The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 20 - Negative, Part 2

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

With Barry having suffered a major loss, the team rally around him in the darkest hour yet.

Influences

The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson. 


Flash Facts

This is the last episode to feature Jesse L. Martin as a series regular.

With this episode, The Flash surpassed Arrow as having the most episodes of any Arrowverse series.

Reportedly, this was originally planned to be the series finale, but a new ending was written when the series was renewed for Season 9.

Impulse describes a situation as "all aster, no dis." This is a nod to Young Justice, where the young heroes routinely took apart words, such as when Robin wondered why people were overwhelmed or underwhelmed but never just whelmed.

The flash forward at the end of the episode takes place on June 29, 2049. This episode originally aired on June 29, 2022.

The blue crystal in the future shown in the final scene may be a nod to the villain Cobalt Blue - a Flash villain from the comics with connections to both the Allen and Thawne families.

Technobabble

Barry plans to enter the Negative Speed Force by using a concentrated blast of dark matter and negatively-charged lightning in conjunction with his tachyon harness.

Chester reports detecting a huge influx of negative kinetic tachyons right before the Reverse-Flash appears in downtown Central City. He later detects negative kinetic isotopes with temporal, geothermic, and electric chemical readings, corresponding to the effects of the other Forces.


Dialogue Disasters

Impulse: (on seeing Reverse-Flash's new costume) Who's his new tailor? Satan? 


Continuity

The reborn Reverse-Flash confirms that the Negative Forces brought him back to serve as the Negative Speed Force avatar, due to them being too weak to function without a fourth member of their circle.

Barry tries to kill the Reverse-Flash, but is stopped by XS and Impulse.

Barry finally relents on killing Reverse-Flash when XS and Impulse point out that if they're still alive, Iris couldn't have died yet. (Or that there's still a chance of fixing the timeline.)

Barry plans to go into the Negative Speed Force, theorizing it is the only place Thawne could hide from him after Chester can't find any sign of him on Earth-Prime.

Barry continues to insist that he felt Iris die and that he can't feel their connection anymore. He also fears she may have been erased from reality completely but the changes haven't caught up with them yet.

Iris wakes up in the same empty space dimension from 805 and is greeted by a remnant of Damien Darhk's memories.

Meena volunteers to use her powers to give Barry the Negative Speed Force charge he needs to enter the Negative Speed Force.

Cecile tells Barry she can feel him radiating anger.

Cecile suddenly feels an intense sensation of frustration, right before having a vision of Bashir (aka Psych) the Sage Force Avatar.

Cecile believes Bashir wants her to find him and the other Positive Force Avatars.

The Negative Force avatars take the Reverse-Flash into a space resembling the Reverse-Flashpoint from 804.

The Negative Forces reveal that Eobard Thawne did not tap into the Negative Speed Force with his machine.  The Negative Force tapped him, choosing him as an avatar because it fed off of his hatred for Barry Allen to empower itself.

Damien confirms that the Negative Forces used Iris as an incubator to create a new Negative Speed Force, in much the same way Barry and Iris' love allowed the Speed Force to be reborn.

Damien explains that the Time Stone he gave Joe acted to save Iris, because she wasn't meant to die at this point in time and that there's something important she's meant to do in the future.

Meena almost destroys her Artificial Negative Speed Force trying to give Barry a jump-start. Barry persuades her to charge herself up so that she can give her power to him.

Joe West is shown at his home, praying for Iris to return home safe, when the Jay and Joan Garrick of 2049 show up. They explain that they followed Iris' particle trail across time to Joe's house. This eventually leads them to the Time Stone, which Jay recognizes, having heard about it in his travels.

With the reluctant help of Queen and Top, Cecile attempts to make contact with Psych. He appears briefly and confirms that the time sickness that infected Iris and Deon Owens spread to the Sage Force and Strength Force.

Psych also explains that he saw potential in Cecile and opened the floodgates in her mind. This caused her to steal the powers of Queen and Top by accident.

Barry travels into the Negative Speed Force and confronts the other Negative Forces.

The Negative Forces explain that Barry disrupted the cosmic balance in 805 when he depowered the Reverse-Flash instead of allowing him to be erased from existence. Before that, they had no idea it was possible to upend the balance in such a fashion, This gave them the idea do the same thing, but to their benefit, turning the Reverse-Flash into an avatar of all the Negative Forces.

The Reverse-Flash dons a new black version of his original costume when he returns to Central City.

Damien Darhk gives Iris a pep-talk, telling her that she is a survivor who is too stubborn to die and that even if the spark between her and Barry is dead, it can still be reignited.

Reverse-Flash hits Impulse with lightning and sends him back in time a billion years.

Using the Psych mask, Cecile is able to transfer her power to Bashir. This somehow allows him to heal the rest of the Positive Forces.

The Positive Forces Show up and give their power to Barry, giving him the chance to fight Reverse-Flash evenly.

Iris reappears at Joe's house.

Barry is able to hold his own against Reverse-Flash, but the two of them wielding all the Forces is threatening to destroy Central City, if not all of reality.

Jay runs Iris to the battle so that Barry can see she is alive.

Instead of fighting Reverse-Flash, Barry meditates on maintaining everything. 

Reverse-Flash burns himself out trying to summon more power to destroy Barry.

Barry uses all the power he has to restore things so his children and Meena return.  

The universe rights itself after.

Chester confirms that Barry's extra Force powers are gone and that Iris' time sickness is cured.

Gideon confirms there are no more Eobard Thawne remnants anywhere in the timeline.

Jay, Joan, XS and Impulse return to 2049.

Meena confirms the BLOC is no longer working and that she's lost her powers.

Barry and Iris give Meena the yellow tie worn by the reformed Eobard Thawne she loved.

Barry and Meena both offer each other help with whatever they might need help with in the future.

The Top and Queen are both confirmed to have their powers back, with The Queen being locked up in Iron Heights again.

Cecile is revealed to have developed telekinetic powers.

Allegra, Chester and Cecile decide to collective call themselves Team Badass.

The Flash reunites Tinya Wazoo and her mother Renee. 

The cryonic chamber Chillblaine build malfunctions. He tries to take Caitlin Snow out of it, but is confronted by someone he doesn't recognize. She has the same voice as Caitlin and Frost, and introduces herself as "A friend, I think."

Barry and Iris enjoy a quiet night in, but Iris worries that the Negative Speed Force will find another avatar to replace Thawne.

Location

Central City - June 29, 2049


The Bottom Line

A messy end to a messy season. The best that can be said is that it does tie up all the loose ends except for what is happening to Caitlin and Frost. (This was likely due to the need to work around Danielle Panabaker's second pregnancy.) Hopefully Season 9 can give the series and the Arrowverse a proper ending.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 19 -- Negative, Part 1

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Team Flash go into the fight of their lives, as Iris discovers the true cause of her time sickness. 

Influences

The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson. 


Goofs

It's weird that nobody at STAR Labs in 2022 didn't check Iris to see if she had negative tachyons in her system after all the work they've done previously with tachyons and negative tachyons.


Performances

Matt Letscher and Kausar Mohammed have great chemistry together as Eobard and Meena.


Artistry

The effects for the fight between the three speedsters and the Negative Force Hosts are good.


Flash Facts

The video game which Impulse and XS play as the episode opens feature a race of squid/clam warriors known as the Klamulons. In Young Justice, the Klamulons are a fictional alien race in the fictional television series Space Trek 3016.

Chester is able to briefly trap the Negative Strength Force host using an inverse energy trap that generates a stronger force field the more power is thrown against it. This is similar to the technology used by the hero Rocket in Milestone Media's superhero universe. 

Technobabble

As of this episode, Mena's top speed is Mach 1.78, which is double her last recorded speed. She tries to push herself to Mach 2, but her heart gives out.

The satellites at STAR Labs can detect major temporal isotopic energy surges.

Chester can't track Deon using STAR Labs isotopic sensor.

The pod Chillblaine designed uses cerebral circuitry that should stimulate, and then reactivate Frost's residual subconscious left inside Caitlin's mind. Once that is done, they can work on creating a new body for her.

Chester uses an inverse energy trap to contain the Negative Strength Force.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry has revealed his secret identity to Meena.)
Meena: So the fastest man alive is a badge with a day job? That's so... Ordinary.
Barry: Yeah, that's my point. You'd be surprised at people's capacity to rise up and help others during a crisis. They just need to be given the opportunity. That suit, that's your opportunity. I think you're gonna be surprised at how well it fits, but you have to give yourself the chance.


Continuity

As the episode opens, XS and Impulse are playing video games together in 2049. XS is naturally talented at the game, to Impulse's disappointment.

Impulse tries to lie to Iris about studying for midterms, but she sees through his deception.

By 2049, Iris has won two Pulitzer Prizes for her reporting.

Iris called to ask Nora to write a follow up to her last article, but suddenly fades out of existence on the phone.

Just after the older Iris vanishes, the 2022 Iris appears in the loft apartment.

Iris says the last thing she remembers is being in her office with Taylor. This occurred in 814.

The 2049 Barry is said to be off world with Jay Garrick.

XS tries to run Iris back to 2022, but a barrier prevents her from doing so. She recognizes the particles that she runs into as being part of the Still Force and thinks that Deon is trying to keep Iris in the future, for some reason.

