The Trap

"*You look so young. And I could kill you right now so easy. What I wouldn't have given? All those times before to have had you like this. So helpless. But fate, it's tricky, isn't it? I come here to destroy you. And then to get home, I have to be the one who creates you. But I will say, it's been an education. Watching you grow up all these years. Science fairs and soccer games. No hint, no sign, no trace of the man you will be one day for whom I have nothing but hate. And to be clear, nothing is forgiven. There will be a reckoning. I promise you, Barry Allen, that you will die.*"
—Eobard Thawne speaking to a comatose Barry Allen

## Information

### Written by

Alison Schapker
Brooke Eikmeier

## Chronology

### Followed by

"Grodd Lives"

"**The Trap**" is the twentieth episode of the first season of *The Flash*, and the twentieth episode overall. It aired on April 28, 2015.

## Plot

The scene opens with Team Flash standing in shock gazing upon the future article in the time vault. The trio follow along the lines of the article and Cisco compliments the suit of the Future Flash. Caitlin then points out the name on the by-line revealing in which that of Iris West-Allen (her last named hyphenated as she apparently will marry Barry at some point before his disappearance) indicating she wrote the article in 2024. Cisco accidentally triggers Gideon, Wells' personal A.I. Gideon reveals herself and discloses that she knows that Barry is the Flash and at one point in the future he will become the Director of the CSI division at CCPD. Barry begins to pry Gideon with questions regarding "Wells" and discovers that Wells went back in time before he became the Flash to kill Barry as a kid to prevent him from becoming The Flash.

Cisco receives an alert indicating that Wells within the Building’s walls, Cisco and Caitlin try to leave but Barry wants to keep asking Gideon questions. Barry asks Gideon why Wells killed his mother and she replies since the plan backfired, he turned to killing Nora simply because he was baffled and beyond angry that young Barry had escaped. Wells makes his way to the Time Vault and the trio have yet to leave. Barry asks Gideon what Wells wants from him and she replies with Wells wanting Barry to become The Flash leaving the trio confused. Before they leave they persuade Gideon not to reveal to Wells that they were there. She agrees stating she’ll accept any orders from Barry, when questioned this she reveals that Barry was her original creator. The trio leave right before they are caught by Wells, Wells questions Gideon and states that all is well.

At Jitters, Eddie gets Joe to meet up with him. He tells Joe that he intends to propose to Iris, and requests his approval in which Joe derives him of his blessing and leaves when he receives a message from the team leaving Eddie behind with him commenting he doesn’t need his blessing.

At home, Joe tells the trio how stupid it was for them to get in the lines of Wells’time vault, Barry uncovers to the gathering that he time-traveled during a battle with the Weather Wizard that is now erased. They make sense of it as perhaps Cisco's fantasies are an indication of the substitute course of events of the erased timeline. Barry states he might have a really bad idea.

In the first flashback, we see Joe and Iris struggle to to maintain their normal lives as Barry remains comatose. Iris comments to her father he should head home and get some rest but refuses. All of the sudden Barry flat-lines and begins to seize.Specialists battle to spare the insensible Barry, baffled to understand the cause of his condition. Wells comes to Joe with an offer about taking Barry to S.T.A.R. Labs to spare him.At first Joe refuses seeing as he was the one to put Barry in his comatose state in the first place. Wells manages to convince Joe into taking Barry to S.T.A.R. Labs and although Joe hesitates to do so, he allows him to take Barry to his facility.

The team choose to attempt to build up a route for Cisco to persuade Wells to confess to Nora's homicide.

The team create clear dream goggles that will support Vibe. While they're dealing with a portion of the better focuses, Wells enters. They make up a tale about how it's everything for the open great, as opposed to for their particular occupation. He investigates it for them, giving them an approach to speak with the visionary from outside the fantasy.

Back at the police division, Captain Singh hollers at Barry for being behind on a cutoff time - yet then strays, diverted by wedding arranging. He advises Barry never to get hitched, and Barry pivots, chancing upon Iris. They have a short trade before Eddie pulls Barry aside and uncovers he intends to propose to Iris. Iris advises him to call her when they're accomplished for something business related. Eddie is vexed that Joe didn't give his approval and volunteers Barry to discover why.

