In the first two episodes of The Flash Season 5, Cicada was just a mysterious figure who carried around a magic lightning bolt. But now, after The Flash season 5 episode 3, "The Death of Vibe," there's more clues regarding his powers, motive and identity. This recap contains spoilers.
Who is Cicada?
Team Flash learns Cicada's civilian name is Orlan. Orlan (played by Chris Klein) is a father to a daughter who is extremely sick and appears to be in a coma. "She's not coming out of it," a nurse tells Orlan in the hospital room.
The nurse also asks about Orlan's own injury. His lung doesn't look right. It's glows orange and looks worse than it did in a scene earlier (Cicada becomes weak after he uses his powers in battle against Vibe). The nurse urges him to quit whatever he's doing. "Not until I'm finished," Orlan says standing over his daughter.
To make matters worse, Nora informs the crew that Team Flash, Green Arrow, Supergirl and the Legends were all unsuccessful in catching Cicada in her future timeline. He's one of the most dangerous serial killers of history. Since Nora messed up the timeline, Cicada is striking decades earlier than he's supposed to.
Why did Cicada target Vibe first? If it weren't for Nora, Vibe would have died. She swooped in to save him at the very last moment by creating a breach, and was smart enough to leave Vibe's suit behind so Cicada thinks he's dead.
Where is Caitlin's father?
Caitlin and Ralph investigate Caitlin's father's forged death certificate and they come up with some answers. Caitlin deciphers a code hidden within a personalized table of elements that says, "come find me." As she figures out the code, a mysterious, shadowy figure lurks watching security cameras from above. Right now, it appears Caitlin's father wasn't of the right mind when "died." Is that person hovering above related to Caitlin, Cicada or both?
What is Nora Withholding?
Team Flash recruits a new French version of Harrison Wells, who goes by Sherloque, to help solve the Cicada mystery and he is very suspicious about Nora's trip through time. He specifically asks her if anyone from the future influenced her decision to travel back in time decades to see her father before he goes missing in a "crisis."
Either Wells is concerned that Nora has more to do with Cicada than she's leading on, or he's just calling her bluff becuase he can (curb your ego, Sherloque). The expression on both of their faces after Wells confronted Nora definitely suggested something's up.
It could be as simple as Nora having a twin brother who urged her to come (in those delusions from the speed force last year, Barry mumbled about twins), or it could be that Nora is under some villain's influence. If her intentions are bad, we can't rule out that she might be making stuff up, exaggerating or witholding things from the team. Those future videos she shows Barry about the "crisis" could be totally fake.
Thoughts
—Wells says David Hersch is the identity of Cicada on all other earths and he's solved this case correctly 37 times. Hersch is also Cicada's name in the comics.
—Did Nora reference the League, as in Justice League?!
—Why did Wells fake his death to avoid giving Team Flash a refund?
—Even though Cicada can apparently fly, this villain reveal formula is getting old.
—Nora's moving in with her parents!
—The promo for next episode teases the real reason why Nora doesn't like her mother.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Autumn Noel Kelly started as a staff writer for Newsweek in 2015. She covers anything in the comic book world—TV ... Read more
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