Back in 2022, Chester and Barry have made a superhero costume for Meena, modeled on the Flash suit, but in black. Like Barry's suit, her costume has sensors that allow her vitals to be tracked at STAR Labs.

Meena doubts that she'll ever be a hero.

Barry reveals his secret identity to Meena and tells her that if someone ordinary like him can help people, so can a genius like her.

Meena struggles with an idea for a superhero name. Barry suggests Fast Track, like her lab.

On Lian Yu, Deon uses his powers to kill the Reverse Flash, seemingly aging him to death in seconds.

Barry runs to Lian Yu after Chester detects a major energy surge there.

Cisco installed a secure comm link on Lian Yu after the last time Barry visited there in 818.

Barry discovers what is left of the Reverse Flash.

Joe discovers that Cecile was patrolling the streets as a superhero. He is upset because she lied about working late.

Cecile says she can now induce vertigo in people, like The Top.

The Top is confirmed to be the figure who was watching Cecile in 818.

Cecile reveals that she got the idea that she could temporarily borrow the mental powers of nearby psychic metahumans.

The Top says it is not temporary and Cecile stole her powers outright.

Joe calls in a favor with Chief Singh to get two visitor passes to the metahuman wing of Iron Heights to test the theory that is why Cecile had done.

In 2049, Jay's wife, Dr. Joan Williams, confirms that the cause of Iris time sickness is her body being flooded with negative tachyons.

Iris has a vison of the Force Hosts - Deon, Bashir and Alexa - but they seem different some how.

XS tries to go back in time to get the 2022 Barry, while Impulse stays behind to protect Iris.

Meena is continuing to push herself harder, despite Eobard telling her she's risking her life doing it.

Deon, Bashir and Alexa appear to Meena and Eobard, saying they've come to kill him.

Deon, Bashir and Alexa claim to be incarnations of the Negative Still Force, Negative Sage Force and Negative Strength Force. They claim to be manifestations of "the true Forces of the universe, ones written in darkness" and say they have come to kill Eobard, the last variant of Eobard Thawne in the timeline, so that he can fulfil his purpose. 

The Negative Force Hosts are responsible for the disappearance of the regular Force Hosts, including Speed Force Nora.

When Eobard asks why they are trying to kill him he is told that he is "not the Avatar" and that his being here makes the Negative Forces weaker.

The Negative Force Hosts also tell Barry that he will pay for what he did.

XS arrives in 2022 at STAR Labs.

Back at Caitlin's apartment, Caitlin and Chillblaine have finished work on the pod he designed.

When XS asks why there is no Negative Speed Force Nora, Barry guesses that he might have erased her from existence when he broke the connection between Reverse-Flash and the Negative Speed Force. He guesses that maybe they think killing all the Thawnes will somehow bring back the Negative Speed Force.

Barry sends XS back to 2049 to help Impulse protect Iris.

STAR Labs detects massive energy spokes of three isotopic energy masses - Electrochemical, Temporal and Geothermal - the energies controlled by the Sage, Still and Strength forces respectively. 

Cecile and Top confront Queen of the Royal Flush Gang (i.e. Mona) while she is in custody.

Cecile steals Queen's telepathic powers and is able to read the mind of every person in Cenrtal City, despite being in a meta-dampened prison cell.

Meena continues to push herself because she's afraid of letting Eobard down.

Eobard says that Meena makes him proud and that he loves how she's using the gift she wanted to give him to help others.

Barry says he thinks he knows a way that Meena can share her power with Thawne, using the connection they share through their love for each other.

Barry gives Eobard a ring containing the Reverse-Flash costume.

Cecile, Allegra and Chester work together to try and delay the Negative Force Hosts as Barry tries to help Meena empower Thawne.

The Negative Still Force sends Cecile, Allegra and Chester away.

In 2049, Iris has more time visions, saying that she can see things changing, but not with any clarity.

Iris goes back to 2022 to see what is happening, arriving just as Barry is trying to throw lightning at the Negative Force Hosts. This seems to kill Iris, who vanishes in a puff of green particles.

The Reverse-Flash with the face or Harrison Wells emerges from the body of Eobard Thawne, after ripping himself out of it.


Location

Central City - 2049
Lian Yu - 2022


The Bottom Line

A bit of a mess, all over. Nobody was clamoring for the Force Avatars to return, and their evil twins are even more shallow and nonsensical somehow. One suspects the story doesn't really make sense and there's way too many subplots that don't go anywhere. Maybe the ending can make this worth it, but I doubt it.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 18 - The Man In The Yellow Tie

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

As Barry begins mentoring a new speedster, an old enemy in a new form emerges. Meanwhile, Cecile's powers undergo a shift that may allow her to help Team Flash in a new way, as John Diggle seeks help from an unlikely source regarding his problem.

Influences

The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson, Final Crisis (mentions of the Dark Monitor and Bleed) and Blackest Night.


Performances

Matt Letscher has a fantastic turn here as the reformed Thawne. He also has fantastic chemistry with Kausar Mohammed, who is equally impressive in the first full episode with the Negative Flash.


Artistry

The effects work for the speedster fights is some of the best in the show's history.


Flash Facts

The way Cecile sees the emotions of other people and projects new emotions on to them is similar to how emotions manifested from the viewpoint of Black Lanterns in Blackest Night.

Reverse-Flash describes the technology powering Diggle's box as Transmatter Technology. In the classic JSA and JLA comics, both teams used transmatter cubes to travel to one another's respective universes. 

The Reverse-Flash mentions a place called the Orrery of Worlds. In the Post-Crisis DC Comics universe, this was the name given to the core collective of 52 worlds making up the multiverse following Infinite Crisis.

The Reverse-Flash makes mention of a cosmic odyssey awaiting John Diggle. Cosmic Odyssey was the name of a 1988 mini-series which features a major role for the John Stewart Green Lantern.

The Reverse Flash tells Diggle to "drink of the Bleed" within his box once he opens it a second time. In the Post-Flashpoint DC Comics Universe, the Bleed is the limbo realm between realities.

The Reverse-Flash makes mention of a figure named Mandrakk, whom he says was responsible for putting a piece of the Bleed into the cube. In the comics, Mandrakk was a name given to a being known as the Dark Monitor, who became corrupted and began devouring the Bleed between realities, causing the entire multiverse to decay and fall apart. Mandrakk was the final villain of Final Crisis.

The Reverse-Flash also makes reference to the Source Wall. In the mythology of Jack Kirby'sNew Gods, the Source Wall is the boundary between the multiverse and the source of all divine power. Many beings have become trapped in the Source Wall trying to move beyond it and claim ultimate power.

When Ray Palmer calls STAR Labs to describe the Legends' recent encounter with Eobard Thawne, he makes mention of dealing with a minor infestation of serpent creatures from the Morlaidh dimension. In the DC Comics Universe, Morlaidh was the name of a microscopic city located deep in the Amazon jungle, populated by a tribe of aliens who were stranded on Earth and descended into barbarism. Ray Palmer discovered Morlaidh and became its protector in the Sword of the Atom series. 

Technobabble

Something about the lightning Meena generates causes it to interact strangely with the natural lightning Barry generates through the Speed Force. This is later determined, through an analysis of biometrics, to be because of Meena tapping the Negative Speed Force.

Barry says a biokinetic chemical reaction occurred when his natural lightning interacted with Meena's artificial lightning.

The biometric lightning oscillation chamber (or BLOC) uses quantum computing to remotely harness lightning from the Earth's upper atmosphere, transforming it into artificial speed.

Thawne notes that when calculating quantum static in genetic speed, you have to account for the tachyons. 

Reverse-Flash describes the box Diggle found as transmatter technology, forged at the Orrery of Worlds, which has the power to travel across realities.

Before Meena goes mad with power, the BLOC oscillation level is set at 52 million joules. 

Thawne determines that if The Flash can keep Meena running for 119 seconds, that will burn off the rest of her speed, based on her 40% saturation level.


Dialogue Triumphs

Meena: My name is Dr. Meena Dhawan, and for the next three minutes and 52 seconds, I'm the fastest woman alive. 

(Barry runs into the cell block holding the Reverse-Flash.)
Barry: How are you still here?
Reverse-Flash: Well... I wanna see how this ends.
Barry: Don't screw with me! How did you get your speed back?
Reverse-Flash: I didn't?
Barry: Stop lying! I saw you, five minutes ago, 1,000 miles from here wearing your original face, pretending you didn't remember me. So, who is he? A version of you from your past? Answer me!
Reverse-Flash: I don't know. And I don't care. Don't you get it? You took my speed. There's no other versions of me out there, no other tricks up my sleeve. You took everything from me. So, why don't you just leave me alone?

(Diggle rejects the power of the cube, to Reverse-Flash's annoyance.)
Reverse-Flash: You're not special. You're not someone important. This was your last chance to be someone powerful.
Diggle: But I am someone special. Now I realize. The cube was trying to make me someone else... something else. And it even tricked me into believing that somehow I wanted it, too, but... I don't. Because there is no power in the universe more powerful than the love I have for my family.
(Diggle laughs. It is a rare but rich sound.)
Diggle: But I suppose a man like you wouldn't understand that. Because if it came down to a choice between some cosmic destiny, or... being a father, a husband... There's really no choice at all.

