The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 15 - Enter Flashtime

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




Plot

When a nuclear bomb threatens Central City, Barry, Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick will have to enter into the otherworldly state known as Flashtime in order to slow things down enough to deal with the crisis.


Influences

The Flash comics of John Broome, Mark Waid and Geoff Johns (multiple speedsters teaming up to face a crisis together.) and Green Arrow #100 (the inclusion of Veronica Dale and The Eden Corps, the plot of the hero needing to figure out how to stop an active bomb).


Goofs

Granting that fanatics are not always logical, the idea of an environmental terrorist group damaging the environment by setting off a nuclear bomb to show the dangers of nuclear power doesn't make a lot of sense. The Eden Corps in the original comics acted in ways that would destroy cities without harming The Earth as a whole.


Performances

The chemistry between Violett Beane and Tom Cavanagh is as fantastic as ever.  Their non-verbal acting in the final sequence as Harry and Jesse "talk" is particularly fantastic.

Grant Gustin does a fantastic job of selling Barry's exhaustion and frustration through the episode.


Artistry

The effects work for depicting Flashtime is rather impressive.

The energy effects as Barry attempts to draw The Speed Force out into negating the fission engine with a fusion reaction may be the single greatest action sequence in the show's history and the history of superhero shows ever, looking just like a panel from a Flash comic come to life.


Flash Facts

The formula the camera focuses on after the title stinger - 3x2(9yz)4A - is "The Speed Formula" in DC Comics. This was the formula said by the speedster Johnny Quick and, later, his daughter Jesse Quick, in order to use their super-speed powers.

The shoot-out between The CCPD and the Terrorists occurs at Waid Airfield. This is a tribute to Mark Waid - The Flash writer responsible for coming up with the idea of The Speed Force.

While never given an official name in the comics, the idea of "Flashtime" (i.e. speedsters being able to operate in a state of super-speed while the rest of the world around them seems to be frozen solid) has been explored in multiple comics and cartoons.

At the time this episode originally aired, there was a storyline in The Flash comic based around a similar plot, with Barry Allen, both versions of Wally West and Avery Ho (The Flash of The Justice League of China) having to work to save Central City from a device that was draining all the molecular motion from it in a bid to give Gorilla Grodd super-speed. Only Grodd, his minions in the criminal scientist cabal known as The Black Hole and the speedsters were unaffected.

The terrorist group who set off the fission engine is revealed at the end of the episode to be a group called The Eden Corps who are lead by a woman named Veronica Dale. Their goal was to show the dangers of nuclear energy. 

In the classic DC Comics Universe, The Eden Corps was a radical environmentalist group whom Oliver Queen tried to infiltrate in an effort to bring them down from the inside. He would wind up sacrificing his life in order to destroy a bomb The Eden Corps was going to use that would release a virus that would eat all the plastic in Metropolis. As in the DCTVU, it was run by a woman named Veronica Dale, who went by the codename Hyrax.


Technobabble

The bridges between Earths formed by Cisco's powers close after three picoseconds. A picosecond is one-one-trillionth of a second. Iris says that DeVoe's teleportals may close even faster than that.

Cisco develops a complex and eloquent algorithm to track the warping signatures of DeVoe's teleporting.

Barry says that he can't run the nuclear bomb out of town as the energy involved will speed up the reaction and it would blow up before he could get out of Central City. He also says that he and Jesse Quick don't have enough time to evacuate the city and get all the people out of harm's way.

The ARGUS device that the terrorists were trying to get to is revealed to be an experimental fission engine containing deuterium isotopes. It is contained within an inertial confinement cage to stop the radiation. With enough pressure, however, the isotopes will split and produce heat and light. The light will start out blue, shift yellow and then go purple before the engine explodes.

A breach is a controlled folding of space-time. As such, when a breacher like Vibe is moving at super-speeds and in a state of Flashtime, there is a lack of sufficient time for them to open a breach.

Without a connection to The Speed Force, a body cannot withstand the stress of Flashtime for more than a few minutes. This is discovered when Cisco begins to hyperventilate after about two relative minutes examining the fission engine with Barry. Even a speedsters enhanced physiology will eventually begin to wear down after an excessive amount of time spent in Flashtime.

