The Flash
Season 3 Episode 18: “Abra Kadabra”
Directed by Nina Lopez-Corrado
Written by Brooke Roberts & David Kob
Starring Grant Gustin, Jesse L. Martin, Danielle Panabaker, Candice Patton, Carlos Valdes, Tom Cavanagh, Keiynan Lonsdale, Tom Felton, Violett Beane
Created by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Geoff Johns
The CW
Air Date: Tuesday, March 28th, 2017, 8:00pm

Last week on The Flash, all my dreams came true as Barry and the Barettes did a few musical numbers. Also a Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow-ish crossover (latter 2 and The Flash came from Arrow), a villain called the Music Meister (Darren Criss, Glee) trapped Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) in a musical dreamworld, mentioning The Flash (Grant Gustin) as he exited. Mon-El and J’onn (Chris Wood, David Harewood) brought her to S.T.A.R. Labs for help. The Music Meister got pinched, but not before he sent Barry down the rabbit hole as well. The rules were they had to move the story (of forbidden mob love), along with performances of some snappy numbers. Here’s where Gustin, Benoist, Carlos Valdes (Cisco), Jeremy Jordan (Winn), Jesse L. Martin (Joe West), Victor Garber (Stein), and John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn) got to show off their chops with some awesome original and cover songs. My favorite, “I’m Your Superfriend,” was written by Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – my new guilty pleasure), and was a complete delight, with Benoist and Gustin using comedy and tap to make me smile. Everything worked out – Barry and Iris (Candice Patton) and Mon-El and Kara reconciled and escaped the dreamworld, because the Music Meister wasn’t a villain at all. He did this for love. This episode also showed off Gustin’s funny side.

Spoilers below.

The Flash 3.18 “Abra Kadabra” review: Two guards get trapped by a magician thief, and are sealed in a box towards their doom.

Barry and Iris share the proposal news with Joe’s girl, Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) – and the Barry singing news. Sigh…

Barry runs into Abra Kadabra (David Dastmalchian) and Gypsy (Jessica Camacho) shows up and gives him the deal. He’s from the 64th century, and he’s a huge enemy of Barry in the future.

Cisco is happy to see her and tries for kiss #2, but Gypsy is preoccupied, almost vicious. The “vibe” doesn’t seem to be there anymore. Cisco is so unlucky in love.

He showed up as a hologram, and tricked them all. He attacked S.T.A.R. Labs, but Barry shows up and cuffs him. He says he knows Savitar’s name.

Abra Kadabra: “I know everything about the god of speed, hallowed be his name.”

He will not give up the goods until they let him out, because Gypsy wants him to die. Barry wants to let him go even though he’s a murderer. Iris says no. But Joe comes back and is willing to let him go to save his daughter. This is the realism in a fantasy show that I appreciate. All parents would let the whole world die to save their own kids. Gypsy freaks and distracts Joe, and Abra Kadabra steals something and then tosses a bomb, spearing Caitlin with a metal pole. Time for anesthesia-less surgery with Julian the ex-medic (Tom Felton) taking instructions from an awake Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker)! He takes out the shallow easy pieces, then goes for the one by the kidney. He does it!

Gypsy figures out why he’s stealing all the tech – he’s going “back to the future!” Great Scott! Cue McFly reference 3 seconds later by Cisco. A big chase commences with 2 speedsters, 2 vibers, and a magic man from the future opening wormholes galore.

Cisco: “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” Love him! They get him, and Gypsy takes him away, his secrets kept. Everyone is sad.

Barry Allen tries to “barry” him, appealing to his humanity, to no avail. Abra Kadabra reveals the depth of their enmity.

This Iris thing is tearing everybody up. Joe is distraught and Iris tries to talk to him, but Joe is desperate. Barry says he knows how to save her. He’s going to run to the future to save Iris. That’s a great idea, and he should have thought about that before.

Julian is glued to Caitlin’s side and they share a kiss – quite endearing. HR (Tom Cavanagh) shows up and Cisco was worried about him. Awww!!!! Feels!

Caitlin crashes and dies. After they cannot revive her, Julian rips off her necklace and she is revived as Killer Frost. She blasts everyone with a freeze. I know this is really sad news (just look at Cisco and Julian’s devastated faces), but Killer Frost is quite fun, so we are in for a treat.

As happy as everyone ended up last week, this was how sad they were this week. There was just no hope this episode at all (until that little glimmer at the end). Even the comic relief of HR and him and Cisco’s little bromance, could not remove the pall of failure from the team to get Savitar’s name, and the horror of Caitlin’s death and transformation. Barry going into the future is a good idea, although will probably be filled with errors that could affect everything.

The Flash returns Tuesday, April 25th on The CW.

Synopsis:

The Flash
Abra Kadabra (Ep# 318)
DC COMICS’ CHARACTER ABRA KADABRA VISITS CENTRAL CITY — The Flash (Grant Gustin) battles Abra Kadabra (guest star David Dastmalchian), a villain from Earth-19, who makes him a tempting offer — release him and Abra Kadara will reveal Savitar’s true identity. Desperate to save Iris (Candice Patton), Barry considers taking the deal but Gypsy (guest star Jessica Camacho) breaches in to capture the villain for her own reasons and during the melee, Abra Kadabra manages to escape. Barry is furious that Gypsy interfered but Gypsy refuses to back down, forcing Cisco (Carlos Valdes) to take sides. Meanwhile, Julian (Tom Felton) is still a bit cold towards Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) but when she is severely injured in a battle with Gypsy, he rushes to her side. Nina Lopez-Corrado directed the episode with story by Andrew Kreisberg and teleplay by Brooke Roberts & David Kob (#318). Original airdate 3/28/2017.

Image Gallery

Videos

The Flash | Abra Kadabra Scene | The CW

The Flash | Inside The Flash: Abra Kadabra | The CW

Follow me on Twitter.