"What's Past Is Prologue" is the eighth episode of the
fifth season of the American television series ''
The Flash
The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
'', based on the
DC Comics character
Barry Allen / Flash, a crime scene investigator who gains super-human speed, which he uses to fight criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities. It is set in the
Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of ''
Arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
''. The episode was written by
Todd Helbing
Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing are American sibling screenwriters who had formerly worked as a team. They are known for their work on the Starz series ''Spartacus'' and '' Black Sails'', and for The CW superhero drama '' The Flash''. They stop ...
and Lauren Certo, directed by
Tom Cavanagh, and is the series'
100th episode.
Grant Gustin stars as
Barry Barry may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name
* Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...
, and is joined by principal cast members
Candice Patton,
Danielle Panabaker,
Carlos Valdes,
Hartley Sawyer,
Danielle Nicolet,
Jessica Parker Kennedy
Jessica Parker Kennedy (born October 3, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She played Melissa Glaser on the CW series ''The Secret Circle'', Max on the Starz original series '' Black Sails'' and Nora West-Allen / XS on ''The Flash'', and has also app ...
,
Chris Klein, Cavanagh, and
Jesse L. Martin
Jesse Lamont Martin ('' né'' Watkins; January 18, 1969) is an American actor and singer. He originated the role of Tom Collins on Broadway in the musical ''Rent'' and performed on television as NYPD Detective Ed Green on '' Law & Order'' and ...
. The episode sees Barry and his daughter
Nora travel back in time and take a trip down memory lane where they cross paths with several of the show's past
speedsters in order to gather some key necessities to stop
Cicada. Several recurring guest stars make appearances, including Michelle Harrison,
John Wesley Shipp,
Teddy Sears, and
Tony Todd
Tony Todd (born December 4, 1954) is an American actor who made his debut as Sgt. Warren in the film ''Platoon'' (1986), and portrayed Kurn in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1990–1991) and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Ni ...
. Shipp also reprises his role as Barry Allen / Flash from
the 1990 television series in a
pre-credits scene that ties-in with the Arrowverse crossover "
Elseworlds
''Elseworlds'' was the publication imprint (trade name), imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that took place outside the DC Universe Canon (fictional), canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realitie ...
".
"What's Past Is Prologue" originally aired on
The CW on December 4, 2018, and was watched by 1.78 million viewers according to
Nielsen Media Research. The episode received a positive critical response.
Plot
Barry Allen and
Nora West-Allen travel back in time to gather several items to create a power dampener to stop
Cicada: a highly magnetic alloy from
Savitar's armor,
Harry Wells'
Speed Force transmitter, and dark matter. They first travel to Barry's final battle against Savitar. Despite the intervention of a Time Wraith, they manage to retrieve a piece of the armor. They next travel to when
Hunter Zolomon
Hunter Zolomon, otherwise known as Zoom and the Reverse-Flash, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The second character to assume the "Reverse-Flash" mantle, he serves as the archnemesis of Wally West and a ...
stole Barry's speed with the transmitter, which Barry obtains from Harry. As Barry and Nora attempt to travel back to the night of the
particle accelerator explosion, Zolomon discovers them and gives chase before being stopped by a Time Wraith, causing Barry and Nora to land on the day that Barry's 2016 self went back in order to get faster instead.
Nora convinces a reluctant Barry to ask
Eobard Thawne for help in repairing the transmitter, which was damaged during their landing. Thawne ultimately fixes the transmitter after Barry threatens to disrupt his plans. Barry and Nora travel to the night that the particle accelerator exploded to collect the dark matter released and complete the power dampener. Barry reveals to Nora that Thawne killed his mother, and they subsequently hide the dampener inside a hospital's pillar before returning to the present so they can confront Cicada there.
Cisco Ramon separates Cicada from his dagger with the dampener only for the latter to re-summon it. As Cicada prepares to kill Barry,
Caitlin Snow
Killer Frost is a name used by several female supervillains and superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics: Crystal Frost, Louise Lincoln, and Caitlin Snow. Each different individual in the DC Universe assuming the Killer Frost ...
transforms into
Killer Frost and subdues him, forcing him to flee.
