Nora

*For the titular character, see Nora West-Allen.*
*For other uses of the name "Nora", see Nora (disambiguation).*
"*My name is Nora West-Allen, and I'm the fastest woman alive. When I was a child, my father disappeared in something impossible. Then I grew up and became the impossible. Now I'm trying to live up to the legacy he created so that one day, I'll stop him from ever disappearing. I'm XS. How schway is that?*"
—Nora West-Allen

## Information

### Written by

Todd Helbing
Sam Chalsen

## Chronology

### Blog post

Post 84 "#CiscoCarpeDiem"

"**Nora**" is the first episode of the fifth season of *The Flash*, and the ninety-third episode overall. It aired on October 9, 2018.

## Plot

"Nora" starts with a presentation by Nora West as she clarifies how she was brought into the world a long time from now and in her course of events, the individuals of Central City call her XS. We see a brief look at the scene from a year ago's finale of Nora helping her father bring down The Thinker.

It at that point returns into the West family where Nora has a go at persuading everyone regarding her genuine way of life as Barry and Iris' girl. Nora clarifies that in the wake of decimating the STAR Labs satellite, she comes up short on the speed to open the Speed Force to come back to her course of events.

We see that Cecile's ready to guess what her newborn might be thinking, demonstrating she held her clairvoyant capacities after her pregnancy.

In the storm cellar of STAR Labs, Nora's running on the track while Barry and Iris talk about the circumstance. Caitlin and Cisco stroll in and begin testing her vitals. Caitlin educates Barry and Iris that DNA testing affirms that Nora is, truth be told, their girl.

At CCPD, Captain Singh illuminates Barry that he's restored to the power in the wake of being freed from any bad behavior in the demise of Clifford DeVoe. Barry begins handling his remaining task at hand when Nora speeds in and offers to assist, a lot to her dad's disappointment. They're talking when a call comes in about an assaulting metahuman and Nora speeds out to recover Barry's unique suit from Cisco's wardrobe.

Barry takes a stab at halting the theft when he's hindered and occupied by Nora, who shows up and communicates shock at the scoundrel Gridlock. Gridlock escapes and the group comes back to STAR Labs.

In the wake of communicating dissatisfaction in her girl, Iris and Nora go to Jitters for espresso. The two come back to STAR Labs, where Cisco has contrived another Tachyon gadget to get her back to the correct course of events. As Barry and Nora race off to the track to open up the Speed Force, Wally surges in and advises the gathering they need to prevent the pair from going ahead in time.

Barry and Nora and took out and they before long wake up in the clinical inlet. Wally advises them that he meet with the Legends and had Gideon examine Nora's blood, where she found that Nora was experiencing negative-tachyons that were making her more slow. They notice on the TV that Gridlock has submitted another burglary and they understand that without their satellites that had recently been pulverized, they're without eyes and ears.

Ralph and Caitlin get to the wrongdoing scene, where they talk about the vanishing of Killer Frost. They're brought over by Cisco who clarifies that the more Gridlock moves, the more force he has.

In the storm cellar of STAR Labs, Barry and Iris show at least a bit of kindness to heart about having youngsters. While they're talking, Barry goes to an acknowledgment and leaves to chat with Nora. Nora admits to him that in her course of events, Wells' paper of Barry vanishing in a Crisis works out and that he never returns. Barry understands that Nora isn't stuck in the current timetable, rather she's deciding not to go ahead in time with an end goal to spare her dad from the Crisis.

Iris gets back to Barry to illuminate they've distinguished Gridlock as a vocation criminal known as William Lang. They understand he's loaded onto a plane at the air terminal with an end goal to deal with the flight and crash it.

We see Lang on the plane situated close to a man who's bound to a satchel. Lang makes reference to that he realizes the portfolio is loaded with gems and he stuns the man hard enough that one of the plane's motor detonates.

Back at STAR Labs, Nora specifies that she had known about an account of Barry staging the plane through structures. Barry imagines that along with Nora and Wally, they can get it going. Nora endowments her father a ring containing a fresh out of the plastic new suit.

The three speedsters begin speeding towards the plane while Cisco improves point on the circumstance with an end goal to Vibe them onto the plane. The situation works and Barry's ready to bind Gridlock and stop him. The three start attempting to stage however their underlying endeavor comes up short. Barry gives his girl a motivational speech and the trio can stage the plane through Central City high rises and land it securely in the stream.

Back at STAR Labs, Cisco gives Nora refreshed innovation yet Barry persuades the gathering that they should let Nora remain in the current course of events. He acts ignorant and doesn't tell them about the Crisis and rather convinces them that they should ensure Nora's forces are working appropriately.

