup of her favorite coffee, and instead of calling the police on this creeper who keeps following her around, she sits and talks with him. She says the revelation about her future was too much for her, and she needed time to clear her head. HR gives her Patented The CW Pep Talk #3, saying he "believes in her." Oy. The return to STAR Labs.

Meanwhile, Cecile visits Joe at his house to talk about what happened earlier in the day. Joe tells her his life is "really complicated" right now, and thinks they should stop seeing one another (!). Wow, I thought Barry was an idiot when it came to his love life, but Joe just gave him a serious run for his money. Ger it? Run for his money? Eh? Cecile's understandably upset and angrily leaves, which I'm sure was meant to make us think she's running off to put on her Savitar suit.

A second after Cecile leaves, there's a knock on Joe's door. He opens it and sees Killer Frost holding a deadly sharp icicle at Cecile's throat. Again with the icicles! She gives him an address, and tells him to bring Tracy there or she'll kill Cecile.

Back at STAR Labs, Julian gives Cisco Patented The CW Pep Talk #4, saying he believes in Cisco, and is confident he can stop Killer Frost without killing her.

HR asks Tracy if she can help them with something dangerous. Cut to yet another abandoned warehouse somewhere in Central City, as the Flash and Joe wander in with Tracy. They see Cecile tied to a chair, as Killer Frost appears and tells them to hand over Tracy. 

Barry tells her she doesn't have to do this, going on and on about how they're family. Killer Frost mocks him, saying every word a split second before he does. When Barry asks how she's doing that, Killer Frost says Savitar told her everything he'd say. She says, "You two are more alike than you know." Hmm...

Killer Frost also says she knows about the explosives that Team Flash SOMEHOW hid in the rafters, where Cisco is hiding. She blasts the explosives, setting them off. Cisco vibes himself out of harm's way just in time. Killer Frost shoots an ice blast at Joe, and Barry jumps in front of him to absorb it. He's encased in ice and incapacitated.

She then turns her attention to Cisco and attacks him. They fire their blasts at one another, which are somehow evenly matched for a while. Finally Cisco's had enough and turns up his power to eleven, blasting Killer Frost across the room and knocking her out. He takes a sample of her blood so Julian can synthesize a cure in the season finale. Suddenly Savitar appears, scoops up the unconscious Killer Frost, and leaves. Um... why didn't he just go ahead and kill Tracy while he was at it?

Back at STAR Labs, Julian takes the blood sample and says he may be able to synthesize a cure in the season finale. HR flirts with Tracy some more. She says she thinks Savitar wears protective armor because he needs it to protect himself from the enormous energies his extra super speed generates. She says she thinks she can alter the suit to trap him within the Speed Force. HR gives her Patented The CW Pep Talk #5 and says he knew she was a genius all along.

Joe and Cecile talk at the CCPD. He admits he tried to end their relationship because he didn't want her involved with all the Team Flash weirdness. He says that from now on there'll be no more lies between them, and tells her everything— including Barry and Wally's secret identities!!! Hey, why not? The whole city already knows, so what's one more person?

Joe goes home, where Barry and Iris are relaxing on the couch. Wally returns from his Earth-3 booty call, and tells them Jesse says hi. Joe informs them that he told Cecile everything, because "Love's the only thing we got in this world, and who knows what we'd become if we didn't have it?" For some reason, this causes Barry to start having flashbacks to every time he's encountered Savitar all season. 

He sees Savitar saying, "You did this to me, Barry" and "I created myself." He sees Killer Frost saying, "Savitar told me everything you'd say. You two are more alike than you realize. He's always one step ahead of you." He sees Cisco saying, "This wasn't just brushing up on days to come. This was precise. Like Savitar was there." And he sees Julian channeling Savitar, saying, "I am the future Flash."

Barry excuses himself and zooms out of the house, as we catch up to the beginning of the episode. He confronts Savitar on a deserted street and says, "I know who you are!" Savitar kneels down and his suit opens up. A future version of Barry Allen steps out, the right side of his face horribly scarred to indicate he's eeeeevil. He says, "Like I told you from the beginning... I am the Future Flash."

Thoughts:
• It's tough to write a time travel story that isn't riddled with plot holes and actually makes sense. For example, last week Barry traveled seven years in the future, and encountered his older self. When Present Barry asked this Future Barry who Savitar was, he said he didn't know, as he still hadn't found out. So far, so good.

However, this week we see that Present Barry figures out that Savitar is really a future evil version of himself. If 2017 Barry knows Savitar's identity, then 2024 Barry should know it as well.

I suppose you could blame this massive plot hole on Barry's constant screwing with the timeline. Maybe his actions erased that 2024 version of himself that didn't know anything. But if that's true, then 2024 Barry wouldn't have been able to give 2017 Barry info about Tracy Brand, so we're right back where we started.

See? I told you writing coherent and logical time travel stories is hard!

• Another time glitch: Savitar's from the future, so he knows Tracy Brand is the person who will eventually invent the method that traps him forever in the Speed Force. So why is he just now deciding she has to be eliminated? Why didn't he killer her years ago, before the Flash became a threat to him? Why not kill her when she was a kid? Or wipe out her parents and prevent her from ever being born?

Answer: Because the writers just now thought of Tracy Brand and the Speed Force Prison idea. 

