THE FLASH Post-Mortem: Tom Cavanagh, Candice Patton, and EP Andrew Kreisberg Talk “Out Of Time” Episode

It was a heart-racing, breathless episode of THE FLASH as Mark Mardon (Liam McIntyre) kidnapped Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), unleashed a tsunami in Central City, and Cisco figured out that Dr. Wells (Tom Cavanagh) was the Reverse Flash.  Hearts broke as Dr. Wells tore out Cisco’s (Carlos Valdes) heart and yet might have started beating again when Barry (Grant Gustin) found himself right at the start of the day all over again — inadvertently turning back the clocks, which might undo all the terrible things that happened that day or which may mean he simply has to relive them all over again.

So in order to try to get some answers about what is going on and what lies ahead in next week’s episode, stars Tom Cavanagh, Candice Patton and executive producer Andrew Kreisberg gave some insight at a recent press screening:

What Sticks After Barry Reverses Time

ANDREW:  It’s sort of the advantage of having a show that dabbles in time-travel.  This episode allowed us to sort of give people a tease and a taste and make some big reveals.  We try to not keep every secret all the time.  We try to dole some stuff out and start giving the audience some of the answers that they have been craving.  There are still plenty of things that have been left unsaid:  what Wells really wants for Barry ultimately and how things are going to play out.  This episode just felt like an amazing opportunity to do some crazy stuff, and, hopefully, as people are watching it, they are not going to see the ending coming. . . The ramifications of this episode are the fun of Episode 16 [next week] and seeing what happened in Episode 15 and how much of it still happens and how much of it might possibly change.

Thoughts on “Out of Time” Episode

TOM:  #Gamechanger! [Laughs]

ANDREW: With no disrespect to any of the other directors or episodes that we have produced, I think this is the best episode we’ve ever done.  It’s everything that THE FLASH can do — and I don’t mean Barry Allen as the hero, but as a TV show — I feel that this episode delivers in spades. It’s got amazing visual effects that you don’t see on television.  It’s full of heart.  It’s full of romance and genuine scares, and it’s really the best version of this show. Between this and ARROW, there’s only a handful of episodes that we sort of say that about and I definitely feel like this is it.

TOM: As actors and you read something like this — what you put in the bank beforehand, that is what is so great about television, opposed to 2 hours we can put in 15 hours prior to this so we have investment — and you read something like this, you get to payoff a little bit.  The danger is: is it a precipice or is it the slippery side of the slope? What’s been so impressive for us is that this is a really strong episode of television, and yet in the ones to come, we’re spring-boarding off it. The danger is if we do something like this and it’s a pinnacle and you slide back down — but this is not the case for us — much like that Cisco moment happened,  we have large and small moments that use this as a starting point and build toward. Our season finale is something to be reckoned with. . . It escalates nicely.

CANDICE:  I remember when I read this episode thinking, ‘Where can we go from here? We gave everything away! What can we possibly do?’ But Andrew always says, ‘Use what you have now and we’ll think of new ideas later.’ I think that is what is really great about our show: you’re watching thinking, ‘If we’re going to do this in episode 15, I can only imagine what the season finale is going to be like,’ which is exactly how you should feel.

ANDREW:  This episode is so primal because everyone is acting out of love in their own way. 

Iris’ Investigation Into Wells

CANDICE:  The wheels are turning for Barry as to what is going on with Dr. Wells and Iris is going to continue going after that story.  Mason has piqued her interest.  For Barry, he wants to keep her out of harm’s way and this is in fact putting her into harm’s way going into a situation with Dr. Wells that Barry is not even quite clear about. 

ANDREW:  Iris’ interest in this article and [Mason] Bridge and Wells makes up a large part of Iris’ arc for the rest of the season.

Cisco’s Suspicions

ANDREW:  Part of the fun of Episode 16 [next week] is watching how time changes and certain events occur that prevent Cisco from following along the same trajectory, we watch how things play out, but in a completely different way. . . The scene between Tom [Cavanagh] and Carlos [Valdes], we didn’t even script that he cries.  It was a notion that Tom and Carlos worked out:  where the minute that Tom [as Wells] walks into the room, Carlos [as Cisco] knows he is going to die.  I just get chills even just thinking about it.  It wasn’t even something we intended.  It was what they brought to it.

TOM:  There’s a genuine affection between them.  That is not fake. When Eobard Thawne is in the current time [our time] he is wholly invested.  He truly cares about Cisco and is truly impressed. From the very beginning, when we see the two of them meet, [Wells] is on his side.  From that moment, he is like, ‘This guy has a spark.’  Whatever it is, Wells/Thawne is smart enough to go, ‘This guy has,’ and brings him on board.  [Cisco] is truly a wunderkind, a genius — and [Wells] sees some of him in Cisco and there is a protege/mentor thing happening and there is genuine affection when he says that line: ‘You’ve shown me what it is like to have a son.’  He is not saying it idly.  He is saying it because he means it.  But at the same time, a guy’s got to get home.

Effect on Space-Time Continuum on ARROW

ANDREW:  Like Wells said in previous episodes: there are different versions of time-travel — there’s the fixed-loop and then there’s version where time is more plastic and mutable.  I think one of the fun things is discovering, as always, like on DOCTOR WHO:  what is a fixed point and what can be changed and what things always have to happen? It’s sort of a mixture of both.  Greg [Berlanti] said this at PaleyFest:  none of us knows how time-travel really works.  We come up with what we feel are our rules and we try to stick by them.