A person's age and physical fitness seem to be a factor in how long they can withstand Flashtime. This is why the younger and more physically fit Vibe is not effected as quickly as Harry Wells. Jay Garrick, the oldest speedster, is also the first to start showing signs of physical exhaustion the longer he, Jesse Quick and The Flash spend in Flashtime.

Space-time breaches and portals to The Speed Force operate according to different laws of physics. This means that Barry can use a Speed Force portal to dispose of the fission engine when a breach cannot be established.

In nuclear fission, enormous energy is created by a chain reaction of atoms splitting and releasing neutrons. It is nearly impossible to reverse this process, but theoretically you can restore stability through one of two methods. One is to offset the loss of mass through nuclear fusion. The other, more promising method given the situation our speedsters are in, is to cool the engine down.

The 3 million tons of energy (or 3 megatons) generated by the fission engine is equal to 3 billion joules.

A lightning bolt contains roughly 1 billion joules of energy. This leads to Jesse Quick suggesting that she, Barry and Jay each throw a lightning bolt at the fission engine in the hope that it will generate enough fusion energy to balance the equation.

The Quark Sphere is a device which is filled with Barry Allen's unique genetic marker, programmed to track his DNA using the electrical current of The Speed Force. Used in tandem with The Speed Force Bazooka, The Quark Sphere was able to trick The Speed Force into thinking Barry is still there once The Speed Force Bazooka pulled Barry out of it. Barry is able to make use of The Quark Sphere here to act as a lightning rod which lets him draw the Speed Force energy needed to send fusion energy at the fission engine.

Caitlin notes that Jay Garrick's blood glucose levels are low following his time spent in Flash Time.

Harry reworks the Cerebral Inhibitor into a device that does the opposite of its intended purpose, allowing a person to hear the thoughts of other people. Using this, he is able to convey to Jesse the emotions he cannot articulate regarding his wife's death.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: Has anyone seen Ralph today?
Caitlin: No. He's downstairs moving in. He's very nervous.
Harry: I don't know why.
Cisco: I don't know why, either. He's a superhero! People with powers are ready for anything,
(Cisco turns around, nearly running into Jesse Quick.)
Cisco: Ahhhhhhh! Son of a Breach!

(Jesse looks at an odd helmet on Harry's desk.)
Jesse: What's this?
Harry: That is a mental activity dampener. It's for DA Cecile Horton. Keeps her from hearing other people's thoughts.
Jesse: It's kinda clunky.
Harry: (laughs) That's what she said. (goes serious) Literally, that's what she said. The second version's more streamlined.

Harry: I came here to stop DeVoe!
Jesse: No. You stayed because of DeVoe.
Harry: A distinction without a difference.

(Barry looks around the frozen crime scene as if searching for inspiration. His gaze finally falls on Cisco.)
Barry: I need right now you, man.
(Barry places a hand on Cisco. There is a shock of electricity as Cisco begins moving.)
Cisco: (looking around in confusion) Wha- what is going on?
Barry: You're moving with me at super-speed.
Cisco: What?! Is this what it looks like when you run?
Barry: More or less.
Cisco: (looking at the still unmoving Killer Frost) I'd say it's a little uneventful.

(Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick run in on Barry talking to the sped-up Harry Wells.)
Jay: What the heck?!
(Harry grabs at Barry.)
Harry: Get her out of here.
Barry: I'm gonna - I'll try.
Harry: (gasping) Allen... Allen.
Barry: All right.
(Harry nods as Barry lets go and Harry freezes back in place.)
Jay: How do you do that?
Barry: Uh - I'm not sure. I've been able to do it ever since I came out of The Speed Force.
Jay: That's a hell of a new trick!
Barry: Look, right now...
Jay: I know. Jesse showed me the nuke.(sighs) We're in trouble, kid.
Barry: Well, I don't know. Wells has an idea that he think might work.
Jesse: Yeah? What is it?
Barry: We send the bomb into The Speed Force. Let it detonate in there.
Jay: Like hell you will!
Barry: What do you mean? Why not?
Jay: Because, Flash, if you do that, we may lose The Speed Force forever!

