Spoiler alert: Don’t read on if you don’t want to know what happened on Tuesday’s episode entitled “Things You Can’t Outrun.”
The CW ordered a full season of “The Flash” on Tuesday afternoon, which was pretty expected after the series premiered to a network record 6.1 million viewers. Nevertheless, titular star Grant Gustin hasn’t been on ratings watch.
“First of all, I don’t really understand the ratings process much and I don’t really care to that much,” Gustin told TheWrap and other press on-set in Vancouver. “It sounds like a lot of people are watching and it was really, really exciting.”
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The super-quick superhero squared off against The Mist (Anthony Carrigan) on Tuesday’s episode, which also focused on Barry Allen’s (Gustin) attempts to free his imprisoned father Henry Allen (John Wesley Shipp), Barry’s S.T.A.R. Labs ally Dr. Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), her ill-fated fiance Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) and Detective Joe West (Jessie L. Martin) learning that his daughter Iris (Candice Patton) is dating his partner Rick (Eddie Thawne).
Here are the five huge takeaways from the episode, as explained by the cast of “The Flash”:
1. Barry is stoked Detective West is finally focused on helping him free his wrongfully jailed dad.
Episode 3 goes to great lengths to show Barry and his surrogate father — Detective West — trying to free his biological father Henry, who was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of Barry’s mom Nora (Michelle Harrison) years and years ago.
According to Gustin, Joe and Barry teaming up together on this all-important mission changes everything.
“For 14 years he was the only one that really believed in this and he was fighting the battle alone,” he said. “So, to have Joe, who has been the person that he looks up to the most, be on his side and doing this with him means everything to him.”
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But it his partner in crime says it won’t be easy. “You actually have to get him out of [jail] first,” Martin said. “Hopefully, when you get him out, he and Barry have to sort of live a life together, be son and dad. And I’ll just walk off into the sunset.”
2. Dr. Caitlin Snow and Barry’s worlds are becoming more intertwined, which has been great for Barry — even if their interactions aren’t always pleasant.
“Barry is getting closer to the whole group at S.T.A.R. Labs,” Gustin revealed. “At first, he didn’t necessarily trust them but he’s finding more and more trust in all of them. [Caitlin] is really the person that helps initiate that.”
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But even Panabaker herself realizes the character can sometimes be a nag.
“[Grant] calls me ‘Mom’ sometimes because I’m like, ‘You should be taking more medicine’ or ‘You should have more vitamins,’ and that sort of thing. So, I think that’s a little bit in my nature,” Panabaker told TheWrap during the junket. “It’s important to have someone looking out for his best interests and not necessarily what’s the cool thing can we do with this superpower.”
3. The reason for Caitlin’s caution is the pre-pilot death of her lover Ronnie Raymond, as seen in the heartbreaking flashbacks.
The particle accelerator accident portrayed on the pilot is responsible not only for the meta-human villains and The Flash himself, but also for Dr. Snow’s current emotional disposition.
“It comes from her having lost Ronnie,” the actress continued. “I think it makes sense that she would be so concerned about losing someone that she cares about again in a similar situation. I don’t know that I’m worried about it turning the fans against me. I think people understand and can get behind it, hopefully.”
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4. But the backstory shown on Episode 3 should actually make Caitlin more endearing.
“I’m so excited for [Caitlin’s] flashbacks,” Panabaker added. “It’s a great thing to get to see Caitlin in her element… There’s so much warmth and happiness and I think that’s so important to sort of contrast where she is now.”
Ronnie is set to return later on in the season as one half of the mysterious super-villain Firestorm.
5. Detective West learning that his daughter Iris has been dating his partner Eddie will be a hilariously awkward point of contention for the foreseeable future.
“It presents itself for amazing comedy actually,” said Thawne, whose character Eddie is now publicly dating Detective West’s daughter.
“There’s that moment where Eddie feels so relieved, that he thinks Joe is going to be cool with it. Then he comes up with, ‘No, it’s definitely not going to be cool.’ And he sort of realizes the weight of the situation. I love the end of Episode 3, because you realize — oh shit, it’s all going to go down. But how that all pans out I can’t really say, unfortunately, but it’s going to be really awkward and interesting.”
“The Flash” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.