CWBy the end of tonight's episode of The Flash, you're going to scream. Loudly. Why? Because the CW's newest superhero show is going to blow. Your. Freakin'. Mind.
E! News watched the episode early, and the very first thought that crossed our minds when the credits started rolling (after a massive cliffhanger, because of course!) was, "How was that not the season finale?!" Long story short: watch "Out of Time" live, or if you can't, then stay off Twitter and the Internet in general until you do watch it.
You have been so warned.
Tom Cavanagh, aka Dr. Harrison Wells, aka the Reverse Flash, puts it best: "Hashtag gamechanger!"
While we can't say all that much about the episode without spoiling multiple major storylines, we can tease that there are major revelations about the identity of the Reverse Flash (plus what he wants and what he's willing to do to get it), the most awkward double date since Arrow's Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) visited Central City, more than one huge moment for all you WestAllen shippers, a death that will leave you absolutely gutted and a cliffhanger that, once again, is totally finale-worthy.
And even executive producer Andrew Kreisberg agrees!
"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," Kreisberg says. "Everything that The Flash can do—and I don't mean Barry Allen [Grant Gustin] as the hero, but as a TV show—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, genuine scares, and it's the best version of this show. Between this and Arrow, there's only a handful of episodes we say this about and I definitely feel like this is it."
But don't assume that means The Flash is going to cool off with the epic episodes and action after this one, because Cavanagh promises that it only gets bigger and better from here.
"What's been so impressive for us is that this is a really strong episode of television, and the ones to come, we're spring boarding off it," Cavanagh says. "The danger is if it's a pinnacle and you slide back down but this is not the case. We have large and small moments coming that use this as a starting point to build toward our season finale, which is also something to be reckoned with. It escalates nicely."
And speaking of the actual season finale, Candice Patton warns that fans have no idea what's coming as we near the end of the season.
"When I read this episode I remember thinking, ‘Where can we go from here? We gave everything away! What can we possibly do?'" Patton, who plays Iris, says. "But Andrew always says, 'Use what you have now and we'll think of new ideas later.' So if we're going to do this in episode 15, you can only imagine what the season finale is going to be like."
Now, let's talk about the few specific things fans should expect from the epic hour, namely some big problems coming up for Iris and Eddie (Rick Cosnett)...and it's all thanks to Barry!
"Their relationship continues to be complicated," Patton says. "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's strong-willed to keep 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. We'll continue to see their relationship blossom and falter."
Kreisberg points out that Eddie is actually the most "emotionally stable" of the three, and can see what's going on with Barry and Iris even if they won't admit it.
"He sees the two of them together and he's like, ‘I'm not good with this,'" Kreisberg says. "He sees it even if she doesn't."
And get ready for the return of the metahuman Mardons! Even though Clyde Mardon (Chad Rook) was killed by Joe (Jesse L. Martin) in the series premiere, a flashback at the beginning of the hour will show that his brother, Mark (Liam McIntyre), was in the plane with him when the particle accelerator blew, making both of them metahumans. And now Mark is back...for revenge.
"It's pretty simple: revenge for his brother," Kreisberg says of Mark's motivations. "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. Mark's obviously had more time to control it."
Mark is going to be sticking around The Flash for at least two more episodes after this.
"Liam is coming back this season," Kreisberg reveals. "He's in episode 16 but he's also coming back later this season."
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.