Meanwhile,
Sherloque Wells
Harrison Wells is the name of several characters portrayed by Tom Cavanagh in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, primarily the television series '' The Flash''. The character, created by Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg, is an origi ...
continues to investigate Nora's true intentions for being in 2018 by translating the strange symbols in her journal, which Nora claims that she created in order to keep track of changes to the timeline. Sherloque returns the journal but hides an already deciphered message that reads, "The timeline is malleable." Later, Nora travels to
Iron Heights Penitentiary in 2049 to confront Thawne, to whom she has secretly been sending her journal entries.
In a
pre-credits scene, the
Flash of Earth-90 fails to stop a mysterious individual from using a powerful book to destroy his universe and is forced to run.
Production
Development and writing
At the
2018 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that the eighth episode of ''
The Flash
The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
''s
fifth season and the series'
100th episode would not be taking place during the annual
Arrowverse crossover event like had been the case with the previous seasons' eighth episodes. The Arrowverse showrunners "flipflopped" the placement of the crossover in order to make the milestone 100th episode separate, with the ninth episode being part of the crossover instead. Cast member
Tom Cavanagh was also revealed to be directing the episode.
Executive producer and showrunner
Todd Helbing
Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing are American sibling screenwriters who had formerly worked as a team. They are known for their work on the Starz series ''Spartacus'' and '' Black Sails'', and for The CW superhero drama '' The Flash''. They stop ...
said the episode will act as a sort of midseason finale and be "a little bit different,"
with "a big twist to carry us over".
Ahead of the premiere of the fifth season, Helbing explained that "
heywanted to do something special" for the episode by "taking the audience on a trip to remind everybody of all the cool stuff we've done for five years now. We wanted to relive the coolest moments on our show, so we came up this concept and it both honors what we've done so far and also propels the show for the rest of the season."
Cast member
Candice Patton also commented that the episode "kind of really revisits what makes our show special" and "there are a lot of special things happening in
heepisode".
At the end of October 2018,
Tony Todd
Tony Todd (born December 4, 1954) is an American actor who made his debut as Sgt. Warren in the film ''Platoon'' (1986), and portrayed Kurn in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1990–1991) and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Ni ...
, who voiced
Zoom in the
second season, revealed the episode would feature "all the
ast speedster villains" returning "wanting a piece of Barry".
In mid-November 2018,
The CW announced that the episode was titled "What's Past is Prologue", written by Helbing and Lauren Certo, and released the synopsis revealing that Barry and Nora would be travelling back in time to "gather some key necessities" to stop Cicada.
The episode's title was taken from
a line in
William Shakespeares play ''
The Tempest''. Two weeks later,
Jessica Parker Kennedy
Jessica Parker Kennedy (born October 3, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She played Melissa Glaser on the CW series ''The Secret Circle'', Max on the Starz original series '' Black Sails'' and Nora West-Allen / XS on ''The Flash'', and has also app ...
revealed that in the episode Nora gets to see a special moment between her mom and dad "that like really breaks her heart". Patton added, "She gets to see Barry and Iris as we've known to love them over the past four seasons," with Parker Kennedy concluding that "the episode really brings the three of them closer."
Grant Gustin said the episode "felt like ''
Back to the Future'' style
time travel, seeing ourselves see ourselves in these other moments through a new lens. It was really cool."
Casting
Main cast members Grant Gustin, Candice Patton,
Danielle Panabaker,
Carlos Valdes,
Hartley Sawyer,
Danielle Nicolet, Jessica Parker Kennedy,
Chris Klein, Tom Cavanagh, and
Jesse L. Martin
Jesse Lamont Martin ('' né'' Watkins; January 18, 1969) is an American actor and singer. He originated the role of Tom Collins on Broadway in the musical ''Rent'' and performed on television as NYPD Detective Ed Green on '' Law & Order'' and ...
appear in the episode as Barry Allen / Flash, Iris West-Allen, Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost, Cisco Ramon / Vibe,
Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man, Cecile Horton, Nora West-Allen / XS, Orlin Dwyer / Cicada, Sherloque Wells and
Joe West, respectively. Gustin also plays Savitar. Cavanagh also plays Harry Wells of
Earth-2 and Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash. Martin appears in the episode only in archived footage due to a back injury he sustained prior to the start of filming of the season.
When interviewed by ''
Entertainment Weekly'' after the episode's release, Helbing revealed that early versions of the episode had intended to see
Rick Cosnett
Richard James “Rick” Cosnett (born 6 April 1983) is a Zimbabwean-Australian actor and producer. He is known for playing the roles of Wes Maxfield in ''The Vampire Diaries'', Elias Harper in '' Quantico'' and Eddie Thawne in ''The Flash''.
