Barry finally puts the pieces together and figures out who Savitar is in this episode of The Flash. But before that happens, he and the team have to protect the one person who might be able to trap the evil speedster: Tracy Brand.
The only problem? Killer Frost, who is already teamed up with Savitar by the time “I Know Who You Are” begins, is also after her. And while one member of Team Flash may have trouble going up against her, she has no problem fighting her former teammates. Oh, and all of this happens in 16 hours.
Why Savitar’s Identity No Longer Matters on The Flash >>>
Running Leads to an “I Love You”
Cecile is training for a marathon, but if running together has taught Joe anything, it’s that he should leave the running to other members of his family and he belongs at the end of the race, waiting for her. Still, she tells him, “I love you,” and after a bit of awkward talk about how it just came out, Joe’s phone rings and he’s on his way out the door.
After Barry updates the others on who Tracy Brand will be in the future, they track her down. She’s just a grad student in the present, and she’s burning all her work when they find her at CCU. None of it works, her dissertation was a failure and she’s planning to apply for a job at Big Belly Burger. Not exactly the future Nobel Prize winner they’re hoping to find to trap Savitar and save Iris. But her work (that she hasn’t shared with anyone but her therapist) is going to be groundbreaking, they argue, before Killer Frost shows up to kill her. Cisco can’t find it in himself to fight back, and she escapes.
Fortunately, Tracy’s fine and even remembers enough for a pretty accurate sketch, which Joe is obviously not planning on distributing. She’s ready to just go catch her bus, seeing their protests as just overprotective behavior. Oh, if she only knew…
Cecile stops by CCPD to talk to Joe about that morning, hoping she didn’t make him feel pressured. She didn’t, he assures her, and yes, they’re good. Though Joe doesn’t want to talk about it to Barry at the time (while they’re keeping an eye on Tracy later), he admits that while he cares for her a lot, he feels like he’s lying all the time with everything going on. He’s going to have to tell her at some point, Barry argues, so why not now? If he loves her, he should be honest with her.
Meanwhile, Savitar wonders if there’s more of Caitlin Snow inside Killer Frost than she let him believe since she hasn’t actually killed anyone yet. They can both be gods, free of the pain and suffering of man, he tells her. She just has to kill Tracy.
It’s a good thing the team is watching Tracy, with HR joining her for a cup of coffee and discussion (with the help of Cisco in his ear) about her research into speedsters and the speed force — and maybe turning the speed force into a prison. He doesn’t think she’s a crackpot, he says before his coffee freezes and he realizes they have to get out of there.
But Killer Frost is waiting outside, and while Barry saves Tracy from one of her icicles, Killer Frost takes off after her via an ice bridge over Central City. And when Barry tries to direct her back to Cisco for him to knock her out, Cisco can’t do it. Barry takes a blast meant for him, and Killer Frost stabs him in the leg with an icicle.
This is when the team clues Tracy in on her future and Savitar, as well as what’s at stake if she doesn’t build that trap. And it’s understandable enough that she excuses herself from the room.
While HR follows Tracy, Julian finds Cisco and confronts him about not stopping Caitlin. Why couldn’t he? “Because I’m afraid,” Cisco admits. “Afraid of killing her. I’m walking around with two loaded guns here, ready to go off.” And if she’s hurting one of them and he has to save them and can’t control his powers and kills her, “she’s my best friend, and I’d rather it be me than her.”
This bit of downtime also allows for Barry to check in on Joe, who reveals that Cecile is the only thing normal in his life at the moment, and he likes having something normal. If he tells her everything, that goes away. (He also knows what it means if he doesn’t.) “Love is the only thing that makes the fight worth it,” Barry tells him. It’s what’s going to get them through it.
As they should have predicted, HR’s pep talk for Tracy doesn’t go so well and she leaves, but thanks to a bit of holographic stalking of her future, they do manage to track her down. Knowing her future intimidated her, she explains. She’s failed so many times that she doesn’t know how to be the brilliant woman in the hologram. But he knows she’s a genius and tells her to believe in herself. He already does.
With that problem solved, it’s time for the next one to pop up. When Cecile stops by, Joe tells her that part of his life is very complicated, and if she became a part of it, hers would be as well. It would change them forever. She doesn’t see that as a bad thing, but he’s come to the conclusion that it’s best if they stop seeing each other. However, as she leaves, Killer Frost takes her hostage. She’s going to send him an address to bring Tracy, or she’ll kill Cecile.
Quiz: Which Harrison Wells Are You? >>>
Just How Alike are Barry and Savitar?
After Barry comes up with a plan, Julian finds Cisco and tells him that his powers don’t come from a place of negativity or hate but rather from somewhere good, from love, which means that if he can stop Killer Frost, they can save Caitlin.
When it comes time to meet Killer Frost with Tracy, however, Barry’s in for a surprise when she knows exactly what he’s going to say, word for word. Savitar told her everything, she says. They’re more alike than Barry realizes. This is all history for him, which is why she knows Cisco’s in the rafters. But while she manages to freeze Joe’s gun and Barry, Cisco does manage to blast her, giving Joe time to get Cecile and Tracy out of there. And when it comes down to Cisco’s blasts versus Killer Frost’s, he wins.
But just after Cisco takes some of Killer Frost’s blood, Savitar shows up. “My ascension is nearly at hand, Flash,” he tells Barry. “As I rise, you will fall.” He grabs Killer Frost and runs off.
The team is left wondering how Killer Frost knew what she did and why Savitar rescued Caitlin instead of killing Tracy. They have to figure out why he needs Killer Frost. They do at least have a sample of her blood while she’s Killer Frost, and they may be able to make a cure now, so that’s something.
Tracy may also be making a breakthrough about that prison of hers and Savitar’s own velocity, and she’s staying, which means good news for HR, who’s clearly thinking about his own future.
Joe admits to Cecile that he thought he was protecting her by pushing her away, but he was wrong and he’s done lying to her and himself. After taking off his wedding ring, he tells her, “I love you with all my heart,” and apologizes for being dishonest with her. From now on, there aren’t going to be any more secrets and, yes, that means he tells her everything, including about Barry and Wally.
It’s when Joe talks about how love is all they have and who knows who they’d become if they didn’t have it that Barry begins thinking and puts it all together — the clues were all there! — and speeds off to call out Savitar.
“I know who you are,” Barry tells him. “You know everything about me, about Joe, about Wally and Iris! You know our strengths. You know our fears. You know how much we love each other and you know how to use that love against us.” They thought they couldn’t stop him because he was one step ahead of them, but Barry has realized that he doesn’t just know what’s going to happen. “You were there. You lived it. You remember, when you were me.” With that, a scarred future Barry steps out of the suit. “Like I told you from the beginning,” he says. “I am the future Flash.”
Did you predict that Savitar is a future Barry? Do you think they’ll be able to make a cure using Killer Frost’s blood? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
The Flash season 3 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
If it’s on TV — especially if it’s a procedural or superhero show — chances are Meredith watches it. She has a love for all things fiction, starting from a young age with ER and The X-Files on the small screen and the Nancy Drew books. Arrow kicked off the Arrowverse and her true passion for all things heroes. She’s enjoyed getting into the minds of serial killers since Criminal Minds, so it should be no surprise that her latest obsession is Prodigal Son.