Killer Frost: Barry? Don't let Caity die.

Jesse: Okay. What if... I don't know... what if we run back in time and stop this bomb from ever going off?
Barry: No. Jesse. We can't do that.
Jesse: Yeah, well, it's kind of our only option.
Barry: It's not an option.
Jesse: Even if it saves the city and everyone in it?!
Barry: It's not saving them, okay? The second you alter the timeline, everything changes. Especially the people you love. Trust me. I learned that the hard way.
Jesse: Yeah, well maybe a new version of my dad isn't the worst thing in the world.

(Barry and Iris kiss as Barry starts to let go of her.)
Iris: Come back to me.
Barry: As fast as I can.

(Joe runs over to Barry.)
Joe: Flash?!
(Joe puts his hand on Barry's chest as if feeling for a heart beat. Slowly, Barry's eyes flutter and he moans.)
Barry: (his voice dry and crackly) Are we dead?
Joe:  ... no?
Barry: (sighs) That's good.
(Barry pants and closes his eyes, clearly exhausted.)


Continuity

Barry was first shown as being able to lend his speed to other people in 410

After the opening scene, the first scene after the title stinger starts "8 Minutes, 48 Seconds Ago."

Barry is attempting to push himself to become fast enough to follow through one of The Thinker's teleportals.

Cisco is able to map every time The Thinker teleported over the past three years. These include when The Mechanic grabbed him after absorbing Izzy Bowin's powers in 414, the attack on Iron Heights Prison in 413, the alley where he abducted Barry in 409 and The DeVoes' house.

Ralph is moving into a basement room in STAR Labs, due to being nervous about being grabbed off the street by The Thinker.

Jesse Quick was last seen in 316, though a hologram of her appeared in 403.

Apology Cubes are a technology used on Earth Two, similar to Break-Up Cubes, which were first referred to in 403.

The first version of the Mental Activity Dampener from 414 is seen.

The death of Harry Wells' wife is mentioned, though the circumstances are not specified. Harry was unable to save her.

Jesse accuses Harry of never dealing with his wife's death. Harry denies this.

Jesse says that she found peace by talking about her mother's death.

Waid Airfield is one of the airports in Central City.

Cisco is unable to form breaches while operating in Flashtime. This means he cannot do what he did in 410 to send the excess radiation generated by Fallout to a dead Earth.

Jay Garrick was last seen in 323.

Jay Garrick has never seen another speedster temporarily lend their speed to a non-speedster.

Barry has been able to lend speed to other people since leaving The Speed Force.

Jay says that a nuclear explosion in the heart of The Speed Force could potentially destroy it.

Killer Frost has no frame of reference for what heat feels like until she begins to exhaust herself trying to cool the fission engine while in Flashtime.

Jay Garrick tires out before he can add his lightning to that of Barry and Jesse.

Jesse runs out of energy after trying to talk to speed up her father and, failing that, talking to him.

Iris refers to the events of 401 and how Cisco and Caitlin used The Speed Force Bazooka to extract Barry from The Speed Force.

Jay announces his intention to retire as The Flash of Earth Three as soon as he finishes training his replacement - an unnamed woman - to become the new Flash.

Barry is told to not use his powers and rest for a few days following his time in Flashtime.

The words that Jesse hears her mother saying - "Because in the vast night sky, you are the only star I see." - are the same words that the Earth One version of Tess Morgan said to Harrison Wells that inspired the name STAR Labs in 117. This seems to confirm that the Tess Morgan of Earth Two was Harry Wells' wife on Earth Two as well.

A sign on the counter at C.C. Jitters promotes a spring special on their Killer Frost iced coffee drink.

For the first time ever, Caitlin has a memory of something that Killer Frost did while in control of her body. In this case, she remembers Killer Frost being taken into Flashtime by Barry, trying to freeze the fission reactor and then Killer Frost feeling worried about her.

