The Flash Sneak Peek: Why Is Barry Visiting Thawne on Lian Yu...?

Matt Webb Mitovich
·2 min read

Two classics — Eobard Thawne and Lian Yu — are back, baby, in TVLine’s exclusive sneak peek from this Wednesday’s episode of The Flash (airing 8/7c on The CW).

In Season 8’s Episode 17 of 20, which was directed by cast member Danielle Panabaker, The Flash (played by Grant Gustin) goes “off the grid” to look for answers about a new meta in town. Specifically, he heads to good ol’ Lian Yu of Arrow/Oliver Queen fame, where ARGUS has a holding cell for the worst of the worst — a powered-down Eobard Thawne (played again by series alum Tom Cavanagh) now included.

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Does Barry get what he needs from Thawne during this unexpected visit? Or is Thawne as always a step ahead, even in his weakened, extremely remote state? Press play above to find out!

Elsewhere in the episode, Allegra (Kayla Compton) pulls out all of the stops at CC Citizen Media to protect a source and a friend, leading to a “bottle episode” in which several characters find themselves in close confines.

“I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity to direct so many different times on this show,” Panabaker previously told TVLine. “[Showrunner] Eric [Wallace] really gives each episode a different flavor, in particular during the second Graphic Novel of Season 8, which had more of a horror genre feel to it.”

For Episode 17, which finds Team Flash members threatened by a blast from Allegra’s past, “I watched [the 1976 action thriller] Assault on Precinct 13, which was the reference Eric gave me, the vibe we were going for,” Panabaker said. “Visually, it’s shot a bit different than our show usually is, with a lot more handheld [camera work]. And while technically a ‘bottle episode,’ there are a lot of people in most scenes, so it didn’t always feel ‘small.'”

Danielle Nicolet, who plays Cecile, meanwhile told us, “That is one of those really fun bottle episodes. Lots of fun stuff happens, but we reach a conclusion at the end of the episode. In that respect, it’s much more Season 1-ish, which I love.”

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