The FlashBack: ‘The Flash’ – Episode 21 ‘The Runaway Dinosaur’

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

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for this episode since it was announced that Kevin Smith was going to direct. Last night my patience was rewarded, not just by Smith’s guest direction but by an episode with a punch right to the feels. As always this recap will contain spoilers so read on at your own risk.

We pick up right where we left off last week: Barry’s presumed dead, the accelerator explosion recreation appearing to have gone awry. However, Team Flash has more than just grief over Barry to contend with. The gang discovers that Jesse and Wally were hit by the blast. And though Wally appears to be okay, he wakes up readily and is no worse for wear. But Jesse is another story as she remains unconscious. While the kids are tended to, Cisco vibes on the remains of Barry’s suit. Our hero lives…somewhere. Harry quickly determines that Barry’s somewhere in the Speed Force.

Meanwhile in said Speed Force, Barry’s waking up in his own bed at the West house, but he’s definitely not at home. Barry quickly encounters the Speed Force projection of Joe, who says “Sit, Barry, sit.” For a moment Barry looks like he’s about to have a great science geek moment, as talking to the Speed Force is akin to speaking directly to gravity. However, that geek bliss is short-lived. Barry isn’t able to leave the Speed Force until he catches some weird black blur. Off Barry runs.

At the lab Jesse is in a coma not unlike Barry’s when he was first zapped by the magic lightning. Henry, tapping into his medical skills, requests the records of Barry’s time in the coma. Henry thinks there might be treatment clues for Jesse so Cisco and Iris trot down to the lab’s morgue. Yes, morgue. Dr. Creepyjeans (aka Evil Wells) last season actually took the deceased metahumans down to his creepy morgue where he may or may not have done some experimentation. The morgue holds more than remains, though, and Cisco is quickly able to locate Barry’s treatment record. Unfortunately, something has located Cisco and Iris. Remember Girder? He’s back. As a zombie? The crew quickly figures out that the botched attempt to give Barry back his speed somehow reanimated Girder and now the bad guy is shambling around Central City. The team needs Barry back pronto so Harry comes up with an idea. Cisco will vibe on Barry’s suit while Harry uses electric pulses to use Cisco’s vibe to open a portal. All Cisco has to do is get Barry to come back through from the Speed Force via the portal. The guys make the science look easy, but once Cisco gets Barry’s attention, Barry doesn’t come.

In the Speed Force, Barry is trying to figure out what’s going on. He chases the black blur to a park bench where he encounters a projection of Iris. This projection also invites Barry to sit, but she gives no answers. The projection Iris even claims that Barry’s thrown away his gift of speed, something Barry vehemently denies. When Cisco’s portal appears, Barry chooses to stay and chase the blur. Barry can’t leave with is speed unless he catches the blur it seems.

Team Flash has no Flash, but they do figure out what Girder is doing. It turns out that Girder has a thing for Iris, so the zombie metahuman is essentially chasing her. Iris decides to let herself be bait. She and Joe go back to the West house where they expect Girder to show up. There’s a kind of hilarious moment where Joe is convinced Wally’s now a metahuman and drops a mug. The mug shatters on the ground and Wally’s confused. There’s no time to get into it because Girder shows up. Iris heads out and lures Girder back to the lab where Cisco waits. Cisco thinks a blast with electromagnets will shut Girder down again, but it doesn’t work. The gang has to barricade themselves in the pipeline.

Things aren’t improving in the Speed Force either. Barry finds himself at his mother’s grave where he’s visited by a projection of Henry. It’s suggested to Barry that he hasn’t accepted his mother’s death and that acceptance is critical. Barry’s having a hard time with that, though. He still feels awful for every bad thing that’s happened since he’s been Flash, but more than that, that he chose his own life over his mother’s. Barry, unable to deal with his grief, continues to chase that blur. Barry’s chase drops him off in front of his childhood home. When he goes inside, Barry’s confronted with the Speed Force projection of his mother. This is particularly hard for Barry and I’m going to be honest, I’m not totally clear on whether or not this is a projection or really Nora Allen. Either way, Nora invites Barry to sit and they talk. Barry struggles to deal with things just as he had at the grave site and Nora assists him by talking him through things. She tells him how proud of him she is, and also advises Barry that there are things out of even the Flash’s control. Nora counsels Barry that he has to accept that. The two end up sitting on the couch with Nora reading Barry his favorite childhood book, about a dinosaur who wants to be different from what he is. In the story, though, the mother dinosaur tells the little one that what makes him special is that he’s unique and uniquely loved by his mother.

And now things come together. Back at STAR the door to the pipeline isn’t going to hold out much longer. In the Speed Force, Barry finally catches up with the blur, which turns out to be his speedster self. Barry connects to his speed and is transformed back to the Flash while at the lab, Cisco makes one more attempt to find Barry and bring him home. However, this time Iris wants to be the person who reaches out for Barry. The gang opens up the special breach and Iris calls out for Barry, reaching out her hand. Barry grabs on after a final look back at Nora. Nora tells him “Run, Barry, run,” and he’s back in reality. There’s no time to celebrate, though! Girder is about to break through so Barry’s back to work. Barry leads Girder back to the electromagnetic room so Harry and Cisco can shut Girder down. When they don’t have the right power cord for their device, though, Barry runs circles around Girder. This charges the magnets and Girder goes down for good. With the bad guy dealt with, the team checks in on Jesse. Barry touches Jesse’s hand and it gives her a little zap. Jesse wakes right up. Henry also tells Barry that he’s coming back to Central City for good. The episode ends with Barry finally visiting his mother’s grave with Iris, the two of them realizing they will always have each other.

And then we catch up with Zoom, who has given Caitlin the choice to stay with him or leave for her friends while Zoom steps out to amp up his friends. Those friends? Villains Zoom’s brought from Earth-2. This isn’t good.

Two more episodes remain this season. Who will Caitlin choose? Is Jesse a speedster now? Was that Black Canary we saw in the preview? Did you catch Jason Mewes’ brief appearance in last night’s episode? Let me know in the comments!