“The Trap” saw Team Flash trying to catch Wells in the act using some time travel shenanigans to help them. But true to his word, Wells proved that he is always one step ahead.
“The Trap” featured many interesting beats.The B-story of the episode featured Eddie trying to ask Iris to marry him. This put Barry in an awkward position when he asked him for help following Joe refusing to give Eddie his blessing. Add in some future knowledge from both Barry and Wells/Thawne and the engagement was basically dead on arrival. Though we did get the nice finale of Iris learning the truth.
The primary story of Flash fared remarkably. We opened with the team in the “time vault,” as they’ve taken to calling it, where they learned a bit about the future. We got some tidbits of the future, such as Hawkgirl, Barry founding something, and Iris’s eventual married name, that culminated with the knowledge that this AI that Wells has been so dependent on was actually created by Barry himself. Keeping up with the time travel element, the team used the knowledge of the other timeline, which Barry now readily shared, to help Cisco enter his dreams to replicate the moment.
The recreation of the scene of Wells confronting Cisco had some eerie similarities, but the differences helped it stand out. But the big twist at the end, where Wells really revealed himself and just how much he’d been watching was the big moment. Reverse Flash vs Flash. The endgame we’ve been waiting for has finally begun.
Positives
Tom Cavanagh is incredible. That speech at the end continued to sell that he is easily the top-dog in the CW villain world. No one can touch him and he is indeed one step ahead of everyone. The next few weeks should definitely prove to be a non-stop thrill.
It was great to see some of the time travel elements in play here. Hinting at the Justice League, some indirect hero mentions, and the Gideon reveal were all great fun. The utilization of Cisco’s connection to the original timeline was a fun touch on setting the trap for Wells. The time snaps back idea even got to be in play with Captain Singh’s fiancé being at risk where Singh was the one hurt in the original timeline.
The Flash doesn’t tend to use flashbacks, so it was interesting seeing them here. When Flash does pull them out, you know they really matter. It was great seeing them in play here, especially the final one with Wells. It is crazy, and a bit creepy, to see just how much of a long game he’s been playing. Even the Joe one was cool, as it showed the long lack of trust he has had for Wells.
Negatives
That is not how REM Sleep works! I know it is nitpicky, people physically cannot move during REM sleep. The body locks up the muscles. He physically should not have been moving or talking, lucid dreaming or not.
That aside, probably the weakest element of this was the sheer redo feel of it. This is like the fifth time we’ve seen Wells kill Cisco, or at least a part of it. It was fun the first time we replayed, but by now it has gotten a bit out of hand. It almost cheapens one of the top scenes The Flash has put out so far. The Wells teaches Barry a new power was a little bit of redo feel as well, but it had some positives to it as well.
I would have loved to see the Iris shock-touch thing a bit sooner in the season. Though I liked the idea from a “deeper connection” standpoint, it still made it seem like a plot device to let Iris know.
The Verdict
The Flash delivered a real winner with “The Trap” as it continued to make the Reverse Flash seem even more menacing as a foe.