(In flashback, Thawne places Meena into the BLOC to save her.)
Meena: You gave up your dream. Your chance to save the world.
Thawne: You are my world.
(Cut to the present, as a sobbing Thawne begs The Flash for help.)
Thawne: So, please. Even if I was this monster somehow, or in another life, don't hold my sins against her. I am begging you. Save her.

The Flash: The Thawne I know has haunted my life since I was just a kid. He's killed people I care for. He deserves to rot. He could never put someone else's needs before his. I'm sorry. You're not the man I thought you were. You're someone better.


Continuity

As the episode opens, Barry is training Dr. Meena Dhawan by running through trees in a national park. Her top speed is said to be 300 meters per second.

Meena accidentally throws a lighting bolt at Barry which knocks him off guard. He notes that she learned to generate electricity with her powers much faster than he did.

Cecile makes reference to a new client who likes to pay in cash.

While Cecile is making a deposit, the bank is robbed. As Cecile watches the robbers, she sees their emotions as a colored aura around them and discovers she can change the auras around, taking the red anger of the robber and trading it with the yellow fear of one of his hostages. 

Cecile causes another robber to feel uncertain (blue), saying they shouldn't be here and should have become an engineer.

According to Gideon and Chester, Cecile's powers have increased 1,000 fold.

Cecile makes reference to being overwhelmed by her powers during the fight with Blockbuster in 814.

Reference is made to Barry becoming emotionless while connected to an artificial Speed Force in 702. He fears the artificial speed source Meena created could have similar unintended side effects, though her emotions seem fine.

Barry goes to Fast Track Labs to examine the speed source, saying that he was informed of the secret project by "a mutual friend who likes to run fast."

Meena agrees to let Barry look at her technology, recognizing him as the new owner of STAR Labs.

Barry says Fast Track Labs is decades ahead of any other lab.

Meena says she understands the physics behind the BLOC just fine, but that her colleague is more familiar with the nuts and bolts of super speed theory. This partner is revealed to be Eobard Thawne, in his original appearance before taking on the appearance of Dr. Harrison Wells.

Thawne introduces himself as the Chief of Engineering at Fast Track Labs and says he's been working there for a year. He is also the only employee who knows about the artificial speed source.

Thawne claims to suffer from a rare form of retrograde amnesia and that he cannot remember anything about his personal life from before one year earlier. Despite this, he still has an amazing knowledge of advanced physics relating to superspeed, which was why Meena hired him despite the worst resume she'd ever seen after he solved an equation that had baffled her for months in seconds.

Barry accuses Thawne of being the Reverse-Flash and being up to something, which Thawne denies.

Barry confirms that ARGUS hasn't posted any alerts about Thawne escaping.

The depowered Thawne is reading The Count of Monte Cristo when Barry visits him in his cell on Lian Yu. This continues a running gag throughout the Arrowverse. Oliver Queen was shown reading the same book while in prison in Arrow season 7 and Lex Luthor was reading it while imprisoned during Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Reverse-Flash denies knowing anything about the other Eobard Thawne.

Barry theorizes that the new Thawne might be from another timeline, like Flashpoint and makes reference to the time remnant Reverse-Flash he created who went on to fight the Legends in Legends of Tomorrow season 2.

Reverse-Flash identifies the BLOC as the same device he built as part of his Negative Speed Force 200 years in the future to replicate The Flash's powers.

Barry realizes this explains why Meena's powers are erratic and interacting badly with his - she's tapping the Negative Speed Force.

Reverse-Flash claims that he's never heard of Meena, so he supposes she is destined to die because continual use of the Negative Speed Force will alter her personality.

As Barry leaves Reverse-Flash behind, it is revealed that John Diggle has been watching their conversation, having come to talk to Reverse-Flash earlier.

Diggle has not encountered the Reverse-Flash since F108, when he was still pretending to be Harrison Wells and that he needed a wheelchair.

Diggle describes his journey since the events of A810, trying to open the box that crashed to Earth near him. This is said to have happened two years ago.

Diggle references his appearances in F716, B309 and S612, consulting with his scientist friends on what to do with the box.

Having run out of options among his scientist friends, Diggle thought to check with Reverse-Flash, who might have knowledge of the device being from the 23rd century.

Thawne asks why Diggle didn't have Lyla interview him and deduces that Diggle is on the outs with his wife. Diggle says he's been spending a lot of time away from his family trying to solve the riddle of the box and that he feels compelled to open it again.

Reverse-Flash agrees to help Diggle open the box, in exchange for being allowed to look inside once it is open.

Barry is convinced that the new Thawne is from the Flashpoint reality, though he has no idea how he survived his apparent death at the hands of the Black Flash in L217.

The Flash shows up at Fast Track labs and accuses Thawne of trying to infect Meena with more and more Negative Speed Force Energy.

Meena attacks The Flash and runs off, saying she needs more speed.

Meena begins draining power from the power lines on a remote country road.

Thawne says that cubes like the one Diggle found appear to people with the potential to change the destiny of reality at a turning point in their lives. He claims the box closed because Diggle was not ready to accept the power it offered then.

Under Thawne's direction, Diggle is able to open the box again. However, he throws it away, rejecting it and it vanishes.

Diggle claims to have seen 1000 lives he might have lived, but all of them required him leaving his family. He didn't think it was worth the price.

Diggle leaves the Reverse-Flash behind and calls his wife, Lyla, to tell her he is coming home.

Meena's lightning shorted out Barry's powers and the radio in his costume.

Thawne reveals that he and Meena fell in love as they worked on the BLOC together, as they both had idealistic dreams of what they could do with the power it offered.

Thawne claims that all he remembered of his past life was that he was meant to be a speedster, apart from visions of the BLOC and an understand of the physics of how to make it work.

Thawne was meant to use the BLOC, since it could only work for one person. However, when Meena suffered a cardiac arrest due to her heart condition, Thawne sacrificed his chance at super speed to save her life.

Barry believes that this Thawne has honestly reformed, based on how he talks about truly loving Meena.

Barry and Thawne figure out that the Negative Speed Force is pushing Meena to absorb electricity from power junctions around the city to keep control of her. This leads her to attack the Keystone Cleveland Dam.

Meena is able to cancel out The Flash's power and is about to kill him when Thawne pleads with Meena to fight the Negative Speed Force. His love manages to bring her back.

The Flash suggests that Meena can continue using the BLOC provided she uses her love for Thawne as a lightning rod, like he does with Iris.

Chester agrees to help tinker with the BLOC, like he did with the STAR Labs artificial speed source.

Ray Palmer calls Chester and relates the events of Legends of Tomorrow Season 7 to him, discussing how he met with Dr. Nate Heywood for drinks and learned that the Legends encountered Thawne and witnessed his death in L711. Ray suggests that maybe the Time Wraiths resurrected Thawne and put him in the present day as a reward for his heroic actions.

Cecile goes out on patrol and prevents a mugging by giving a man nausea, like The Top. Unbeknownst to Cecile, however, she is being watched by The Top.

Chillblaine calls Caitlin and tells her that he figured out a way to bring back Frost without the Mirror Gun she was using.

On Lian Yu, Deon appears to the Reverse-Flash and says he had been looking for him, but couldn't find him until the light from Diggle's cube showed him and some other people where to find him. Deon says it is time for the Reverse-Flash to fulfill his destiny.


Location

Lian Yu


Untelevised Adventures

John Diggle has spent most of the two years when he wasn't appearing in other Arrowverse series searching for a way to open the box he found in the Arrow series finale. 


The Bottom Line

This is the kind of Flash story we used to enjoy quite frequently, with deep dives into the lore of DC Comics and some solid performances from the guest stars. 

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 17 - Keep It Dark

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Barry goes off the grid to track down a new meta criminal, as Allegra pulls out all the stops to protect a story source.

Influences

The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson (creator of Dr. Meena Dhawan/Fast Track), The Silence of the Lambs (Barry interviewing Thawne in his cell) and Assault On Precinct 13 and other "base under siege" stories.


Goofs

Taylor is awfully high and mighty about journalistic ethics for someone who had a contact illegally break into sealed juvenile records to dig up dirt on her supervisor. 

Given that Sunshine and Dr. Light are already wanted for multiple murder charges, it really shouldn't make a difference that their running the Arañas is revealed to the public in a CCC Media report and there really shouldn't be anything stopping them from killing everyone at that point. 


Performances

Tom Cavanagh's performance as Thawne here is brief, but delightfully unhinged. 


Artistry

Danielle Panabaker's direction is suspenseful. 


Flash Facts

This episode was directed by Danielle Panabaker, who plays Caitlin Snow and Frost.

The episode title was taken from a song by the band Genesis. 

Jenna West's backpack has a Batwoman logo on it.

This episode features the first appearance of Dr. Meena Dhawan. She was originally meant to be introduced during The Flash season 7, but her storyline was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her existence was teased, however, with 701 opening with a scene where Chester was reading a book written by Dr. Meena Dhawan.

