Check out our recap of the last The Flash episode, which has not one, but two tricksters! There are also a lot of big reveals this episode. Check out Violet and Josh’s thoughts on this exciting episode after the jump!
Don’t need the The Flash episode recap for Tricksters? Click here to jump directly to Violet’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Josh’s thoughts on this week’s The Flash episode, Tricksters, click here to get directly there!
Episode Recap of The Flash, Season 1 Episode 17: Tricksters
So this week’s episode brings back a character from the 90s Flash TV show, the Trickster. There is a bit of a twist though.
Flash-Back and Reverse Flash Revealed
Before I get ahead of myself, the episode opens up with an awesome fight scene between the Flash and Reverse Flash. The one that leads to Barry’s mother dying. The special effects, for a TV show, look amazing. A little later in the episode, we see more of the fight, and The Flash tries to chase down Wells, but seems to lose him. Wells seems to be “out of gas” though, unable to keep his speed going. Gideon, his holographic friend, tells Wells he is trapped in this time. Wells then takes off his mask, and it turns out this isn’t Wells at all….Who is this man?
So still in the past, we see a younger Wells with his wife, and he seems like an optimistic, youthful scientist, first developing STAR Labs. This seems like a different timeline. But maybe not. We see this mystery man watching over Dr. Wells and his wife creepily from afar. What seems to be later in the meeting, Wells and his wife are driving down the street, but this mystery man ruins their night, causing their car to crash. Tess, his wife, seems to be dead, and Wells is trying to help her. This man then drags Wells out of the car, and the man introduces himself as Eobard Thawne. This man tells Wells that in 2020 Wells will invent a particle accelerator. Problem for Thawne is, it isn’t soon enough. Thawne has a solution though–killing Wells with a machine, which then gives Thawne the likeness of Dr. Wells. It s a creepy scene, but it sure was a great way to keep people guessing what was going on with Wells.
Finally, Eobard Thawne gets back into the car, and the police find the overturned vehicle, setting in motion his plan.
Iris’s Investigation
In the present, Iris seems on her own mission, worried about her mentor Mason. She feels something bad happened to him looking into Star Labs, and asks Eddie to look into it. Eddie seems to not be too concerned about it, so her next option is the Flash.
Barry shows up at Jitters at the request of Iris, and she asks him to look into it, because no one else will help her. He agrees, but the conversation turns to Iris noticing something is off with the Flash.
Not One, But Two Tricksters!
So, getting on track with the primary story, Joe and Barry discuss Dr. Wells and what his motives are. Joe thinks everything is connected since the accident that transformed Barry. Barry seems to be really suspicious of Wells and wants to take down Wells now. Joe tells Barry that they have to keep this quiet. Barry needs to cool down a bit, and listen to Joe! Joe tries to instill some patience in Barry.
But now, back to the Trickster. At a local park, some lovely wrapped presents rain from the sky. The contents are deadly though, and bombs begin exploding everywhere. Luckily, Barry is able to see this building from the place he is meeting Joe at, and is able to rescue some kids. But this Trickster releases a video introducing himself, promising some havoc.
At Star Labs, Joe talks about the previous Trickster, James Jesse, who is in prison at the moment. While discussing this new Trickster, Barry is quiet “irritable” and Wells notices it. But getting to work, Joe and Barry head to interview the “retired” Trickster in Iron Heights. They chit-chat, and this Trickster (played by Mark Hamill) seems very distraught and angry about this impostor Trickster. He also gloats about his previous work when he was free, killing people every day. James Jesse decides the best course of action to catching this guy, is to search his old lair, figuring he must have found his old toys.
They head down to the lair, and find what looks to be a storage room. Barry is able to get it open, and well, there’s an armed bomb inside. Barry is able to move fast enough to get him and Joe out of the blast, but it looks like this new guy got all of James Jesse’s toys.
The two head back to Iron Heights, and Barry talks to his dad, and promises his dad that he won’t pay for another man’s crime, but doesn’t provide details. But Barry and Joe tell James that the storage room is empty, and he seems quite outraged about it. He tells them that a fairly large bomb was in there, big enough to level Central City. Then the new guy promises a much bigger explosion. James sees the video and demands this fraud take off his mask. He seems pretty upset about this whole thing.
So Barry jumps into action, and searches the streets for the bomb, as does almost every cop in Central City. Wells thinks something is up though, and tells Barry to reconsider the plan. Barry, still showing frustration with Wells, ignores Wells and continues looking. Turns out Wells was right though. All the while Barry looked for this bomb, this new Trickster helped the old Trickster break out of prison. On top of that, James Jesse grabs some collateral–Barry’s dad. Barry does find the bomb, but it turns out to just be an empty box.
