Plot
Wally begins to have visions of Savitar while training with Barry - a fact that he decides to keep hidden at first, before his visions seem to become psychic attacks. Meanwhile, another secret threats Barry and Iris' newfound happiness together in the wake of Barry's proposal.
Influences
The Flash: Terminal Velocity by Mark Waid. (plot centers on The Flash training a younger speedster to help him save the life of the woman he loves)
Goofs
Barry expresses concern that Savitar may be able to spy on them through Wally. By that logic, shouldn't he be able to do the same thing through Julian? (At least Julian is ready to consider that possibility.)
Cisco's reluctance to let Wally vibe the future that he's training to prevent seems forced and out-of-character.
Granting that Barry is desperate for evidence that he can change the future, the idea that he can save Iris' life just by proposing to her is idiotic even by Barry's standards as the smartest idiot in the Arrowverse and grand-high carrier of The Idiot Ball.
How does Wally know about the broken piece of the Philosopher's Stone when he wasn't at STAR Labs when Caitlin revealed that she had it?
Why didn't Jesse go running after Wally when he started hallucinating?
Wally turning off the tracking device on his suit shouldn't have slowed down Team Flash in tracking him for long. Ignoring that there's two other speedsters who could run around the town to look for him, Cisco could have vibed Wally.
In all of the planning for the future and saving Iris' life, why haven't they started accounting for the fact that they have a third speedster - Jesse Quick - who is faster and more experienced with her powers than Wally?
Performances
The scenes of Danielle Panabaker and Tom Felton playing off of one another are the high-point of the episode.
Flash Facts
In the first part of the episode, there is a three-alarm fire at the Raab Building. This is a nod to Benjamin Raab - a comic book writer and writer/producer on The Flash.
The team track Savitar's acolyte Craig to Mount Buccelato. Though it is only spelled with one 'L', this is likely a reference to comic book creator Brian Buccellato, who worked on The Flash comic.
Technobabble
Cisco tests the box that Barry recovers for radioactive isotopes and gravimetric force residue.
Dialogue Triumphs
(Julian is in a lab, looking at his reflection in a glass case as Caitlin enters.)
Julian: (sighs) Come to talk me into it, then?
Caitlin: No.
Julian: Barry's lost his bloody mind if he thinks I'm going to volunteer to be... abused again.
Caitlin: He's just trying to protect Iris.
Julian: We all are! (sighs) But... not like that.
Caitlin: Is the reason you don't want to do this because... you don't want me to see it?
Julian: I just think... hearing his voice coming out of me... it just makes it impossible for you to see me as a normal -
Caitlin: (taking his hand) Hey. I've had somebody else's voice coming out of my mouth and you were still able to see the real me. How about trusting that I can do the same thing?
(Julian turns and looks at Caitlin. He leans in and gives her a quick kiss right on the lips.)
Julian: Sorry. I just wanted to do that, in case you changed your mind later.
Caitlin: Quite all right.
Barry: You were just a man. Like me.
Savitar: I'm nothing like you, Barry. You are cruel. You are selfish. From my perspective, you're the big bad!
(Julian enters the lab, walking in on a quiet Caitlin.)
Julian: Hey. (sits next to her) You okay?
Caitlin: I'm worried.
Julian: Yeah. I understand. I keep coming back to the thought that... I could be the cause of all this.
Caitlin: What do you mean?
Julian: Savitar's prophecy. "One will betray you." You may well have invited Judas into the group, Caitlin.
Caitlin: It's not you.
Julian: It's impossible to tell. Savitar could be controlling me and none of us would know about it. None of us. Not even me.
Caitlin: But this time we know who it is.
Julian: How?
(Caitlin gets up and moves to a drawer. She pulls out a piece of lightly glowing rock. Julian recognizes it immediately.)
Caitlin: Because... I'm the one who betrayed everyone.
Julian: I can't believe that you would keep part of the Stone. Do you not remember what Savitar had me do with that?!
Caitlin: Yes. I do.
Julian: But you're not concerned, are you? You just want your own personal meta-human specialist to try and find you a cure.
Caitlin: Julian, I don't want these powers. I can't spend the rest of my life wondering if or when I'm going to lose this battle and become Killer Frost. I thought you more than anyone would understand that...
Julian: No. You know what I understand? I understand the real reason you invited me on this team.
Caitlin: That's not the only reason!
Julian: Yeah. I wish I could believe that.
(After everyone but Caitlin has left his sick bed in STAR Labs)
Caitlin: (sobbing) I'm sorry. I should have never... I was afraid.
