We’ve been (very) slowly making our way to the supposed solution to saving Iris from Savitar, but this episode was a bit of a let down in that sense. This is not to say that the episode overall was a let down.
This episode introduces Abra Kadabra who is brought to life by the ultra-talented David Dastmalchian. Dastmalchian is no newcomer to the DC universe. He has played one of Joker’s henchmen in The Dark Knight, one of Jerome’s main followers in Gotham, and now he gets to show off his acting chops as Abra Kadabra.
Abra Kadabra is a great villain in the sense that he isn’t the least bit fearful of The Flash or the rest of the STAR Labs crew and goes toe to toe with them. Of course he has more than his fair share of tricks up his sleeve. He always manages to get just what he wants. We quickly find out that he is on the hunt for a variety of items to allow him to create a ship to travel back to his time, the 64th century. He has more to deal with than just the STAR Labs crew since Gypsy is also hot on his tracks.
Gypsy being tossed into the foray plays on many levels. Her relationship with Cisco is blatantly awkward ever since she and Cisco shared a kiss when she was on the hunt for HR. We find that she is so hell bent on getting Abra Kadabra because he killed her partner with whom she was romantically involved. That thread of avenging someone you love is a threat that weaves its way throughout the entire cast.
Joe will do anything within his power to save Iris. In this episode, Abra Kadabra claims to know everything about Savitar, specifically who he is, and Joe West goes as far as to let him out of the pipeline in exchange for the information which would lead to them being able to save Iris. But Gypsy isn’t about to let this happen because she wants to get revenge for him killing her significant other. The whole dust up causes Abra Kadabra to renege on his deal, and when he makes his explosive escape, Caitlin is caught in the blast.
Caitlin has, thus far, been able to keep her Killer Frost side in check, mainly thanks to the necklace that was made for her to keep her powers at bay. This is fine until she has complications after an emergency surgery that appeared to be successful from Julian. Her Killer Frost abilities would allow her to survive the wounds, but it would also turn her into everything she’s wanted to avoid, so she exclaims that she would rather die than to turn into Killer Frost. Well, the moment she appears to die, Julian makes the choice to save her by pulling off the necklace.
The transformation into Killer Frost, for the few moments we saw her, was absolutely awesome. Having said that, there are going to be some serious consequences for the STAR Labs crew and whoever decides to cross her path.
The entire team does end up capturing Abra Kadabra just before he is about to enter a breach to go back to his world, and Barry makes one final plea for him to give up the info on Savitar before Gypsy takes him away. The scene is heartfelt, and it almost looks like he will finally break down and tell Barry. Barry creates an emotional play targeted at his emotional attachments, but Abra Kadabra is having none of it. There is obviously some connection to Abra Kadabra and Savitar; whether they are in someway working together or, my initial thought, that Savitar did something to take his family from him. So, Barry’s plan to save Iris is… to travel to the future?
