TV Review: The Flash – Season 1 Episode 15 “Out Of Time”

EPISODE 15: "Out Of Time"

SYNOPSIS: With a vengeful villain (Weather Wizard) after Joe, it's up to Barry and co. to determine a way to neutralize his powers. Meanwhile, Iris and Barry's relationship takes another turn, this time for the better, and Cisco and Caitlin realize Dr. Wells isn't who he seems.

RECAP (Beware of spoilers!):

It’s been a month since we had a new episode of THE FLASH, but tonight’s thriller made the long wait beyond worth it. I can easily say this has been my favorite episode yet. After all, it isn’t every day that I open-mouth stare, in shock, at my television. Not only were there big surprises, but the character development and acting were top-notch. Not to mention, the visual effects (especially that tsunami) were incredible. The huge twists made it seem like this episode was a season finale, not a random, mid-season episode. With so many reveals, I am really excited to see what the writers have left for us in the rest of the season!

Let’s not bury the lead. We had some shocking reveals tonight. Iris confessed her love for Barry and found out he is The Flash. And Dr. Wells revealed he is the Reverse Flash to Cisco, then promptly “killed” him. But will these huge plot twists last, or will the new time-travel aspect of the show cancel them out? Where do we go from here?!

In the pilot episode of THE FLASH, we were introduced to our first meta-human villain, Clyde Mardon. He was given the ability to control the weather after he and his brother robbed a bank and tried to escape via airplane as the particle accelerator exploded. The dark matter infiltrated into their bodies and (as we found out tonight) gave both men the ability to control the weather. Clyde was a dangerous adversary, but Barry used his super speed to neutralize his powers. However, as Barry recovered from the exhaustive battle, Clyde pulled a gun on him. Thankfully Joe was also on the scene, and was able to shoot and kill Clyde before he killed Barry.

So, in tonight’s episode, Clyde’s brother Mark (SPARTACUS’ Liam Mcintyre), who is even more powerful than his brother, is seeking revenge. Mark’s first stop is the Central City Morgue. There, he threatens the medical examiner for information about his brother’s murderer. But even though the examiner spills the beans about Joe’s involvement, he still ends up dead thanks to balls of hail that were shot into his gut. What a way to go!

Meanwhile, Linda and Barry go on a date to the local bowling alley and happen to see Eddie and Iris there as well. The couples decide to double-date, and no surprise, it ends horribly. Between Barry and Iris’ flirting and Eddie and Linda’s side-eye, it’s obvious this isn’t going to end well for either party. But thanks to the medical examiner tripping a silent alarm before he died- since when do morgues have that feature – Eddie and Barry cut the date short, before the awkwardness gets even worse, and run off to the crime scene. But this experience creates serious tension for both couples throughout the rest of the episode and brings Barry and Iris closer together.

On the way to the morgue, Barry sees a weird reflection of himself in his “flash” and ends up in an unfamiliar part of town, where a girl is yelling about missing her cab. Eventually, he makes it to the crime scene and starts investigating the medical examiner’s death with the rest of the forensic team. Thanks to a new recording system at the facility, the police are conveniently able to hear the conversation that took place between Mark and the examiner, revealing Joe is in serious danger.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, the group finds a way to neutralize Mark’s (aka Weather Wizard’s) powers. Cisco builds a “wizard’s wand”, which acts as a grounding mechanism, preventing Mark from tapping into the atmosphere’s electrical circuit and controlling the weather. But before Joe can find Mark to neutralize him, Mark shows up at the police precinct and attacks Joe, throwing a bolt of lightning his way. The police chief springs to action and pushes Joe out of the way, taking the hit himself. At that point, Barry, as The Flash, appears and uses the weather wand against Mark, though unfortunately he escapes. Barry rushes the chief to the hospital, but the damage is done. He is critically injured and may never be able to walk again. Do we think Joe is next in line for his job?

Now it’s Joe’s time for revenge. He and Eddie go to Mark and Clyde’s former hideout to settle things once and for all. However, it’s a trap and Mark uses his power to capture Joe. He then uses Joe’s phone to call Iris and lets her know her dad is being held at the waterfront. If she wants to save him, she will have to come without the police. “Police” doesn’t include Barry, and the two set off to save Joe. But on their way, Iris decides it’s a good idea to take a time out and tell Barry she loves him. It's a sweet scene and I'm glad Barry finally got a kiss from Iris, but I think if I were her, I would’ve maybe waited until my dad was safe to deal with all of that.

