Barry finally puts the pieces together and finds out the identity behind the mask in the latest episode of The CW's series.
- May 3, 2017
AceShowbiz - One of the biggest mysteries in "The Flash" season 3 is finally answered. In "I Know Who You Are" that aired Tuesday, May 2, [SPOILER ALERT!] Barry put the pieces together and realized that the big bad is none other than his future self.
Toward the end of the episode, Barry raced out to find out Savitar and confirm his identity. Savitar appeared and took off his mask, revealing that it's Barry Allen who's behind the mask. That's why Savitar knew so much about Team Flash and that explained why he's always one step ahead of them.
However, the most recent episode didn't answer why Savitar wanted to kill Iris West. "You get that in the next episode, and the mystery is ongoing, but obviously Savitar is a version of Barry Allen, a heavily scarred version," executive producer Andrew Kreisberg promises as he talks about the big reveal with EW.
Kreisberg says that depicting the hero as the big bad was always their plan. "The idea that the darkest villain we could come up with was actually a very damaged version of our hero was interesting and fresh to us," he says. "We're not only competing with all the stuff that we've done on 'Flash', but we're always competing with everything we've done on all the other shows. So to have our lead actor be both the hero and the villain isn't something we've done before, so that was exciting for us as storytellers."
Kreisberg additionally reveals that Barry would understand Savitar. "In an upcoming episode, when Barry is talking about Savitar, he says that so many of these bad guys that we've fought, I didn't understand why they were doing what they were doing," he shares. "They just seemed to be filled with so much hate and anger and did terrible things, I would look at them and be like, 'Why are you doing this?' But when Barry looks at Savitar, he sees it and he kind of understands it."
Explaining how Barry could turn into Savitar, Kreisberg dishes, "Usually the hero and the villain have the same backstory, just one took the pain and tragedy that they were subjected to and it girded them into wanting to do good and become a hero, and with the villain, it damaged them so badly [that] they wanted to make everybody hurt as badly as they did. Barry sees in Savitar that he could've gone down that path, too, but he had Iris, Joe, Cisco, Caitlin, his father, he had the memory of his mother - he had all of these things that helped mold him into the hero that he is. Savitar lost all that."
Despite all the bad things that Savitar has done to Barry's loved ones, Barry still "has a measure of sympathy for him," Kreisberg says. He goes on teasing, "It's a really interesting new dynamic that's certainly very different from his relationship with Wells/Thawne in season 1 and Zoom in season 2."
Kreisberg also praises Grant Gustin's dual portrayal of the show's protagonist and current villain. "If everything Grant has done up until now, including the musical, hasn't blown you away with his talent, I think when you see scenes of him and Savitar together, you're really going to be blown away because he's found a whole new speed for him," he gushes.
In a preview for the next episode, Cisco comes up with an idea to stop Savitar. He wants to stop Barry from making new memories, but he makes the wrong calculation, causing Barry to forget everything about his friends. "Cause and Effect" airs Tuesday, May 9 at 8/7c on The CW.