• Another missed opportunity for Savitar— at the end of the episode, Barry, Cisco, Tracy, Joe and Cecile are all standing around, looking down at the unconscious form of Killer Frost. Savitar rushes in, and even though he wants to kill Tracy and she's right there, he leaves her alone as he scoops up Killer Frost and zooms away.

Um... why the hell didn't he take one ten millionth of a second to kill Tracy before making off with Killer Frost? And why the hell is he sending Killer Frost after her in the first place, instead of killing her himself? To give Killer Frost more screen time?

And while we're at it, why is Savitar waiting until a specific date in May to kill Iris? Now that Barry knows about this deadline, he's doing everything in his power to stop it. Why doesn't Savitar just kill her now, while no one's expecting it and their guards are down?

The answer is that the writers have backed themselves into a corner here, with no good way out. They've made Savitar too powerful. He's faster than Barry and Wally combined, and could easily snap the necks of everyone in Central City in between blinks. The writers can't think of a good reason why he wouldn't just do that, so they just kind of rush past it and hope we don't think about it too much either.

• At STAR Labs, Julian's angry, as he feels Team Flash isn't doing everything in their power to find Caitlin/Killer Frost. He says, "Right, so what is Wally doing swanning off to Earth-3 to be with his girlfriend?"

That's a good point, Julian. Isn't there kind of a crisis going on, what with Savitar and Killer Frost being on the loose and all? Plus wouldn't he maybe want to spend as much time as possible with his sister, before her potential death in May? Is this really the best time for an interdimensional booty call? Because obviously that's why he went, right?

I could almost understand this if there was some kind of scheduling conflict, and actor Keiynan Lonsdale was unavailable for filming and needed to be hastily written out this week. But later on he pops up at the end of the episode! Weird.

• Back in Shade, the Gang decided to tell HR that he has the same face as wanted murderer Harrison Wells here on Earth-1. This means that HR can't ever leave STAR Labs, or he'll be arrested on the spot. Instead of killing Cisco and the Gang for putting him in such an unpleasant situation, HR simply uses some kind of Earth-19 morphing tech to alter his face, so he can safely move about on Earth-1. I know, it's kind of confusing.

So when HR starts flirting with Tracy, which face is she seeing? Is she seeing his morphed face, or his Harrison Wells murderer face?

Now that I think about it, this morphing face deal caused a huge plot hole a couple weeks ago in The Once And Future Flash. In that episode, we see HR in the year 2024, reading from his latest romance novel to a crowd of adoring MILFs (well, that's what they are). 

On the back of the dust jacket, we see a publicity photo of HR's true face. So... did no one in 2024 notice that this writer has the exact same name and face as a wanted killer? There's no statute of limitations on murder, so Harrison Wells would still be wanted even in 2024. Whoops!

I have a feeling the writers hoped we'd all forgotten about the whole "morphing face" thing by now.

• Apparently Central City University has a Theoretical Physics program. I dunno just how big Central City is, but I get the impression it's a medium-sized place, with a population of well under a million. Probably about the size of Indianapolis or Louisville. I will let the reader decide if a city of that size would have a school with such an advanced program.

• After Killer Frost attacks Tracy for the first time, we immediately cut to the CCPD. There Tracy apparently files a report, and describes Killer Frost to a police sketch artist.

Whose idea was THAT? Barry and Joe know all too well what Killer Frost looks like and who she is. So why go through the motion of involving a sketch artist? Or filing a police report, for that matter.

I guess maybe Tracy insisted on doing both, since that's standard procedure when someone tries to kill you? It still doesn't make much sense in the context of the episode though.

And how much do you want to bet that the "police artist" was a penciller at DC Comics?

• I've been pretty hard on The Flash costume designers this season, and with good reason. More often than not, they stick an actor in a tight-fitting, generic black leather suit and call it a day. Their costumes give new meaning to the word uninspired.

Credit where credit's due, they finally stepped up and gave Killer Frost a, well, killer looking outfit. Yeah, it's still leather, but it's kind of dark blue this time, and they broke up the usual catsuit with a short skirt and thigh boots. Kudos! See, guys? I knew you could do it if you stopped playing with your phones long enough to do some actual work.

• Killer Frost's "ice ramps" may be the coolest thing I've ever seen in a live action superhero TV show or movie. Lord knows how the miles-long ramps stay suspended in the air without breaking apart, but it was still pretty darned awesome.

One small nitpick here— after Killer Frost takes off on her ice ramp, Barry chases after her. She actually manages to outrun him for a while. So that has to mean when she's skating along on her ramps, she's actually faster than the Flash, right?

Of course she borrowed this mode of transportation from Iceman of Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends fame, but it was still pretty awesome. Have we ever seen Iceman do this in any of the X-Men movies? I honestly can't remember.

• Earth-19 Watch:

On Earth-19, french fries are called "finger chips."

HR claims to have written a book there about motivational speeches, called All's Wells That Ends Wells.

Also, Albert Einstein may have been named "Norbert Einstein." Or not. Here's a snippet of conversation between Cisco and HR:

Cisco: "Ahh, the soul-sucking fluorescence of academia."
HR: "Yeah, this is exciting, though. It's like meeting Norbert before he was Einstein."
Cisco: "Albert."
HR: "Norbert Albert?"

