For two seasons, The Flash has excelled consistently at what it's brother show, Arrow, has tried (and often failed) to do: balance the light and the heavy. Barry's backstory is tragic: having to watch your mother get killed in front of your eyes, both as a child and as an adult, and not being able to do anything about it. Instead of letting it make him weak and angry (looking at you, Jay), Barry let it make him stronger. For the entire run of the show, they've rarely shied away from allowing Barry to show his weakness and this episode was the best yet. Let's jump right in, shall we?
The remaining members of Team Flash are left to look on at the destroyed remnants of the Flash suit, no Barry in sight. Devastated, Wells calls for Wally and Jesse to make their way down, sure the danger is over for the moment. When they receive no response, Wells and Joe run upstairs only to find the kids unconscious on the floor; though Wally wakes up almost as soon as Joe shakes her, Jesse stays unconscious, her heart having stopped for a brief moment before kickstarting again. Cisco however, stays behind and accidentally vibes on Barry’s suit and sees him alive but in what appears to be limbo.
See how the team copes with the loss of Barry on the latest episode of #TheFlash:: https://t.co/CjOp3ZQEMPhttps://t.co/ONQkJxL9YV
— The Flash (@CW_TheFlash) May 11, 2016
Meanwhile, Barry wakes up in his childhood bedroom, toys and books abound. He decides to explore, walking downstairs before seeing the police tape and Joe crouched in the living room, exactly like the aftermath of the murder of Barry’s mom. Except, it’s not Joe; what he’s seeing isn’t real, it’s a projection made to make him comfortable. When Barry questions who he’s with, Fake!Joe sits him down and asks what he knows about the speed force. While it is what gives him his powers, it’s also a world of sorts; Fake!Joe is the speed force, incarnated to communicate with Barry. Understandably, Barry's not convinced.
Stream the latest episode of #TheFlash, directed by @ThatKevinSmith, now: https://t.co/UZUZWuIfGa pic.twitter.com/osBOPzPrzM
— The Flash (@CW_TheFlash) May 12, 2016
Unfortunately, Fake!Joe also tells Barry he’s not going back to Earth...at least, not until he catches the shadow making it’s way around the house. Determined, Barry chases after the shadow, huffing his way to the park where he runs into Fake!Iris. The Speed Force is hoping to make Barry less upset as Fake!Iris explains that Barry was given a gift when he received the speed force, which he then rejected. Barry tries to explain that he didn’t reject it, he gave it up to save Wally but the Fake!Iris isn't referring to that.
Particle Accelerator Aftermath, Part II
In S.T.A.R. Labs, Wells is watching over the still unconscious Jesse when Henry and Cisco come up to tell him what happened about Cisco’s vibe. When Henry gets aggressive and angry with Wells, Joe quickly pulls him aside, reminding him he needs to help Jesse right now, not get worked up. Calming down, Henry agrees; once he does his examination of Jesse he explains that he’s not sure why she’s not waking up, as all her vitals are fine.
Cisco and Iris then explain to Henry that the same happened with Barry as well after the original explosion. Hoping to find any of the research Wells-1 kept on Barry during their time studying him during the coma, the duo makes their way down to the lab’s morgue (“morgue-ish”). Of course, their plan is spoiled by the appearance of Tony, a bully-turned-metahuman that was killed months earlier, who appears to be a...zombie?
Before he can attack them, Tony is distracted by his reflection in a nearby mirror, getting angry at his new look and storming off. Iris and Cisco run upstairs to tell the others what happened, which has Wells falling deeper into despair. Joe, in an Ultimate Dad Move, gives him a pep talk and takes charge, splitting up with Iris to go after Tony.
Zombie v. Humans
Cisco and Wells head down to the particle accelerator, aiming to rework it to become a network of sorts, with Cisco acting as a “beacon” for Barry. In the park, Barry is pleading with the Speed Force to let him go back when he sees the connection between the particle accelerator appearing in the Speed Force. Cisco reaches out to him. He’s distracted at the sound of Cisco’s voice; Fake!Iris tells him he can go back with him but if he does, it’ll be without his powers.
Though he wants to go with Cisco, he can’t leave without his powers. He turns away, stopping the connection Cisco has to the Speed Force world Barry’s in. Joined by the rest of the crew in the lab, Wells shuts off the particle accelerator’s “feedback loop” where Cisco tells them he saw him but admits he lost him.
