The Flash Season 3, Episode 18 Recap: “Abra Kadabra”

By Tim Adams | Apr 2, 2017

A mysterious man from the future named Abra Kadabra may hold the key to The Flash saving Iris West from Savitar in the future.

The Flash wasted no time this week by tossing eagle-eyed viewers an Easter egg in Stagg Industries. Our villain of the week, Abra Kadabra, pays its facilities a visit to steal some items and drown guards inside a container full of water. Stagg Industries is tied to the popular DC hero Metamorpho, the Element Man.

At S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco Ramon has just vibed to the future and Iris West’s fate is still the same—she dies at the hands of Savitar. Before the gang can dive into the problem, they get an alert for a crime scene. Julian Albert takes this opportunity to tell Caitlin Snow that he bought the two of them opera tickets. However, since they’re not on good terms now, Julian lets Caitlin have them for herself.

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Kord Industries, another well-known company from DC lore, is also broken into by Abra Kadabra. The thief makes his way to S.T.A.R. Labs where he reveals that he knows the Flash’s secret identity along with Savitar’s. During the scuffle, Earth-19’s Gypsy pops in to lend a hand, but Abra Kadabra is able to escape.

Gypsy says that Abra Kadabra is a time traveler and is at the top of the Collector’s most wanted list. She goes on to explain how his powers work: he uses a mixture of magic and future science. She is hellbent on bringing Abra Kadabra in, but #TeamFlash needs to find him first to question him about the future.

It’s a Vibe and Gypsy team-up as the two will work together to track down Abra Kadabra. She’s jealous of all of Cisco’s high-tech equipment to search for criminals. Cisco uses this as an opening to offer to go to Earth-19 with her. An alert for Abra Kadabra prevents him from receiving an answer.

We have ourselves a four-on-one fight between Abra Kadabra against the Flash, Kid Flash, Vibe, and Gypsy. It may not look like a fair fight but it doesn’t matter because the villain is really a hologram. The real Abra Kadabra attacks S.T.A.R. Labs. Before things escalate too far, Flash races back to handcuff Kadabra. He tries to bargain his freedom by offering up Savitar’s true identity. It’s all for naught when Gypsy arrives; Flash decides to punch him out instead.

We return from a commercial break to see Abra Kadabra locked in a cell. Gypsy wants to see him die for his many crimes. Abra Kadabra reveals some nuggets of information regarding Savitar, like the God of Speed being the first speedster. At some point in the future, Barry Allen stops him but not before he kills Iris. The time traveler wants to make another offer: let him go free and he’ll reveal who Savitar is. If #TeamFlash gives him up to Gypsy, he’s as good as dead.

We jump back into the love life of Caitlin and Julian. She was so afraid of hurting Julian as Killer Frost that she overlooked hurting him as herself. Joe West is willing to bargain with Abra Kadabra only if Savitar’s identity is revealed. Once the cell door is opened, it notifies Gypsy who goes on the attack. Abra Kadabra gets away, but not before stealing an object from the original Harrison Well’s secret room and injuring Caitlin.

Image Courtesy of The CW

#TeamFlash tries to save Caitlin the best they can. If she were to go meta, her body would heal itself. She options not to go down that route and, instead, talks Julian through surgery. The former Dr. Alchemy is able to remove shrapnel from Caitlin’s body. Gypsy is pretty obsessed with Abra Kadabra. She reveals to Cisco that she lost a partner (and lover) to the villain over three years ago.

After some brainstorming, #TeamFlash figures out that Abra Kadabra is stealing tech to build himself a time machine to go back home to the future. Once he opens a wormhole, they’ll be able to pinpoint his location. This leads to an impressive chase through Central City. The Flash vibrates through Abra Kadabra’s time machine ship to capture him before he can go back to the future.

Flash allows Gypsy to take Abra Kadabra with her, but not before begging him one more time for Savitar’s identity. Still no dice. Cisco ponders where this leaves things between him and Gypsy. Barry decides that he’ll get his answers regarding Savitar by traveling to the future himself.

We get a pretty intense epilogue before the episode concludes. HR Wells returns from a hot date just in time for Caitlin to die on her recovery table. Julian won’t allow this to happen, so he removes her pendant and she turns into Killer Frost.

Next: Catch up with a recap of 'Duet'

Highlights

Abra Kadabra’s presence is enough for Barry Allen to finally figure out traveling to the future is the way to go. Hopefully the Flash won’t cause another Flashpoint.

Closing Thought

Just when Flash is about to go to the future, The CW breaks the news that the show is on hiatus until the end of April! That’s a long time to wait, but once we return we should learn just who Savitar really is.