Ralph strolls into the parlor, where he gives a bundle to Caitlin. It's her dad's passing authentication, which Ralph clarifies is a phony.

The scene closes with Gridlock apparently being broken out of his police transport by a reprobate who tosses jolt formed knifes. The conceal assaulted opens up the truck Gridlock is being shipped in and uncovers that he needs all metahumans to bite the dust directly before he murders Gridlock.

## Cast

### Starring

* Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash
* Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen
* Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow
* Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon/Vibe
* Hartley Sawyer as Ralph Dibny
* Danielle Nicolet as District Attorney Cecile Horton
* Jessica Parker Kennedy as Nora West-Allen/XS
* Chris Klein as Orlin Dwyer/Cicada
* Tom Cavanagh (credit only)
* Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West

### Special guest star

* Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West/Kid Flash

### Guest starring

* Patrick Sabongui as Captain David Singh
* Daniel Cudmore as William Lang/Gridlock

### Co-starring

* Melissa Bradson as Flight Attendant
* Devon Ferguson as Cop
* Adrian Neblett as Shotgun SWAT
* Russell Jung as Briefcase Guy

## Trivia

* Barry suggests that Nora could "Marty McFly herself out of existence", referring to the protagonist of the 1985 film *Back to the Future*, who accidentally interferes with his parents' first meeting whilst traveling back in time, nearly erasing himself from existence.
	+ Iris confidently recognizes the reference is from the film *Terminator 2: Judgment Day*, before Barry begins to correct her.
* While describing the existence of the Multiverse, Ralph makes mention of an Earth without "that last *Indiana Jones* movie", referencing the 2008 film *Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull*, which was panned by audiences.
* Cisco calls Nora "Billy Pilgrim", telling her that she is no longer "unstuck in time", both references to the Kurt Vonnegut novel *Slaughterhouse-Five*.
* Nora shows Barry a newspaper (published on April 25, 2049) with a headline that reads "25 Years Later - Flash Still Missing". This could be a reference to Barry Allen's death in the *Crisis on Infinite Earths* comic, removing the character from the regular DC lineup for 23 years until his return in Geoff Johns' *The Flash: Rebirth* limited series. Within the article, shadow demons were mentioned and Roger Hayden/Psycho-Pirate was quoted in saying "Worlds lived, worlds died. Nothing will ever be the same."
* This episode features many references to older episodes:
	+ Ralph mentions the possibility of Barry creating a timeline where the former died in the particle accelerator explosion. Before Barry created and undid Flashpoint, Ralph *did* die in the particle accelerator explosion, as mentioned in the first season episode "Power Outage".
	+ Barry teaches Nora to phase, closely quoting what "Harrison Wells" had said to him when teaching Barry to phase in "Tricksters". The lesson would be given again in "Godspeed".
		- When Barry taught Nora how to phase, a clip of Thawne (as Harrison Wells) doing the same to Barry in the aforementioned episode was shown.
	+ Iris mentioned the time Barry traveled back in time and recruited Leonard Snart for help in "Infantino Street".
	+ Ralph mentions the possibility of a world where everyone is evil. This occurred through the events of *Crisis on Earth-X*. Earth-2, as seen in "Welcome to Earth-2" and hinted in the *Supergirl* episode "Worlds Finest", also fits this description.
	+ Iris mentioned the time Barry traveled back to 2015 to get help from Thawne in "Flash Back".
	+ Ralph mentioned how Eddie killed himself in "Fast Enough".
	+ Wally and Nora mention how Wally fought the ghost of Elvis Presley's brother and how he met the actual Elvis Presley in the *DC's Legends of Tomorrow* episode "Amazing Grace"​.
	+ Nora mentions the time Barry ran on water to fight King Shark in "King Shark".
	+ The picture Nora was looking at of Team Flash was taken by Barry in "The Sound and the Fury".
	+ Iris mentions the time Barry tried to save her from getting killed by Savitar, which happened throughout the second half of Season 3.
	+ Barry states, "Nora shouldn't be here", which is one of the quotes he said after coming out of the Speed Force in "The Flash Reborn".
	+ Nora mentions the time Barry used the tachyon prototype and accidentally traveled to Earth-38, where he met Supergirl for the first time in "Versus Zoom" (the meeting itself was shown in *Supergirl'*s "Worlds Finest").
	+ At one point, Iris tells Barry that "[Nora's] not worried about the science, she's worried about the scientist". This is a subtle reference to Barry first appearing in the Arrowverse in the *Arrow* season 2 episode "The Scientist".
	+ Nora's monologues at the beginning and the end of the episode are similar to the monologue given by Barry during the introduction to episodes in the first season.
		- Barry's Season 1 monologue:
			* *"My name is Barry Allen and I am the fastest man alive. When I was a child, I saw my mother killed by something impossible. My father went to prison for her murder. Then an accident made me the impossible. To the outside world, I'm an ordinary forensic scientist. But secretly, I use my speed to fight crime and find others like me. And one day, I'll find who killed my mother and get justice for my father. I am The Flash."*
				+ *"My name is Nora West-Allen and I'm the fastest woman alive. When I'm from, 30 years from now, I'm the guardian of Central City. I'm a speedster; just like my dad. People call me 'XS'. Every day I hope to live up to the legacy of The Flash. But I've still got a long way to go."*
			* At the end of the episode:
				+ *"My name is Nora West-Allen and I am the fastest woman alive. When I was a child, my father disappeared in something impossible. Then, I grew up and became the impossible. Now I'm trying to live up to the legacy he created, so that one day, I'll stop him from ever disappearing. I'm XS. How schway is that?"*
* Nora mentions a future battle involving King Shark and Grodd, foreshadowing the events of "King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd" later in the season.
	+ This may also be a nod to the Season 3 episode "Attack on Central City"; after Grodd was defeated and mentioned to have been locked up at A.R.G.U.S., Caitlin said that he can be thrown into the same cage as King Shark (who's also in A.R.G.U.S. custody) for all she cares, since any good in him is long gone. Cisco then claimed that he'd be willing to pay money to see that fight.
* This episode marks the second time in the Arrowverse where a season premiere takes place immediately following the previous season's finale. The first time was the *Supergirl* Season 2 premiere "The Adventures of Supergirl", which picks up exactly where "Better Angels" left off.
* This is the twelfth episode in the Arrowverse, and the fourth episode of *The Flash*, to be named after a character in a civilian sense, after "Sara", "The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak", "Who is Harrison Wells?", "My Name Is Oliver Queen", "Alex", "Zari", "When Harry Met Harry...", "Run, Iris, Run", "I, Ava", "Schott Through the Heart", and "Harry and the Harrisons".
	+ This is also the fourth episode in the Arrowverse to only contain a character's name, after "Sara", "Alex", and "Zari".
* The Flash family phasing the crashing plane through the buildings and into the water is an adaptation of when Barry did the same thing in the third issue of his *New 52* comic, with the shot of the plane hitting the water a direct copy from the comic.
* Barry and Nora mention the fictional Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. In the DC comics, this was the location of the Justice League's first headquarters, as well as the main setting of the animated series *Young Justice*.
* The slang Nora often says in this episode (and numerous times in later episodes throughout the season), "schway", originated from the TV series *Batman Beyond*, where it is used by many of the teenage characters in the future Gotham City.
* When Cisco is impressed by Barry's future Flash suit, he mutters "Damn, Gina", a catchphrase often used in the 1990s sitcom *Martin* by the titular character.
* Nora mentions that a man named Ryan Choi made Barry's new suit. In the DC comics, Ryan Choi is a student of Ray Palmer and his successor to the Atom. Choi later appeared in *Crisis on Infinite Earths*.
* Ralph states that a nonexistent individual, "Cameron Mahkent", signed off on Caitlin's father's death certificate. In the comics, Cameron Mahkent is the super-villain Icicle.
	+ This could also be foreshadowing of Caitlin's father's cryokinetic-powered villainous alter-ego, Icicle.