Back at Joe's home, Cisco enters his fantasy and starts describing back to them what dream-Cisco is doing. He replays the truth from the disposed of the real world, up to when Wells executed him. They discover that his name is Eobard Thawne, and that Thawne didn't plan to murder Nora. At the point when Wells slaughters Cisco, he awakens shouting. As they finish it, Wells calls and asks Barry where they are.

There's a fire at the skyscraper where Capain Singh's life partner works. Barry surges over as The Flash, however is past the point where it is possible to forestall a blast. Inside an office where the sprinklers aren't working, Barry makes a vacuum by turning his arms at super speed, draining the freshen up of the space to execute the fire. In the city underneath, Singh and his life partner rejoin and Barry surges back to S.T.A.R. There, Wells is hanging tight for him.

Wells inquires as to why Barry was questioning himself, and reveals to Barry that he needs to escape his own particular manner. Before he leaves, Barry discloses to Wells that he was unable to have done any of this without him, and Wells says he feels a similar path about Barry.

At home, Barry reveals to Joe that they need to reproduce the situation from Cisco's fantasy so as to compel an admission from Wells. Joe reprimands himself for letting Wells take Barry from the clinic in any case, saying they should be a superior defender for Cisco.

At S.T.A.R., Cisco has turned around the power field to forestall a speedster from getting in instead of out, and the arrangement to drive an admission, record everything, and afterward Flash will move in. They send Eddie to protect Iris.

While Barry is conversing with Joe about Iris, she messages him to come see her. He races to her, and she gives him a document about the atom smasher blast. She has made sense of that it's what caused the metahumans. She says she thinks S.T.A.R. Labs thought about it and that it's the means by which The Flash got his forces. Barry says that he was influenced by the blast and doesn't have powers. He discloses to her that he'll peruse her document and discussion about it later, at that point leaves.

In another flashback, Iris streaks back to when Barry was in the trance like state, and was conversing with him, attempting to wake him up. She informs Barry about another time of her day consisting of her relationship with Eddie firing up and beseeches him to wake up. She makes contacts with his hand and receives a little stun.

At S.T.A.R., Caitlin sends Wells to the shelter to perceive what Cisco has realized. He wheels down to the space to go up against Cisco, removing his glasses outside, at that point standing up and strolling in as he did in the past the real world. They have a comparative discussion from previously, yet not exactly the equivalent. They do figure out how to get something along the lines of an admission, yet the power field doesn't keep Wells out of the organizing territory and he prepares himself to assault Cisco. Joe takes shots at Wells, and Barry stops two of three slugs, yet the third strikes and executes Wells. While Barry is grieving their opportunity to liberate his dad from jail, "Wells" transforms into Hannibal Bates, the shapeshifter from a week ago, and Wells brings in, boasting that he made sense of their snare.

Barry advises Wells to execute him on the off chance that he needs, yet admit to the police and get Henry out of prison. He guarantees Barry that they'll confront each other soon. Barry hurries to the time vault and sees that Wells has been watching them all over the place; he gets ready and races to discover Iris. She's on an extension, strolling with Eddie, who stops to propose to her. Joe calls yet Eddie asks her not to take it.

Before he can propose, Reverse Flash assaults, thumping Eddie aside and afterward planning to murder Iris. At the point when The Flash protects her, the Reverse Flash takes Eddie. Barry advises her to return home, and that he'll deal with everything. As he leaves, she makes sense of that it's him.

Eddie uncovers reality with regards to his family ancestry with Thawne, disclosed to him that he's protection and insurance to him.

In a final flashback, Wells looks out for Barry as he's in his extreme lethargies, mourning the way that he needs to make The Flash to follow through his plans. He tells an insensible Barry about watching him grow up with no evidence that he'll one day become The Flash. He mentions that his past intrusions will not be forgiven. Thawne promises a reckoning on Barry and guarantees that he will perish.

