Fifteen years ago on a suburban street in Central City, Flash speeds
out of a wormhole and heads for the Allen house. Reverse Flash emerges
behind him before the worm closes and speed along behind his nemesis.
At the Allen house, Nora is pouring herself a glass of wine when local
gravity suddenly reverses itself. Flash and his counterpart speed into
the house and battle back and forth, faster than the eye can follow.
Barry hears the commotion and comes downstairs, and Reverse Flash lunges
at him. Flash leaps after his enemy and tackles hm.
-----
In the present at the police lab, Barry shows Joe all of the
information that he’s gathered on Harrison, but points out that they
really don’t know much about him. Joe figures that Harrison somehow
engineered the particle accelerator explosion to give Barry his powers,
and notes that the scientist has since been working to make Barry
faster. However, he points out that the blood at the Allen home didn’t
match Harrison’s. Barry wants to confront Harrison right away, but Joe
warns that Harrison has been waiting 15 years, and they have to be just
as patient.
Outside in a nearby city park, small parachutes
drift down from the sky, each one containing a gift-wrapped box. When
they touch down in a park, they explode. Barry and Joe hear the
explosion and Flash speeds to the park. He rescues one child, Henry,
just in time. Unseen, a costumed figure laughs in triumph and records
video of himself.
Later at S.T.A.R. Labs, Joe and Barry watch
the viral video with their friends. The bomber announces that he is the
new Trickster and promise to throw Central City into chaos. Joe
recognizes the name and explains that 20 years ago, another terrorist
called himself Trickster and launched a series of attacks. That
Trickster, James Jesse, is now serving several consecutive life
sentences at Iron Heights. Joe suggests talking to James and seeing if
he can give them any leads on the new Trickster. Barry insists on going
after snapping at Harrison. Once he’s gone, Harrison wonders why Barry
is upset and Joe dismisses it as nothing.
-----
Flash
gets Barry out of the house and several blocks away to safety. Reverse
Flash tries to follow him, but he suddenly collapses to the pavement,
spent. Gideon informs him that his jump through time drained his
superspeed powers and he’s unable to return to his own time. Frustrated,
Eobard Thawne rips off his mask and screams.
-----
Warden Wolfe takes Barry and Joe to a subbasement, explaining that they
had to set up a special cell for James after he talked his last
psychiatrist into killing himself. Wolfe gives them a packet of
Twizzlers and lets them inside, and the imprisoned James orders them to
hand over the candy. Barry tells him about the exploding parachute
bombs, and is surprised when Barry says that they’re a match for the
ones that he used 20 years ago. When they refer to the newcomer as
“Trickster,” James flies into a rage, saying that the imposter is
nothing like him. He dismisses the new Trickster as an amateur, and
figures that he found his lair and the equipment it contained. Eager to
help, he tells them to kill Trickster when they find him.
At
the station, Iris shares her suspicions with Eddie about Mason’s
disappearance. He figures that the reporter has just gone off somewhere,
but Iris isn’t so sure and asks Eddie to look into it. Eddie agrees to
check it out once they deal with Trickster.
Joe and Barry go to
the old storage unit that James used as his hideout. They find a locked
door and Barry vibrates it open. However, a bomb goes off and Barry
superspeeds Joe to safety just in time. Inside they discover that the
shelves are empty and realize that Trickster took everything.
Back at Iron Heights, Barry takes a detour to his father’s cell and
tells Henry why he’s there. He also says that he’s closer than ever to
finding Nora’s murderer. At James’ cell, they tell him what happened and
James is furious that the upstart stole his equipment. When they wonder
what was stolen, James says that he had a bomb capable of destroying
Central City. Cisco calls and tells Barry that Trickster has posted a
new video. Barry plays it for Joe and James, and Trickster boasts that
he has something much bigger planned.
When the two men return
to S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry continues to snipe at Harrison. Harrison finally
has enough and talks to Barry privately, and says that he knows what
he’s thinking. He figures that Barry is upset at seeing Henry at Iron
Heights and promises to find Nora’s killer and bring them to justice.
Barry reluctantly accepts that and gets text from Iris asking to meet
with Flash.
-----
Harrison and his girlfriend Tess
Morgan are on the beach together. He plans to create a scientific lab in
the middle of Central City, and wants to name it in Tess’ honor. Tess
suggests calling it S.T.A.R. Labs and kisses her fiancé... and Eobard
watches from the pier.
-----
At Jitters, Iris asks
Flash for helping finding Mason. He agrees and she notices that he seems
up upset. The hero says that he sometimes wonders why he wears a mask
with her, and Iris says that someday he might not have to. Cisco calls
to tell Flash that Trickster is broadcasting again. Borrowing Iris’
laptop, Flash brings up the video of Trickster boasting that he has the
bomb ready. The villain gives a city block address where the bomb is
hidden, and Flash speeds off to find it.
