The Flash type TV Show network The CW genre Superhero Where to watch Close Streaming Options

Amid Barry losing his speed — and really, the battle against Zoom — Cisco will come up against a vengeful, but familiar face during Tuesday’s episode of The Flash.

DC Comics character Rupture comes to Earth-1 vowing to make those responsible pay for the death of his brother. The only problem? Rupture is Earth-2 Dante Ramon (Nicholas Gonzalez), otherwise known as Cisco’s (Carlos Valdes) brother. The other problem? Rupture doesn’t think Reverb died at the hands of Zoom (Teddy Sears) — he blames Cisco.

Speaking of Zoom, Team Flash is heading toward the ultimate showdown with the big bad who stole Barry’s (Grant Gustin) speed, which the scarlet speedster will try to get back through an ill-advised recreation of the particle accelerator explosion. To get the scoop on everything that’s in store for the final episodes of season 2, EW turned to Valdes:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How does Cisco react to his brother’s Earth-2 doppelgänger being the villain Rupture?

CARLOS VALDES: The last time we left Cisco and Dante, Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) forced Cisco to give up Barry’s identity in order to save his brother’s life. It was a decision that Cisco made to save his family, because his relationship with his brother is incredibly important to him. A lot of that resentment about what happened, whose fault it was and Dante’s hands, being a piano player, all of those factors carry themselves over into this episode.

Then Rupture appears and that creates new complications in this already destabilized relationship, because Rupture reveals himself to be Dante Ramon from Earth-2. After the initial shock, Cisco has to grapple with whether he should tell Dante about Earth-2 in order to protect him. Cisco has his own protective hero moment, keeping secrets from the ones he loves. He has to basically make that decision for himself and decide what is best for saving the relationship between he and his brother.

Rupture has come to avenge his brother’s death.

Rupture is under the impression that Cisco did it, because Zoom planted that idea in his brain. He says, “Your brother is dead, this guy did it; this guy who is your brother’s doppelgänger.” As far as Rupture knows, he’s completely committed to killing the guy who supposedly killed his brother. It’s a total Inigo Montoya situation.

Image zoom Bettina Strauss/The CW

What will we see of Cisco exploring his powers further?

Obviously, Cisco’s powers have been growing. His confidence with his powers have been growing. Episode 218 was pivotal to that arc; his Anakin Skywalker moment. He’ll always be living with that fear of going over to the dark side. That will be ever present for Cisco the same way any sort of traumatic origin story is. His confidence will keep growing and his powers will keep developing and he’ll keep learning new things about what they are and how to make the best use of them. His powers start to prove a vital function in stopping Zoom. Fans can expect his powers to have to come through in a clutch. What better way to learn how to swim than to just get thrown in the water and paddle?

Zoom does return to Earth-1 planning to conquer the world. What can you tease of how Team Flash will be dealing with this and their final showdown with Zoom?

First of all, I think “showdown” is right; that’s the right word to use. I’ve been looking for the right word to encapsulate what happens in the finale, and “showdown” is the perfect word. As far as Cisco’s function in that showdown, literally everybody on the team has their own unique function to play in the plans to stop Zoom. It becomes riveting in that way. Every cog in the plan depends on the other cogs. It’s a completely interdependent system. Everybody has to be focused and the plan has to go through without a hitch. There are no backup plans anymore. This is it. The energy funnels itself into this big showdown event that takes place in the finale. Cisco, like everybody else, plays a vital function, and his powers have a lot to do with that.

Barry tries to get his powers back with another particle accelerator explosion. How does Cisco feel about that given what happened last time?

It’s the worst idea of all time. It’s a terrible idea. Barry could die, let alone be put in a coma for nine months. Obviously the inanity of the plan is ever present throughout the next episode. But, ultimately, the team and Earth-1 has been backed into a corner. There’s literally no other option to take. The only way to get Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) back, and even think about stopping Zoom, is to get Barry’s speed back. The only way we know how to do that at this point is to recreate the particle accelerator explosion. A lot of the tech that the team depends on to facilitate this is created by Harry (Tom Cavanagh). Harry is an incredibly smart character. Even though Cisco thinks it’s an inane plan, ultimately he trusts that Harry is smart enough to replicate the accelerator circumstances accurately, and for his tech to work. The thing about it is, Harry — underneath that curmudgeon visage — has a good heart. His heart is in the right place and he wants to do the right thing. He would never hurt Barry. We have to subject ourselves to his tech and his brain, and also to Barry’s role, because it ultimately has to be Barry’s decision to make.

What can you tease of the Kevin Smith-directed episode? The logline says that Barry is gone, which is presumably a result of the particle accelerator explosion.

Correct, he is in the aftermath of recreating that explosion. The episode itself is just the best. It was a blast to film. Kevin is the best. He allowed us all to basically takes the reins for the most part in telling the story. There’s a lot of trust there with Kevin, the crew and the cast, because he knows that we’ve been living with this show, these characters and this story for two years. It became that much more riveting for us and spontaneous and real for us to have so much control over these moments. That’s what allowed for us to create such a great episode. It’s a very emotional episode, at times. It’s action-packed. It’s very funny. It’s just a really good episode. I remember just from reading it the first time being really impressed with how it was laid out. I think fans can expect that episode to deliver.

How determined is Cisco to rescue Caitlin?

He’s absolutely determined. That’s No. 1 on his mind for these next few episodes. Cisco has an optimism about him; it’s almost to a fault that he’s optimistic. It’s that optimism that allows him to channel that levity that’s so important in these episodes. He carries this constant faith throughout these next few episodes that we will get Caitlin back. “Of course we’ll get Caitlin back, because we’ve always been able to come through in a clutch. We’re Team Flash, we can do this! I guess we’re just going to have to recreate this particle accelerator explosion to do that.” It’s that faith that allows him to remain optimistic. There’s an optimism running underneath for Cisco for these next few episodes, just knowing we’re going to get Caitlin back. There is no other option for him.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.