S.T.A.R. labs has its first inspection in years. And of course, things don't just go as planned. Meanwhile, Cecile does some relationship counseling for Chester and Allegra.
Tropes
- Accidental Murder: Lady Chronos didn't mean to kill Howard when he accidentally touched the time magnet. The next two were deliberate, though.
- Bottle Episode: Most of the episode takes place at STAR Labs, or at Cecile’s house.
- Buffy Speak: Inspector Tao refers to the breaker box as "your thing with the electrical stuff in it". It's the first hint that she's not really who she claims to be.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Barry calls the Flash handsome when talking to the inspectors.
- Continuity Nod: Iris gives Barry a magazine with a picture of Henry on the cover.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: At the end, Khione tells Barry that she could've simply told him that they don't need a mold inspection.
- Death by Secret Identity: Following learning Barry's identity as Flash, the inspectors begin disappearing one by one.
- Everyone Is a Suspect: All the Inspectors are possible time thieves. It eventually turns out to be Tao.
- Exty Years from Publication: The prologue takes place in 2123. The episode was made in 2023.
- Faint in Shock: Inspector Howard, upon learning that Barry is the Flash.
- Flashback: To numerous battles within the Speed Lab.
- Flash Forward: The first scene with Lady Chronos is set in the future.
- Gilligan Cut: Barry assures the team he can handle "one mold inspector." Cue an entire team of inspectors to examine the entire lab.
- Love Confession: Chester bumbles out one to Allegra, who is overwhelmed by it due to how bad all of her previous relationships ended. Eventually, Cecile talks her through it and she gives it back to him.
- Never Be Hurt Again: After losing Nash and Esperanza, Allegra is reluctant to lose anyone else that she loves, which is why she was reluctant to return Chester's confession. Fortunately, Cecile manages to convince her it was Worth It.
- Our Time Machine Is Different: Lady Chronos has her time belt, which allows her to travel to any location in time in a single spot. She uses it to bypass a vault in the future by going to a spot behind the door before it was built and then traveling to it. There's also the object she sought to steal, the Time Magnet, which can pull objects from the past to her present location, making her the ultimate temporal thief.
- Reset Button: Lady Chronos returning the Time Magnet to be stabilized undoes all the consequences resulting from her attempts to steal it, effectively resetting the inspectors' visit to S.T.A.R. Labs to occur without her intervention. This includes them learning Barry's secret identity.
- Retgone: After accidentally touching the time magnet, Howard becomes replaced by a statue. Lady Chronos eventually does the same to the other two. Thankfully, they are restored at the end of the episode.
- Skewed Priorities: When Barry tries to go to the future to get them out of the loop, Iris asks him to bring her some snacks.
- Stupid Crooks: For someone seeking her "retirement bonus", Lady Chronos seems remarkably incompetent. She failed her initial heist due to a rather obvious laser tripwire, eventually blew her cover because she barely knew how to act in the role she assumed, and got herself trapped and almost killed because she forgot a vital element that kept her stolen goods stable and safe to use.
- Swap Teleportation: Essentially how the Time Magnet appears to transmogrify people. It atomizes them across the timestream while pulling a random object from the past into their present location.
- Time and Relative Dimensions in Space: Chronos's time belt lets her move through time but leaves her in the same position in space (relative to the Earth). This is why she has to disguise herself as an inspector and get into Star Labs in the present to bypass security doors in the future.
- Unnaturally Looping Location: Barry, Iris and the inspectors are trapped within the Speed Lab for most of the episode. When they try to leave it, they just end up in it again.