I'm actually not sure what's going on there, or exactly what Einstein was called on Earth-19.

• Last week Future Barry gave Present Barry some kind of advanced flash drive containing info about Tracy Brand. I said I hoped Cisco would be able to figure out how to read the data on a storage medium that hadn't yet been invented.

This week we see that the storage device is actually self-playing. You push a button and it projects a hard-to-see hologram in the air in front of you.

The writers know I'm watching....

• Did Barry and Iris say a single word to one another in this episode? Weird. Eh, no need to talk to your fiancee, Barry. She's got a whole three months left to live.

• After Killer Frost kidnaps Cecile, she tells Joe to have Team Flash bring Tracy to an abandoned (of course) warehouse. Once there, Killer Frost says Savitar told her all about the explosives the Gang planted in the rafters.

Um... just how were they able to accomplish that? When did they have time to sneak into the warehouse and plant the explosives? And why would Savitar let them do it, if he's really Barry and knows that's what they're planning?

• Sigh... yet another person now knows Barry's identity, as Joe tells all to Cecile. I honestly don't know why Barry even bothers with a mask at this point. Joe even told Cecile about Wally too.

I wonder if Barry told Tracy as well? They bring her into Star Labs, but I think Barry had his mask on while she was there.

• OK, so at some point in the future, Barry— or some alternate Earth version of him— becomes Savitar. All season long, Savitar's been whining about how Barry "took everything from him," which I assume means Iris. So then why is Savitar trying to kill her? Seems like ANY version of Barry, past, present or future, would want to prevent her death, not cause it.

I'm not going to chalk this up as a mistake just yet, because they've still got two episodes left to come up with a satisfactory explanation for this. I ain't holdin' my breath though.

• You can tell Future Future Barry is eeeevil, because he has a giant facial scar. I'm honestly surprised they didn't give him a goatee.

• This Week' Best Lines:

Cecile: "The Central City Marathon is in two months, and I gotta shave... ooh! I still got half a minute I gotta take off my time.You?" 
Joe: "A lot more than 30 seconds. Look, I am going to wait for you at the end of the marathon."
Cecile: "No, you’re not pulling out of this thing."
(This wasn't really that great a line, but I have to admit my inner fourteen year old giggled at the "not pulling out" line. Sorry!)

Cisco: "So you've gone full-on Killer Frost, huh? New threads and everything."
Killer Frost: "No more pencil skirts for me."

Tracy: "See, I've been studying speedsters."
HR: "Oh?"
Tracy: "And so you know how, when they run, they generate a trail of lightning behind them?"
HR: "Lightning."
Tracy: "I don't think all of that is generated by them running. I think some of it comes from somewhere."
HR: "Mm-hmm."
Tracy: "Like, it's some sort of a... like a..."
HR: (tentatively) "Speed... Force?"
Tracy: "Yeah... Wait, That is a great term for it."
HR: "Well..."
Tracy: "Speed Force."
HR: "Thanks."
Tracy: "Anyway, so I've been doing some calculations."
HR: "Mm-hmm?"
Tracy: "I think there might be a way to manipulate it."
HR: "Mm-hmm?"
Tracy: "Maybe even control it."
HR: (again, tentatively) "Maybe even turn it into a prison?"
Tracy: "Maybe. Um, yeah."
HR: "Yeah, yeah. I mean, just a random thought."
(HR and Tracy were really great together in this episode, which makes me hope they both stick around for Season 4)

Barry: "So what, you're Savitar's lackey now?"
Killer Frost: "More fun to reign in hell and all that."
(apparently Caitlin's read Paradise Lost!)

Tracy: "Okay, and the the White Witch? I'm guessing you know why she's after me."
Iris: "Well, she's teamed up with an evil speedster from the future, and apparently you developed the technology to trap him for an eternity, so..."
Tracy: "You can't be serious."
HR: "Totally serious."
Tracy: "An evil speedster?"
Barry: "He calls himself Savitar."
Tracy: "Savitar? And he's from the future?"
Barry: "Yup."
Tracy: "And I build a trap for him? Me?"
Iris: "You."
Barry: "He wants to kill you before you build it. That's why he's sending Killer Frost after you."
Tracy: "Killer Frost? Her name is Killer Frost?"
HR: "Yeah."
Joe: "We know it's a lot to take in."
Tracy: "Well, to be fair, you're basically telling me I'm Sarah Connor in Terminator."
Team Flash: (together) "Well..."
HR: "Uh, more like..."
Cisco: "Miles Dyson."
HR: "Yeah. But good effort, though."

Tracy: "I think Savitar travels so fast that he needs that suit to neutralize the charge he builds up around him."
HR: "Huh. Interesting. So without the suit, he's just a dude with a bad case of static cling."

The Flash Season 3, Episode 18: Abra Kadabra

This week on The Flash, we get the long-awaited first appearance of Silver Age villain Abra Kadabra, although he's criminally underused, another hare-brained "Save Iris" scheme from Barry, and the not-so-unexpected return of Killer Frost. Best of all, there were no musical numbers this week!

As a long time reader of comics, I was happy when I found out that Abra Kadabra was appearing on the show. That happiness soon turned to disappointment when the writers took such an important and iconic villain from the mythology and completely and utterly wasted him.

