The Trickster

For other uses of Trickster, see Trickster (disambiguation).

"How'd you get involved with, uh... Mandrake here?"
"Routine repo job. His name's James Jesse. Like Jesse James, only backwards and twisted. I followed him across state lines and he turns the tables and starts chasing me. I thought I lost him on the back roads, and then he set up a trap for me here. How was I supposed to know he was a homicidal maniac?"

—The Flash and Megan Lockhart

"The Trickster"
Information
Episode number	12 of 22
Original airdate	February 7, 1991
Written by	Howard Chaykin John Francis Moore
Directed by	Danny Bilson
Chronology
Preceded by	"Beat the Clock"
Followed by	"Tina, is That You?"

"The Trickster" is the twelfth episode of The Flash. It aired on February 7, 1991.

Synopsis

A crazed killer, who fancies himself a sort of evil magician called the Trickster, vows to defeat the Flash so he can have the Flash's/Barry's new girlfriend.

Cast

Starring

• John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen/The Flash
• Amanda Pays as Tina McGee
• Alex Desert as Julio Mendez

Guest starring

• Mark Hamill as James Jesse/The Trickster
• Joyce Hyser as Megan Lockhart

Co-starring

• Vito D'Ambrosio as Officer Tony Bellows
• Biff Manard as Officer Michael Murphy
• Mike Genovese as Lt. Warren Garfield
• Gloria Reuben as Sabrina
• Tim Stack as Jim Kline
• William Long Jr. as Matthews
• Christopher Murray as Williams

Trivia

• This episode, along with "The Trial of the Trickster", was aired following the cancellation of The Flash as the TV movie, The Flash II: Revenge of the Trickster.
  • This episode's plot is somewhat referenced in The Flash episode "Tricksters", which also contained multiple references to a later episode "The Trial of the Trickster".
• This is the first episode of the show where the main antagonist is based on a character from the DC Comics.
• After Barry Allen saves Megan Lockhart from James Jesse, he calls the latter "Mandrake", referring to his persona as a magician. This is either a reference to Leon Mandrake, a performer known worldwide as "Mandrake the Magician", or the comic strip character of the same name.
• This episode features a few references to Looney Tunes:
  • When James says he was first defeated by the Flash, Williams says "Yeah, and I'm Bugs Bunny."
  • After Barry defeated James, he told everyone at the ball "That's all Folks!" which is the Looney_Tunes signature closing sequence.
• This episode includes two references to Jay Garrick's Flash. His appearance being nodded to in James Jesse's statue, and in the Flash costumes at the costume party Jesse later crashes.
  • One of the other guests at the party dresses as Superman, a DC Comics hero known for working with the Flash.