The Death of Vibe

"As a kid, there was part of the Flash Museum that always scared me. I guess it's normal for children to be afraid of monsters. But this monster was different. No one knows where he came from, how he got his powers, who he is. All that's known is his alias, and the last sound his victims hear. But that's not what makes him scary. What makes him scary is... you can never catch him."

—Nora describing Cicada to Team Flash

"The Death of Vibe"
Information
Season 5 » Episode 3
Episode number	95 of 184
Original airdate	October 23, 2018
Written by	Jonathan Butler Gabriel Garza
Directed by	Andi Armaganian
Guest stars
Susan Walters as Carla Tannhauser
Chronology
Preceded by	"Blocked"
Followed by	"News Flash"
Blog post	Post 85 "#YOLO"

"The Death of Vibe" is the third episode of the fifth season of The Flash, and the ninety-fifth episode overall. It aired on October 23, 2018.

Synopsis

After Cicada’s attack on The Flash, the team realizes they need to think outside the box to stop this dangerous new foe. Desperate to help her parents, Nora comes up with a plan that ultimately puts a member of Team Flash in danger. Meanwhile, Caitlin delves into her past.

Trivia

• The title is a reference to The Death of Superman comic book arc.
• Harrison Sherloque Wells is an obvious reference to the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
  • Cisco refers to him as "Cumberbatch", a reference to Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor who portrayed Sherlock Holmes in the TV series Sherlock.
• Nora mentions that one group which tried to stop Cicada was "the League". If referring to the League of Assassins, this would imply that the group would later re-form sometime after it was disbanded in the Arrow Season 4 episode "Sins of the Father". However, it is also possible that Nora was talking about the Justice League, a superhero team Barry was a founding member of in the comics.
• Upon learning about Cicada, Cisco describes him as "a meta-human Jack the Ripper". This is a reference to the infamous serial killer of the same name, whose identity remains unknown to this day.
• When Cicada orders a captive Joe to call Vibe to their location, Joe says he doesn't have a "Vibe phone" so he can call him, potentially referencing the Batphone in the comics, which is used by certain individuals to contact Batman for help.
• The criminal that Ralph confronts at the robbery is the same one he dealt with in the previous season in the episode "The Elongated Knight Rises".
• Sherloque mentions that every time he caught Cicada, it was always David Hersch. In the comics, David Hersch was the civilian name of Cicada.
• Ralph using his elastic abilities get his hand under the door to unlock it from the inside and open it is reminiscent of Reed Richards, who has stretching abilities like Ralph, doing the same in the 2005 film Fantastic Four.
• During the fight with Cicada, Cisco calls him "Michael Myers", referencing the masked antagonist of the Halloween franchise.
• The titles of the first three episodes of Season 5 create a phrase: Nora Blocked The Death of Vibe, which is exactly what happens in this episode; Nora blocked (prevented) the death of Vibe (Cisco), by helping him to trick Cicada into thinking he had died.
• The last 4 numbers Caitlin used to unlock 6-digit passcode needed to to gain access to her mother's file room were "2889". Caitlin revealed that the passcode was her birthday, which means she was born in 1989, on the 28th of a month.
  • After the episode, Danielle Panabaker confirmed on Twitter that Caitlin's birthday is in February, meaning Caitlin was born on February 28, 1989.
• Nora says that in her original timeline, Cicada's first victim was a meta-human named Floyd Belkin. In the comics, Floyd Belkin is the civilian identity of Arm-Fall-Off-Boy (later reintroduced as Splitter); a rejected member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Goofs

• When Cicada is browsing through news articles of Cisco, one article that talks about Zoom's army of meta-humans attacking Central City (which happened in Season 2) shows an image of Cisco in his Vibe suit, which he didn't use until Season 3's "Dead or Alive".