We get a few very brief scenes of him performing his trademark "magic," but he spend the majority of the episode going on and on about Savitar. Seriously, the way he crushes on the guy, I was ready to tell the two of 'em to get a room! 

Then when he's not preaching the gospel of the God Of Speed, he's playing coy with Joe and Barry, teasing, but never quite revealing, Savitar's true identity.

The writer's are really working overtime on drawing out the Big Reveal of Savitar's True Identity. Such plotlines can be tricky business, as instead of fueling fan speculation, they can easily cause them to shrug and say, "Who cares?" After all this buildup, I have a bad feeling when we finally do learn who Savitar really is, it's gonna be a big "meh" moment.

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
Inside Stagg Industries (remember them from Season 1?), two security guards run into Abra Kadabra, a supervillain/magician (!) from the 64th Century. Kadabra's looking for a piece of tech, and sees it locked inside a secure case. The guards pull their guns on him, and Kadabra disappears and reappears inside the case. He grabs the piece of tech and with a snap of his fingers, changes place with the guards trapping them inside the case. He snaps his fingers again and it fills with water, drowning the men.

Cut to Barry, Iris, Joe and Cecile double dating at Jitters. Cecile says her sister has four tickets to Hamilton she can't use, and offers two of them to Barry & Iris. They're eager to take them, until Cecile says the tickets are for a July show. Iris looks uncomfortable, since she's destined to be killed by Savitar in the season finale in May. Barry, who's trying to be optimistic, says they'd be delighted to take the tickets.

Barry and Joe investigate the "drowning" at Stagg Industries. While there, they get an alert of a robbery in progress at Kord Industries, another technology company (which should sound familiar to fans of the Blue Beetle). Barry changes into the Flash and zooms to the scene, and finds Kadabra in the middle of another heist.

Kadabra recognizes the Flash as Barry Allen, and knows everything about him— including the fact that Savitar will kill Iris soon (because he's from the future, and this is all ancient history to him, duh!). Suddenly Gypsy vibes in from Earth-19, and announces that Kadabra's under arrest. He throws a playing card at the heroes, which instantly multiplies into thousands, distracting them while he teleports away.

Back at STAR Labs, Gypsy tells Barry and the Gang that Kadabra is a criminal from the 64th Century who uses his era's extremely advanced technology (which seems like magic to us) to commit his crimes. Apparently he committed a series of robberies and murders on Earth-19, which is why she's after him.

Cisco tries making a very awkward move on his crush Gyspy, which she brusquely rejects. In other relationship subplots, Julian still thinks Caitlin only wanted him so he could cure her of her Killer Frostism (which is partially true), and says they're through. 

Suddenly yet another alarm goes off, indicating a break-in at Mercury Labs. Barry and Wally speed to the scene, as Cisco and Gypsy vibe there. Sure enough, they spot Kadabra there. The heroes surround him as Gypsy blasts him with a vibe ray, but it goes right through him, revealing he's a hologram. Foiled again!

The Mercury "break-in" was all a distraction, as Kadabra shows up at STAR Labs looking for something. Barry races in and cuffs Kadabra (Really? He can't get out of a pair of handcuffs?). Gypsy appears and demands to take him back to Earth-19 immediately. Kadabra then whispers to Barry that he knows Savitar's true identity, which he'll reveal if he's released. Barry thinks for a moment, then knocks out Kadabra and throws him in the STAR Labs Secret Super Jail. Needless to say, Gypsy's not pleased with this development, as she just wants to extradite Kadabra and go back to her own dimension.

At home, Barry and Iris discuss Kadabra. He wants to let him go so he'll reveal Savitar's identity, while Iris says he's a criminal and needs to stay locked up.

It's all moot anyway, as Joe sneaks into STAR and makes a deal with Kadabra: tell him Savitar's identity to potentially save Iris, and he'll let him walk. Kadabra agrees, and Joe opens the cell door. Kadabra very theatrically and deliberately states, "Savitar's... true... identity... is..." Suddenly Gypsy appears and asks Joe what the hell? Kadabra uses the distraction to teleport away. Nice going, Gypsy!

Joe, Caitlin and Julian track Kadabra to the elevators, where they try to stop him. He causes a huge explosion and escapes. The Gang groggily crawls from the wreckage, and Caitlin looks down to see a large pipe sticking out of her side! Julian wants to rush her to a hospital, but Cisco says they can't as she'll be identified as a metahuman (?).

Cisco mentions that in her Killer Frost persona, Caitlin's body has impressive regenerative powers, which is an obvious set up, and something I don't think has ever been mentioned before. Caitlin refuses to risk turning into her own nemesis, and says she'd rather talk Julian through the operation (!). They give her a local anesthetic (I guess?) and with her help, Julian successfully performs the procedure.

After the operation, Cisco asks Gypsy why she's being such an asshole in this episode. She says it's because she used to have a partner on Earth-19, and Kadabra murdered him, hence all the rage and vengeance. 

Gypsy has a theory about what Kadabra's doing. She believes he's stuck here in the 21st Century, and is stealing tech from various companies to build a time machine to take him back... to the future! Um... isn't that EXACTLY the same motivation that Eobard Thawne had back in Season 1? Are we really doing this same plot again?

