The Flash Reaction: "Abra Kadabra" (3x18)

Spoilers for The Flash included.

(source)

A man from the 64th century visits Central City and claims to know Savitar's identity. Meanwhile, Gypsy arrives to track down this visitor and bring him to justice for his past crimes.

Iris: He's a murderer.
Barry: I know he's a murderer. But how many murderers have we put in prison? How many bad guys have we taken down? Don't we deserve one win? After everything that we've done?
Iris: Life doesn't keep score, Barry.

What I Liked

Abra Kadabra
At first, I thought Abra Kadabra was going to be a disappointing and cliché villain. We've dealt with a lot of people from the future already, and we've had a fair number of magic users pop in and out recently. I'm tired of both ideas. Abra Kadabra, however, was much more than just "another guy from the future," and he wasn't a magic user at all. Instead, he had motive, a dark past, and a compelling reason for Team Flash to capture him: the identity of Savitar. He kept the episode moving, and he kept things interesting.

#timetravelproblems (source)

Gypsy (+ Cisco)
I like when Gypsy comes around. She makes things fun and also makes Cisco act more of a buffoon than he already is. I also like that we got more of her backstory in this episode, which was surprising since she's a minor character at this point. There is apparently much more to her, though. Oh, and I like when Cisco flirts with her, especially with technology and science jokes.

It's a good thing you're adorable, Cisco. (source)

Barry
Can we pause this episode for a second to congratulate Barry on having not one, but two (yes, two) brilliant ideas for once? The first was that in order to stop Kadabra they needed to work together. (Amazing, it's amazing.) But second, and more importantly, he realized to find out how to stop Savitar, he should travel to the future. Brilliant, I say! Brilliant.

Julian
As always, Julian is still a precious cinnamon roll, even more so than ever. Despite the hurt he may have felt from Caitlin, he still cares for her. (And it kills me.) But I love that he helped save Caitlin, even though he was worried he'd mess up. The whole scene was just enthralling. (I also liked that Iris was the one that helped him; she should get loads of credit for doing that while everybody else stood around watching.) It feels like Julian is finally part of the team.

*sobs* (source)

Special effects
The special effects in this episode were crazy cool. Barry running through Kadabra's "card trick" was dazzling. Then we had the chase through Central City with Barry zipping about buildings and the time machine spaceship flying around. Excellent job.

Special effects are special. (source)

What I Didn't Like

Joe
Normally I can sympathize with Joe's actions because he cares for his family a lot. In this episode, however, he kind of went over the top out of desperation; I didn't like it. He was over the line and often made dumb decisions (probably for plot reasons, more than anything, unfortunately). Also, did he really think a gun would stop Kadabra, who can manipulate anything around him?

Caitlin
The worst moment was when Caitlin died. Cisco, Julian, even HR, were broken when she flatlined, and I was worried it was over for her. She wasn't a character I've been confident would survive forever. (Unlike Barry, who can't really die since it's his show.) Even if they found a way to save her, the looks on the guys' faces when they realized she was dead was devastating. But I should have known that she'd turn into Killer Frost and heal herself because of the future. And oh boy, did Killer Frost arrive. In all her icy glory. I'm terrified about what's coming. (But also a teeny bit excited. Shhh, don't tell.)

This is the worst. (source)

Overall

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. The villain was intriguing and possessed interesting abilities. It furthered the season arc in a few small ways that were compelling and exciting. And it tugged my heartstrings in several directions. There was a lot packed into this episode: Joe's desperation, Gypsy's personal vendetta (read: desperation), and Caitlin's troubles (also read: Julian's desperation). With only a few more episodes left in the season, The Flash has a lot building for the finale, and I can't wait to see how it all pans out.

What did you think of "Abra Kadabra"?