‘The Flash’ season 3, episode 19: Barry learns the first clue to defeat Savitar

After a few weeks off the air, The Flash is back and things have only gotten worse for Barry Allen. Savitar remains at large, and the hero is no closer to stopping him from killing Iris on May 23. On top of that, Caitlin has gone full Killer Frost and tries to kill HR, Cisco and Julian. So naturally, Barry decides this is the best moment to go into the future on a wild-goose chase for clues. Get ready, because things are about to get emo.

Who is Tracy Brand? Barry’s only hope

In season 3, episode 19, Barry travels to 2024, hoping to find out how he traps Savitar in the speed force and the secret identity of the speed god. What he finds is a vague clue about how to stop his enemy — and a whole lot of misery. 

Barry discovers that Team Flash falls apart after Iris' death. Barry becomes a loner with an emo hair cut. He couldn’t save Iris, so he spends all of his time figuring out how to stop Savitar after the fact. This drove away all of his friends and family. 

Barry eventually traps Savitar in the speed force with the help of a physicist named Tracy Brand, who invented the technology. Future Barry gives 2017 Barry all of the information he has on Brand. It’s not much, but it’s the first lead our Barry has to stop Savitar from killing Iris. Unfortunately, Future Barry never found out Savitar’s real identity and future Caitlin, who does know, won’t reveal the truth. 

The Flash's future is bleak

The rest of episode 19 is pretty inconsequential. Barry gets a “ghost of Christmas future” tour of what life will be like seven years after Iris’ death. Julian is guarding Caitlin, now Killer Frost, in a high-tech prison. Cisco loses his powers in a battle with Caitlin and has no one in his life. Wally is a paraplegic after trying to take on Savitar and losing. Joe is Wally’s caretaker and mostly just depressed and alone. HR is a successful romance novelist who does really well with the ladies. 

Cisco convinces 2017 Barry to get the gang back together to stop the Mirror Master and Top. They do and even Future Barry puts on his shiny red suit to help them. After mending the gang’s broken relationships, our Barry returns to 2017, eager to find Caitlin and physicist Tracy Brand.

Who is Savitar?

The show keeps teasing Savitar’s real identity, and episode 19 had the most obnoxious and frustrating tease of them all. First, in the future, Caitlin outright tells Barry that he’s going to be really surprised when he finds out who Savitar really is. But the episode’s stinger scene was even more egregious. 

Caitlin is wandering through the woods when she comes upon Savitar. He tells her that he wants to make sure Caitlin never returns and that she stays Killer Frost forever. Caitlin asks him why she should trust him. At that moment, Savitar bends down. His suit begins to glow bright blue and then opens up from the back. A man is inside, but we can only see his outline from behind. The man steps out. Caitlin’s face is transformed from anger to awe. She asks, “What do you need me to do?”

Whoever Savitar is, his true identity was impressive enough to sell Caitlin on a partnership in an instant. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait much longer to find out. The promo for episode 20 teases the big reveal.

Mic has ongoing coverage of The Flash. Check out our main Flash page here.