The Flash Season 1, Episode 20: “The Trap”
Written by Alison Schapker & Brooke Eikmeier
Directed by Steve Shill
Tuesdays at 8pm ET on the CW
In “The Trap”, Barry and his team have found the secret room of Harrison Wells, and with it the secrets he has been hiding all along. They put together a plan to get Wells to confess to murdering Barry’s mother and help clear his father’s name once and for all. As they set a trap to lure Wells into telling everything, who is really trapping who?
It is getting tiring to have to begin every review with “the group tries to figure out the mystery of Harrison Wells.” The continuous overall plot of the last few episodes has been convincing everyone that Wells is up to no good. That is no longer the case. Everyone is on-board the “Harrison Wells is the Reverse-Flash!?!” train, and “The Trap” is the first episode with the whole of the Flash crew making a move against Wells.
“The Trap” starts out in the thick of it; Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin still in the secret room, astonished by their discovery. Not only is the yellow Flash suit there, but Barry has caught a glimpse of his future. The newspaper with his disappearance on the front page is disconcerting to say the least, but it also reveals too many elements that may no longer be as permanent as they were. Barry seems to have forgotten the lesson that Wells taught him when time-travel was last featured, that any changes can cause disaster. Needless to say, Wells already threw one gigantic monkey-wrench into the time-stream, leading to some speculation that this TV show may be taking place in an alternate time-line, something that DC Comic fans know all too much about. Is this why there is a new Flash for the movies? Crisis on Infinite Earths anyone?
A major concern for the past few episodes is how odd Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin are treating Wells. Everyone is keeping him at arm’s length, trying to figure out if this seemingly kind man is truly the monster that killed Barry’s mother. Something always felt off, and Wells had to have known something was up and was just playing it cool. With the reveal that he has been tracking the group’s every movement, starting all the way at the beginning of the show, it finally shows that Wells has been playing it dumb this whole time, and thank god for that. Reverse-Flash is a threat, and for the first time in the show, it is revealed that he really is miles ahead of the team. It really feels like Barry is out-matched.
This revelation finally lets Wells ditch the wheelchair and stop the charade, leading to Tom Cavanagh’s devilishly fun monologue on the rooftop. He finally feels free, and it shows. Cavanagh has a delight in his Eobard Thawne performance that makes it so much fun to watch. While it is sad to see the fatherly love of Harrison Wells disappear, it is about time that Reverse-Flash starts his end-game, whatever that might hold.
One thing that isn’t addressed by Wells is the sudden fire that breaks out, leading Barry away from the group. Showing that Eobard had bugged the entirety of the team’s normal meeting places, including Barry’s lab, it is obvious he watched them trigger Cisco’s memory the whole time. Is he responsible for the fire? It is never made clear, but in hindsight, it feels like he did it to force Barry away, while teaching him more about his powers. Hopefully, this will come back and get some explanation.
The other big mystery left over is what will happen to Eddie Thawne. Reverse-Flash can’t kill him, as it would create a paradox where Eobard is never born. What is it that Eobard has in store for Eddie, and will it be the lead up to what causes Eobard to have so much hatred towards Barry? It had better be more than Eddie loved Iris and Barry took her away from him, thus creating a Hatfield vs McCoy style of family rivalry. It will be interesting to see this one play out.
The last thing of note is that it appears the whole “Iris must never know” part of the show is coming to an end. During a flashback to Barry’s coma, Iris notices a spark when she touches his hand, the same spark she sees when she touches the Flash’s hand at the end of the episode. Iris seems to put it together immediately, and hopefully that will bury this subplot once and for all.
“The Trap” is a well-crafted episode that shows how far behind the team has been for the past few weeks. With every reveal, it felt like they were getting closer to figuring out the plan of Eobard/Wells, only to be shown how unprepared they really are. The cat is out of the bag. They know the truth about Harrison Wells. Eobard Thawne is here, and the end is in sight.
Sidenotes:
- How many times has Wells entered the room while the team was discussing him? I lost count.
- Cisco’s geekiness doesn’t let him understand how the dream sequence will work, “…is this Inception or Dreamscape?”
- Joe has way too much glee in getting Cisco to shut up
- Gorilla Grodd next week!!!