Cisco figures out that Kadabra stole Eobard Thawne's compact power supply from the STAR Labs Time Vault to power his time machine. He tracks the power supply and says Kadabra's on the move, flying his time ship over the city. Team Flash springs into action, as Barry, Wally, Cisco and Gypsy chase after him.

Kadabra opens a portal and prepares to fly his ship through it back to the 64th Century. Barry runs up the side of a nearby building, then jumps down toward the time ship. He vibrates into it, grabs Kadabra and vibrates the two of them back out as the ship flies through the time portal and disappears. OK, I gotta admit that was pretty cool.

On the ground, Gypsy officially places Kadabra under arrest. Again. She prepares to take him to Earth-19 for execution. Barry asks Kadabra one last time, literally begging him to reveal Savitar's identity. He says that in the future, he and the Flash have been enemies for years, but it was Savitar who truly broke him by killing Iris. He says by not revealing Savitar's identity, he gets to hurt the Flash one last time too. What a dick! Gypsy vibes a portal and takes him through it to Earth-19 (where I'm sure he'll never escape and pop up to pester Barry ever again).

Back at the West house, Joe & Iris are moping about the whole Kadabra/Savitar thing. Suddenly Barry enters and says he has a brilliant new idea to save Iris. He says their lives are all ancient history to entities from the future like Kadabra and Savitar. He says this is why their enemies are always two steps ahead of them. In order to fix this, Barry decides he's going to run to the future (again) to save Iris. That doesn't make a lick of sense, but I guess we've still got five episodes left to fill this season, so whatever.

In the med bay, Julian sits with Caitlin. She wakes up, and the two of them share a tender moment. Hooray, they're back together! HR enters, after being mysteriously absent for the entire episode (hmmm...). After some witty banter among the cast, Caitlin suddenly begins seizing and her heart stops beating. Cisco and Julian or course try using a defibrillator machine the wrong way to jumpstart her heart. Nothing works, and Caitlin dies (!).

A distraught Julian then yanks the power-dampening pendant from Caitlin's neck. Suddenly her wound heals, the room goes cold and there's a huge explosion of snow and ice. Killer Frost then emerges from the fog.

Thoughts:

• Stagg Industries first appeared wayyyy back in the Season 1 episode Fastest Man Alive. It was owned by Simon Stagg (a character who popped up in the comics from time to time), who was killed in the episode by Multiplex (who was traditionally a Firestorm villain in the comics). 

• While Barry's investigating the incident at Stagg Industries, he gets an alert that there's a break-in at Kord Industries, and rushes to the scene. He arrives just in time to catch Kadabra in the act.

According to the Official Arrowverse Wiki, Kord Industries is in Star City, which is where Arrow and his crew live. Somehow Barry runs from Central City to Star City before Kadabra has a chance to escape with his stolen piece of tech. I guess he really is the fastest man alive!

Note: I suppose it's possible there might be a much closer, Central City branch of Kord, but there's nothing in the dialogue to indicate this.

• Abra Kadabra was a major Flash foe in the comics, and was created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino. He first appeared in 1962 in The Flash #128.

Much like in this episode, the comic version of Kadabra was from the 64th Century, a time when "science rendered stage magic obsolete." He wanted a career as a magician though, so he went back in time to the 20th Century and used his technology to dazzle audiences. He eventually became bored with showbiz and turned to crime, which is when he began clashing with the Flash.

Don't you just love that comic book cover above? "I've got the strangest feeling I'm being turned into a puppet!" Only in the Silver Age would you see a line like that!

By the way, back in Season 1 when we were all still trying to figure out Harrison Wells' true identity, I actually suggested he might really turn out to be Abra Kadabra (!). Obviously that was a hilariously wrong guess. In my defense, Wells was from the future, just like Kadabra, so it was only 98% unlikely. Hey, you can't guess 'em all right!

• Abra Kadabra is played here by actor David Dastmalchian. He was most recently in The Belko Experiment, where he played an assistant maintenance man alongside Michael Rooker.

He also played Kurt the computer hacker in Ant-Man (where he did his best David Tennant impression). That means Dastmalchian has played parts in both the Marvel and DC cinematic universes!

• Oh, The Flash costume designers. Why do you continue to vex me? Once again we get a supervillain wearing a bland, black, non-costume. I don't understand the problem. Barry, Wally and Jesse all wear traditional colorful superhero costumes. So why can't the various Arrowverse villains do the same?

Mirror Master, Mr. Mxyzptlk,  Music Meister— virtually every bad guy we've seen on the shows this year have worn the same damned thing— a plain black suit. Although in a burst of creative energy, Music Meister did accent his drab outfit with a bright red pocket square! Astonishing!

And of course Abra Kadabra is no different. Yet another plain black kind-of-tuxedo looking thing. I suppose I can cut them a slight bit of slack here, since he's supposed to be a stage magician, and his non-costume makes a certain amount of sense. It's still pretty drab though. Would it have killed them to have given him a cape, for Thor's sake?

• Gypsy says that Kadabra uses sophisticated technology instead of actual magic to perform his "tricks." Cisco and Caitlin both chime in with Clarke's Third Law, saying, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." That's actually a real saying, coined by noted sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke.

• So Kadabra uses advanced technology that's like magic to us, but he can't get out of a pair of 21st Century handcuffs. Got it.