First appearing in The Flash Vol 5 #3 (September, 2016), Dr. Dhawan was a scientist at STAR Labs who put in charge of a new Speed Force Testing Center after a series of storms began giving random Central City citizens speed powers. This included Dr. Dhawan, who started assisting The Flash in fighting crime and adopted the codename Fast Track. She chose this name due to a unique ability she developed that allowed her to sense other sources of Speed Force energy.

Meena and Barry Allen briefly became romantically involved before she mysteriously disappeared. She reemerged later ,as an agent of the Black Hole crime syndicate, having been brainwashed by Gorilla Grodd. She also became the avatar of the Negative Speed Force and took on the identity of the Negative Flash.

The Arrowverse version of Dr. Meena Dhawan apparently created her own process for moving at super-speed independent of the Speed Force. She seems to be much the same character as she was in the comics, in terms of idealism and knowledge, though she works for her own company, Fast Track Labs, rather than STAR Labs.

Technobabble

Chester confirms that the new speedster doesn't use the Speed Force by tracking tachyon readings using STAR Labs' satellites. 

Barry figures out that the fire in Ivo Labs was started by the mystery speedster, based upon the friction generated by their movement and the low flash point of the acetone used as an accelerant. 

Ivo Labs' Newton Battery is a strong electrochemical cell which requires a temperature-controlled polymer case.

Chester designed a AI-generated filter program that will conceal Lydia's voice and face while she is on camera.

Chester also designed a photo-kinetic energy shield which is bullet-prof, teleport-proof and basically everything-proof.  However, he only designed it to be a temporary measure until help could be summoned, so the enemy could potentially wait out the clock.

Chester says he can build an oscillating transmitter which can block a cell phone jammer.

Thawne cannot sense connections to the Negative Speed Force anymore.

Sunshine is able to use her powers to alter one of Dr. Light's bullets so that it can break the bonds of the photo-kinetic energy shield.

Dr. Meena Dhawan explains that she stole the Newton Battery because she thought it could extend how long her temporary speed powers last and that she borrowed it rather than spend four years calibrating sodium nitrate cells.


Dialogue Triumphs

Allegra: Look, I know you're scared, but the Arañas, they operate in the shadows. The only way to take away their power is bring them into the light.

Dialogue Disasters

Continuity

As the episode opens, The Flash responds to reports of multiple fires at Ivo Labs.

By the time The Flash gets to Ivo Labs, the fires are all out.

The staff think that he's come back and describe a speedster carrying them to safety and creating a wind funnel that extinguished the fires. This leads Barry to conclude that there's a new speedster at work.

Barry checked and made sure August Heart was still locked up in Iron Heights and Eobard Thawne is still powerless and under heavy guard at ARGUS. He also confirmed that all the Velocity X drugs are secure inside STAR Labs.

Barry still cannot contact Speed Force Nora or any of the other Force avatars. 

Caitlin is not returning Barry's calls.

Joe tells Barry that he did the right thing trying to stop Caitlin's experiment but he points out that he may have caused her to lose all hope.

Cecile and Joe are busy with Jenna's kindergarten interviews, so they can't help Barry with this case.

Allegra is running the Central City Citizen in Iris' absence and is currently overseeing a profile regarding the retiring Judge Hankerson and the closing of the nearby Fort Delaney.

Taylor proposes an expose on the light-empowered meta who works with The Flash. She has pulled photos of her revealing that her face is always obscured by lights in security camera footage, but she thinks she can get the images cleared with the right resources.

Allegra shoots down the expose idea, even after Taylor claims Iris approved of it before she left.  Allegra tries to stall and tells her to wait until Iris comes back.

Allegra gets a text from Lydia - the old friend and former gang member she helped in 808.

Lydia tells Allegra that their old gang, the Arañas, are expanding out of Keystone and are trying to pull her back in, because of all she knows about the group.

Lydia also tells Allegra that the gang have become cold-blooded killers under their new leadership, as opposed to the simple car thieves they once were.

Allegra asks Lydia to help her expose the Arañas, promising to quote her as an anonymous source. 

Allegra and Lydia are filmed by a member of the Arañas in Jitters, who takes the footage to the gang's new leaders - Sunshine and Dr. Light.

As Barry and Chester are examining the Ivo Labs fire scene, they discovered an open case with a biometric lock. This leads them to believe the fire was meant to distract from a theft.

Barry decides to go off the grid for a while to talk to Thawne about who the mystery speedster might be, since he has no other leads and it seems clear this speedster isn't a hero.

Allegra outlines how Ultraviolet founded the Arañas as a teenager, before gaining light powers and teaming with Dr. Light and Sunshine as the Assassins Three of the Black Hole Syndicate. She asks for Taylor, Aariz and Vanya to help her with the interview.

Taylor objects to the fact that Allegra is only citing one source regarding the Arañas story and that there's no way of collaborating it. Allegra does not mention that she knows because she fought Ultraviolet and is a former member of the Arañas.

Aariz and Yanya agree to help.

Chester shows up to help with some advanced shielding tech for the interview.

Chester asks Allegra if she told her reporters why this story is so important to her. Allegra says no, because she's afraid they won't trust her anymore if they know she's a former gang member and car thief.

Dr. Light tries to shoot Lydia through the window as Sunshine appears in the CCC Media offices.

Chester is able to blind Sunshine with a flash-bang and sets up a force field around the building that will keep her and Dr. Light out.

Allegra covers Chester's advanced tech by saying that Sue Darbon hired him special to secure their building because he's more than a simple IT guy.

Yanya tries to call for help but discovers her phone isn't working. Chester concludes that Sunshine and Dr. Light must be using some kind of signal jammer to block their phones.

The reports question Allegra about whys he knows so much about Sunshine and Dr. Light's power limits when she starts trying to come up with a plan to counter them.

Thawne mourns the loss of his powers, saying he was once able to run around the world in 5 seconds.

Thawne knows about Frost's death, but says she was in over her head from the beginning.

Yanya writes a letter to her children in case they get killed. 

Lydia wants to surrender herself to Sunshine and Dr. Light in the hopes that they will spare everyone else.

Taylor is in favor of Lydia surrendering herself.

Allegra refuses to let that happen, saying that reporters are supposed to protect their sources. 

Taylor says she saw the code Chester typed into his shield generator so she can shut it down, but she tries to talk Yanya and Aariz into turning on Allegra.

The scene which Barry and Deon saw in the Still Force of Allegra and Taylor arguing in 815 plays out, with Taylor revealing that she learned Allegra used to be part of Arañas after one of her contacts broke into her sealed juvenile records.

The reporters turn on Allegra, saying she can't be trusted since she tried hiding her past from them.

Allegra tells Chester that she was never meant to be a leader and that the whole reason she and her cousin wound up being arrested in the first place was because of her mistakes trying to plan her first idea for a job. 

Both Lydia and Chester say that Allegra is a born leader and that she has to be the one to get them out of this.

Thawne mocks Barry for not being able to figure out an obvious truth about the mystery speedster and refuses to answer Barry when he asks if he ever sensed a mystery speedster hiding themselves in 2022 during his travels.

Barry eventually goads Thawne into explaining it by going on about how this new speedster is going to replace Thawne as Barry's worst enemy.

Thawne says that it's clear that the new speedster created the fire by accident, saved the people because they honestly care about not hurting other people and that they are hiding because they can't control their powers and were afraid of The Flash coming after them. 

Allegra reveals her powers to the other reports and confirms that she is the light meta who has been working with The Flash for the last few years.

Allegra fights Sunshine and Dr. Light as Chester and the other reporters get ready to send out a signal with Lydia's story.

Allegra is shot by Dr. Light but she somehow uses her powers to heal the wound.

Sunshine and Dr. Light flee once they see the news report identifying them as the leaders of the Arañas.

There are APBS out for Sunshine and Dr. Light across the whole state and the information Lydia provided allowed the police to freeze their accounts and seize their assets, which shuts down the gang forever.

The story on the Arañas is CCC Media's biggest yet with 20 million views over the first few hours.

The reporters agree to keep Allegra's identity a secret - even Taylor.

Taylor is stunned that Allegra isn't firing her, but Allegra says that she's a good investigative reporter and she was only trying to save everyone's lives - not just her own.

Taylor reveals she got the photos of Allegra helping The Flash from a social media app called Chirper.

Chester tells Barry about Allegra being an awesome leader, describing her as a combination of Captain Janeway, AOC and Angela Davis.

Caitlin calls STAR Labs and says she's not sure she can ever come back that in person. She tells Barry that she's still not sure how to feel, but she's hurting, and she's going to stay with her mom while she figures some things out.

Barry confronts the mystery speedster at Ivo Labs as they are trying to return the battery they stole.

The speedster can run at the speed of sound, but The Flash is much faster. She also reveals that her speed is temporary, lasting only a few minutes.

The speedster makes reference to creating her speed source with an associate.

The speedster claims to have invented the Newton Battery whens he was a young engineer working at Ivo Labs. This leads Barry to figure out that she is Dr. Meena Dhawan - the CEO of Fast Track Labs.

Barry has read her book - Quantum Gravity and the Universe - three times.

Barry offers to mentor Dr. Dhawan in mastering her powers and helping people.


Location

The ARGUS secure facility on Lian Yu.


Untelevised Adventures

Chester reportedly started a fire by overcooking chicken tenders in the microwave in the STAR Labs lounge. According to Barry, it took forever to get rid of the smell.

