The CW has released the official synopsis for “The Curious Case of Bartholomew Allen”, the 16th episode of The Flash. The episode, which is scheduled to air on Wednesday, May 25th, will be directed by DC’s Legends of Tomorrow star Caity Lotz. The episode’s title is a nod to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — both a 2008 film starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett and a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald — but the plot of the episode itself is a bit of a twist. Instead of aging backwards, the episode will see Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) aging prematurely. You can check out the synopsis for yourself below.
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“CAITY LOTZ DIRECTS – The Flash (Grant Gustin) gets blasted with a shockwave forcing his body to age prematurely. The series also stars Jesse L. Martin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Danielle Nicolet, Kayla Compton and Brandon McKnight. Caity Lotz directed the episode written by Thomas Pound & Jess Carson.”
The episode is one of three episodes in a row — referred to by showrunner Eric Wallace as “interlude episodes” — directed either himself or Arrowverse stars. Wallace is directing episode 15 “Into the Still Force” while The Flash star Danielle Panabaker is directing episode 17 “Keep it Dark”.
“It’s very interesting that we have three kind of interlude episodes and it’s me directing, Caity, and Danielle, all three in a row,” Wallace said previously. “So, we kind of joked about how hilarious that was, all three of us doing our episodes all back-to-back, and it spoils the cast in [a] sense … because we know them so well.
“The Curious Case of Bartholomew Allen” isn’t the first time Lotz has directed within the Arrowverse. She previously directed three episodes of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, season 6’s “The Satanist’s Apprentice,” season 5’s “Mortal Khanbat”, and season 8’s “wvrdr_error_100 not found”. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow recently concluded its eighth and final season.
As for The Flash, the series just saw a major status quo change for Team Flash with the death of Frost (Panabaker). It’s not yet clear exactly how that will impact things by the time the series gets to “The Curious Case of Bartholomew Allen”, but Panabaker has previously said it will take the team some time to find their footing again.
“It’s a big loss for them,” Panabaker said. “Last year, when Cisco left, that was a loss, but he came back and it was a different kind of gone, but not forever. Frost is gone forever, and I think it’s going to take Team Flash a minute to find their footing.”
The Flash airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. “The Curious Case of Bartholomew Allen” airs May 25th.