E ...
reprising his
first season role as
Eddie Thawne, but scheduling conflicts with the episode's tight filming schedule prevented Cosnett from returning. Helbing also hinted that, had it not been for potential scheduling conflicts, the crew would have liked to bring
Tom Felton
Thomas Andrew Felton (born 22 September 1987) is an English actor best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the film adaptations of the ''Harry Potter'' fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling.
Born in Surrey, Felton began appearing in commercials and ...
and
Shantel VanSanten back as
Julian Albert / Doctor Alchemy and
Patty Spivot
Patricia "Patty" Spivot is a fictional character who appears in various DC Comics publications and was created by writer Cary Bates and artist Irv Novick. She is a friend and partner of the second Flash, Barry Allen. She first appeared in "Five ...
respectively, in addition to possibly having a longer scene for
Teddy Sears as Zoom.
LaMonica Garrett as
Mar Novu / Monitor and
John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen / Flash from
the 1990 television series appear in a
pre-credits scene.
Shipp also briefly appears as
Henry Allen.
Filming
Filming of the episode began on September 26, 2018,
and concluded by early October.
Gustin thought it was great that they were able to have Cavanagh direct the episode, saying "
avanaghtook such good care; he understands the journey... we've found a lot of details that probably wouldn't have been found otherwise."
Arrowverse tie-ins
In November 2018, it was revealed that the eighth episodes of ''The Flash'', ''
Arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
'', and ''
Supergirl'' would feature "puzzling events" that lead to the events of the annual Arrowverse crossover event, titled "
Elseworlds
''Elseworlds'' was the publication imprint (trade name), imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that took place outside the DC Universe Canon (fictional), canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realitie ...
".
A pre-credits scene teasing the events of crossover aired at the end of ''The Flash''s "What's Past Is Prologue", ''Arrow''s "
Unmasked", and ''Supergirl''s "
Bunker Hill". The scene also confirmed Earth-90 as the earth for the Flash from
the 1990 television series.
Marc Guggenheim, who acted as the showrunner for the crossover,
felt the tease was "cool because we’ve never... setup the crossover in the previous episodes before." The tease was meant to be one of two options for the "Elseworlds"
cold opening. The writers could not choose which they wanted to use, with Guggenheim explaining someone decided to "take one cold open, move that and make that the post-credit tag, like the way ''The Flash'' typically does, at the end of all three shows, and then have the other cold open at the beginning of hour one." ''Supergirl'' co-showrunner
Robert Rovner
Robert Rovner is an American television producer and writer, best known for his work on TV shows Crossing Jordan, Private Practice, Dallas (2012 TV series), Bionic Woman, Summerland, American Dreams (NBC) and Supergirl (TV series). He is cur ...
added that the tease was only supposed to air with ''The Flash''s eighth episode, before being added to the other two episodes to make things easier for viewers since they "are coming to
he crossover
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
from our separate shows and we wanted something that
onnects them together"
Release
"What's Past is Prologue" was first aired in the United States on The CW on December 4, 2018.
It became available for streaming on
Netflix in Canada on December 6, 2018,
while it was first aired in the United Kingdom on
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
on December 6, as well.
Reception
Ratings
In the United States, the episode received a 0.7/3 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 0.7 percent of all households, and 3 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was watched by 1.78 million viewers.
The episode improved 17% in the 18–49 rating on the previous episode, "
O Come, All Ye Thankful".
The episode attracted a total of 644,700 viewers within seven-days of its British premiere, making it the most watched programme on
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
for the week.
Critical response
The
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating for the episode, based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 8.31/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "'What's Past is Prologue' takes viewers on a ''Flash''-tastic journey back in time with a series of flashbacks that make for an eventful, charming, and commemorative 100th episode."
Jesse Schedeen of ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' gave the episode a rating of 6.7/10, with the verdict being "As exciting as it is to see ''The Flash'' celebrate its 100th episode,
tdidn't fully realize its potential. The time travel premise worked whenever the focus remained on
Harrison Wells, but too much of this material played out as if Barry and Nora were watching a clip show of past seasons."
Notes
References
External links
*
{{The Flash (2014 TV series)
2018 American television episodes
The Flash (2014 TV series) episodes
Television episodes about time travel