Line #43 Recap/TheFlash2014S3E18AbraKadabra


1	The Flash takes on Abra Kadabra, a super-powered magician. However, Kadabra turns out to be from the future and hints he knows who Savitar really is.
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3	!!Tropes
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6	* AintTooProudToBeg: Barry begs Abra Kadabra to give him Savitar's name to no avail.
7	* AngerBornOfWorry: H.R. is absent for most of the episode. When he shows up in TheStinger, Cisco takes out his frustration on him, which Caitlin muses must be because Cisco is worried about H.R.
8	* AmbiguousSituation: Did Abra Kadabra ''really'' know who Savitar is? For that matter, when Joe had him at gunpoint, was Kadabra really about to divulge such crucial information, only to be interrupted by Gypsy's intervention?
9	* AntagonistTitle: Guess who the VillainOfTheWeek is?
10	* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: Julian is said to have served in the Royal Army however assuming this is meant to be the British Army (as Julian is from the UK) this would be incorrect as unlike the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force the army does not use 'Royal' in it's title.
11	* BigDamnKiss: Julian and Caitlin share one after Caitlin awakes, seemingly safe.
12	* CameBackWrong: Caitlin's fatal wounds heal up, which is unfortunately followed by Killer Frost's SplitPersonalityTakeover.
13	* CallBack
14	** Barry mentions Joe's singing talent.
15	** Iris gets tired of how a lot of their nemeses are from the future.
16	* ClarkesThirdLaw: As in the comics, Abra's 64th century science is so advanced that to the 21st century, it looks like magic. The principle is even named and explained by Caitlin and Cisco within the show.
17	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Two security guards get locked into a box which slowly fills with water, drowning them.
18	* DownerEnding: Caitlin fully transforms into Killer Frost, complete with the white skin and hair of her Earth-2 counterpart.
19	* DudeNotFunny: Cicsco states that things between Caitlin and Julian have been ''frosty''. He immediately realizes this was inappropriate.
20	* EurekaMoment: Barry realizes that if all of his foes have the edge on him by being from the future he should level the playing field by going there himself.
21	* EvilIsPetty: After Barry outright begs Abra Kadabra to help him, the latter simply indulges in EvilGloating, stating that by withholding information that can save Iris' life, it now feels like he gets to kill her too.
22	* EvilWearsBlack: Abra Kadabra wears black and is a textbook CardCarryingVillain.
23	* FateWorseThanDeath: Caitlin will rather take the risk with a very dangerous emergency surgery than removing the necklace that keeps her from turning into Killer Frost.
24	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Julian wants to take off Caitlin's necklace so her metahuman DNA will accelerate the healing process. Caitlin forbids it as she doesn't want to risk turning into Killer Frost. Guess what happens during the episode's final minutes.
25	* ForgotAboutHisPowers: Barry should have been able to phase the shrapnel out of Caitlin's body like Zoom!Jay did to save Harry a while ago. (It's possible he wasn't confident in his ability to do it, but it seems odd that no one even suggested it).
26	* GetItOverWith: After pouring some salt in Barry's wounds, Abra Kadabra says his goodbye to him, almost seeming resigned to attend to his execution.
27	* HannibalLecture: Abra Kadabra gives Team Flash one when in custody, which results in Joe releasing him for information.
28	* HopeSpot:
29	** Just when it looked like Barry appealed to Abra Kadabra's humanity, and the latter actually went on a rather long segment of the Flash's history, Kadabra stopped himself short of actually identifying Savitar to Team Flash, just to gloat that it felt like he himself doomed Iris.
30	** Up until the final scene, it seems like Caitlin is gonna be okay, no strings attached.
31	* IdiotBall: Joe and Julian both make rash decisions due to emotions clouding their judgment.
32	** Joe lets Abra Kadabra out of the Pipeline, as he is desperate to save his daughter and Kadabra has already teased that he knows Savitar's identity.
33	** Julian takes off Caitlin's necklace to heal her wounds which fully transforms her into Killer Frost. He had been bonding with her the entire season and panicked...and then was too overjoyed to think of putting the necklace back on after her wounds heal.
34	** Then there's Barry, who tries to appeal to Abra Kadabra's humanity, forgetting that he has already callously murdered several people without any remorse.
35	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Caitlin is impaled by rebar after Abra Kadabra blasts S.T.A.R. Labs.
36	* InnocentlyInsensitive: Cecile offers to have a double-date between herself, Joe, Barry and Iris. However, the date happens to be ''after'' Iris' prophesied death, and Cecile wonders if she struck a nerve.
