The Flash
Episode Title: “The Trap”
Channel: CW
Director: Steve Shill
Writers: Alison Schapker and
Brooke Eikmeier
Genre: Action,
Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Runtime: 43
min
Rated: TV-PG
Original Air Date: April 28,
2015
With a big confrontation on the
horizon, and only a few episode left to set it up the audience knew
this week was going to be a big one. “The Trap” picked up right
where we left off in “Who is Harrison Wells?” with Barry,
Caitlin, and Cisco in Dr. Wells secret hideout. The new facts being
discovered by the team came fast, the newspaper article we've gotten
so used to Wells staring at contains a lot of information. For one,
Iris ends up married to Barry. Also the Flash teams up with the
Green Arrow, the Atom, and Hawk Girl to take on the Reverse Flash.
When Gideon, Wells' AI companion, awoke she revealed that the Flash
is a founding member of … before Barry cut her off, which has to be
a Justice League reference. Also, she will follow any orders Barry
gives her, because he's her creator. Although in light of the ending
of the episode I don't think we can trust anything she said, after
all, Wells has been planning for every contingency.
The team concludes that the visions
Cisco has been experiencing are memories left over from Barry's foray
into time travel. They concoct a convenient to the plot, but
completely unbelievable way for Cisco to relive his dream in a lucid
state and relay what he's seeing to the others. It was chilling to
see that moment play out again, and Cisco's terror at seeing his
death approaching made me worry for his well being, even in a dream.
After learning the particulars they came up with a plan to coerce a
confession out of Wells, by recreating the circumstances of the
dream.
This week contained several flashbacks
dealing with Barry's time in a coma and how those around him handled
it. Joe was distrusting of Wells from the beginning, Iris told him
how important he was to her, and Wells laid out his master plan,
speaking mostly of his hate for the Flash. Besides some vitriolic
background from Wells the most important part of theses scenes was a
tiny static spark in the scene with Iris. It would play a big part
by the end of the episode.
There were a couple of distracting
side-arcs that threatened the pace of the show. The major one dealt
with Eddie's plan to propose to Iris. Joe refused to give his
blessing and Eddie went to Barry to see if he could change Joe's
mind. Joe is convinced that it would be a mistake for Iris to marry
Eddie, since she would realize she was with the wrong man, but would
stay out of commitment. It was an awkward situation, with Barry
arguing Eddie's case despite his feelings for Iris. The other
distraction was a brief building fire, in the exact building and
floor where Capt. Singh's fiance works. I guess the purpose of this
scene was to provide a bit of action and to reiterate to the audience
that Wells so often appears helpful that it's hard to believe he's
the villain. It just felt extraneous though. We've had plenty of
moments when Wells has seemed like a good guy, and the episode didn't
need any action; there was plenty going on to keep it interesting.
The team set their trap for Wells and
waited for him to show up. When he did everything proceeded just as
it should. Cisco had set the force field they intended to trap the
Reverse Flash in to keep speedsters out instead, it was intended to
be his safety net upon getting Wells to confess to the murder of Nora
Allen. He doesn't quite confess, fearing for his life Cisco
activated the force field, which Wells walked right through. Joe
fired three bullets at Wells, Barry manages to stop two of them, but
one hit Wells in the chest and killed him. I'm not sure they'll
broach the subject, but in the next couple of episodes Cisco might
wonder if Barry was willing to sacrifice him to get the confession
they needed.
In an amazing twist Barry's phone rang
and Wells was on the other end of the call. The body on the floor we
thought of wells reverts to last week's villain, Everyman, and Wells
revealed that he has been watching every aspect of Barry's, and his
friends', lives and knew exactly what they were planning. This
explains some of the subtle, significant looks we've seen out of
Wells in the past few episodes. Fearing for Iris' safety Barry
speeds out to find her, but the Wells gets there first. He
interrupted Eddie's proposal and threatened Iris before Barry showed
up. When Barry arrived Wells made off with Eddie, and the Flash
promised Iris he would get him back. They touched hands briefly and
the same static discharge happened again. It dawned on Iris that
Barry is the Flash. I'm glad she figured it out for herself, instead
of being told. We are left to wonder why the Reverse Flash took
Eddie with him. Since he is a descendant of Eddie I supposed Barry
could end all of his problems by getting rid of the present day
Thawne, but that just doesn't seem like a move Barry would make, so I
guess we'll have to wait and see.
Conclusion:
I'm really excited to see how they wrap up the first season of The
Flash.
There was so much going on in this episode I'm glad they decided to
forgo the villain of the week formula and focus on the story.
Hopefully, now that Iris knows Barry's secret she can get back to
being a good character, and not just a source of conflict. The
middle dragged a bit as everything lost focus, but overall “The
Trap” was a great episode.
Rating:
8.5/10
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