While changing back into civvies at S.T.A.R. Labs, Wells asks Barry about his hesitation and reiterates his belief that the only thing keeping Barry from being as fast as possible is himself. Barry thanks the doctor for his help and says none of this would be possible without him, to which Harrison replies that he feels the same.
Barry returns to the West house, where he admits to Joe that even though he knows Wells killed his mom, he finds himself liking the guy at times. That’s in contrast to Joe, who never has, and while the detective beats himself up over letting Harrison into their lives in the first place, Barry reassures him that everything bad has been Wells’ fault.
The work continues on the trap for Wells, and the plan is set. Cisco will be the bait, as he’s fixed the original trap so that speedsters can’t get through it — and Barry tests it to confirm that’s the case. Once they get the confession, Barry will move in, and Eddie will protect Iris.
About Eddie … Barry takes Joe aside to ask why he squashed Eddie’s proposal. His answer makes things even stickier for Barry, because Joe says he knows his daughter still has feelings she’s keeping inside, and he doesn’t want her to marry the wrong man.
It’s just one conversation after another for Barry, who receives a “911” text from Iris. She has something she really wants to confess to Barry, but it’s not what you might think. All of her research has led her to a conclusion, which is that the particle accelerator created people with powers, including the Burning Man (that’s Firestorm, not the festival) and the Flash. Barry says her theory has a flaw since he has no powers and agrees to talk about this more later.
That makes Iris have her own flashback, where she pours her heart out to Barry. Alas, he’s still in a coma.
After returning from his lecture, Wells finds out from Caitlin that Cisco is working in the Bunker. Though he looks like he has a hard time with the decision, Wells confronts Cisco without his glasses and wheelchair. Though he doesn’t quite give a confession, Wells has Cisco backed up to the point where he has to activate the barrier. Barry and Joe look in in shock as Wells walks right through the barrier, and Joe fires three shots from his pistol. Barry is able to use his speed to catch two of him, but he can’t reach the third before the barrier stops him. That shot hits Wells in the chest, and they confirm that he’s dead.
But … it’s not Wells! The dead body quickly degenerates to reveal the form of Hannibal Bates, a.k.a. the shape-shifting Everyman. Wells taunts them from a rooftop. He admits that he enjoyed working with all of them, and that he needs Barry alive, so he can’t kill him yet. Rest assured, though, that they will meet very, very soon. Well, didn’t see that coming.
Can it get worse? Of course it can! Cisco tells Barry that the tracker says Wells is in the Future Room, but naturally, it’s just the wheelchair (upon which Cisco had placed a tracker). Like the ultimate peeping Tom, Wells has cameras placed over all their homes and workplaces, so he’s been setting a trap for them all along.
That means Iris is in danger, and Flash zips off to find her while Joe tries contacting her. She’s not answering because she’s out for a stroll with Eddie, who is just about to pop the question when Reverse-Flash attacks. Hate it when that happens. Flash zips in to safeguard Iris, but Reverse-Flash leaves with Eddie. From their conversation, Iris gets the first inkling that Barry might be the Flash.
At an undisclosed location, Reverse-Flash reveals his true name to his astonished relative Eddie, as well as the fact that he’s from the future. Before Eddie thinks it’s all about him, Eobard explains that he’s simply an insurance policy.
Time for another flashback. Wells is with Barry during his coma, talking about the irony that while he hates him and wants to kill him, he’s been left in a position where he has to create him instead. His final vow is that nothing is forgiven, that there will be a reckoning and that Barry Allen will die.
-Favorite Moment: Plenty of good lines in this one, like when Eddie was talking about how good “Iris Thawne” sounded and Barry said to himself that she’d probably want to hyphenate. Still, my award goes to Cisco again, when he said that if Wells was really handicapped, he’d be going to hell for putting a tracking device on his chair. Yeah, probably.
-Final Thought: So with the truth revealed and a few episodes to go, the focus shifts from when our heroes will discover the truth to what Reverse-Flash’s endgame will be. The promos for next week show that he’s going to throw Grodd in Flash’s way as a very serious roadblock, but in the comics, Grodd is no one’s minion. I hope that proves to be the case here too.