37	* InternalHomage: Within [[Series/{{Arrowverse}} the franchise]], Caitlin does two for [[Series/{{Arrow}} the parent series]]. Her being {{impaled\|WithExtremePrejudice}} with a rebar mirrors Tommy Merlyn's death in the aforementioned series' Season 1 finale, while her sudden seizure mirrors (Earth-1) Laurel Lance's death in the same series' fourth. Her impalement also mirrors her Earth 2 counterpart's death at the hands of Zoom.
38	* ItsPersonal: Gypsy is once again 'collecting' and she's much angrier than she was with H.R.; this is because Abra Kadabra killed a lot of people on Earth-19, including Gypsy's partner.
39	* LoopholeAbuse: [[ThouShaltNotKill Barry does not kill]]. However, this ''doesn't'' extend to letting an interdimensional bounty hunter capture a man for execution, not seeing it as an example of MurderByInaction.
40	* MoodWhiplash: TheStinger is initially humorous as H.R. shows up after missing the entire plot and we find out he was up to romantic antics, and Cisco reluctantly admits to Caitlin that he was worried about the alternate Wells...and then we see Caitlin become Killer Frost.
41	* MythologyGag: When Kadabra names Barry's greatest foes, it's all three {{Big Bad}}s so far and someone we've never heard of named "De Voe." Comic fans know him as Clifford De Voe a.k.a. The Thinker, an enemy of Jay Garrick. As with Plunder and Music Meister, a one-off mention from the future may serve as {{Foreshadowing}} as to who next season's BigBad will be.
42	* NeverMyFault: Gypsy refuses to acknowledge that her headstrong attitude partially contributed to Abra Kadabra's escape. Instead, she dumps it all on Joe, who had Kadabra at gunpoint, until her sudden appearance caused him to let his guard down.
43	** It's hard not to blame Joe, though, even if his reasons are understandable. Considering Abra was able to turn Joe's bullets to water with a wave of his hand, it's difficult to believe Joe holding him at gunpoint was actually going to do anything to stop Abra from escaping at a moment's notice. It feels like this trope applies more to Joe than it does Gypsy.
44	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Joe freeing Abra Kadabra leads to a chain of events that end with the return of a full-powered and very angry Killer Frost! Gypsy also gets some points by interrupting Joe's conversation with him, which results in Joe letting his guard down and Abra Kadabra escaping before giving up Savitar's name.
45	* OurTimeMachineIsDifferent: Kadabra's timeship looks an awful lot like a [[Series/LegendsOfTomorrow Time Master]] jumpship, possibly implying a similar design source.
46	* OutOfFocus: In this episode, Wally gets hardly any lines and H.R. doesn't even show up until the very end.
47	* PlotHole:
48	** They're unable to take Caitlin to a hospital as she'd be [=IDed=] as Killer Frost, but they should be able to take her to a hospital on another Earth. In-Universe, Supergirl's Earth would be ideal (Out-Of-Universe, less so as it would require another crossover) but Earth-2 (if Harry has private medical facilities) or Earth-3 would also work.
49	* PowerLossMakesYouStrong: Killer Frost has only grown in power during the months she's been kept at bay thanks to Caitlin's necklace. When she's finally let out she looks exactly like her Earth-2 counterpart.
50	* SkipTheAnesthetic: Caitlin Snow has to stay alert when a [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice rebar is removed from her abdomen]], since she is the team's only CombatMedic. Cue the winces and screams of pain.
51	* SoftSpokenSadist: Mass murderer that he is, Abra Kadabra never once raises his voice.
52	* SplitPersonalityTakeover: Caitlin's Killer Frost transformation is complete.
53	* StarCrossedLovers: By the end of the episode, Gypsy and Cisco haven't gotten together and probably never will, which makes Cisco quite depressed.
54	* TheUnreveal: The episode focuses on the team's efforts to find out Savitar's true identity. In the end, we still don't know.
55	* TheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Despite being annoyed at him and outright threatening to slap him next time he just runs away without any notice, it is clear that Cisco really cares about H.R.
56	* WeHaveToGetTheBulletOut: Or a shrapnel, in Caitlin's case.
57	* WhamShot: Caitlin exploding into vapor then reforming into a fully powered Killer Frost.
58	* WhiteHairBlackHeart: What makes it clear that Killer Frost has taken over Caitlin is that her hair is now just as white as the Earth-2 Killer Frost's.
59	* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Caitlin [[MetaphoricallyTrue dies]] wearing a white hospital gown, followed by the emergence of Killer Frost, her SuperpoweredEvilSide whom Caitlin considers as a FateWorseThanDeath in case a SplitPersonalityTakeover happens (which did).
60	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Killer Frost is back.
61	* YouCantFightFate: Once again, an episode ends on this bitter note, with Iris still dying in the future and Caitlin becoming Killer Frost. Barry, however, tries to defy this by going to the future.

Context Recap / TheFlash2014S3E18AbraKadabra