For other uses of Ghost, see Ghost (disambiguation).

"Ghost In The Machine" is the ninth and midseason finale episode of The Flash. It aired on December 13, 1990.

Synopsis

A demented electronics genius, who once tried to blackmail the city, reappears after 35 years only to face the masked crime fighter who defeated him in 1955 and a new crime fighter—the Flash.

Cast

Starring

• John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen/The Flash
• Amanda Pays as Tina McGee
• Alex Desert as Julio Mendez

Guest starring

• Richard Belzer as Joe Kline
• Jason Bernard as Desmond Powell/Nightshade
• Anthony Starke as Russell/Ghost
• Lois Nettleton as Belle Crocker/Ghostess
  • Sherrie Rose as Young Belle

Co-starring

• Vito D'Ambrosio as Officer Tony Bellows
• Biff Manard as Officer Michael Murphy
• Ian Abercrombie as Skip
• Mike Genovese as Lt. Warren Garfield
• Floyd Raglin as Tex

Uncredited

• Gloria Reuben as Sabrina

Trivia

• This episode, along with "Deadly Nightshade", was aired following the cancellation of The Flash as the TV movie, The Flash III: Deadly Nightshade.
• Desmond gives the Flash the nickname "Speedy". The same name given to Green Arrow's sidekick Roy Harper, and later Mia Dearden.
• When catching the Ghost, Barry references the song Don't Touch that Dial by Captain Sky.
• The hero "Nightshade" could be an amalgamation of two different Justice Society members from the Dc Comics. Dr. Mid-Nite, a surgeon by day and vigilante by night who fights crimes despite only being able to see in complete darkness. Midnite uses a variety of non-lethal weaponry like blackout bombs which knock out all light. He has an owl as a sidekick named "Hooty" (it was the 40s).
  • The other character is The Sandman, not to be confused with the Neil Gaiman character of the same name. Wesley Dodds was the first iteration of The Sandman who would receive dreams telling him of someone in need of help. With his sidekick Sandy (again 40s) he would don a fedora and gas mask and use his non lethal gas gun to attempt to right wrongs.
  • The character of Nightshade is a Doctor like Dr. Midnite while sharing a similar outfit to that of The Sandman. Also, given the time frame, the 1950s, while in the Silver Age of Comics would quite possibly be the Golden Age of this particular iteration of the Flash.
• The Ghost states "Do not adjust your set, I control the horizontal, I control the vertical." Is a reference to the popular 60s sci-fi show The Outer Limits (1963).
• Amanda Pays' husband, Corbin Bernsen, was initially cast as the Ghost but had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts with L.A. Law (1986).

The Flash

"Pilot" • "Out of Control" • "Watching the Detectives" • "Honor Among Thieves" • "Double Vision" • "Sins of the Father" • "Child's Play" • "Shroud of Death" • "Ghost In The Machine" • "Sight Unseen" • "Beat the Clock" • "The Trickster" • "Tina, is That You?" • "Be My Baby" • "Fast Forward" • "Deadly Nightshade" • "Captain Cold" • "Twin Streaks" • "Done with Mirrors" • "Good Night, Central City" • "Alpha" • "The Trial of the Trickster"