So, back at the duo Tricksters makeshift base, Barry’s dad is tied up, and they plan their next move. James Jesse seems to have a plan for the Flash too. But, the big reveal of the episode! This young Trickster asks why he was chosen as his apprentice. Well it is quite obvious, because James Jesse is “his father!” (did you catch the cheesy Star Wars reference?).
At STAR Labs, they figure out that the two Tricksters have been corresponding for a while now. Barry is worried about his dad, as the rest of the team searches for the Tricksters. Barry also talks to Joe about how he can’t handle the secrecy with Wells, and asks why he has been so blind. This scene is pretty touching though, as Joe provides Barry a much needed pep talk, and just shows why Joe is such a great part of this show.
But back to our Tricksters, they are disguised as some waiters at a fancy election campaign meeting, and they seem excited that they are almost out of champagne to serve. They then decide to crash the stage, and reveal their plan–the champagne was laced with poison, which would kill soon unless these rich socialites turn over their bank accounts and riches to the Tricksters. Then they would provide an antidote.
Iris calls Joe to give a hint to what is going on, and Barry acts way too brash, and confronts James Jesse. Jesse puts a bomb on Barry’s wrist, and it is a bomb which will explode unless Barry remains over 600 mph. Wells has a quick solution though–run through walls. Wells begins telling Barry calmly that at the right vibration frequency, Barry can zip through a wall. Barry is able to do so through a truck, getting the bomb off his wrist. Barry heads back to City Hall, and provides antidotes to all of the patrons, and manages to get his father safe again as well. Barry gets his dad back to STAR Labs for a quick tour, but he does head back to Iron Heights. Barry then feigns a gratefulness for Wells help, but Wells seems to be seeing through it, I think.
So at the end of the episode, another big reveal comes–Barry reveals that he is the Flash to Eddie. Eddie, Joe and Barry decide that it is best to keep Iris out of her investigation, and so Eddie lies to Iris, telling her that Mason went off the grid for a while in the Amazon. Eddie isn’t happy about it, but wants to keep Iris safe while the three work on figuring out Dr. Wells.
Josh’s Thoughts: The Flash, Season 1 Episode 17: Tricksters
COMING SOON
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 1 Episode 17 of The Flash: Tricksters
What a great episode! First they hit you with a flashback of the night Barry’s mom was killed, showing the Flash and Reverse Flash fighting each other, and then they hit you with a shocker – that the Reverse Flash who killed Barry’s mom is not Harrison Wells! It’s like wait what? Who is this guy? Are there multiple Reverse Flashes? Oh, I also must point out an Easter egg that Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg revealed recently at WonderCon [spoiler alert]: that the symbol on the Flash’s chest during this scene is white, and therefore this may not be the Barry that we know! That implies to me two different possibilities: that our Barry isn’t going to actually get around to going back in time for awhile, so this Barry is a much older Barry, or that this is a Barry from an alternate timeline.
Overall, I am really enjoying this time travel aspect to the show. This episode had such a great reveal that the real Dr. Wells was actually killed by Eobard Thawne, and that the man we know as Harrison Wells is in fact Eobard Thawne! This still begs the question though, what is Eddie’s involvement with Eobard Thawne, being that they have the same last name, and are distant relatives? Or is it just a red herring? I don’t think so though. That’s too much of a coincidence for the show to just ignore.
The main storyline of this episode was quite entertaining as well. I really enjoyed Mark Hamill’s performance, and found it hilarious that they threw in that “I am your father” moment. However, if this Trickster is supposed to be the same Trickster from the 90s, does that also mean that there was another Flash in the 90s? Or is the show just going to acknowledge the Trickster as a villain only, and ignore the part about the Flash’s involvement? That would be cool if they somehow incorporated the existence of the 90s Flash, who was played by the actor who currently plays Barry’s father, into the show, through time travel or alternate timelines, or something like that.
Anyway, so pretty much everyone knows that Barry is the Flash, now that Eddie knows. I still find it hard to believe that Iris hasn’t figured out that Barry is the Flash. She’s been in close proximity to him a lot, why wouldn’t she recognize his facial features? The cadence of his voice? It just seems way too obvious. It would be nice if they could just tell Iris already, instead of keeping the secret from her. But that’s probably not going to happen.
In any case, I am continuing to love The Flash! To everyone involved with the making of the show: keep up the great work!
Scenes from The Flash, Season 1 Episode 18, All Star Team Up
Here are scenes from next week’s The Flash episode titled All Star Team Up:
