There is a LOT happening as we get closer to the season finale of THE FLASH – just 3 episodes left after tonight. Barry has to decide whether to try a dangerous experiment to regain his speed, while Zoom plans a takeover of Earth 1. But, if you think that was ALL that was going on this week…wow, do YOU have a surprise coming! The show is (to coin a phrase) “picking up speed” as we head to the end of season 2…and if you want to know more, just follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Note: This review is being posted before the show airs on the West Coast USA. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, you may want to come back to this article after seeing the show.
The main thread going through this show is whether Barry should risk a second particle accelerator “accident”. It’s not as easy as it seems. There are risks, and not just for Barry. If the accelerator explosion cannot be contained there are risks for everyone. We go back and forth with this throughout the episode, and finally go for the experiment only after Zoom kills a number of Central City’s finest, along with Rupture, Dante Ramon’s Earth 2 doppelganger. We’ll come back to that particle accelerator experiment in a moment, but first…
This main storyline pulls Henry Allen back to town, potentially to stay (at least through the end of the season). And, it pulls a confession from Iris – yes, she finally admits her feelings for Barry, though he doesn’t have an answer for her yet. The danger involved leads Joe and Harry to lock up Jesse and Wally in the Time Vault at S.T.A.R. Labs, but they eventually escape just in time for….no, wait, we’ll get back to that in a moment as well…but first some quick sub-plot notes:
- Cisco gets a “vibe” of Dante and goes to see his brother, only to find that the vibe he felt was actually related to the Dante of Earth 2, the metahuman known as Rupture. The Earth 2 Dante was told by Zoom that Cisco was responsible for the death of his brother (the Cisco of Earth 2 known as Reverb). This was, of course a lie, but it did send Rupture after Cisco.
- Zoom pulls Caitlin to Earth 1 to start his takeover…with the takeover of the CCPD headquarters! The cops go to Jitters to set up shop, thinking Zoom will let them live if they are out of the police department building.
- Caitlin finds out that is not true, and that Zoom is sending Rupture to kill everyone. She gets a message to S.T.A.R. Labs, and a plan is put into place to stop Rupture.
- Cisco and Barry have been using the video game system-to-end-all-systems to project a hologram of The Flash around Central City…and it works to help hold down crime in Central City for a while. They take the system to work at Jitters, and it helps them capture Rupture. But…
- Zoom rushes in, killing most of the police on the scene…and even kills Rupture for his failure. Zoom then exposes the hologram stunt to the world…and in the meantime threatens Barry with killing Caitlin if he tries it again.
This brings us to Barry’s decision. It’s stretched out for possibly a bit too long…okay, it IS stretched out too long, but still the experiment itself is handled well. They need lightning, provided through the Weather Wizard’s wand as wielded by Cisco (with a great Harry Potter incantation). The result?
Sure you want to know?
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Barry disappears, apparently into the Speed Force itself! And, this happens just as Jesse and Wally get out of the Time Vault…and they are both hit with dark matter energy from the particle accelerator (could THIS be the origin stories of Kid Flash and Jesse Quick in the TV Flashverse?).
To Joe, Iris, Harry, Henry and Cisco, it appears that Barry has simply disintegrated, leaving behind his Flash uniform. Zoom appears and taunts them, having been drawn in by the activation of the particle accelerator. He claims they have killed Barry…and we cut to previews of next week’s show.
NOTES:
- This was an excellent episode overall – one of the few drawbacks being the overly drawn-out nature of Barry’s decision-making process to go through the particle accelerator “accident” again. Wow, they really packed a LOT into this episode! We have Zoom’s attack on Earth 1, the appearance and demise of Rupture, the reuniting of Cisco and Dante, Iris’ confession of her feelings for Barry, the return of Henry Allen, and a possible origin for two more speedsters! Once again, Cisco was a highlight for the episode – no surprise there for folks who have been following this series. (Just a note – Exec. Producer Andrew Kreisberg was a co-writer on the excellent VIBE comics series that launched with the New 52. It was the first time Vibe seemed cool to me, and it makes sense that THIS Cisco would also be so much fun to watch, especially with the acting of Carlos Valdes).
- My only other concerns are Wally continuing to be kept in the dark about the Flash’s identity, and Barry’s lack of response to Iris’ confession of her feelings…it almost reflects the “Superman is a %!@#” meme, and that’s just not the Barry we know. Still, if you get past that, then this episode was a very good one, and I can’t wait to see what they have lined up for next week!
What do YOU think? Leave your comments here!
What about Henry’s statement about Garrick being his mother’s maiden name? What does this mean??
Don’t Know bur surely it’s related to the man in the cage on earth 2, it’s Henry’s doppleganger
It probably means that The Man in The Iron Mask is the real Earth-Two Jay Garrick, as played by John Wesley Shipp.
Think about it: Flash-two had a publicly known civilian identity, with a past and a reputation as a respected scientist. Super-speed wouldn’t let Hunter Zolomon fake that.
So when Zoom created his false persona, he kidnapped the real Garrick, and slotted himself into Jay’s life. (The difference in ages could be easily explained away as a side effect of his empowerment) So–when Zoom is defeated, pethaps his speed could descend on the actual Jay Garrick–and wouldn’t it be cool to see JWS playing The Flash again. (Okay, not the same Flash, but still. . . )
Man in the Iron Mask is Jay Garrick confirmed?
I have a feeling that means we will see Jay Garrick (the real one locked up in the iron mask) be the doppelganger if Henry Allen.
I’m okay with this because it stays true to the spirit of having our current Flash team up with the original TV version, like how Jay was the original comic Flash. I like this casting much more.
Yeah, all the clues point to the masked man being the real Jay Garrick, played by John Wesley Shipp.
I have to wonder how it’ll all play out, seeing as Earth-2 has a Barry Allen, not Barry Garrick. In fact, when Barry dials “MOM & DAD” on Earth-2, Nora’s doppelganger answers with “Allen residence”, and talks as though “dad” is still around.
Another Earth? Twins? Time travel?
Hmm… How about a look-alike cousin? Or a twin of Henry-2, who was adopted by the Garricks? (And before someone asks where his Earth-1 equivalent is, Caitlin/Killer Frost’s sibling (or lack of same) proves not everyone exists on both Earths.
I vote time paradox. Henry’s doppelganger is the real Jay Garrick, whose life diverged very early on. He never met Nora nor fathered Barry. What ends up happening actually is that Henry himself is sent back in time to Earth 2, basically writing the character off with a happy ending.
Man, That last part of the episode, my Jaw couldn’t get any lower. I knew things were going to be bad but wow.
Great episode, So I’m more hopeful now it’s Jay under the mask, so I have that going for me, along with the possibility that both Jesse and Wally now possess Super Speed due to the accident.
These next few weeks are going to be killer I’m telling you.
I think the man in the mask is Wally West as they did not yet show him yet and his hands are brown Zoom is not hunter as he is Jay Garrek with the reason of the repetition of earth one and the reverse flash aka Dr. Harrison Wells we all know Barry has went into the speed force and has to figure out how to get out
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the recreate another partial excelerator “accident” so yea that is my comment on the latest episode and wait till 21
I get the feeling that we have had on Earth 1 a Flash from the future instead of the Flash we know from the present. I think they switched one of those times when Barry went through time.