The Flash is DC’s television adaptation of the comic book of the same name. It airs Tuesday nights at 8/7 Central on The CW. Our writer, Nicole Drum recaps the series each week updating you on the latest episode here in The FlashBack.
Image Credit: The CW
Welcome back! Last week we looked on in horror as Zoom decided to take over Earth-1 with Caitlin unwillingly by his side. This week, well, I’m still not entirely certain what went down last night but we definitely get to see just how fearsome Zoom is. Not ready to face the doom of Zoom? Step away now as there are spoilers beyond this point.We start off with a dilemma for Barry. Harry thinks they can get Barry’s speed back by recreating the particle accelerator explosion, but it’s dangerous. Barry’s not quite sure what he wants to do so to get some perspective, Barry goes to visit his father. Henry Allen’s enjoying the quiet life in a beautiful cabin in the woods, but just because he’s out of the city doesn’t mean Daddy Flash is clueless. Henry has questions when Barry shows up driving a car because speedsters don’t need cars. Barry comes clean about things before bringing Henry back with him to Central City and to STAR.
It’s a happy reunion. Everyone seems happy to see Henry. There are hugs and smiles to go around, and it’s decided that Joe should get the good news of Henry’s return in person. Iris calls Joe and Wally at the police station to facilitate said good news. While she does that, Cisco gets a vibe. Cisco vibes on his brother’s face and it frightens him so Cisco departs the group to go find and meet with his brother, Dante. While Cisco and Dante have a not so great sibling hang out time, Joe and Wally have a really not so great time in general. Zoom shows up at police headquarters and is about to kill everyone there until Caitlin begs him to spare the police. Zoom gives in, for now.
With the news covering that Zoom is back, Cisco and Dante see it on the television at the bar. This prompts Cisco to hurry out, but Dante comes with him since Dante doesn’t have a car. The pair are heading towards their ride when a metahuman shows up and attacks them with a crazy looking blade of sorts. Turns out this metahuman is a guy called Rupture. He gets his power from his blade, but it goes even further than that. Rupture is Dante’s Earth-2 counterpart, making him the brother of the deceased Reverb, aka other Cisco. Rupture blames Cisco for Reverb’s death and is there for revenge.
Back at STAR, the gang knows they’ve got issues. To that end Harry starts calling off Zoom’s general timeline. It seems that Zoom’s following his pattern: destroy the police, recruit metahumans, take over the world. They have to stop Zoom before he can actually destroy the cops, thus achieving step one. The first thing the team decides to do is to get the cops to set up shop at Jitters. The second part of the plan is to get Wally and Jesse safe by locking them in the funky time closet. The final part of the plan involves the Flash, or rather, debating what Barry should do next. Everyone has an opinion about what Barry should do. Harry’s all for the recreation of the explosion to give Barry his speed back. Henry, understandably, is against that. Joe is somewhere in the middle. Iris takes this moment to confess to Barry how she feels about him, giving him a little speech about how she thinks they might be made for each other (her reasons include being married in some nebulous future state and on Earth-2) and that she loves him for who he is. I can’t figure out how Barry feels about this admission. He doesn’t say much.
Meanwhile, Zoom has Caitlin chained to a desk at police headquarters. This gives Caitlin the opportunity to overhear that Zoom may have spared the police initially, but he plans to have Rupture kill them all as part of the master plan to spread fear. The instant she’s able to, Caitlin manages to get her hands on a cell phone in an evidence box and send a message to the team to warn them. This throws the team into action and causes Barry to decide. Yes, they need the Flash, but instead of trying to get back his speed they are utilizing a Flash hologram, the same one they’ve been using to keep the city believing the Flash is around. The neat virtual reality and hologram combination seems to work at first. Barry is able to keep Rupture occupied long enough for the cops to apprehend the bad guy. For a brief moment it looks like the team has saved the day. Then Zoom shows up. He is not happy. Zoom zips through the room snapping the necks of various officers and effectively ending the police. Phase one of Zoom Doom complete while citizens watch in horror on television.
It’s now clear to Barry what he has to do. No one, except the Flash, can even attempt to stop Zoom. Barry gives the go-ahead to Harry to put him through the particle accelerator explosion that created the Flash. There are some emotionally intense moments as Barry prepares. He tries to reassure both of his fathers, then Iris weakly professes her love for Barry one more time. Yet again I am not sure how Barry feels about this because he doesn’t really react. Instead, Harry starts the speed-regaining process. It’s a kind of brutal situation. Harry has to recreate exactly what Barry went through during the first explosion, including injecting Barry with chemicals that he was using on the first night. Cisco summons the lightning to bring it all together and as he does so, Jay sees this and figures out what’s going on.
The lightning strikes, the particles collide, and history attempts to repeat, but something’s wrong. Barry seems to disintegrate in front of his loved ones and as he does, Wally and Jesse (who escaped the time closet) run right into what appears to be speed electricity. They are out cold as Zoom shows up. Zoom picks up the destroyed remains of Barry’s Flash costume and tells the team that they’ve killed the Flash. Iris sobs hysterically. Everyone is in shock and Barry is just gone.
And that’s actually where last night’s episode ended. Barry’s gone and everyone is stunned that science may have failed them. The whole episode appears to be a set up for next week, where previews show us that Barry isn’t dead—just trapped somewhere else in the universe while Zoom has control of Earth-1. Where is Barry? Can they get him back? And what about Wally and Jesse? Do you think this is the dawn of Wally West’s Flash and Jesse Quick? Give me your best theories in the comments!
The Hudsucker 
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