• Kadabra refuses to help save Iris by telling Barry who Savitar really is. Barry and Joe then mope about the fact that they have no idea how to save Iris. Joe says, "Sometimes I wish you hadn't told me what was gonna happen."

Really? Wasn't he the guy who was pissed a few weeks ago when they finally told him the truth after keeping it from him for months? And wasn't he all butt-hurt when Barry didn't come to him and ask his permission to marry Iris? Make up your mind, Joe! You want to truth or don't you?

• When Caitlin's injured, Cisco says they can't take her to a hospital because they'd identify her as a metahuman. Wha...? Do Central City hospitals routinely check patients for metahumanness before treatment? What do they do if someone does turn out to be a meta? Tell 'em to hit the bricks?

This was all just some extremely contrived writing in order to put Julian in the position of treating Caitlin, so the writers could force them back together. Well, for a little while.

• Caitlin's "death" was pretty heavily telegraphed early on in the episode. Julian points to the "Killer Frost Still At Large" headline, which hasn't changed. A bit later Cisco comments to Caitlin, "Looks like things between you and Julian are a little frosty, huh?"

Then once she was injured, Cisco suddenly mentions that Caitlin has a Wolverine-like healing factor when she's in her Killer Frost persona (which I'm pretty sure is a retcon). Caitlin also stubbornly says she'd rather die than use her powers to fix herself.

Once you add up all that, an appearance by Killer Frost was practically guaranteed!

The real question is whether or not Caitlin is really dead. Is it possible for her to ever come back? I'm sure the writers would love us to think no, but I can't imagine they'd kill her off and just leave her villainous side running around from now on.

• When Julian rips the pendant from Caitlin's neck, her Killer Frost powers are unleashed. We then get a shot of her ugly incision healing itself almost instantly. Oddly enough, her stitches seem to fade away instead of falling off her torso. Weird.

• At one point Cisco tracks Kadabra's movements through Central City to help Barry catch him. He tells Barry, "Okay, now he's on Thurlow and Eighth."

We all know that The Flash writers love to name their fictional streets after real-life comic book creators. I did some extensive research (OK, more like a few seconds) and couldn't find any writers or artists named "Thurlow." However, there is a Thurlow Street in Vancouver, where The Flash (and all the other Arrowverse shows) are filmed.

• Kadabra may have just inadvertently revealed the identity of Season 4's Big Bad. Right before Gypsy takes Kadabra to Earth-19, Barry pleads with him to reveal the true identity of Savitar. 

Kadabra then monologues briefly, saying, "See, here it is. In the future, you and I have been enemies for years. Oh, there have been others, of course. There was Thawne, Zoom, DeVoe, but none of them hurt you like Savitar. He truly broke you."

Of course we're all too familiar with those first two names he mentions, but DeVoe's a new one. There's no way that's just some random name the writers came up with, to sell the idea that Kadabra's from the future. Especially since there's a DeVoe in the comics.

Clifford DeVoe, aka The Thinker, first appeared wayyyy back in 1943. He often clashed with the Golden Age Flash, aka Jay Garrick. DeVoe wore a Louis Tully-like "thinking cap," which amplified his psionic abilities. Later on in the Modern Age he was killed and became some sort of living artificial intelligence.

The producers have already stated that the main villain of Season 4 would NOT be another speedster (thank the Maker!), so it's a pretty good bet that Kadabra's comment was foreshadowing The Thinker.

• At the end of the episode, Barry decides he's gonna save Iris once and for all, by traveling to the future again, which will somehow give him an added advantage.

As I said earlier, this doesn't make a bit of sense. He's already seen Iris' future, many times now, and knows every detail about what's going to happen to her. What more is there to learn? I honestly don't understand how running to the future again is going to change anything.

This feels like more plot trickery, to give us another "Messed Up Alternate World" storyline, that we've already had twice this season.

The Flash Season 3, Episode 16: Into The Speed Force

This week on The Flash, we get another dark, dour and gloomy (not to mention "meh") episode. I get that the show's currently in its "Heroes Brought Low" phase, so they can triumph at the end of the season. That's just Writing 101. But enough with the death and depression. The return to fun and frivolity can't come soon enough for me. This is the Arrowverse, guys! It's supposed to be lighter and more fun than the DC Murderverse, er, I mean Movie Universe. In fact this episode was so glum I almost didn't feel like writing about it.

This week's episode is sort of a sequel to last season's The Runaway Dinosaur. Many fans consider that to be one of the best episodes of the series. Unfortunately they won't be.saying that about this week's episode...

Last week I did a rundown of the candidates I thought were most likely to secretly be Savitar, including Wally, HR, Eddie Thawne and even Barry himself. After the events of this week's episode, I'm definitely ruling out Eddie. I suppose it could still be him, but I think it'd be too confusing if he was a Speed Force manifestation AND Savitar as well. This episode would also seem to rule out Wally, since he's no longer trapped in the Speed Force. Although I'm sure the writers could come up with some bullsh*t explanation if they really wanted it to be him.

I'm still leaning toward either HR or Barry. HR was acting even more suspicious than usual in this episode, going so far as to creepily eavesdrop on Cisco and Jesse. Another reason I think it's HR— so far each season of the show has featured a different version of Harrison Wells. My theory would allow the producers to write out HR at the end of the season, paving the way for an all new Wells in Season 4.

