‘The Flash’ Episode 1.15 “Out of Time” (9 out of 10) Starring Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Rick Cosnett, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Tom Kavanaugh, and Jesse L. Martin. Guest starring Liam McIntyre, Malese Jow. First broadcast March 17, 2015.
Even as spoiler-filled recaps of geeky TV go, this is filled with spoilers. But I’m writing it a week late, and after the next episode has aired, so I figure it’s already been spoiled. If it hasn’t yet, you’re warned.
Showrunners have been pitching this episode as “the one that changes everything,” and there are some huge developments that happen in a single episode. Enough that it felt like a season finale…but there were still eight episodes to go in the season. The main plot is that Mark Mardon, brother to the late Clyde Mardon, is in Central City, and wants revenge. Clyde was in the very first episode of “The Flash,” and could control weather, but in a clumsy kind of way. Mark is even more of a “Weather Wizard,” and is able to bring weather indoors, attack people with giant hailstones, command lightning and rain, and eventually summon a tidal wave. When he finds out that Detective Joe West is the one who killed Clyde, he wants to not only kill Joe, but everyone close to him. He’s a more bloodthirsty villain than we’ve seen in Central City before, and by the end of the episode has done more damage than others have.
Other story arcs are ultimately more important than what the Weather Wizard is doing. A double date with Barry/Linda and Eddie/Iris puts both relationships on the path to disaster, and pushes Barry and Iris together yet again. Even though I still think their semi-incestuous relationship is weird, it was nice seeing Barry find some happiness with Iris, even revealing his secret identity to her by the end of the episode. I can see them working out. Someday. Not today.
The other, and most consequential, story arc is Cisco’s investigation of Dr. Harrison Wells. He asks Caitlin to keep Wells occupied and out of S.T.A.R. Labs so that he can check a few things…and he finds out a few things. That the containment field they used to capture the Reverse Flash was projecting an image of the villain, that Wells, while looking like he was getting his ass kicked by Reverse Flash, may have somehow been faking it, and that Wells, who’s always been secretive, may in fact be…the supervillain. Wells ends up giving Caitlin the slip (tricky for a guy in a wheelchair, not so much for a super speedster), and confronts Cisco in the lab.
Dr. Wells reveals a lot to Cisco here–in the way that only supervillains ever really do. Their life, their history, their evil plan…a lot of stuff that you’ll want to go back and re-watch if you happened to miss this episode. The most important points:
- His real name is Eobard Thawne
- He’s a “distant relative” of Eddie Thawne
- He’s from the future
- He’s the one who killed Nora Allen 15 years ago
- Barry was the actual target
- Killing Nora stranded Eobard/Wells in the past
- He’s been helping Barry build his powers, because it’s Eobard’s only chance of getting home to his own time
…I think that’s it. And then, boom, he kills Cisco. One channel of my mind knows that it’s not only a television series, but it’s one based on a comic book, so Cisco’s for sure not gone. The other channel though? Damn. This was brutal. And a brutal way to do it. And I loved it.
The episode ends with Flash racing to stop a tidal wave from kiling Iris, Joe, and tens of thousands of people in Central City; he runs faster than he ever has before, and ends up time traveling, passing himself, to where he’s a day in his own past. Have the evils of the day been undone? Can he prevent them from happening?
These developments have the potential to be either greatly annoying or incredibly fun and satisfying. The writers, producers, cast and crew of “The Flash” have built up enough goodwill with me that I’m guessing it will the latter. Time travel has been a part of Flash comic books for as long as I can remember; either using his powers and a cosmic treadmill to go through time, or to vibrate through to alternate dimensions…and the way it was handled here seemed perfect. It’s something that wouldn’t seem plausible on “Arrow,” but here in Central City? Completely legit. I’m hoping they don’t use time travel on a regular basis, but keep in in their back pocket as something that opens up possibilities for storytelling, not a deux ex machina that will get them out of narrative dead-ends. I trust them. I believe in Harvey D–I mean, Barry Allen. Bring it on.