How are they paying for this? (STAR Labs)

[Carmine-Infantino]

He's not dead, though. He can call the accountant and say " don't pay them. Stop giving my adversaries money." And if he hasn't done that, wouldn't Cisco and Caitlin wonder why the bad guy is still paying them?

And okay on the one janitor, but that still begs the question of who is paying the janitor.

I understand you think Wells would pull the plug on all of the money once he left, but I don't think he would. The lab exists at least until 2020 so to avoid a paradox he would want to leave the lab viable until someone else takes it over

[Backward Galaxy]

I understand you think Wells would pull the plug on all of the money once he left, but I don't think he would. The lab exists at least until 2020 so to avoid a paradox he would want to leave the lab viable until someone else takes it over

In theory, the lab existed until that date because it was run by the original Wells. I don't believe Eobard plans on filling that role. The paradox would have already existed.

[KSiteTV]

Well, one thing's for sure: They definitely didn't pay the security bill, if Iris can just walk in like that.

[Carmine-Infantino]

In theory, the lab existed until that date because it was run by the original Wells. I don't believe Eobard plans on filling that role. The paradox would have already existed.

I guess we're going to have to see if Barry changes the timeline and saves the original Wells. If not I think the lab is fine for the short-term. I think the original plan was to bring in Ray Palmer to take over the lab in season 2. Maybe he still will for a bit, as the spinoff doesn't start till mid season

[Backward Galaxy]

Well, one thing's for sure: They definitely didn't pay the security bill, if Iris can just walk in like that.

Lol. I'm going with speople's theory that she still has a key card or something from when Barry was in his coma.

[Backward Galaxy]

I guess we're going to have to see if Barry changes the timeline and saves the original Wells. If not I think the lab is fine for the short-term. I think the original plan was to bring in Ray Palmer to take over the lab in season 2. Maybe he still will for a bit, as the spinoff doesn't start till mid season

That would work.

[speople]

Well, one thing's for sure: They definitely didn't pay the security bill, if Iris can just walk in like that.

I did come up with a theory that Joe and Iris were given passes in order to come and see Barry while he was in a coma for 9 months. Makes perfect sense (to me anyway). Regardless of that, I've seen numerous shots of a car park outside STAR Labs and it's generally got a lot of cars in it, which would kibosh the speculaton that only Cisco, Caitlin and Wells worked there. They (imo) work deep in the bowels, others "work" higher up.

[nate-dog1701d]

Not to worry, whenever the money runs out, Caitlin and Cisco can move into the loft above the coffee shop. Or Joe's house.

[shadow4486]

I don't know if anyone said this because I stopped reading the posts after about the 5th one.

If Wells is still in the building (presumed from the last scene of him emerging in the pipeline) then it's to his best benefit to keep the lights on.

As for the other stuff, along with the "Who's feeding the prisoners?" argument, who cares? I mean really, I think it's all moot.

--Maybe he's incorporated and all the salary is paid out of a trust in perpetuity.
--Maybe he's grown fond of his workers and isn't completely evil. Just misguided by hate for the Flash. He doesn't hate Cisco and Caitlin. Presumably.
--Maybe he set up a deal with the city to keep the lights on if he paid some amount in advance, as a way to make amends for nearly blowing up Central City.
--Maybe Barry bankrolls the operation by "speed-stealing" money from the crimes he stops. I mean, who'd see him take a few grand or a couple of gold bars.

Maybe...just maybe...it's only been a week and they are paid up through the end of the month.

Dear God, who cares about stuff like that? I'm sorry but that's how I feel. I choose to suspend my disbelief.

I suppose you could say the same thing about SHIELD on AOS. It's clear the government isn't funding them so how are they building ships and crap like that.

NOBODY CARES BECAUSE IT'S A GOOD SHOW. Not remotely believable in any capacity, but a fun show to watch. Just leave it at that. TV doesn't have to make sense. It's an escape from reality.

[Who]

The Taxpayers... as usual

[Backward Galaxy]

I don't know if anyone said this because I stopped reading the posts after about the 5th one.

If Wells is still in the building (presumed from the last scene of him emerging in the pipeline) then it's to his best benefit to keep the lights on.

As for the other stuff, along with the "Who's feeding the prisoners?" argument, who cares? I mean really, I think it's all moot.

--Maybe he's incorporated and all the salary is paid out of a trust in perpetuity.
--Maybe he's grown fond of his workers and isn't completely evil. Just misguided by hate for the Flash. He doesn't hate Cisco and Caitlin. Presumably.
--Maybe he set up a deal with the city to keep the lights on if he paid some amount in advance, as a way to make amends for nearly blowing up Central City.
--Maybe Barry bankrolls the operation by "speed-stealing" money from the crimes he stops. I mean, who'd see him take a few grand or a couple of gold bars.

Maybe...just maybe...it's only been a week and they are paid up through the end of the month.

Dear God, who cares about stuff like that? I'm sorry but that's how I feel. I choose to suspend my disbelief.

I suppose you could say the same thing about SHIELD on AOS. It's clear the government isn't funding them so how are they building ships and crap like that.

NOBODY CARES BECAUSE IT'S A GOOD SHOW. Not remotely believable in any capacity, but a fun show to watch. Just leave it at that. TV doesn't have to make sense. It's an escape from reality.

There are several reasons to care, based on your examples alone. For example, if he's deliberately "leaving the lights on", that's a clue as to what his plans are for the future. That's something that is being overlooked by fans and the heroes themselves. If "Wells" has the power to shut them down, and isn't doing that, that's an important part of the story that is being overlooked. Having that information should probably tip off the heroes that he's coming back to the lab at some point.

If he's doing it because he's "not completely evil" and wants them to be taken care of, that tells us something MAJOR about Eobard's character. It could be a clue that there is good in him, that he's conflicted in some way, or that there's a little of the "good Harrison Wells" inside him from when he absorbed the original's essence. This, again, wildly changes the story from what we already know.

And I know this one was probably you just joking around, but if Barry is "speed-stealing money", that also tells us something fairly substantial about Barry's character.

The topic question is not keeping me up at night. It is not a criticism that is preventing me from being able to enjoy the show. I can ask questions without it compromising my enjoyment factor. But I do care and I do think it's important. I care because I'm watching and I care because, as previously stated, the answer to the question could have a HUGE impact on the story being told.

Or... the writers are just being lazy and didn't think of that. Which would also be telling, but for different reasons.

[Exedore]

I've got it! Felicity pulled some hacking shenanigans to keep STAR Labs running

More seriously: maybe Ray agreed to help them out?

[Odysseus]

Two things are likely keeping the lights on:

1. As people have mentioned, STAR Labs presumably has dozens of lucrative patents on technologies, and it's likely that there's some kind of payment plan where a portion of the profits from these automatically gets put towards paying the bills. This would not be affected by Wells's absence...at least in the short term (again, it's only been a couple of days to a week in-universe since Wells ran off). The payments are likely automatic, and in any case, the general public likely doesn't know Wells is gone. Cisco and Caitlin are likely going to be fine in the short term.

2. In the long term, I expect Ray Palmer probably will take over STAR Labs, as some have speculated. Probably during the Season 2 premiere we'll get some expository dialogue about how Ray bought the lab during the summer hiatus, or maybe Ray himself will guest star.

[Starsaber]

2. In the long term, I expect Ray Palmer probably will take over STAR Labs, as some have speculated. Probably during the Season 2 premiere we'll get some expository dialogue about how Ray bought the lab during the summer hiatus, or maybe Ray himself will guest star.

That is one of the three options I see like that, and probably the easiest to explain (though what he did on Arrow makes it seem a bit less likely).

The other two are:
1) Timeline shift results in the real Wells being alive and running STAR Labs
2) Tina McGee buys STAR Labs and keeps it running when she finds out that they're working with the Flash.

[PHOENIXZERO]

I doubt Eobard cares enough to cut off their funds or whatever money he may have in general since its irrelevant to his goal. I think it stands to reason that given his knowledge and access to future information that he exploited it for substantial financial gain. But the show really does pass over these sort of details a little too much.