Eddie’s Reaction to Barry/Iris 

CANDICE:  Their relationship continues to be complicated.  Eddie will always see there’s a relationship between Barry and Iris that he can’t compete with to some degree and that’s unfortunate. But Eddie is strong-willed in keeping Iris in his life. He loves her.  He’s a good mate for her.  He’s kind and loving — and everything a woman would want in a man.  I think Iris knows that.  We’ll continue to see their relationship blossom and also have typical relationship falters.

ANDREW:  People tend to forget that Eddie and Iris dated for 9 months without Barry being around.  They have been together for a long time, in terms of when people date and when they decide to move in together.  So for Eddie, all of a sudden, this guy appeared back in her life and it’s caused all these problems.  I don’t think Eddie gets enough credit for being in some ways the most emotionally stable.  He sees the two of them [Barry and Iris] together and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m not good with this.’ He sees it, even if she doesn’t.  We always thought it was so interesting that he was the one who said, ‘Did you ever suspect Barry might have feelings for you?’ And she’s like, ‘No.’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t know.’  I think it is sort of fun that this gruff cop is the most in touch with everyone else’s feelings.

CANDICE:  We’ll have to see what the time-travel does to all of these characters, including Barry and Iris.  But what I think is important about this episode is we learn the answer to the question Barry asks Iris in Episode 9:  “I feel this way about you.  How do you feel about me?” I think Iris when she’s backed against a wall — when she realizes that they could both lose their lives — it propels her to finally come to grips with how she has been feeling about Barry and I think it is so important that, at the root of how she feels, she loves Barry.   That also makes it very complicated because she does love Eddie — it’s just not the same way. 

Wells’ Relationship to Eddie

ANDREW:  You can take him at his word that there is obviously a family connection between the two of them.  There are some great scenes coming up between Tom [Cavanagh] and Rick [Cosnett] — that starts to become a storyline that you might have glimpsed a bit of in the trailer.  It’s cool stuff.

Upcoming Flashbacks

ANDREW:  In Episode 17, we’re going to get a flashback story from [Dr. Wells] point of view, which we’re really excited about.  Then in a future upcoming episode, everyone is going to flashback to that time when Barry was in the coma.  You’ll see that time from Well’s point of view and Joe’s and Iris’ point of view.

Wells’ Motivation

TOM:  [Laughs]  I think you’re going to love him.  He’s just a guy trying to get home.  There’s many ways to play a guy from the starting point who is already that rich and has that many layers and the decision by Andrew and the gang to evolve how we see him and when we’re going to find out more information about the different sides of his character.  Always fun to play.  But the starting point has always been:  he is just a guy trying to get home.  As Eobard Thawne, it starts there and Harrison Wells layers upon it.  What is good about it is — it’s not duplicitous, there is an element of that — but as Greg and I discussed it, he doesn’t lie.  He doesn’t lie to them — he almost never lies.  He’s telling the truth.  He’s furthering his agenda.  He’s also furthering Barry’s agenda.  Those two agendas are simpatico and as he is working, he works with them.  He is appreciative.  All that stuff you see is not a mustache-twirling villain from the starting point.  It is actually genuine.  We are trying to accomplish, and for the first season, we are accomplishing it together.  As we see in this episode, it makes it a bit more heart-breaking when the next phase of the plan starts to happen.  . . Now that we have established that they are kind of a group or a team, to watch that fracture, I find it all the more compelling. 

ANDREW:  Eobard Thawne is himself is not an evil man.  He has an agenda.  He thinks of himself as a hero.  Bad people can love other people.  Bad people are capable of love.  Bad people are capable of incredible amounts of kindness and generosity. . . There is nothing in that scene with Cisco that he says that is not the truth.  He is sorry [Cisco] found out.  He’s sorry it has to happen, but it does have to happen.  There’s a scene in Episode 16 that kind of mirrors that scene that I think really speaks to that.  .  . Like Tom says, I think [Wells] just wants to get home.  He wanted to kill Barry.  He thought it was going to be a neat and easy thing and instead he has found himself trapped here for the last 15 years — and all he wants to do is get back. 

Why Ditch the Wizard Wand

ANDREW: I guess [Barry] should have brought it with him to the beach. . . Headline: “Writers/Actors Stymied By Reporter’s Question.”  It only worked once?  Did we cut out the one where Cisco cuts out the line where you can only use it once?!

Mark Mardon

ANDREW: Liam [McIntyre] is coming back this season.  He’s in episode 16, but he’s also coming back later this season. . .  Liam is so great as Spartacus, but now he’s so great as the villain in this. People are going to be surprised at how good he is at playing the dark, evil character. We wanted a Weather Wizard who was more in control of his abilities and less beset by them — and Mark’s obviously had more time to learn to control it. 

To find out if Cisco has been saved, if Iris will confess her love for Barry and if that swoon-worthy kiss will happen yet again, be sure to tune in for an all next episode of THE FLASH on March 24th at 8:00 p.m. on the CW.  Imagine what you would do differently if you could live one day all over again.