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Nora’s big Reverse Flash secret is finally revealed in the latest Flash
The new Cicada is obviously one heck of a threat, but it turns out the biggest problem Team Flash faced this week was one that came from within. Sorry, Nora.
Spoilers ahead for “Time Bomb,” the latest episode of The CW’s Flash, which aired Tuesday, March 19, 2019, on The CW.
Sherloque has spent the brunt of the season trying to figure out exactly what Nora is hiding, and as her plan falls apart around her, he finally cracks the case. Nora’s time-travel shenanigans never predicted the emergence of a second Cicada, and even her partner in crime Future Thawne seems unable to reconcile exactly how to deal with this new (seemingly worse) timeline that has emerged from her interference. It’s reached a point where Future Thawne’s only advice is for Nora to come clean, and as she’s trying to find the words, Sherloque lays her secret bare.
Nora has spent the entire season following Thawne’s directions, as a pawn fully embedded into the heart of Team Flash. We still don’t know exactly why Nora chose to work with Thawne, or what Thawne’s actual endgame is at this point, but it seems those answers will be coming sooner rather than later. Nora’s jaunts to 2049 continue to show a ticking clock (down to less than 12 minutes now) in Thawne’s cell. Is he on the verge of being executed? Something else? We still don’t know.
As Team Flash begins to dig into Nora’s journal, though, it looks like we’ll find out soon why she chose to work with Thawne. Best guess? He was the closest thing she has left to her father, even if he was his sworn enemy (kinda like how Judith loves to hang out with Negan these days over on The Walking Dead).
That could help explain Nora’s motivations, but not Thawne’s. He’s proven time and time again to be one of the smartest and most formidable rogues in the Arrowverse. With him sitting in a future prison, it stands to reason at least some component of his meddling was designed to create a timeline where he’s no longer behind bars. Because, let’s face it, altruism has never really been a driving principle for the Reverse Flash.
Barry’s disappointment in Nora is palpable, and he wastes no time super-speeding her into the pipeline until they can figure out what to do with her. It’s a brutal moment, but considering the questions in need of answering, hard to argue with Barry’s decision.
As for the other problem this week, the time-travel hits keep on coming. Turns out grown-up Grace isn’t just suddenly grown thanks to metahuman powers — she’s actually Grace from the future. So, for those keeping count, we still have young Grace in a coma in the hospital; plus adult Grace causing havoc for Team Flash. We learn a bit more about her motivations this week, as she tries to kill the metahuman who accidentally caused the death of her parents. Even when she realizes it was an accident, she doesn’t care, and nearly puts her dagger through the woman.
Freshly cured of his meta powers, the OG Cicada gets a brief redemption arc, where he tries to talk Future Grace off the ledge of being a hate-filled killer. It doesn’t work, and instead she throws Dwyer’s own dagger into his back, leaving him to die in the Flash’s arms as he begs Barry to save his niece. So, R.I.P. Chris Klein’s Batman voice. We end with Cicada 2.0 still on the loose, so it seems she’ll be finishing up the season as the Big Bad (at least until all this Reverse Flash business heats up).
Assorted musings
Great to have Ralph back this week, as he adorably meddles in Cisco’s love life. Things are going well between Cisco and Camilla, but Cisco is enjoying keeping this relationship separate from his superhero day job. It makes some sense, but Ralph wisely counsels that she can never fully be a part of his life until she knows that massive, missing piece of it.
Throwback to Thawne’s old time sphere, which is used to explain how Grace made the jump from the future back to the present. Nice to see Rip Hunter’s tech is still in action.
Up next: The team tries to figure out what to do with Nora, and aims to piece together what she’s been doing with Future Thawne. Team Flash is on hiatus until April 16.