Barry's not completely out of the running, though. This episode featured several references to "Future Barry," which I assume is some corrupted version of him that could somehow become Savitar.

Star Labs has been a little crowded lately, as the past few weeks it's been housing three, count 'em 3 speedsters. Suddenly in this episode Wally decides to take a break, and Jesse Quick vacates our Earth altogether, leaving Barry as the sole speedster in Central City. 

I'm not opposed to this, mind you, as I thought having three speedsters on the show was a bit much. But i felt like the housecleaning seemed a bit too abrupt. Especially in Jesse's case. One week she's mooning over Wally, ready to chuck her life on Earth-2 to be with him. Then completely out of the blue she decides to go to Earth-3 for reasons, and can't get off our world fast enough. Odd.

It's always nice to see John Wesley Shipp as Jay Garrick. I'm not too thrilled about his fate in this episode though, as it almost felt like the writers were trying to get rid of him. Hopefully this wasn't his final appearance.

Lastly, Barry Allen really is an idiot. Despite the fact that Iris' potential death is only a month or two away, he decides the two of them need a break and pushes her away. Does that make any sense? It felt incredibly contrived and unearned, and is obviously another way to keep the two of them apart until the season finale. Feh.

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
Inside STAR Labs, Barry stares intently at the Breach platform. He comes to a decision, and announces he's going into the Speed Force to rescue Wally. The rest of the Gang worries that he'll become lost once he's inside the infinite void. Joe tells Barry he doesn't want to lose both his sons. HR makes himself useful for once, and suggests Cisco whip up some sort of "interdimensional tether" they can use to pull Barry back into Earth-1 if he gets into trouble in the void.

Cisco opens a breach into the Speed Force, and Barry jumps through. He ends up in a budget-conscious creepy version of the Central City Police Department set. The Wormhole Prophets, er, I mean the Speed Force manifests itself as the late Eddie Thawne, who sacrificed himself to destroy the Reverse Flash back in Fast Enough.

Barry asks Speed Force Eddie if he knows where Wally is. SF Eddie says Wally's in a prison that "Future Barry" created, and won't allow him to be rescued. He tells Barry the Speed Force restored his powers in The Runaway Dinosaur because he promised he was over his mother's death. He says Barry lied about that and inadvertently created the Flashpoint timeline. SF Eddie says they can't allow him to make poor choices like that again. Barry argues that Wally's just a kid, and doesn't deserve his punishment.

SF Eddie says he'll allow Barry to save Wally if he can beat a Time Wraith to the elevator. Barry races the Wraith around the office, and manages to run through it and make it to the elevator.

Meanwhile in the real world, Jesse's going crazy sitting around waiting. She picks up the piece of Savitar (that Barry broke off of him last week) and asks if Cisco could use it to track him. Cisco says it's possible, but it's too dangerous for her to attack him alone. HR hides in the shadows, listening intently to this exchange. Hmm...

Inside the Speed Force, Barry walks through a budget-conscious creepy version of STAR Labs. He sees Speed Force Caitlin cradling a crying baby. The Speed Force then manifests itself as the late Ronnie Raymond, who was Caitlin's fiancee at one time. Barry tells SF Ronnie he's willing to sacrifice himself to save Wally. Suddenly Barry's attacked by the Black Flash, who pins him to the floor. Barry takes off Cisco's "tether" device and sticks it to Black Flash, which for some reason disintegrates him (?).

Back at STAR Labs, the Gang loses contact with Barry. Cisco says with the tether gone, there's no way to ever locate him in the infinite Speed Force.

Barry then wakes up in a hospital, and sees Wally standing behind a door. As he reaches for the knob, it's coated by a blast of ice. He looks up and sees the Speed Force has now taken the form of the late Captain Cold (I guess it's only taking the forms of the dead during this visit). Speed Force Cold tells Barry that Wally's trapped in his own personal hell— seeing his mother die over and over again for eternity.

Barry says he's not leaving without Wally, and SF Cold freezes him to the wall. He's about to blast Barry again when Jay Garrick, the Earth-3 Flash, zooms in and punches out SF Cold.

Meanwhile, Jesse steals the piece of Savitar and takes it outside. It begins glowing and flies through the air, back to Savitar. Jesse follows it at superspeed. She finds Savitar and attacks. They battle for a while, and Savitar eventually gets the upper hand and starts choking her. He tells Jesse he has big plans for her, whatever that means. For some reason, HR is in communication with Jesse, and tells her to look for a weak spot in Savitar's armor. She takes the broken shard and stabs Savitar in the neck. He roars and speeds away.

Back in the Speed Force, Jay explains to Barry that after the tether was destroyed, Cisco vibed to Earth-3 to ask him for help (I guess he did all that while we weren't looking?). Barry and Jay enter the hospital room and tell Wally they're there to rescue him. Barry and Wally walk out the door, but notice Jay's staying behind. 

Jay tells them that for some reason, a speedster has to remain inside the Speed Force at all times, so he's decided to sacrifice himself and stay. Barry tries to talk him out of it, but Jay refuses to leave. Jay gives Barry his winged helmet, and says he'll see him later. Barry promises he'll be back for him someday, and he and Wally exit the Speed Force.