Reference is made to The Flash using a wind tunnel to stop The Hotness - something that did not happen in his previous encounters with The Hotness in 416 and 808.


The Boomerang Factor

When you get right down to it, this is another Arrowverse story where the conflict wouldn't exist if people didn't keep needless secrets.


The Bottom Line

Well directed and well-acted, but certain aspects of the story don't make sense if you think about them for more than a second. Despite this, this is one of the best episodes in recent memory.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 16 - The Curious Case of Bartholomew Allen

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

An odd energy attack leaves Barry aging prematurely whenever he uses his powers.


Influences

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Star Wars (villain uses a thermal detonator).


Goofs

Why doesn't Dr. Orloff just kill The Flash either of the times he knocks him out?

Why doesn't Team Flash try to call Caitlin to see if she can figure out some kind of way to cure Barry or at least negate the process that is causing him to age when he uses his powers?

It's a minor thing, but Joe dresses up as a wizard when his character is an Orc barbarian. (He even makes Gandalf references.)

There's no good reason for Barry to trash Caitlin's lab with a lightning explosion other than it looks impressive. It's also potentially dangerous given all the chemicals and equipment she has and he could just as easily disassemble everything at super-speed.


Performances

The scenes of Barry discussing dementia with Cecile are a powerful moment for both Grant Gustin and Danielle Nicolet are powerfully played.


Artistry

The old-age make-up for Grant Gustin is good.

The direction for the episode is top-notch, with the comedic elements being perfectly telegraphed.


Flash Facts

The episode title comes from a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who aged in reverse, being born as a 70 year old man and regressing into infancy. It was famously adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt in 2008.

This episode was directed by Caity Lotz, who plays Sara Lance in all the Arrowverse series.

Chief Singh makes reference to a Steve Palmer case which gave him and Joe trouble back in the day. Steve Palmer was the name of an actor who played The Flash in a movie in The Flash Vol, 1 #118.

The villain of the episode is a scientist named Dr. Pytor Orloff. In the comics, the Wally West Flash befriended a Russian bio-geneticist named Dr. Pytor Orloff and helped him to defect to the United States. This Dr. Orloff was a heroic man, who tried to help Wally West regain his lost speed powers. 

Technobabble

A Gamma Absorption Array use bursts of gamma radiation to interact with cellular structures. It could be used for almost anything, from growing super crops to taking out an entire army. 

A full body diagnostic scan of Barry's body after the first energy blast detects multiple biological abnormalities, including moderate signs of arthritis, hearing loss, osteoporosis, high cholesterol and heartburn.

Gideon estimates that Barry's metahuman powers became 29% less effective as a result of Dr. Orloff's attack.

Based on the second scan, Chester determines that the gamma radiation in his cells is being activated by the Speed Force energy in his body. In short, the more Barry uses his powers, the faster it wears down his body and makes him age.

A 10-85 is the police code for a delay due to an unspecified event - in this case, a coffee break.

After Barry's third full-body scan, Gideon declares that the connections of Barry's hippocampus are showing gradual decay, although his using his powers seems to be accelerating the decay.

The energy amplifier Dr. Orloff stole from Magnus Labs could allow him to expand the energy wave generated by the Gamma Absorption Array 100 fold. This would allow him to drain all life force from everyone in Central City, making him immortal at the cost of their lives.

Chester tracks Dr. Orloff after finding a radiation spike equal to 3,000 millisieverts. It becomes fully charged at 100,000 millisieverts.

When Chester says the device can't be unplugged due to the cascading degradation cycle in the gamma isotopes, Barry gets the idea to overload the machine with his own energy instead.

Barry's forcing the gamma array's field backwards completely inverted its energy charge. This not only restored Barry to his original age, but actually deaged him to the point that he is 29 years old biologically. (Barry is supposed to be 33.)


Dialogue Triumphs

The Flash: You okay? Don't worry about that guy. I just dropped him off at CCPD.
Old Woman: Saved by Mr. Flashy himself! (reaching into her purse) Oh, I've gotta give you a nice, big reward.
The Flash: Oh, no, that's not necessary. I can't accept your money, I...
Old Woman: But it's butterscotch.
The Flash: Oh. (laughs) Thank you. That's very sweet of you.

(Barry describes the decay of his body to Cecile and his fear of dementia.)
Barry: When I run, my bones ache. Like they're made of glass, and... my hands won't stop shaking. I'm always out of breath, and it's getting harder...  It's getting harder to... remember the people I love.  My friends. Nora, Bart, Joe. Even Iris. What if I forget who she is... before she comes back?  I thought I had plenty of time to get Iris back...And live my live my life with her. Now it's all fading away, like my body. And now, with my mind going, too... it's like losing everyone you love...  All at once. 


Continuity

As the episode opens, Barry stops two robberies (one at CC Jitters) and saves an old woman from being run over by a distracted driver. 

Ironically, the distracted driver is listening to the novelty song Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer while looking at his phone while driving.

The old woman offers Barry a butterscotch for saving her.

Allegra runs a Dungeons and Dragons game for Barry, Joe, Cecile and Chester. Barry is the group' cleric and Joe is playing Karash the Orc.

Joe can't get into D&D.

Barry started playing D&D after Iris made him try it.

Barry still has no idea what happened to Iris, but is confident she'll be okay since she apparently still exists in the future of 2049.

Barry is called into work by Chief Singh, who has been covering for him the whole day, saying that Barry was in his lab.

Chief Singh had no idea that Captain Kramer knew that Barry was The Flash or that she had figured it out on her own. He does take pride, however, that he figured it out first and far more quickly.

Chief Singh called Barry in on a high-profile tech heist at Mercury Labs. Whoever the thief was, they were smart enough to wipe the security footage before stealing a Gamma Absorption Array.

After quickly searching every abandoned warehouse in the docks, Barry finds a van with the same tire treads as the one used in the Mercury Labs robbery. It contains the array, but it's been heavily modified.

Barry is hit by an energy wave which knocks him out, after being confronted by a gloating older man in a lab coat.

Chester determines the energy wave caused Barry's internal organs to age 30 years overnight. This explains why he looks young on the outside, but his joints, bones and organs are weakened.

The blast also caused Barry to lose control of his powers, so he can no longer phase through solid matter or create focused wind blasts with his arms.

Captain Singh checks in on Joe and finds him getting frustrated while trying to program a robotic vacuum. He offers to help him.

Jenna is said to be in pre-school now, giving Joe much more free time at home.

Barry guesses that his top speed is now Mach 10, but thinks that is still fast enough to stop this scientist,

Barry responds to reports of a break-in at Magnus Labs. This time, the scientist does not bother to wipe the security footage.

Barry can no longer throw lightning and is once again knocked out by the evil scientist.

Upon returning from the Magnus Labs break-in, Chester determines that Barry is now near-sighted and his hair is now going gray.

A second scan determines that Barry has aged another ten years.

The team identify the scientist as Dr. Pytor Orloff - a former technician at Corbin Taft Industries, who was fired for using company resources on unsanctioned research.

Barry mistakenly calls Dr. Orloff Dr. Olsen. as he decides to go to Corbin Taft Industries to see what they can learn about him and his work.

Cecile insists on going with Barry, staying her powers will warn her if he tries anything.

Joe and Singh can't get the vacuum to work and Joe becomes very frustrrated.

Singh recalls how he hadn't seen Joe that upset since the Steve Palmer case.

Barry finds Orloff's old laptop in storage, but accidentally triggers a facial ID scan. This triggers an automatic erasure of the hard drive.

Barry becomes confused again, saying he needs to run the laptop to Chester at the CCPD instead of STAR Labs. 

Barry tries to run himself and Cecile to STAR Labs and they wind up in China instead.

Chester determines that Barry using his speed again could kill him at this point.

Chester was able to stop the countdown on Orloff's laptop, but says it will take more time for him to hack it.

Barry checks the Starchives for something to contain the Gamma Absorption Array while the rest of the team monitor STAR Labs satellite feeds looking for gamma radiation spikes.

Singh reminds Joe that the reason why the Steve Palmer case took them so long to crack was that Joe refused to learn how to use the new computer system the police had adopted. He suggests that Joe has always been slow to react to change.

Singh also points out that all the best things in Joe's life came from his embracing the unexpected... like his raising Barry Allen.

Cecile finds Barry wandering the halls of STAR Labs, having forgotten where the Starchives are.

Barry tells Cecile he's scared that he might die before finding Iris, but he's even more scared that he keeps forgetting the people he loves as his mind deteriorates. 

Cecile tells Barry about her grandmother's battle with dementia but how it didn't stop her from trying to make every moment count for as long as she lived.

Chester breaks the encryption on Dr. Orloff's computer and discovers he was trying to find a way to reserve the aging process. He concludes that the device Orloff stole from Magnus Labs, coupled with the Gamma Absorption Array, could make him immortal at the cost of killing millions.

Barry has a heart-attack while running around Orloff and Chester determines he just aged past 100.

Barry is able to match the energy output of Dr. Orloff's devide, containing the energy wave and then overloading it.

The second inverted energy wave restores both Barry and Orloff to their original ages.

One week later, Allegra is running another RPG. This time, Chief Singh has been invited to join in.

