Keep calm and Han shot first.

Sorry, I had to get that one out of the way. This week’s episode of “The Flash” saw the seeds of Wells’ endgame being planted, introducing another solid villain with interesting subplots occurring in the background.

In this episode, Wells was targeted by his former protégé, Hartley Rathaway, played by Andy Mientus from the show “Smash.” This set the stage for a home invasion where Wells shows a quick display of his flash powers for the first time on the show.

It is interesting to note that the tailing bolt of light was red, not yellow. Perhaps the yellow suit changes the color, but is there a chance that maybe Wells was not the one who killed Barry’s mother?

This became the most interesting subplot of the episode, giving viewers definitive answers about Wells’ character. As we see through the flashbacks, Barry was not the only person to have been manipulated by Wells — Hartley was first. Wells is shaping up to be a truly formidable opponent to Barry; not only does he officially have flash powers, but he is also a master manipulator of the highest degree.

Barry and Iris met up at Jitters in the most rewarding scene of the episode. It was so good to see the two back to being friends. This scene was so necessary to bring closure to viewers after Barry and Iris settled on being friends. The two characters had their closure in the last episode, but getting to see them be best friends again is really rewarding.

On its best days, “The Flash” can dish out great villains to antagonize our protagonists. Today was one of those days. Hartley, or The Pied Piper, if you prefer, had sufficient depth for his introduction into the universe.

Hartley’s social ability was sacrificed for his high intelligence, so when Wells, the man Hartley looked up to, betrayed him, he had no friends to fall back on. It is tragic, but Hartley also acts as a good foil for Barry, who is beginning to question Wells’ motives more and more.

I should also mention that his non-meta-human powers were pretty interesting to see. That shot of Barry being thrown through the glass outside Rathaway’s tower was pretty cool. I am excited to see what Hartley’s next move will be, now that he has revealed he has information that can save Ronnie Raymond.

This episode really explored the differences in the relationships between Barry and his two father figures, Wells and Joe West. Wells realizes he is losing Barry’s trust, so he pulls out all the stops to show Barry that he means well. Just when you think Barry is pulled right back into Wells’ lies, Barry and Joe have another great scene that reveals that Barry’s loyalty truly lies with Joe.

Despite all of this episode’s successes, there were a few narrative flaws, or clichés. First, did they really play the student-and-master-play-chess card?

Seriously, how many times have we seen the chess analogy used to represent conflict in entertainment? (Also, there are four geniuses inside S.T.A.R. Labs and none of them thought that the boy who could build a lethal weapon from scratch might be trying to get inside?) How many times have we seen the I-just-wanted-you-to-catch-me-so-I-could-access-your-secret-base scenario?

The greatest offender of all these clichés was Hartley telling Barry that “he knows Dr. Wells’ secret.” Red herring, much? We know that Hartley does not know Wells’ true secret. I was not fooled for a moment.

This was a great episode by “The Flash’s” current standards. There were a few narrative clichés, but plenty of character moments for the main cast. Any episode with a solid villain is a good episode in my book.

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