Later, Wally announces that after his traumatic experience in the Speed Force, he's taking a break from being Kid Flash. Jesse tells Wally that Savitar's crack about having big plans for her have unnerved her, and she's moving to Earth-3. Partly for her safety, and also to replace Jay as the Earth-3 Flash. Wally's sad to see her go, but understands. They profess their love for one another, and Cisco sends Jesse to Earth-3.

HR tells the STAR Labs Gang that Jesse learned something valuable in her battle with Savitar— that he's not a god. He's a man, and he can be hurt.

Later that night, Iris tells Barry she knows he only proposed as a way to try and change the future, but has decided she doesn't care. Barry says she was right the first time, and because he's an idiot and there are still seven or eight episodes to fill this season, he tells her he thinks they need some time apart.

Thoughts:
• There's not a lot to say about this episode. It's tough to find plot holes in a story when most of it takes place inside a character's head.

• You know, all the special guest stars in this episode might have been more of a fun surprise if their names hadn't all been listed in the opening credits.

I think there's a SAG rule that requires them to be named up front. If so, they need to write some sort of clause in their contract that allow guest stars to be listed at the end of the episode when the sight of their name constitutes a spoiler!

• Last week on Legends Of Tomorrow, the team went inside the mind of their former captain Rip Hunter, to try and cure him of his terminal evilness. Oddly enough, the inside of his mind just happened to look like the interior of this timeship, the Waverider, but with more spooky green lighting and lots of dry ice fog. 

Why would the inside of his mind look like his ship? So the producers didn't have to blow money building new sets that would only be used for one episode, that's why. Gotta watch that budget here on The CW!

So this week on The Flash, Barry enters the Speed Force, and once again this infinite void takes the form of various locations familiar to him. The CCPD, STAR Labs and a hospital room. Again, why would an interdimensional, abstract space look like places he knows? So the producers didn't have to blow money building new sets that would only be used for one episode, that's why. Gotta watch that budget here on The CW!

• In a similar vein...

On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Commander Sisko often entered the Bajoran wormhole, an interdimensional tunnel located near the space station, that connected the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants.

The wormhole was populated with a non-corporeal lifeform called the Prophets. The Prophets were non-linear beings who experienced the past, present and future all at once. In order to communicate with a lowly, linear being like Sisko, they took the form of various people he knew, such as his crew mates.

This gave the rest of the cast something to do during wormhole episodes, but it also saved the series a ton of money. Making the aliens look like the regular cast meant makeup man Michael Westmore didn't have to create tons of expensive alien prosthetics that week.

And so it is with The Flash and the Speed Force. Making it take the form of various regular cast members saves the producers a ton on CGI. Gotta watch that budget here on The CW!

You know, sometimes I feel like a talk about the budget of these Arrowverse shows way too much. But it's hard not to! I don't think I've ever been as aware of a TV show's limited budget as I am when I watch The Flash.

• Earth-19 Watch:

Apparently Earth-19 has Super Mario World, as HR challenges Cisco to play him someday.

When Cisco says he thinks he can rig up an interdimentional tether for Barry, HR says, "Yeah! Now we're cooking with helium." The laws of physics must be very different on Earth-19. Here on good old Earth-1, helium is an inert gas. That means it can't burn or explode, for those of you who believe Obama is using microwaves to spy on Donald Trump.

They also have "Schroeder's Cat," and a Peanuts character called "Schrodinger." Also, in the Earth-19 Peanuts strip, Charlie Brown is the one who plays the piano, which is apparently funny as he's terrible at it.

Earth-19 has the Peanuts comic strip, but it's a bit different. 

• I don't understand why one speedster always has to stay inside the Speed Force. 

Savitar's trapped there, but tricks Wally into taking his place. Then Barry enters to rescue Wally, and is willing to stay to free him. Then Jay sacrifices himself by remaining inside the Speed Force so both Barry and Wally can leave. 

Why? Why does there have to be at least one speedster occupant in it at all times? Other than because the writers say so? This is my biggest complaint about this whole Savitar/Speed Force storyline— nothing about it makes any sense and it feels like the writers are making it all up as they go. Rules, guys! Savitar and the Speed Force need rules, so the audience at home can play along and try to figure out what's going to happen. It's hard to do that when even the writers don't know.

• Wally's "personal hell" inside the Speed Force consisted of him standing in a hospital room, watching his mother die over and over again for eternity. When Jay Garrick takes his place, he does so literally, by standing in the exact same spot, watching Wally's mother die.

I'm assuming that after Barry and Wally left the Speed Force, Wally's Hell morphed into something more meaningful for Jay. It has to, right? Otherwise it's not gonna be much of a punishment for Jay to stand there and watch a stranger die over and over.

By the way, when Wally sees his mother die over and over, HE'S the only one who can see hef— when Barry looks into the hospital room, all he sees is an empty bed.

Why's Wally's mom invisible to everyone but Wally? Were they not able to get actress Vanessa Williams, aka Francine West, back this week? She appeared on the show in the previous episode. Maybe it's the budget rearing its ugly head again. There were four guest stars in this episode— could The CW honestly not afford a fifth?

• There was really only one notable line in this episode:
Speed Force Captain Cold: (after knocking down Jay with an ice blast) "Getting a little slow in your golden age, Garrick!"