THE FLASH "WHAT'S PAST IS PROLOGUE"

Season 5 Episode 8

Episode 100

Wow! Time has moved in a flash, as we are here with the 100th episode of the Flash, directed by Tom Cavanaugh himself. In this episode, we see a delightful way that the show honors its past, while also driving this seasons' plot forward. So spoilers ahead for the episode, let's recap.

The team needs ways to take down Cicada, and their best shot is to create a device which can counter the bond which Cicada has to his dagger. For this the team needs three items:

1. A piece of strong metal
2. A dark matter transmitter
3. A dark matter power source

To get these items, Barry and Nora travel back in time to the night of Savitar's defeat (3.23) for the metal, when Zoom took Barry's speed (2.18) for the dark matter transmitter, and the night the particle accelerator went off (1.01) for the dark matter power source.

Suiting up the two go back to the night Savitar is defeated where Nora grabs a piece of the exploded Savitar suit while Barry chases off a Time Wraith. The two escape the Time Wraith and go back to the night Barry gave Zoom his speed. Barry looks for the tube which transferred over the speed force while Nora looked at Iris comforting Barry. Barry has a confrontation with Harry and tells him how to find Jesse. Barry and Nora are about to leave, however, they are confronted by Zoom!

The two run away from Zoom as he chases them into the speed force, where a Time Wraith takes Zoom back to 2016.

While out running Zoom, Barry and Nora trip out into 2014, breaking the transmitter. The two also find the early 2016 Barry who went back to 2014 to get help from Reverse Flash Harrison Wells (2.17) to gain more speed. With season two Barry unconscious in the brail room, Barry and Nora confront Eobard who fixes the transmitter for the two but not before taunting Barry. 

Barry and Nora go back to the night the particle accelerator was launched in 2013. The two go into the brail room and Barry opens up Gideon to redirect some dark matter in the transmitter with the metal in it. While they wait, Barry tells Nora about the Reverse Flash and how he murdered his mother. With the device complete, Barry stores it in the well outside the hospital in 2013.

Back in 2018, Barry, Nora, Ralph, and Cisco go to confront Cicada at the hospital, where the device is activated and takes the dagger away from Cicada. The team takes down Cicada, as Cisco vibes the dagger into space. Cicada calls down the dagger and takes down the team, Killer Frost comes out and scares away Cicada, as he flies away. 

Back at STAR Labs, Sherloque confronts Nora about her speed force book, as she tells him that the language is used by her to record events in the timeline, without it altering. Nora goes to see her grandparents, Nora and Henry from afar as she is joined by Barry. The two run off after talking about changing the past. Back at STAR Labs, Nora records some journals from her speed force book. She then runs back to 2049, Iron Heights where Nora says to an inmate "we need to talk" and the inmate is revealed to be the Reverse Flash.

This episode was such a brilliantly crafted episode in terms of the way that it managed to utilize on honoring the past seasons by traveling back to them, while also furthering the plot. The best part of the episode was the plotting of going back in time and executing that plan. The reason for that was because of the way the episode handled going back to the past, it was based in the nostalgia and honor of the season one and two glory days. The show didn't just use footage from the previous seasons, however, they shot new scenes, and bought more perspective to the show and it highlighted certain points of views from other characters.

One scene in particular that showed this was the Iris and Barry season two moment which Nora saw in secret, it was a great way to show the character the start of her existence. The whole Zoom sequence in the episode was awesome, and extension of Zoom's appearance in the show. It was interesting seeing him nearly mess with the timeline just to get revenge on Barry. It was great seeing Barry and Nora interact with the past in this way, bringing to life the episode instead of it feeling like clips played between this adventure.

I do wish that the episode could have played out a little more with the planning of the device and the pinpointing of the places in time where Barry and Nora needed to go. It would have presented almost of a heist drama element to the episode and would match great with the overall theme of the show, considering that Barry is usually taking down thieves whether they want money or his speed force power.

The use of the Reverse Flash in this episode was so awesome. It was awesome seeing the differences in the character between what we saw of him in season one, that one episode in season two, and what we might be seeing of him later on in this season. I did like the season pilot scene where Barry and Nora had to sneak around the senses of Eobard. It ultimately didn't make too much sense, however, it did create for some suspense which I can appreciate.

Barry and Nora in the brail room when the particle accelerator went off was a great scene. It had Barry reflecting on his legacy while talking to Nora and showing all that has happened. Seeing Barry reflect made me reflect on how the show has developed in terms of the story and the ways that the character of Barry has developed.

The scenes in the third act of the episode, the Cicada confrontation, felt a little underwhelming. I didn't take away from the previous scenes, however, that could have been handled a little more. Cicada was a threatening villain which was great, however, there were a few flaws, the main one is that Cisco could have vibed the dagger to another Earth, instead of space. It felt like a plot hole, however, Cicada could have been developed to a more interesting villain, if he could manage to warp space between the Earths and get his dagger back. But I did like the focus that Killer Frost got in the scene, it was her highlight in the episode.

I do have to say that my favorite scene in the episode was definitely Barry and Nora looking at Nora and Henry from afar the evening before the Reverse Flash murders Nora Allen. There was something special about both Nora and Barry watching them from afar and them discussing changing the timeline. Barry has seen the consequences of changing the timeline and this felt like the scene where he understood his destiny and that he will eventually have to sacrifice himself to save the multiverse, while Nora is nieve and adamant that she can save her father like Barry was with his mother.

The use of parallels created for an enjoyable scene which was a neat way to be a highlight in not only this 100th episode, however this season and Barry's character.

The end scene, that was awesome. There was a lot to unpack from that single scene. What I am adamant about is that that was Reverse Flash. There are a lot of questions now about the show, such as when Reverse Flash is from, and how did he get Harisson Well's face back. I am assuming that this scene will impact the rest of the season and what we have thought about Nora. Because I am guessing that Eobard has told Nora that she was a speedster, and that lead her on the path of being XS.

The easter eggs in this episode were insane. There were easter eggs from the comics, previous seasons, and comments about the show in general. I will not get into all of them, but there were a few that I did find from my first viewing:

• Eobard calling Nora "Dawn" - a reference to her comic book name
• Savitar being referred to as "pizza face" something which a lot of people, including myself have made fun of
• The first three seasons (more the first two) being called the "glory days"
• Eobard raising his hand to shake pilot Cisco's hand is a parallel to how Eobard killed Cisco in 1.15
• Sherloque and Eobard calling Nora a "clever girl' - although it may link the two characters played by Tom Cavanaugh, it is also a reference to the line in Jurassic Park from Robert Muldoon to a raptor
• The song "Back in Time" was played by Ralph- of course from Back to the Future
• There were shots of characters from previous seasons on the night the particle accelerator went off including Ronnie Raymond, Martin Stein, Clifford DeVoe, and Marlize Devoe
  

Grant Gustin was great in the episode as Barry Allen. The way that the character dreaded to explore the past four years was interesting as it showed that although he has been blessed with his powers, they have bought a lot bad times upon Barry, such as the loss of both his parents, the stress of Iris getting killed, losing his speed, and the guilt of most of his friends in danger. This episode did show how far the character has developed and Gusting has done a brilliant job in doing so over the fast 100 episodes. Everyone else did such an excellent job in the episode, in the past, and present. Starring in the episode we had Grant Gustin (Barry Allen/ the Flash), Jessica Parker Kennedy (Nora West-Allen/ XS), Tom Cavanagh (Eobard Thawne/ Reverse Flash/ Harry Wells/ Sherloque Wells), Candice Patton (Iris West), Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramone/ Vibe), Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow/ Killer Frost), Hartley Sawyer (Ralph Dibny/ Elongated Man), Teddy Sears (Hunter Zolomon/ Zoom), Tony Todd (Zoom [voice]), Lossen Chambers (Dr. Ambres), Islie Hirvonen (Grace Gibbons), Chris Kelin (Orlin Dwyer/ Cicada), Jon Wesley Shipp (Henry Allen), and Michelle Harrison (Nora Allen).

In conclusion, this was a well-directed episode which was a brilliant 100th episode of the Flash, because of the way that is honored the past seasons in an exciting manner, while also bringing the current plot forward. There were a few complaints I had with the present day fight, however, the episode left a positive mark with the performance of Grant Gustin and Jessica Parker Kennedy in the scene of the night of Nora's murder, and the end tag with Reverse Flash, and also the Elseworld crossover was also great. I will give this episode a 9 out of 10.

What did you think of the episode? let me know your thoughts and opinions and your favorite scenes and characters down in the comments section. You can click on the left for more Flash, or on the right for more DCTV, and also subscribe. As always thanks for reading, take care.