## Goofs

* Ralph Dibny claimed not to have known about either time-travel or the various Earths of the multiverse, claiming he thought Harry Wells was from "Earth also" instead of Earth-2. However, Ralph mentioned Earth-2 before in "Subject 9".
* After Barry puts on the Flash ring, a close-up is seen of the ring on his hand, and it's shown that he's wearing it on his middle finger. When the suit comes out of the ring in the next shot though, Barry is wearing the ring on his ring finger.
* Iris mentions that Barry ran to 2020 to learn Savitar's identity, but Barry ran to 2024 to do this.
* Nora states that the old suit Barry uses in this episode is the one he wore when he ran on water to fight King Shark. However, after Barry fought King Shark, that suit was destroyed after Barry was absorbed into the Speed Force in "Rupture" when Team Flash recreated the particle accelerator explosion to restore Barry's powers after they'd been stolen by Zoom. Barry then received a new suit from the Speed Force, which was identical to the one he'd had (and been wearing) during the experiment. Therefore, the old suit Barry used here couldn't have been the one he wore when he battled King Shark.
	+ However, it is possible that, like many other events, Barry's absorption into the Speed Force may not have been recorded in the Flash Museum, and therefore Nora wouldn't know of the suit's destruction.

## References

1. ↑ "The Once and Future Flash"

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