The Flash: 4 Unanswered Questions After Season 5, Episode 5

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Flash season 5, episode 5!

The Flash season 5 episode 5, "Doll'd Up", took a break from the mystery of Cicada and instead put Iris West-Allen front and center. Nora and Iris' relationship is still rocky because Nora is still biased with her knowledge of future Iris. She refuses to see the woman in front of her who is so desperate to have a relationship. After putting on a brave face, Iris finally acknowledges that Nora's treatment is starting to wear her down. Iris is worried she is going to end up like her own parents; Francine who left her and Joe who lied about it. This fraught mother/daughter relationship has been at the center of the season so far and it was nice to see the characters begin to heal and head in the right direction.

Elsewhere on Team Flash, Ralph, Cisco, and Sherloque teamed up to help Caitlin look for more clues about her father. Their search was a bit of a wild goose chase to various labs around Central City. However, it did seem to reveal that Thomas knew more about his daughter's personalities than he let on and also that Caitlin's parents may have been working together.

With all that going on in The Flash, there's a lot to discuss. Here are the biggest questions we have after tonight's episode, "Doll'd Up."

4. Will Nora's Future Change Now That Iris Knows the Truth?

Iris and Nora West-Allen The Flash season 5 episode 5

It was great to see the West-Allen women finally bonding in this week's episode of The Flash. Through her grandma Cecile, Nora got to learn stories about her mother's past, helping her see Iris in a brand new light. She also watched her mother throw herself off a building to save her father, which was pretty darn cool all on its own. But this has got to have some serious repercussions for the future. Iris knows that in the future she takes away Nora's powers and in doing so ruins their relationship. Now that Iris knows all of this, won't she decide make a different choice in the future when the time comes? Won't Iris want to tell Nora about her powers and help her grow rather than shut her out because she knows what could happen? And what happens in a future where Nora grows up as a speedster?

There are so many variables here and Team Flash (characteristically) doesn't seem to take them into consideration. Nora's presence on the show, while welcome, has been the source of continuous questioning. The Flash has always played fast and loose with time travel, but in season 5 they don't seem to be taking it into consideration at all.

3. Can Cisco's Powers Be Fixed?

Cisco is still feeling the effects of the team's first confrontation with Cicada. Every time he vibes he is in physical pain to the point where he starts to bleed and eventually passes out. Caitlin discovers this is because there are still remnants of Cicada's dagger in his skin. And right now, both scientists don't seem to have a way to cure him. The loss of his powers makes Cisco question his place on the team, despite the fact that he is a brilliant scientist, engineer, and hacker and was all of those things even before he became Vibe. But like Caitlin and Killer Frost, Cisco has become accustomed to having powers and feels helpless without them.

Cicada is proving to be an even more dangerous foe than previously imagined. He can not only dampen metahuman powers when in contact with them, but cause enough damage that their powers cannot be used at all. The team doesn't yet seem to realize just what they are up against, but maybe with Cisco's injury now they will. Hopefully, they can figure out a way to cure Cisco and bring back Killer Frost before the big showdown because they are going to need all the help they can get.

Page 2 of 2: More Questions About The Flash Season 5 Episode 5

2. What Is Caitlin's Connection to Khione?

With a little help from her friends, in this week's episode of The Flash, Caitlin discovers some of her dad's old labs and another secret message. This one spells "Khione", who is the Greek Goddess of snow. All these clues seem to reveal one thing: that Thomas knew about his daughter's other persona. But is he the one who caused it through an experiment gone wrong? Or is there some deeper connection between Caitlin and this goddess? Is The Flash going mythical on us?

The more Caitlin learns about her father, the more she worries about what the truth will reveal. She loved him, but he left her. If he chooses to leave while knowing about Killer Frost, this could do more to hurt Caitlin than help her. She already has started to blame herself for his disappearance and confirmation of that could ruin the faith she has in Thomas. Caitlin already has a rocky relationship with her mother, so being betrayed by both of her parents could come as an even bigger blow.

1. What Actually Was Ragdoll's Plan?

The Flash's villain of the week, Ragdoll (played by real-life contortionist Troy James) was pretty freaky. His body could move in ways no body should and the sounds of his bones crunching are pretty hard to get out of your head. However, his motives are super unclear. It seems that because of the coldness of his own mother, he wanted to inflict as much personal damage on others as possible. This includes stealing a sentimental heirloom and destroying an architect's life's work.

But what did those random people do to him? How did he know how what would hurt these strangers the most? Why would he attack Barry and Iris specifically when there must be thousands of other couples in Central City he can choose from? What did he even accomplish besides petty theft and destruction of property? Usually, the bad guy or girl of the week doesn't have the strongest motives, but this one was even flimsier than most.