Chief Singh asks Allegra if she ever considered taking on a code name. Allegra says she prefers to be more low-key about her powers.

Allegra planned to run a police-themed game Joe would be able to get into more. Joe surprises everyone by dressing up as a fantasy character and suggesting that he use barbarian rage and his vorpal sword to kill a monster.

Dr. Tannhauser calls Barry and asks if he's seen Caitlin. Barry says he thought she was with her.

Barry goes to Caitlin's apartment and discovers her secret lab.

Caitlin tells Barry about her plan to bring Frost back, but Barry says this is wrong.

Caitlin asks Barry if he can honestly say he wouldn't do the same to save his parents.

Barry destroys the lab with a focused lightning blast and leaves Caitlin in the wreckage, crying.


Location

Somewhere in China, along the Great Wall.


The Bottom Line

A solid filler episode which manages a surprisingly sensitive and accurate portrayal of the problems of dementia amid the science-fiction scenario. Shame it's ruined by Barry's uncharacteristic lack of compassion for Caitlin in the final scene.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 15 - Into the Still Force

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

When Iris disappears, Barry and Deon must travel into the Still Force to find her. Meanwhile, Chester makes a horrifying discovery when the CCPD call him in to look at some strange technology, as Caitlin forms an unlikely alliance with Chillblaine to bring Frost back to life.


Influences

The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson and Frankenstein (Chillblaine compares Caitlin to Dr. Frankenstein in her efforts to create life.)


Goofs

Sue Dearbon disappears from the storyline without explanation at this point. (Come to that, we didn't see her at Frost's funeral...)

Chillblaine's sudden decision to help Caitlin after refusing to do anything seems to be based around the need to stretch out her storyline and add some drama to it and nothing else.

Deon's heel-turn similarly comes out of nowhere.

The CGI saber-tooth tiger that randomly appears outside of Joe's house in the Still Force is completely random and not that convincing to boot.

The revelation that Bart and Nora are okay seriously undercuts all the tension regarding Iris' disappearance.


Performances

Jessica Parker Kennedy is as engaging as ever as Nora and single-handedly steals the episode.


Artistry

The direction used to distinguish the Still Force from reality is rather effective.


Flash Facts

While Barry is in the Still Force and having visions of his past, present and future, he joyfully says the name Max. This is likely a reference to Max Mercury - a time-traveling speedster from the comics who was a mentor to Barry Allen and, later, the guardian of Bart "Impulse" Allen. 

Barry also makes reference to seeing XS's wife in the future. This confirms that the new XS is a lesbian. The original XS from The Flash season 5 was also a lesbian according to showrunner Eric Wallace, but it was never referred to beyond the suggestion that Nora had a crush on the best friend who was killed by Godspeed and her flirting with Spin in 504.

Technobabble

By using one of Mirror Monarch's R-CEM chips to replicate Frost's cryogene, Caitlin thinks she can create a new body for Frost and recreate her through the same process that gave her a separate body.

Caitlin says she has identified Frost's latent empathic genes within her own DNA and believes she can extract her active imprints from the DNA of Frost's body.

Caitlin says the keratin in the sample of Frost's hair she took is decaying too quickly, so she needs a stronger DNA sample.

Barry uses an isotopic sensor to find the particle Deon planted in Iris.

The strange device Chester is asked to analyze emits trace radioactive particles and contains quantum coiling.

Chester confirms that the strange device from the halfway house is based on his quantum coil transformer, after he discovers that the interior was hardwired with a unique energy converter he designed.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: I'm proud of you.
Nora: So you're not mad I didn't join CCPD like you and Grandpa Joe?
Barry: No, of course not. I'm just... I'm glad you found a path that's right for you.
Nora: Phew. So, um, the thing is, is that I'm having a really hard time finding my voice as a reporter. But Mom is teaching me to have faith in myself and listen to my instincts. And if she were here right now, she'd tell you to do the same. And that everyone loses faith in themselves sometimes, even heroes. But learning how to keep believing in yourself when the whole world is telling you the opposite, that's what makes a hero.
Barry: You really are your mom's daughter.
Nora: (beaming) Well, I'm yours too.


Continuity

Barry wakes up to find Iris isn't there for breakfast. He checks his phone and finds a text message informing him she planned to pull an all-nighter at work.

Barry goes to the Central City Citizen with breakfast to find Iris isn't there either. She left her phone behind, which has 8 text messages she didn't respond to and 5 missed calls. Also, her latest article, about Fast Track Labs, is barely started and still pulled up on the computer..

Barry can't find Iris after running around Central City.

Cecile is at STAR Labs when Barry arrives, intending to use the satellites to search the globe for Iris. She claims to be hanging out there to avoid a new metahuman client. for some reason.

Cecile is unable to sense Iris' presence with her empathy powers and is confirmed to be powerful enough now to scan a 5-state radius around Central City.

It is suggested that Tinya Wazoo's powers might have had a hand in causing Iris to vanish, leading Barry to travel to Central City to search for her.

Caitlin tries to get Chillblaine to help her make a new body for Frost.

Chillblaine asks how they can restore Frost's soul.

Chillblaine objects to Caitlin's plan, even before she talks about an exhumation, which she can order as a medical doctor and Frost's next of kin. 

Chillblaine makes reference to Caitlin trying to resurrect Ronnie Raymond in 811 and that being a total disaster. He compares her to Dr. Frankenstein and says he wants no part of her plan.

Tinya Wazoo tells Barry she doesn't care about Iris and won't help him, because she ruined her life.

As Tinya leaves Barry, time stops around him and Deon Owens shows up.

Deon says that Iris is in the Still Force, but that the time sickness is making it hard for him to stay focused, so he needs Barry to come with him to find her.

Chester plans to repair the isotopic sensor so Barry can use it to find Iris in the Still Force. He says it will take him less than an hour.

Joe asks Barry how they can be sure Deon can be trusted, being skeptical of his statement that he needs Barry's help.

Barry says he tried to speak to the other Force avatars, but can't find them. Deon says he thinks the time sickness may have spread to them as well. 

Captain Kramer calls Chester to ask for his help in analyzing a strange high-tech device they found at a crime scene. Chester agrees to help having just finished getting the isotopic censor fixed.

Barry and Deon return to the same point where Deon first explained the time-sickness to Barry in 716. This is later identified as Central City Memorial Park, though Deon refers to it as his front porch since he can see everything from there.

Barry sees first-hand what Deon said about the Still Force becoming more dangerous and unstable, with night suddenly shifting to day in the blink of an eye and people aging and de-aging at random.

Barry picks up a newspaper which originally described the explosion of the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator in 2013. It changes to a May 4. 2024 edition, which discusses the destruction of Central City at the hands of Zoom and Godspeed teamed-up.

As Barry and Deon track the particle into the Central City Citizen offices, they see a hologram of Taylor and Allegra arguing. Allegra keeps saying "Taylor, don't. This is my life, my decision. It's not what you think." as Taylor repeats " They need to know... they... they need to know what you've been hiding." This seems to suggest that Taylor, who was wanting to investigate Team Flash and had threatened to destroy Allegra's career, will figure out that Allegra is a metahuman and part of Team Flash at some point in the future and threaten to expose her.

Barry and Deon discover Renee Wazoo, who disappeared into the Still Force after she touched Iris in 810.

Barry wants to stop the search for Iris to try and find Renee after she disappears, but Deon says they have to stay focused on Iris.

Captain Kramer has decorated her office with Indigenous artwork, which reminds her of the reservation she grew up on.

The device the CCFD found came from a halfway house in downtown Central City, where there was an explosion. The device in question was attached to the water heater of the house. Thankfully, nobody was harmed thanks to a tip being called in regarding the explosion before it happened. All 37 occupants of the house were evacuated before an energy wave took out the building.

Chester seems to recognize something about the device after opening it up, but lies when Captain Kramer notices him looking stunned.

As Barry and Deon move further into the CCC offices, they walk past screens with a headline about Trickster invading Tibet at some point where Vanya is now the Editor-In-Chief of the Central City Citizen instead of Iris. This event was referred to in 806 as XS and Impulse read the records at the Flash Museum in 2049.

Deon turns on Barry and traps him in a part of the Still Force resembling Joe West's home.

It is revealed that the new XS is a reporter in 2049, like her mother, and she's writing a story about her latest solo adventure, saving a crowd at Shark Stadium while Impulse was busy partying.

XS uses her father's Gideon AI as a personal assistant.

XS becomes trapped in the Still Force as well after following Deon's voice.

Barry and XS find Iris' brush which disappeared from Joe's home during the final scene of 806.

Chester confirms that the device from the exploding half-way house is based on a design he put on-line as part of his streaming science show.

Chester references Allegra's warning in 811 that bad people might use his tech to do harm. 

Allegra points out that someone called in a warning to evacuate the halfway house, suggesting that what happened was an accident rather than a planned terrorist attack.

XS tells Barry that she's a writer rather than a CSI, like the original Nora from Season 5.

Barry tells XS that he's proud of her regardless of what her job is.

Nora's speech about the connections between their family causes him to remember that he has a small connection to the Still Force, which he should be able to use to escape.

Barry and Nora appear to Joe as green-tinted ghosts at his home in 2022 as Barry connects to the Still Force.

