“Shade” is episode six of season three of The Flash.
The episode opens with Wally saying that he is fast. Really fast. Perhaps the fastest man alive. And he uses his speed to help people. He even has a name – Kid Flash. Wally is actually telling Joe this. He’s been having dreams about Kid Flash for the past couple of nights. Joe tells him that’s exactly what Frankie said happened to her in “Magenta”. She heard Alchemy’s voice in her head. Wally says that this is different. He’s having dreams about becoming a speedster, not having a split personality. Joe tells him it means he has a lot in common with people who have ended up in prison. Or dead. Wally brings up him being hit by the dark matter, just like Jesse.
At the precinct, Julian is looking at a new husk and Barry offers to start the DNA analysis. Julian tells him that just because they worked well together in the previous episode, “Monster”, does not mean they are buddies. Although they are getting along a bit better. Cecille Horton arrives to tell Barry that he has been reassigned to meta-human crime scene investigation full time. Resources are being added to solve the husk problem. Then Joe arrives, and Cecille asks him about movie night. Barry starts talking to Joe about this but Joe wants to talk about Wally’s dreams. And says the name Kid Flash. Barry checks that Wally said that name specifically. To Joe’s question as to whether Wally is in trouble, Barry tells him that Wally is.
At S.T.A.R. Labs H.R. enters and tells Cisco and Caitlin they have a problem. Cisco says that the problem is that H.R. is still here. For H.R. had revealed that he was not the genius they were looking for. On his world, he had been the public face of S.T.A.R. Labs and it was his partner who had solved the riddle. H.R. reminds Cisco that he promised to justify his presence on this Earth, and he thinks he has something. He says he has read every news report and the operation is a ticking time bomb.
They can’t spend all their time working on things – power dampening cuffs – as it won’t be long before people figure out that they are working with the Flash. H.R.’s solution is to reopen with him as the face if the new S.T.A.R. Labs Museum. Cisco tells him that there’s a problem with that. H.R.’s face is that of a known murderer. Evil Harrison Wells – the Reverse-Flash – confessed to killing Barry’s mother. So if H.R. steps outside he will be arrested. H.R. asks why they are only just telling him this now, instead of when they sent the quiz. Cisco reminds H.R. that he wasn’t exactly truthful on his resume. H.R. admits Cisco has a point. After H.R. leaves, Cisco speaks to Caitlin. Who is not focussed. She says that she’s okay. She probably isn’t. Caitlin is also interested in the power dampening cuffs.
Barry tells Wally that he was Kid Flash, and that he couldn’t stop the Rival. And, in “Flashpoint”, Wally got badly injured. None of them wanted to know about their alternate lives. Wally wants to be a speedster and doesn’t believe he is like Frankie. He also doesn’t think that Joe trusts him like Joe trusts Barry. Elsewhere, a man is on the phone talking to someone about stocks when a really big shadow rears up behind him and kills him.
The next day, Julian is saying that the victim was clearly strangled. Barry says they have multiple witnesses saying that this was done by a shadow. And that they have no forensic evidence. Barry also asks if Julian feels like going to the movie in the park but Julian says he is seeing his girlfriend. When Joe arrives, he admits that he doesn’t trust Wally with such powers, not like he does Barry.
Cisco is looking for H.R. but Caitlin hasn’t seen him. Then a stranger enters the speed lab. The stranger is actually H.R. – he says he was wearing his partner, Randolf Morgan’s, likeness. Using facial transmogrification. Cisco accuses H.R. of taking his power suppressing cuffs but H.R. says he hasn’t. He’s probably telling the truth. Then Barry calls for them and says about the shadow. Cisco brings up a video of the attack and H.R. calls the attacker Shade. They has a similar meta on his Earth. He vibrated at a high frequency, creating the illusion that he was a shadow. Barry also tells them about Wally, and clarifies that no-one else has powers. Caitlin looks worried.
Joe admits to Wally that he doesn’t trust him – because Wally is too much like Joe was as a kid. Fearless, and willing to take risks. Joe is nervous because he knows what he would have done with powers. Plus there’s the whole getting the powers back through Alchemy. Joe is scared. Then Wall has a memory of when, as Kid Flash, he got stabbed by the Rival.
Caitlin admits to Cisco that she took his cuffs. Because she needs them. Freezing a glass of water to demonstrate. She admits that’s why she went to see her mother, but there’s nothing anyone can do. She wants Cisco to vibe her future, to see if Caitlin becomes Killer Frost. Cisco tells her that getting the powers doesn’t mean Caitlin will turn into Killer Frost. Caitlin thinks it might. Certainly, it seems to be affecting her mentally. If Caitlin is going to become evil, she will leave and never come back. So Cisco vibes her and sees the two of them fighting. Which he lies about.
Cisco is not the world’s greatest liar, so it’s not hard for Caitlin to figure this out. Alchemy is also after Wally, wanting to return his powers. It looks like there is usually a cost for this. There’s a definite sense that someone else has a secret that hasn’t been revealed too. A bit of a cliff-hanger ending leading into the next episode, “Killer Frost”.