The Flash Review: Time Bomb (Season 5 Episode 17)
The truth finally comes out about Nora’s connection to Eobard Thawne on The Flash Season 5 Episode 17, “Time Bomb,” but it’ll be awhile before we see the fallout from this long-awaited revelation.
Despite basically promoting “Time Bomb” as The One Where Nora’s Secrets Come Out, the episode’s big reveal doesn’t happen until its very final moments, leaving us no time to see much beyond a few devastated reaction shots and Barry’s decision to deposit his own daughter in a Star Labs pipeline cell.
And to be fair: The only thing that was revealed was something we already know. Yes, yes, Nora’s been working with Thawne this whole time. We got that.
But why? What’s their endgame? How is Thawne in a Wells form again? And does he have some sort of ulterior nefarious plan for Barry’s daughter?
“Time Bomb” is, sadly, silent on all of those points. And really didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know.
It’s a bit disappointing, to be honest, especially since this cliffhanger will now just sit out there unresolved for four weeks — the series is on a break until April 16.
In other things that suck: It’s a shame that after watching Nora wrestle with her inner demons for an entire episode, she doesn’t even get the chance to come clean herself.
Instead, it’s Sherloque who mansplains her secret to the rest of the gang, in full-on Sherlock Holmes mode.
And while the visualization of the sequence of events that lead Sherloque to the truth is entertaining, it’s probably not as interesting as Nora getting the chance to confess herself would have been.
Because here’s the thing: Nora really needs to have a good explanation for all this.
Yes, I think we can all assume that her original intentions were good. But we’re seventeen episodes into this story now, for us, which is something like months for the characters we’re watching, and Nora’s been lying for every minute of them. Even after she learned about Thawne’s violent past with her father and her family.
Good intentions only go so far.
Honestly, one day someone on this show is actually going to internalize the lesson about how keeping secrets from the people you love is both damaging and dangerous and The Flash will change forever.
Today, however, is not that day, as “Time Bomb” is full of characters keeping major things from each other under the guise of “protecting” someone.
That said, the imminent tension of Nora’s secret did make a fairly average episode feel more exciting than it probably otherwise would have.
After all, we spend like a quarter of the story on Barry and friends figuring out that Cicada II was Grace, a twist that was confirmed to the audience last week and which everyone watching pretty much guessed long ago. Not exactly compelling TV.
Most of “Time Bomb” once again focuses on the Cicada plot, as Grace, having rescued her uncle from the hospital, decides to hunt down the meta responsible for her parents’ deaths.
This future Grace is herself a sort of time bomb of vengeance and rage. Ostensibly, she heard and absorbed all of this hate from her uncle back in the past, and now she just wants to kill all metas, even once she learns her parents’ deaths were most likely an accident.
Given that her powers are inexplicably about 20x stronger than her uncle’s ever were, her confrontations with Team Flash and friends, as well as with new meta Vickie and her family aren’t exactly evenly matched.
Grace postures, throws her dagger — which can somehow track people now — around, shoots light rays from her hands and monologues in the traditional Cicada growly voice.
(Hers is better than her uncle’s. But not by much.)
However, her decision to kill Orlin by the episode’s end is genuinely shocking, particularly given that The Flash has devoted so much of the season to how much the two genuinely care about one another and their found family.
Apparently Grace’s desire to kill metas — a “plague” in her timeline, she says — overrides any affection she may have felt for Uncle Orlin. At least poor Chris Klein gets the briefest of reprieves from his Walmart Bane voice and a chance to try out some better dialogue.
That said, it’s hard to imagine that anyone out there is too sad over Cicada’s death.
But what does that mean for Grace? Since she’s already killed her own uncle, as well as the doctor who saved her life, she certainly doesn’t seem destined for redemption.
Given the twisty, timey wimey nature of this season, it seems obvious that at some point Team Flash is going to have to talk about whether they can stop Grace-from-the-future via Grace-in-the-present.
Since they were all so eager a few weeks back to force the cure into Original Recipe Cicada whether Orlin Dwyer wanted it or not, why are we not having this conversation about Grace yet?
Stray Thoughts and Observations
- Grant Gustin honestly has THE BEST “I’m not mad; I’m just disappointed”
- The Flash really has done a wonderful job turning Ralph Dibny from a guy I loathed to a guy I love. His friendship with Cisco is so sweet, and his obvious desire to just bring everyone into his big ol superhero family is adorable.
- Cisco’s sudden obsession with having a normal, non-superhero affected life continues, and it’s really making me anxious that those rumors that Carlos Valdes is leaving the show are true.
- I swear if Kamilla ends up getting spider powers….
What did you think of this episode of The Flash? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
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Lacy Baugher
Lacy is a pop culture enthusiast and television critic who loves period dramas, epic fantasy, space adventures, and the female characters everyone says you're supposed to hate. Ninth Doctor enthusiast, Aziraphale girlie, and cat lady, she's a member of the Television Critics Association and Rotten Tomatoes-approved. Find her at LacyMB on all platforms.