- "I'm never gonna know what it was like for you to go through all this. But I know what it's like to lose a mom, and to blame yourself for it, even when it's not your fault. Makes you want to take that pain and bury it under a mask, away from the people you love. But masks don't heal woulds. They only hide them. Facing those wounds can be scary as hell, but it's the only way to start healing."
- —Barry Allen to Cecile Horton
"Masquerade" is the thirteenth episode of the seventh season of The Flash, and the one-hundred-forty-sixth episode overall. It aired on June 15, 2021.
Synopsis[]
| Cecile is forced to confront her past in order to break free from a psychic prison. Meanwhile, Chester takes over for Cisco but makes a mistake that puts Barry in serious danger. Joe investigates Kristen Kramer's old military ties and discovers an unsettling truth.[src] |
Plot[]
The episode opens at the West house. Joe is investigating Kristen Kramer's experience however continues to run into redacted records. Cecile offers him a lead as one of her clients evidently served with her in the military however Kramer's SCPD file has no record of that help. As Joe leaves, Cecile's eyes go white and we cut to another Cecile caught in a cell in a psychological well-being office.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Chester is making the lab his however he is still beautiful uncertain about the change and assuming control over Cisco's part with the group. When the speakers Chester has set up break, he goes to the Starchives to get a replacement part and runs into Barry and Iris in a compromising position. Barry goes to meet with Cecile at her office and while there Barry abruptly begins to feel strange. It turns out it's not actually Cecile. They trap Barry in a mindscape with seemingly the real Cecile - in what resembled the psychological ward from before.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, they understand that if Barry doesn't wake up soon he will never wake up and Chester recommends Cecile utilize her forces to check whether somebody is in there with him. She says she sees something shining gold like a cover. Chester goes to the criminal binder and pulls the card for Psycho Pirate and Cecile confirms that is the thing that she saw. It turns out the mask is going on display at a gallery in Central City. Chester clarifies that the mask feeds off the psyche of its host and they devise an approach to save Barry but they need the mask there. Cecile says that it's really awful they don't have the mask and Chester comes up with the idea to steal it.
In the mindscape, Cecile uncovers that she's been stuck there since she was struck by lightning in the Force Storm. Barry finds he has no powers in the mindscape and he infers that they are in an old memory. Abruptly the door opens and they leave the room searching for a getaway. They attempt every one of the doors however they are completely locked. They turn a corner and discover a portal out but it dissipates and they see another Cecile, this one insane and in a strait jacket. She knocks him unconscious.
Sue appears to assist with the mask heist. There's a complicated security system set up and Chester recommends that Cecile could utilize her forces to get the security guard to simply open the vault for them. Chester is persuaded she can do it and Cecile concurs. When she leaves to go change outfits, Sue notes to Chester that the entire situation appears to be excessively simple, yet Chester believes the team can do it.
At the gallery, Sue dances through the security lasers and disables them to allow Cecile to drop in. She gets the security guard to open the vault, Sue tranquilizes him, and Cecile takes the mask. About that definite second everybody sorts out what's happening and that "Cecile" isn't actually Cecile, however it's already too late. "Cecile" is now Psycho Pirate.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Sue is hard on Chester for the mistakes he made and Chester is thus hard on himself. Iris later talks to him in his lab. He reveals that he always acted confident and brave even when he didn't know what to do and that he is trying to live up to Cisco while not knowing Team Flash very well. While they're talking, Chester figures out where Psycho Pirate is going — the Thinker's chair.
In the mindscape, Barry awakens and faces Cecile about where they're stuck. She reveals that they are in a mental clinic outside of Houston where she was once a patient. She explains that during her first year of graduate school she found a new line of work interning for the DA and her mother became ill, yet her mother urged her to keep working. Cecile was in court when she got the call that her mother had passed away. Cecile blamed herself for her mom dying alone and it sent her spiralling into anxiety and depression. She had a breakdown and wound up in the clinic. She was scared those feelings would return so she pretended that it never happened and has been living with the pain from that point onward. Barry gives her a motivational speech and they understand that if that she can stand up to her past, they can escape.
Psycho Pirate gets to the chair and plans to make a permanent bond with Cecile. Iris appears and they start shooting at each other. Meanwhile, in the dreamscape, the Mask takes Barry out and reveals to Cecile she won't ever look at. Cecile faces the Mask, however the Mask counters, torturing Cecile with her mom's demise. Cecile says she's not ashamed about that memory anymore and loses the Mask while in reality, Chester attacks the seat with a samurai sword. The portal opens and Cecile and Barry escape.
The mask gets taken to A.R.G.U.S. Sue apologizes to Chester and chooses to stay close by in Central City. Cecile thanks Barry for his assistance and returns home to talk to Joe. She tells him about her depression and anxiety and Joe is reassuring. He then reveals to her that he discovered that Kramer never completed her last armed force mission as she led them into a ambush and was the only one that survived. Joe thinks she was working for the enemy.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Grant Gustin as Barry Allen
- Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen
- Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow
- Danielle Nicolet as Cecile Horton/Psycho Pirate
- Kayla Compton (credit only)
- Brandon McKnight as Chester P. Runk
- Jesse L. Martin as Joe West
Guest starring[]
Co-starring[]
- Marcus Aurelio as Guard #1
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode of the series to not credit Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon) as a series regular.
- The title sequence does not include Cisco Ramon and has a white tint.
- The events of the episode takes place two weeks after "Family Matters, Part 2".
- Chester uses the word, 'Frak', which comes from Battlestar Galactica.
- There are several references to popular movie franchises in this episode:
- Chester mentions that stealing the Psycho Pirate mask would make Dom Toretto in Fast Five look like Dom Toretto in The Fast and the Furious, a reference to the Fast & Furious franchise.
- Chester also mentions Ilsa Faust, a supporting character in the Mission: Impossible franchise.
H.I.V.E. crate.
- One of H.I.V.E.'s crates (marked "G6:5") from Arrow season 4 can be seen amongst the Starchives' inventory in this episode.
- Sue Dearbon learned to dance at the DeMatteis Dance School, referencing J.M. DeMatteis, a prolific comic book writer whose stories focus on psychology.
- The replacement cable being on Shelf 52 is a reference to the New 52 line of comics.
- It's revealed that the supposed Sage Force lightning bolt that hit Cecile in "Family Matters, Part 2" was actually the Medusa Mask's spirit; allowing it to take control of her, creating a new Psycho Pirate.
- Chester decorates his new lab with large portraits of the late activist Martin Luther King, Jr. and rapper Tupac Shakur.
- This episode aired on the eve of what would have been the late Shakur's 50th birthday.
- Danielle Nicolet revealed that she shot a scene in the episode after some coaching from Rachel Talalay, the director of the episode.[1]
- Ralph is mentioned to still be busy working against criminal organizations; so Sue returns alone.
References[]
| The Flash season 7 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reflections and Lies | ||||
| "All's Wells That Ends Wells" • "The Speed of Thought" • "Mother" | ||||
| God Complex | ||||
| "Central City Strong" • "Fear Me" • "The One With The Nineties" • "Growing Pains" • "The People v. Killer Frost" • "Timeless" • "Family Matters, Part 1" • "Family Matters, Part 2" | ||||
| Interlude I | ||||
| "Good-Bye Vibrations" • "Masquerade" • "Rayo de Luz" | ||||
| The Godspeed Imperative | ||||
| "Enemy At the Gates" • "P.O.W." • "Heart of the Matter, Part 1" • "Heart of the Matter, Part 2" |