Barry says he has visions of Cisco and Frost from the past, and also sees future visions of Bart's children and XS's wife. He also sees someone he seemingly recognizes and forgets named Max.

Barry and Nora are able to escape the Still Force and emerge in Central City in 2022, because Barry figured out he must somehow escape if Nora was still alive. This also causes him to belief that Iris must be okay and will turn up eventually, given that his children are okay in the future.

Barry loses his connection to the Still Force and still has no idea why Deon turned on him.

Chester identifies the bomber as one of his followers, Wookielover77, who worked as a volunteer at the halfway house and was trying to fit the water heater with a clean power source. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite good enough to install the device safely.

Someone hacks Chester's computer and starts downloading his designs remotely after he leaves his lab with Allegra.

Chillblaine changes his mind and agrees to help Caitlin bring Frost back to life.


Location

Coast City - 2022.
The Still Force.
Central City - 2049.


Untelevised Adventures

Wally West taught Barry how to meditate to access the various forces besides the Still Force at some point in the past.

Wally also teaches Bart how to create constructs made of lightning in the future.


The Bottom Line

Somehow manages to feel packed with filler while being completely underwritten.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 14 - Funeral for a Friend

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Team Flash struggles to apprehend a new power-armored bank robber, while figuring out how to best mourn the fallen Frost.

Goofs

In the original synopsis of this episode released with the previews, Blockbuster was described as a metahuman. The Arrowverse version of Blockbuster revealed in this episode gets his powers from a stolen suit of power armor.

Caitlin is clearly being played by a body double in one scene of the montage of Caitlin gathering all of Frost's belongings.(This was likely due to Danielle Panabaker's pregnancy at the time of filming.)


Artistry

The opening montage of everyone on Team Flash remembering Frost is rather touching.


Flash Facts

The title of the episode comes from an Elton John song.

This episode introduces the Arrowverse version of Mark Desmond, aka Blockbuster. First appearing in Detective Comics #345 (November 1965), Desmond was a chemist who developed a formula that increased his strength while decreasing his intellect and making him almost mindlessly aggressive. This made him easy prey for his criminal brother, Roland, who exploited him for his own benefit. The Rogues, Secret Society of Supervillains and Suicide Squad did the same thing until Desmond's death. This version of Blockbuster is not used often in the modern comics, due to his being a rather obvious rip-off of the Incredible Hulk, right down to his torn purple pants.

A different version of Blockbuster was mentioned in A713 as being a crime boss in Bludhaven who Dinah Drake brought down while working undercover. This was likely a reference to the second Blockbuster in the comics, Roland Desmond, who developed the same condition as his brother but made a deal with the Demon Neron to have his intelligence enhanced along with his body. He became the kingpin of Bludhaven's underworld and the archenemy of Nightwing. There is no indication this Blockbuster exists post-Crisis, however.

The Arrowverse version of Mark Desmond steals an exo-suit from Ivo Labs that gives him enhanced strength while making him more mentally unstable. In this way he has the same powers and weakness as his comic book counterpart, without being an obvious Hulk rip-off.

Allegra calls Chester "Condiment King" at one point. The comical villain was confirmed to exist in the Arrowverse in B309, when it was revealed his condiment gun was one of the trophies in Batman's vault of villain weapons.

Technobabble

The Ivo Labs exo-suit worn by Blockbuster amplifies the wearer's biochemistry, so everything from movements to emotions makes them stronger but also makes them more unstable.

The exo-suit also has cloaking technology that prevents it from being tracked.

Caitlin "borrows" a genome sequencer for her new lab.


Dialogue Triumphs

(A hungover Chillblaine emerges from the Med Lab, surprising Barry.)
Barry: How long were you in there?
Chillblaine: (panting) I was hoping you could tell me. Hey, do you mind telling the contractors to knock off all the hammering or whatever that is?
Barry: Uh, that's... not construction.
Chillblaine: Oh, great. Guess I overdid it with the bourbon... And the tequila... and the vodka. 

Chillblaine: What's impossible for The Flash?

Barry: Look, Caitlin, um... about yesterday morning in the lounge.
Caitlin: It's fine. I know you were just trying to help.
Barry: You know, trying and knowing the right words to say aren't the same thing. And I'm sorry. I said everything wrong.
Caitlin: We've both been through a lot over the last couple of days, so I think it's okay to let ourselves off the hook. But you don't have to worry about me. I'm good, honest.

(Barry tries to talk Caitlin into attending the funeral one more time.)
Caitlin: Unbelievable. I mean, do you hear yourself right now? This isn't even about me. This is about you and your need to be the hero. I am not one of your missions, okay? And not everything can just be fixed with speed healing. But I need to grieve Frost in my own way. So if you don't mind, will you please leave?
Barry: Look, Caitlin, I will leave you alone if that's what you really want, but before I go, just ask yourself one thing. What would Frost want? For you? You knew her better than anybody. Would she want you to pull away? Would she want us to let you?

Caitlin: I'll keep you alive, Frost. I promise.


Dialogue Disasters

Blockbuster: Pathetic. Worst heroes ever. (He's not wrong, but when your villain sounds like the Comic Book Guy...)

Barry: I think she's preparing for the funeral tomorrow. Maybe we should do the same thing. (Wait... so none of Team Flash were going to Frost's funeral until Barry suggested it?)


Continuity

The opening montage shows Chester, Allegra, Iris and Barry remembering Frost. The reasons why range from Chester seeing a sign promoting the Killer Frost drink at CC Jitters to Barry still staring at the bed where Frost died in 813.

Team Flash is summoned to the site of a bank robber who is wearing some kind of high-tech exo-suit.

Chester determines the exo-suit was stolen from Ivo Labs.

As Chester is formulating a battle plan while Barry tries to save the people in a collapsing building, he forgets that Frost isn't there. This causes Allegra to execute half of a plan with no back-up, as Cecile becomes overwhelmed by Blockbuster's emotions.

Barry suggests the team all need to grieve Frost in order to get their heads back in the game before fighting Blockbuster a second time.

Caitlin is surprised to find Team Flash is having a meeting. Barry explains they thought she was busy preparing for Frost's funeral.

Caitlin revels that her mother is handling all of the arrangements and she isn't going to the funeral.

Joe suggests that everyone find a way to honor Frost's memory, revealing that he's started taking watercolor classes because of her pushing him to try art the same way she did.

Iris and Cecile have lunch together and discuss Joe's idea.

Cecile says she's going to devote 25% of her case load to pro bono work for wrongly imprisoned metahumans.

Iris says she was going to write a special obituary for Frost, but is afraid she may accidentally expose herself as a member of Team Flash by writing about her in detail.

Iris assigns Aariz, a writer for CCC Media who used to write obituaries for "Stars and Stripes" to write Frost's obituary, since he had experience writing about soldiers who had no family or died while on classified missions where he didn't have all the details of their lives.

Iris shows the obituary to Frost and Caitlin's mom. She thinks it sounds cold and impersonal.

Iris admits the real problem is she never really got to know Frost and isn't sure what to say about her.

Carla says that Frost's legacy is not what people thought of her but the lives she saved.

Iris hosts a special episode of her Citizentopia podcast devoted to interviewing people Frost helped. This includes a young couple named Kamiko and Jamal (who got married after Frost saved them during Bloodwork's attack on Central City) and a graffiti artist who Frost let off with a warning after he tagged his territory. He says he's going to open his first gallery exhibit next week. 

Iris also interviews the former DA of Central City, who tried to prosecute Frost in 708. Frost's example during her trial inspired her to quit the state prosecutor's office and become a defense attorney specializing in metahuman law in Star City.

CC Jitters, as a result of Iris' broadcast, changes the name of the Killer Frost drink to Frost.

Allegra disagrees with Joe's idea of doing something special to honor Frost, but Chester thinks it is a good idea.

Chester considers building a special case with cryo coolers to hold Frost's costume, similar to the eternal flame Barry and Supergirl made for Green Arrow's memorial. Allegra thinks that's a stupid idea that would just look like a giant snow globe.

Allegra and Chester keep arguing, with Chester accusing Allegra of never offering ideas of her own while shooting down all of his suggestions.

Allegra and Chester argue about whether or not humus is a condiment or a dip or a side dish and should be put on a sandwich.

Barry interrupts the argument to ask where the team's Arctic parkas are stored.

Barry is carrying an oar and wearing a life vest. This is a reference to his promise to take a whitewater rafting trip with Frost in 619 and foreshadows later in the episode when it is revealed he is trying to complete everything on Frost's bucket list.

Chester and Allegra travel to O'Shaughnessy's after the CCC tip-line picks up multiple reports of something odd happening. This turns out to be a drunken Chillblaine freezing the bar and singing the same sad songs over and over on the karaoke machine.

Allegra uses her powers to thaw out the bar safely.

Chillblaine says Allegra and Chester aren't really fighting - just helping each other see the world in a different way.

Allegra and Chester set Chillblaine up in the medical wing of STAR Labs after he passes out.

They ultimately agree to hang up the jacket from Frost's first superhero costume in the Hall of the Fallen in STAR Labs.

