'The Flash': Everybody Knows Everything

Warning: This recap contains storyline and character spoilers for this week’s episode of The Flash.

All the cards are on the table: Barry knows about Wells and Wells knows Barry knows. Iris knows about Barry and Eddie knows about his great-great-great-whatever-grandson. Cisco’s adorable terror ties this entire episode together as The Flash places the final pieces before cutting loose with the last three episodes of end-of-season mayhem.

The Plot

Last week, the Scooby Gang (Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco) found Dr. Wells “time vault.” They barely escape getting caught by Wells, and managed to get a little information on his motivations from the AI, Gideon. They build a device to get a look at Cisco’s dream/memory of the alternate timeline where he’s killed and recreate the scene to get a confession from Wells. It fails and Joe shoots Wells to prevent Cisco dying a second time — but it turns out to be the superpowered impostor Hannibal Bates instead. Wells is busy kidnapping Eddie, who is about to propose to Iris.

On Shipping

A devastating blow to Snowbarry shippers this week as the future paper shows that “Iris West-Allen” will eventually be a thing. There may be a few hold-outs who still think that maybe they’ll have a fling (tawdry!) or that maybe Iris marries another Flash, Bart Allen, instead (scandalous!), but comic purists will be happy that, eventually, Barry and Iris (technically Westallen — though for the purposes of this recap, we will continue to refer to them as Biris) do get together.

Related: Get Up to Speed With Our Recaps of ‘The Flash’

She Knows

A direct quote from tonight’s show notes: “SHE FIGURED IT OUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.” There should also be a thank you attached to that for letting Iris figure it out herself rather than have it revealed to her. It’s a small thing, but not every comic book show lets their female characters do stuff on their own (*cough*Gotham*cough*).

You Didn’t Think It Would Be That Easy, Did You?

Sophoclean irony (in case you don’t remember high school English class) is when the audience knows something the characters don’t. It’s a staple of the superhero genre with all its secret identities, but it’s often overdone. The Flash does a wonderful job of flipping it on its head by first showing us Team Flash working against an oblivious Dr. Wells, then flips it again by showing that Wells knew all along. There have been a lot of “Oh, come on!” moments in the past few weeks as the poor acting skills of Barry and Caitlin in particular (the characters, not the actors) make you wonder if maybe Dr. Wells got his degree from a diploma mill and he’s really not that bright. Fortunately, for us, he is that bright.

Love Your Enemy

You hear this line a lot in comic book movies and TV: “You and I are a lot alike,” or sometimes it’s, “We’re opposite sides of the same coin.” That connection between the hero and the villain being essentially the same is usually expressed this way, but Flash — created by people who, like many of us, have seen it all — goes a different route. They let the villain fall in love with the hero. Eobard Thawne harbors a deep and abiding hatred, but he also watched Barry grow up and he’s grown to love working with the Scoobys. It’s the same thought expressed in a fresh way, which is what separates this show from the glut of comic properties around now.

Inside Comics Moment

Gideon briefly mentions, before she/it is quickly cut off: “founding member—”. In the preview comic, she makes it a bit farther. It appears that — should The Flash go on long enough — he will eventually help create the Justice League.

Next Week

If “giant telepathic gorilla” doesn’t get your blood pumping then, friend, maybe you should be reading recaps of 60 Minutes.

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