## Cast

### Starring

* Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash
* Candice Patton as Iris West
* Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow
* Rick Cosnett as Detective Eddie Thawne
* Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon
* T.J.Williams as Tyler West/Ghost-boy
* Tom Cavanagh as Professor Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash and Hannibal Bates/Everyman
* Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West

### Guest starring

* Patrick Sabongui as Captain David Singh

### Co-starring

* Peter Bryant as Fire Chief
* Jessie Fraser as Nurse
* Roger Haskett as Doctor
* Martin Novotny as Hannibal Bates/Everyman
* Jeremy Schuetze as Rob

## Production

Preparation ran from February 13 until February 23, 2015. Shooting ran from February 24 until March 6, 2015.

## Trivia

* Gideon reveals that at some point in the future, Barry created her and will get promoted to the director of the Central City Police Department's CSI division.
* Gideon also mentions to Barry that he is "a founding member of ...", but is interrupted by the latter, who wants to know what she is. However, in a comic preview of the same scene, Gideon is interrupted after stating the word "Justice". This implies that Barry is a founding member of the Justice League or a future incarnation of the Justice Society.
* Cisco calls Gideon "Hal", a reference to HAL 9000 from the 1968 film *2001: A Space Odyssey*.
* Before entering his lucid dream, Cisco asks if it was like the 2010 film *Inception* or the 1984 film *Dreamscape*.
* This was the last episode that Gideon appeared in the present chronologically until the Season 4 episode "Null and Annoyed".
* When Cisco is discussing being protected from the Reverse-Flash in the preparation of the trap, he states that Wells is going "all Kali Ma" on him. This is a reference to *Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom* when Mola Ram tries to extract Indiana Jones' heart, similar to how the Reverse-Flash phased his hand through Cisco's heart.
* This episode shares some similarities with "Things You Can't Outrun". While that episode had recurring flashbacks from different characters' perspectives telling the story of the night the particle accelerator exploded, this episode uses the same technique to show events that happened while Barry was in his coma.
* In a deleted scene, Caitlin also flashes back to when Barry was in his coma, "Wells" tells her he didn't want people to judge her based on the fact that she stayed at S.T.A.R. Labs after the particle accelerator explosion. Caitlin begs to differ stating that the laboratory is trying to save the life of a man they do not know personally.
	+ This deleted scene confirms there was originally going to be four flashbacks. It's possible it was scrapped from the final airing due to time constraints of the episode being too long.

## Goofs

* In the future *Central City Citizen* newspaper, the present-day Star City is referred to by its old name, Starling City, a possible oversight by the producers.
	+ This might also be somehow related to changes in the timeline and, perhaps due to a butterfly effect (caused by Thawne's time travel), the city had its name changed back to Starling City.
* The author of the *Flash Missing: Vanishes in Crisis* article is shown to be written by Iris West-Allen, whereas in previous appearances, it was written by Evan Gibson.
	+ It's possible temporal changes resulted in Iris penning the article instead of Evan due to a mutual spark hinted between her and Barry like in the original timeline.
* Cisco's vision of the events from "Out of Time" is different from the scene in the original episode. It is significantly shorter and there are several differences in the dialogue and acting.
	+ It's possible Cisco was misremembering the events in various ways.
* In the flashback, as Thawne/Wells talks to an unconscious Barry, he is shown vibrating his hand, even though he had lost his powers at that point.
* When Barry is in the burning building, he moves his arms fast enough to create a vacuum to put out the fire. However, creating such a vacuum means the trapped people in the room won't have any air to breathe.
* In the first flashback, Iris states that it had been three weeks since the explosion, indicating this flashback may have taken place in the first few days in January 2014. However, on the EKG Barry is hooked up to, the date is placed at January 15th which is five weeks since the explosion, not three.

## Gallery

### Videos

The Flash 1x20 Promo "The Trap" (HD)The Flash 1x20 Extended Promo "The Trap" (HD)Extended promoThe Flash - "Time Vault" (Exclusive)
## References

1. ↑ Andrew Kresiberg (@AJKreisberg) - Twitter
2. ↑ The Flash (CW\_TheFlash) - Twitter

es:The Trap
fr:La chambre forte du temps
pl:Pułapka
ru:Ловушка