Frost's bucket list includes building a snowman on top of Mt. Everest, mastering ice sculpting, swing dancing with Judd Nelson, attending a samurai school in Kyoto, entered a hot dog eating contest and having her art hung in the Louvre. Barry does all of this in Frost's memory.

Chillblaine tells Barry that Frost was all about experiencing things rather than doing them. He tells Barry that they signed up for a couples tag-team wrestling tournament but they gave their championship belts to some kids at the ramen joint where they celebrated after.

Barry says he knows how to honor Frost's memory, but says it seems impossible. Chillblaine says nothing should be impossible for The Flash.

Caitlin is shown gathering up Frost's belongings in their apartment.

Barry visits Caitlin before the funeral to try and talk her into attending after apologizing for not listening to her reasons for not doing it.

Barry notices that Caitlin has a large bottle of over the counter sleeping pills.

Barry agrees to leave Caitlin alone, but asks her to think about what Frost would want.

Caitlin recalls her promise to Frost in 811 about not closing herself off from the team ever again.

Caitlin ultimately attends the funeral wearing one of Frost's blue dresses. She delivers tender eulogy, talking about Frost's courage, swimming with the sharks and then picking a fight with one and going to poetry slam nights with a poem she'd written on a napkin five minutes earlier.

Joe organizes a wake of sorts for Frost in his home and talks about how Frost took all his cleaning supplies for a collage, which is why he wound up using bleach to clean his curtains.

According to Chester, Wild Dog is using one of Joe's old mop handles as a bo staff.

The wake ends after the team gets an alert of Blockbuster being on the loose.

Joe asks Caitlin to stay with him and tell him more Frost stories.

Caitlin calls Chillblaine and asks her to meet with him at her apartment.

Chillblaine recognizes the device Caitlin is carrying as a genome sequencer.

Caitlin has turned her apartment into a lab. She asks for Chillblaine's help in resurrecting Frost.

Taylor tells Iris that Allegra isn't doing a good job as editor and asks for permission to investigate the heroes who help Flash out. Iris dismisses the story idea.

Iris vanishes from her office shortly after Taylor leaves.

Location

Mount Everest
Paris, France


Untelevised Adventures

Barry apparently swing danced with Judd Nelson, according to Frost's bucket list.

Team Flash defeats Blockbuster off-camera.


The Fridge Factor

Caitlin is made to look unreasonably cold and awful, driving her friends away to grieve alone before finally being guilted into attending Frost's funeral... only to go over the edge into full blown villainy. 


The Bottom Line

Despite some clunky dialogue, most of this episode is surprisingly heart-felt and sincere. Shame the last few minutes and Caitlin's sudden and incredibly out-of-character decision to become a mad scientist completely ruin it.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 13 - Death Falls

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Deathstorm attacks each member of Team Flash individually, confronting them as their dead loved ones to feed on their grief and claim Caitlin as his bride.


Influences

Green Lantern: Blackest Night


Goofs

For all their talk earlier in the season about not killing, Team Flash is surprisingly eager to "snuff out" Deathstorm.

Caitlin tries to treat Frost's cardiac arrest with a defibrillator, despite her problem being a slowed heart rate. (Defibrillators are used for restoring a natural rhythm when 


Performances

Jon Cor and Danielle Panabaker have great chemistry as Frost and Chillblaine.


Flash Facts

At one point the fake Eddie Thawne mentions an uncle Robern. In the comics, Robern Thawne was the brother of Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash.

Deathstorm makes reference to being born before Maltus. In the DC Universe, Maltus was the home of the first sentient life and eventually gave rise to the Guardians of the Universe.

The lightning at the end of the episode is tinged blue, in Frost's honor.

Technobabble

Deathstorm is made up of pure thermodynamic energy, so Team Flash use the Mental Augmentation Chamber to harness particles from its home dimension and then beam them into Frost's consciousness. The reaction should transform her into a being like Deathstorm. who can create fire, defy gravity, and consume Deathstorm's fuel source. 

Chester makes reference to the cryo-circuits of the MAC.

Barry puts Gideon to work on tracking extra-dimensional energies and cold fusion anomalies in Central City.

The walls and door of Chester's lab are made of titanium. 

Human beings go hyperthermic at 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chester notes that blood flow starts to decrease in a human body at 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Organs fail and brain function slows at 107.  At 109, the body will die to end its suffering.

The MAC makes use of augmentation receptors. 

Caitlin tries to save Frost by injecting her with cold fusion.


Dialogue Triumphs

Deathstorm: I was born a long time ago-- before Maltus, before the stars, during that lonely, blackest of nights. I was there when the first gas cloud sank and collapsed. I was there when the first beings drew their final, hissing breaths. I am decline. I am entropy. I am the master of death and all of its inhabitants.

Eddie: I thought my sacrifice would mean something. That I could erase the Reverse Flash from existence. That, finally, I could be a hero. But then Eobard Thawne came back, again, and again, and again, and again. What I did didn't matter at all. I died for nothing, and now you've made the same mistake. You sacrificed yourself for nothing.
Iris: I saved Barry, and I helped stop Armageddon.
Eddie: And then, what happened? The timeline got reset, but you're still suffering the consequences. Can't you see? Your death is gonna be just as pointless as mine.

Frost: Boy, was I stupid for ever thinking that was possible, because it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter how many life coaches I get, or if I get my own body, or do a bunch of art, or get my own boyfriend, because I'll always just be a copy of the original. An echo. 'Cause I've never been really alive. And now, that's gonna get Caity killed.
Chillblaine: Frost... If you are not really alive, where does that leave me? You're the only person I've ever cared about more than myself, or at least equal to myself.
Frost: I guess we're both screwed up then.
Chillblaine: Yeah, that's definitely true. Look, the way I see it, you and I have been through a lot, right? And through all of those ups and downs, I, for one, have seen you have loads of emotions-- all kinds-- especially when it comes to Caitlin. You love your sister like crazy. And wherever that love came from-- you know, whether you were born with it, or your dad gave it to you, or you put it together yourself over time, built it with pain and heartache-- that love is as real as it gets. Believe me.

Continuity

The episode begins later the same evening as 812.

Central City is still under a city-wide curfew.

Eddie Thawne, apparently live and well, suddenly shows up in Iris and Barry's apartment.

Chester confirms that he spent six weeks living in the Mental Augmentation Chamber during Season 6.

Cecile says that Caitlin's biometrics are stable, but she can feel her grief intensifying. 

Caitlin says she keeps having visions of her father's death from 519.

Frost calls Chillblaine in to help.

The power in STAR Labs goes out, as Chester is finishing the upgrades on the MAC.

Barry has Gideon working on identifying the cause of Iris' time sickness.

Allegra is confronted by an illusion of Ultraviolet.

Chester is confronted by an illusion of his father.

Barry is confronted by an illusion of his mother, Nora Allen.

Frost is confronted by an illusion of Ronnie Raymond.

The fake Ronnie tells Frost that he isn't appearing to her as anyone she knows because her grief isn't real. He claims that all her feelings are just echoes of Caitlin's and that she isn't really a person.

Allegra and Chester seal themselves in Chester's lab to escape from Ultraviolet. Unfortunately, she fries the temperature controls and the heat starts building up.

The fake Nora tells Barry that there's no cure for Iris and that he is doomed to lose her forever.

The fake Eddie offers to make Iris some of his Uncle Robern's famous chicken noodle soup.

The fake Eddie is able to burn Iris and Sue when they try to go for the exit and their phone respectively.

Cecile tells Frost that Caitlin's vitals are spiking and her temperature is going up. She can also feel the team's grief and says it is being channeled into Caitlin.

Chillblaine broke into Fast Track Labs to get Frost the cryo-circut needed to compete the modified MAC.

The thermostat in Chester's lab burns out at 137 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The fake Nora taunts Barry with the knowledge that if Iris dies, Bart and Nora will never exist either. She also says that his real legacy is heartbreak, rather than heroism.

The fake Eddie torments Iris with how pointless his death was since it didn't really stop the Reverse-Flash.

Sue was able to use her phone to summon Joe while Deathstorm was focused on Iris.

Deathstorm is able to incapacitate Sue with images of her grandmother and Joe of his former partner, Chyre.

The MAC fails to transform Frost. At first, Frost thinks this is because she doesn't have a true consciousness to manipulate, but Chilblaine figures out the chemical reaction is missing one key ingredient to fuel the transformation - grief. Once Frost allows herself to grieve, she transforms.

Frost's earliest memory is of Caitlin being hit by a car as a child.

Frost calls her new form Hellfrost. She has black hair instead of white.

Chillblaine learns Barry's secret identity.

Frost uses HR's image inducer to make herself look like Caitlin to lure Deathstorm in.

Frost is able to kill Deathstorm, but her vitals crash just after she transforms back to her normal self.

Frost goes into cardiac arrest.

Caitlin tries to save her, despite having just gotten out of a coma herself.

The final scene has Caitlin and Barry entering the lounge in silence, with everyone's reactions suggesting that Frost died.

The Fridge Factor

Frost is killed purely to give the team angst and make Caitlin look incompetent for failing to save her.


The Bottom Line

Some of the best moments of The Flash Season 8 have centered around Frost and her development, so naturally the showrunners have to put a stop that by killing her off, in an episode that seems to be both full of padding and yet underdeveloped in equal measure.