In the meantime, Mark has conjured up a huge tsunami that is on its way to hit Central City. Barry gets word from Caitlin that their only chance at survival is for him to use his super speed to create a wind barrier around the city.  With no time for another plan, Barry says to Iris, “I didn’t want you to find out this way”, and turns into The Flash right before her eyes. In order to stop the tsunami, Barry must run faster than he ever has before. But as he goes faster and faster, he starts to see his image reflected again, and shoots through a time barrier. Once again Barry ends up back in that strange part of town, at the same period of time, with the woman screaming about missing her taxi.

Besides eliminating the villain, the other main conflict in tonight’s episode was figuring out what the hell is going on with Dr. Wells. And, interestingly enough, we finally got some answers. When Iris’ boss, Mason Bridge, informs her that Dr. Wells was the last one in the building before Simon Stagg mysteriously disappeared, he tasks her with obtaining inside information from her friends at S.T.A.R. Labs. So, Iris talks to Barry and asks if he truly trusts Dr. Wells. Barry still believes his mentor is a good man, however, when he relays the conversation back to Cisco and Caitlin, Cisco isn’t on Team Wells. In fact, he goes to meet with Joe to ask why Joe believed Dr. Wells killed Barry’s mom, but due to the Weather Wizard issue, he doesn’t have time to talk.

Still not satisfied that Dr. Wells is a good guy, Cisco tells Caitlin about his suspicions. After all, a lot of things aren’t adding up, especially the fact that Cisco couldn’t find anything to explain the failure of the containment system that was holding the Reverse Flash in episode 9 (“The Man In The Yellow Suit”). In order to do more covert tests on the containment system, Cisco asks Caitlin to keep Dr. Wells busy. So, Caitlin takes Dr. Wells out for coffee. But, Dr. Wells can tell something is up, and when Caitlin goes to grab to-go cups for their coffee, he is gone… and by gone I mean he left his wheelchair behind. Now she knows Cisco’s suspicions were correct and Dr. Wells isn’t who he says he is.

While Caitlin and Dr. Wells were getting coffee, Cisco realized that there wasn’t anything wrong with his containment system. Dr. Wells created a hologram of Reverse Flash, which made it look like he was physically contained; in reality it was an illusion. At that moment, Dr. Wells walks (yes, walks) into the room and everything starts to unravel. Like any good villain, Dr. Wells tells Cisco his villainous motivations. His real name is Eobard Thawne, and is a distant relative of Eddie. Using his speed, he shows Cisco how he made himself multiply to the human eye (a speed mirage). He also admits to killing Barry’s mom, but says he didn’t mean to because he was actually trying to kill Barry.

Cisco asks why he tried to kill Barry as a kid but is helping him now as an adult. Dr. Wells explains he has been “marooned in this place for fifteen long years” and Barry’s speed is the key to returning him to his world and time. In a heartbreaking final scene, Dr. Wells says Cisco was like a son to him, but he kills him anyway. “Forgive me, but to me you’ve been dead for centuries.” RIP (for now) CISCO! But hopefully this isn’t the end for our boy. As we saw from the scenes at the beginning and end of the episode, Barry’s increasing speed has given him the ability to break through the space/time barrier and repeatedly be in the same period of time (the woman yelling about the taxi). Obviously this new time-travel power is what Dr. Wells wants to utilize, and I think it’s safe to assume that Cisco’s death won’t be for long.

STINGER: No real stinger tonight. And with all of the reveals, I’m not sure my heart could’ve taken any more. Let’s just say the final ten minutes of the episode was the stinger.

DC UNIVERSE EASTER EGGS: In the comics, Weather Wizard used a wand similar to Cisco's "wizard wand" to control the weather. Also, Eobard Thawne (aka Professor Zoom) is The Flash's archnemesis, who was born in the 25th century and genetically engineered to be brilliant. Perhaps this is the time period he is trying to get back to. For a potentially spoiler-filled background on the character, check out the entry on the DC Comics wiki page.

COOL ALTERNATE USE OF "THE FLASH" POWERS: Is there anything cooler than Barry using his speed to freakin’ time travel? Hopefully he will use his power to save Cisco and maybe to also erase Iris’ memory about his identity. Thoughts?

FAVORITE QUOTE: I’m a sucker for Cisco’s self-aware quotes, so I loved when he named Mark the "Weather Wizard", “He’d have to be a… weather wizard. Oooo I’ve been waiting since week one to use that one.”

FINAL VERDICT: