The Flash 5x17 "Time Bomb" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Cicada Grace is a superior villain to the original. She fights better with the daggers, her meta powers are more advanced, she’s literally from the future, and far more ruthless than her uncle. While I was annoyed at Nora for not putting it together that Grace hails from the future, the transition was not bad. Original Cicada getting killed by his own niece was predictable, but a fitting end to his over exhausted arc. I’m speeding past this because the very last scene of the episode is all I want to talk about.

Nora’s secret is finally out. Eobard Thawne has failed to change the timeline and is accepting his inevitable fate connected to the timer. He encourages Nora to tell her father everything because he’s given up on his plan… which isn’t explained, but stopping Cicada was key. When Nora failed to tell everyone, Sherloque was the one who had to explain everything.

The heartbreak on everyone’s faces, especially Barry’s and Nora’s, was raw and seeing him put her into the pipeline was hard to watch. He lost all trust in his daughter, feeling betrayed again by Eobard Thawne, and moving forward, I don’t know what she can do to earn their forgiveness.

The rest of the episode was an interesting origin story for Cicada Grace. Learning her parents were killed by a meta who didn’t intend for her powers to blow up the ATM didn’t change her resolve, but somehow strengthened it… clearly showing how insane she became over the years after waking from her coma.

Overall, I’m excited to see what happens in a month. April 16th can’t come soon enough.