The Flash: The Death of Vibe

October 23, 2018 7:40 PM - Season 5, Episode 3

After Cicada's attack on the Flash, the team realizes they need to think outside the box to stop this dangerous new foe. Desperate to help her parents, Nora comes up with a plan that ultimately puts a member of Team Flash in danger. Meanwhile, Caitlin delves into her past.

Den of Geek review - "The Death of Vibe" reveals more about Cicada, deepens the mystery of Nora, and brings us a new Wells. It's a packed episode of The Flash.

AV Club - Team Flash gets a new member with a familiar face

posted by oh yeah! (8 comments total)

STAR Labs still has stocks? That are worth any value? That it can sell and people will buy? That's the most unbelievable, far-fetched thing on this show. The STAR Labs team doesn't do anything. They don't work. They don't produce products. Heck, they can't even fix the hole in the roof (the building should have been condemned years ago.) Okay, maybe STAR is still collecting on old IP, but that can't be enough to keep the company viable on the market.

I said last week that the team needed a detective. I was hoping that it was going to be Ralph stepping up and starting to evolve into a character closer to his comic counterpart than the bumbling idiot he's been. I certainly wasn't expecting it to be Wells. (And I haven't been keeping up with the "leaks" and preseason news reports, so I didn't know what to expect for Harry this season.) I don't know if Cavanagh will be able to keep that accent up for the rest of the season. It seemed to be slipping around this episode, and at one point, it sounded more Italian than French.

Of course somebody has tapped into the STAR Labs CCTV system. The only question that raises is which is easier: walking into STAR Labs uninvited and bypassing the security systems or hacking into the STAR Labs computer system uninvited and bypassing the security systems?
posted by sardonyx at 12:00 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Also, Ralph's stunt at the hold-up felt more like a Plastic Man move than an Elongated Man one to me, even if I can't quite put my finger on why. (Maybe it was the stripe of the costume showing so dominantly on his temporarily fruity form.)
posted by sardonyx at 12:03 AM on October 24, 2018

The Internet says there's nothing in the Flash Museum that we haven't seen before, but I'm still going to need a freeze frame analysis on everything in that scene.

STAR Labs stocks? Well, Thawne did leave the whole facility and its fortune to Barry and presumably they are drawing paychecks or something to cover their cost of living (Iris and Barry have other jobs, but Cisco and Caitlin seem to be the last two STAR employees left, so they must get money from somewhere). There must still be money in some accounts somewhere, but I can't imagine people are eager to buy STAR stocks now since the company hasn't produced anything new in years (that the public knows about). Let's just assume Thawne had saved up so much money.

Speaking of Thawne, anyone else thinking it was him that inspired Nora to go back in time and muck with the timeline? It clearly wasn't her idea to interfere and punch the satellite.
posted by Servo5678 at 5:10 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Exactly. They already laid the groundwork for STAR running off of Barry's inheritance from Thawne. So why bother to muddy the waters with this stock nonsense? I swear the writers pay less attention to the details than we do.

I think we were meant to draw that conclusion about Thawne and Nora. I seem to recall that the Reverse Flash was the first villain featured in the museum shot, so it seems like the show is trying to bring our attention back to him, so it's only natural that he'd come to mind when we start thinking about who influence Nora.
posted by sardonyx at 9:14 AM on October 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

I don't know if Cavanagh will be able to keep that accent up for the rest of the season. It seemed to be slipping around this episode, and at one point, it sounded more Italian than French.

Yeah, this was distracting. I was sort of hoping for German Wells, especially when he turned out to be a huge fan of everybody but Cisco.

Generally liked this, (in particular, Nora being smart enough to keep her distance and use a lightning bolt on Cicada), but I've been burned by this show enough times that I'm concerned.
posted by mordax at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2018

I nth the AV Club in thinking, "Good god, we seriously have to have new and sillier versions of Wells all the time? Pick one and stick with it."
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:18 AM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Hey, I like the sillier Wells! This show could definitely use the lighter mood from the start of the first season. I'm not a fan of the accent, but it's so bad I just pretend he's American most of the time.

I'm glad they finally have a team member think things through and pulled a great move. Also that they remembered that speedsters can use Flashtime to think things through without losing a moment in critical situations. I wish Barry would actually do that more, like through the entire Thinker saga.

So Orlin aka Cicada had a scar in that same spot that's not healing, we saw it at the beginning of Blocked when he took his shirt off in the locker room. I wonder if Nora just happened to hit him right where it was or the scenes were filmed together so the makeup team didn't have to do it twice. He steals the lifeforce of his kills, and he didn't get to do that with Cisco, so perhaps that's why he's not healing?
posted by numaner at 9:38 PM on October 29, 2018

if you need a breakdown of the stuff in the Hall of Villains, here's a decent list
posted by numaner at 9:50 PM on October 29, 2018