Barry: I know. Believe me, I know. Fear makes us do a lot of things that we shouldn't. My fear's the reason for all of this.
Continuity
There is a sign on the Central City border that reads "Welcome To Central City: Home Of The Flash." As the episode opens, a workman is adding a sticker which reads "& Kid Flash".
Wally is able to cover the required distance to save Iris in the future in the perfect amount of time (.21 seconds as revealed in Episode 311) for the first time.
Julian returns from London.
We find out that Iris accepted Barry's proposal from 314.
Barry asks Cisco to be his Best Man.
Joe is disappointed Barry didn't ask his permission first before proposing to Iris. He reminds Barry of a story he told Barry about his asking his wife's father for permission to propose.
This episode marks the first time Wally suffers physical trauma as a result of a Savitar vision.
On Earth 19, there is a movie called The Four Amigos that HR cites as an example of good teamwork. It is unclear from the context if this is a reference to The Three Musketeers or The Three Amigos.
Savitar claims that HR (whom he calls "The Pretender" and "The Coward") will survive the battle to come and states it is ironic.
Savitar says that, in the future, Barry will trap him in the one place he could think of and that he will be there long enough to go mad several times over.
Savitar refers to the events of 213 and how the Reverb of Earth 2 told Cisco that he could be a god.
Savitar claims that, in the future, he is considered The Flash's greatest enemy rather than Thawne or Zoom.
Savitar claims that all of Team Flash is responsible for taking "everything" from him.
Savitar also says that his and Barry's first meeting, from Savitar's perspective, is approaching. He also says that Barry was present when he became what he is but denies that Barry had anything to do with him becoming Savitar.
Savitar says he needs only one more thing to win his free of his future prison.
Savitar questions Barry when he says that they got rid of The Philosopher's Stone once and for all.
The team seek out Craig - the Savitar acolyte whom Caitlin confronted as Killer Frost in 307.
Savitar's minion Craig apparently knows Barry's secret identity and about the future where Savitar kills Iris, telling The Flash that he'd better move up the wedding.
The box Barry recovers from the Savitar cultists seems to be precisely the same as the one which held The Philosopher's Stone. Indeed, Julian believes based on their analysis that it IS the same box.
Julian refers to the prophecy from 309 and states that he fears he may be the one who will betray Team Flash. Caitlin says that it can't be him because she betrayed the team.... by taking a piece of The Philosopher's Stone in secret before Barry threw it away.
Caitlin says she took the piece of The Stone hoping that she could use it to get rid of her powers. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to figure out how to use it.
Savitar appears to Wally posing as his mother, telling him that he now has what he needs to escape.
Barry realizes where he imprisoned Savitar - The Speed Force itself. This explained why Savitar could only appear briefly and only to other speedsters.
Savitar lures Wally into taking his place in The Speed Force. He compares it to Atlas - the giant in Greek myth who held up the sky, finding relief only when another took his place. This would seem to suggest that Wally is the one who, in Savitar's prophecy, suffers the fate worse than death.
One of Savitar's blades breaks off in Barry's body. Cisco says he might be able to do something with it.
When Iris leaves Barry's sick bed, he notices she is no longer wearing his engagement ring.
Location
Mount Buccelato - a remote point located outside Central City.
The Fridge Factor
Jesse can't go help Wally and Barry save people from a fire because she is "preoccupied with the ring" in the wake of Iris and Barry revealing their engagement.
Jesse is pretty much trapped in the default "supportive girlfriend" role for most of the episode, only showing up to comfort Wally when he's freaking out.
Despite the Julian/Caitlin subplot involving some of the best acting in the show this season, it is still worrying that the show can't stop giving Caitlin romantic subplots.
The Boomerang Factor
Honestly, given Barry's behavior in this episode - lashing out at Wally and saying he can't be trusted when Barry is just as guilty of keeping secrets from the team - I think Savitar has a point about Barry being selfish and cruel.
The Bottom Line
Up until the last five minutes. it's a serious candidate for the worst episode ever - ignoring all the scenes of Caitlin and Julian together. Barry's alternating between idiot and asshole kills a lot of the sympathy we're suppose to feel for him and I was almost rooting for Savitar at the end. Somehow, the last five minutes turn it around by making us feel the depth of loss as Wally pays for Barry's arrogance. The twist that Caitlin's betrayal wound up being the only thing stopping Barry from having freed Savitar sooner falls by the wayside, though and the show has no idea what to do with Jesse Quick. Hopefully she'll be given a chance to step up while Wally is gone.
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