At the station, Singh orders his men out and wonders if Flash knows about it. Joe assures him that he does.
When Flash fails to find the bomb, Harrison warns him that it’s some
kind of a trick. However, the hero ignores him and keeps searching. He
finally locates a large box and opens it, only to find a sign saying
“Tricked you” inside of the empty container.
In the sewers beneath Iron Heights, Trickster blasts open a hole into the subbasement.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Harrison and the others pick up on the alarm and
realize that Trickster has planned the entire thing as a distraction to
get James free. Meanwhile, Flash calls Joe to apologize. Joe warns him
that Trickster and James took a hostage as they escaped: Henry.
The two Tricksters take Henry to a warehouse and tie him up. When the
younger one, Axel Walker, wonders why they took him hostage, James
explains that Henry’s son is a police scientist, making Henry a valuable
hostage. Henry promises that Barry will find him, and James says that’s
what he’s hoping for. When Axel wonders why James reached out to him,
James explains that Axel is his son.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Joe
tells the others that Axel has been writing letters to James for years.
James used coded messages to lay out the entire escape plan. Barry
apologizes to Harrison for ignoring his advice and walks out.
-----
As Harrison and Tess drive home, their cat hits a spike strip that
Eobard put down. The car crashes and Tess is killed instantly. Harrison
sees Eobard walk over and begs him to help, but Eobard tells him that
Tess has been dead for centuries.
-----
Joe follows
Barry into the pipeline chamber, and Barry wonders how he can trust
Harrison to save Henry when Harrison killed Nora. He blames himself for
not seeing the truth all along, and Joe says that he wishes that he was
Barry because Barry is the one who always sees the best in people. He
figures that they should accept Harrison’s help no matter what his
reasons, and Barry breaks into tears at the thought of losing Henry.
Later that night, Mayor Anthony Bellows is holding a reelection
fundraiser at City Hall. As Iris comes in to report on the event, James
and Axel work the crowd dressed as waiters, serving champagne. Once
everyone has taken a drink, James goes to the podium and makes a joke at
Bellows’ expense. When the mayor tries to interrupt, James rips off his
disguise while Axel draws a gun. The elder Trickster informs the crowd
that the champagne that they drank was poisoned, and they will start
dying. One man gags and collapses, dead, and James points out that he
served the champagne to him an hour earlier. He then tells the guests to
call their bankers and have them transfer their money to his secret
bank account. While the guests reluctantly start making the
arrangements, Iris dials Joe’s phone number.
Joe is at S.T.A.R.
Labs when his phone rings. They hear James talking in the background
and realize that he’s at City Hall. While Caitlin starts manufacturing
an antidote to the poison, Flash speeds away to confront the villains.
He grabs James and slams him against the wall, but Axel slaps an
explosive bracelet on Flash’s wrist. James explains that it’s a kinetic
bomb and will detonate if Flash tries to remove it, or if he goes below
600 miles an hour.
Flash has no choice but to run through the
city, but warns the scientists that he can’t keep it up forever.
Harrison suggests that he vibrate through a wall, leaving the bracelet
behind. When Flash points out that he doesn’t know how to do it,
Harrison walks him through the process, describing it as if from
first-hand experience. Flash hesitates but then follows Harrison’s
instructions and succeeds in vibrating through a tanker, leaving the
bracelet behind to harmlessly explode. He then runs back to City Hall
and injects everyone with the antidote, and then demands to know where
he can find Henry. When Flash arrives at the warehouse, he finds Henry
tied beneath a suspended box filled with knives. He whisks his father to
safety and then removes his mask, and the two men hug.
The
next day, Barry takes Henry to S.T.A.R. Labs and introduces him to his
friends. Harrison tells Henry that Barry is an extraordinary man, and
promises to ensure his future. Joe takes Henry back to Iron Heights, and
Caitlin hugs Barry. Once the others leave, Barry shakes Harrison’s hand
and says that he’s lucky to have him as a friend.
-----
Harrison crawls out of the wrecked car, and Eobard throws him to the
ground. He then says that it doesn’t matter who he is. Eobard needs
Harrison to launch his particle accelerator six years ahead of schedule
and attaches a device to both himself and Harrison. Harrison
disintegrates while Eobard takes on the dead man’s appearance.
-----
Joe brings Eddie up to the police lab and tells him that they have to
stop Iris’ investigation into Mason’s disappearance. When Eddie wonders
why, Flash runs in and unmasks, and Joe says that they need Eddie’s
help.
Later, Eddie meets Iris at her house and tells her that
Mason has gone to Brazil with a new girlfriend, and is living in the
jungle. Barry and Joe arrive, and talk to Eddie privately when they get a
chance. Eddie worries that they’re not doing the right thing, but asks
how they can figure out what Harrison is up to. Barry describes
Harrison’s instructions to him and figures that he’s Reverse Flash.
-----
When the police arrive, the transformed Eobard introduces himself as Harrison Wells.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 23, 2019