Making their way back upstairs, Iris, Joe, and Henry try to track down Tony, only to realize he’s after Iris once more. Iris decides to use herself as bait, hoping to get him back to S.T.A.R. Labs for Cisco and Wells to take him down once more. Joe and Iris make their way back to the house, knowing it’s Tony’s next target and wanting to check on Wally. When they try to question Wally, he admits he hasn't been feeling any different and their questioning is cut short at the sound of Tony making his way towards them. Sending Wally upstairs, Iris heads out, letting Tony chase her all the way to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Cisco has upgraded their MRI machine to become an electromagnet, hoping to undo the damage caused by the second wave of the explosion.
After experiencing momentary success, the machine fails, forcing Cisco and Iris to run. Unfortunately, they end up locked in a room with Wells, an unconscious Jesse, and no way out. Iris is willing to sacrifice herself for them but the rest of them won’t let her.
Inside the Speed Force, Barry is now stopped by his father. Fake!Henry is in the cemetery where Barry is stopped at the sight of his mother’s grave. Barry’s confused but Fake!Henry explains that despite Barry thinking he’s accepted everything, he hasn’t actually accepted his mother’s death. Barry admits that he feels selfish about having let his mother die for him to live; Fake!Henry asks him if he really thinks his mother would’ve wanted him to die in her place, for all of those people to die at Wells’ hands just because he wanted to save her.
Newly determined, Barry takes off after the shadow. His final stop is his home, where he’s greeted by the image of his mother. When Barry questions why they keep showing him such painful images, she tries to comfort him. He finally admits that he hasn’t accepted her death and his part in it. Fake!Nora tells Barry that until he finds a way to accept it, he’s not going to be able to go back.
In the most touching moment of the series so far, a teary-eyed Barry admits that he’s tried accepting it but he just misses her so much. Equally emotional, she asks if it would help if she told him she was proud of him, both as his late mother and the speed force. It’s cute and I totally didn’t cry, that was just a something in my eye. Like a twig or a branch or something.
He spends a few more moments bonding with her before she announces he’s ready. The shadow appears at that moment and Barry catches it. Immediately, he’s back in his suit, powers (hopefully) intact.
Wells and Cisco decide to give the particle accelerator a try one more time, with Iris trying to go in to the speed force with Cisco. Together, the two create another portal and this time, Barry makes it through. Though there are plenty of teary-eyed reunions to be had, Cisco speeds through an explanation on Tony’s reappearance before the door’s ripped open.
Hoping to try the electromagnets again, Team Flash draws Tony back down to the modified MRI machine and Barry uses his renewed speed to charge the magnets “like an electric turbine.” This time, Cisco’s experiment works, knocking Tony down for good.
After taking care of him, Team Flash makes their way back upstairs. They give Barry a quick rundown of everything he missed and Barry briefly touches Jesse’s hand, causing lightning to pass between them, similar to what happened between him and Iris when he first got his powers. They’re not sure if that is what makes her wake up; Iris questions whether Barry knew that would happen and he admits he might’ve, which Wells attributes to the speed force.
Happy Endings: Expectation v. Reality
At the end of it all, Barry finally decides to finally visit his mother’s grave with Iris. In another touching moment, Barry tells Iris that while he’s not sure where they’re going from here but Iris tells him not to worry. “You’re always going to have someone to come home to Barry. Me,” she tells him.
Here’s where we take a moment to applaud the writers because despite the fact that Barry’s been in love with Iris his entire life and she’s finally admitted to possibly loving him back, they’re not rushing into anything, very aware of the fact that there’s something much bigger than them needing to be worked out first. They’re not pushing an unnecessary love plot on us; Barry is in love with Iris, yes, but at the end of the day, the safety of the city is their priority. Zoom needs to be taken down before they can start something and the fact that this is an unspoken understanding between the two of them shows just how well the writers have fleshed out this relationship over these past two seasons. Bravo, Flash team.
On the opposite side of the romance spectrum, Jay is questioning Caitlin about her alliance while she’s still being held hostage at CCPD. He tells her she’s got two choices: she can either stay with him or she can go with her friends. If she chooses the latter, however, he will show her as little mercy as he’s planning on showing Team Flash. He runs off, giving her something to think about.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
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