The mystery waiter from Barry and Iris' wedding in S308 who later made an appearance in 411 when Ralph and Cisco were getting coffee makes another appearance. This time she bumps into Harry and Caitlin, literally spilling a Killer Frost drink on their table. She makes reference to being there to meet some people for the first time and being kind of nervous - an act that fades as Harry gets annoyed and leaves while a sympathetic Caitlin says she hopes that her meeting goes well. The waiter ominiously says that "It did."


Location

The Speed Force.


The Bottom Line

A definite improvement over the last run of episodes and a strong contender for one of the top-five best Flash episodes of all time. Rather than feeling like a piece of filler given the absence of any major plot elements from Season Four (no Ralph, no DeVoes), this episode feels like a return to basics. Even the romantic scenes between Iris and Barry don't feel as forced somehow, though that's largely down to Gustin's performance and how effectively he portrays a Barry Allen who has been working for days without sleep, from his perspective and is looking on the woman he loves as if it really will be the last time he ever sees her.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 3 - Luck Be A Lady

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




Plot

A new metahuman dubbed Hazard proves to be bad luck for Team Flash and the rest of Central City. At the same time, Harry Wells returns from Earth Two with a message for Wally from Jesse Quick which leads to a momentous decision.


Influences

Roy Thomas' Infinity Inc. (character of Hazard) and Superman III (the slapstick direction of the chaos around Hazard is very Richard Lester).


Artistry

The sequence of Hazard robbing the bank is amazing, from the slow-motion effects showing the chaos breaking out around her to the musical score.


Flash Facts

This episode takes its title from a song from the 1950 musical Guys and Dolls. Originally performed by Robert Alda, it was sung in the 1955 film adaptation by Marlon Brando and became a standard of Frank Sinatra. Indeed, Frank Sinatra's cover of the song is used during the first scene in which we see Hazard's powers in action.

Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Todd McFarlane, Hazard first appeared in Infinity Inc. #34 (January 1987). Rebecca "Becky" Sharpe was the granddaughter of Steven Sharpe III - a super-villain known as The Gambler, who was a continual foe of The Justice Society of America. She fought against Infinity Inc. - a superhero team founded by children and proteges of the JSA - under the name Hazard, as part of a super-villain group called Injustice Unlimited.

Hazard had the power to manipulate luck and probabilities, making things turn to her advantage or against her enemies. Like her grandfather before her, she was a master of games of chance, even ignoring her powers. Unlike most of her partners in Injustice Unlimited, however, Becky had a strict code against killing, which eventually made her turn on her teammates and turn herself in for her past crimes.

The DCTVU version of Rebecca Sharpe has terrible luck and considers herself jinxed until she gains metahuman powers that make her lucky while causing bad things to happen to the people around her.

Becky's work uniform at her job as a blackjack dealer is a perfect replica of Hazard's costume in the comics.

Cisco quotes Oliver Queen's catch-phrase from the early seasons of Arrow - "You have failed this city!" when Barry is the first to be shot playing laser tag.

It is considered bad luck in some cultures for a groom to see his bride in her wedding dress before the wedding. This fact is mentioned after Barry accidentally walks in on Iris trying on her wedding dress.

The pilot who is said to be bad luck appears to be Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger - the hero of the famous Miracle On The Hudson, where Sully was able to make a successful water-landing of his plane with no casualties after a goose flew into the engine. The 2016 film Sully was based on the incident.

Wally decides to leave Central City to stay with a friend in Blue Valley for a while. In the comics, Blue Valley, Nebraska was Wally West's hometown. It was also the hometown of Courtney "Stargirl" Whitmore.


Technobabble

According to Harry, Atlantean plastic on Earth Two is poorly made.

Break-Up Cubes are a piece of technology used on Earth Two used to end relationships. You record a hologram of yourself, select an appropriate piece of music and once the message is done, a tissue pops out so the person you gave it to can dry their tears. It is, as Caitlin remarks, a really convenient way to break someone's heart.

211 is the CCPD code for a robbery. It's also the code for a robbery in California, in the real world.

Harry says that what Cisco calls juju, he calls quantum entanglement. Quantum particles are connected and, when triggered, they simulate a synchronicity that, to the untrained eye, appears to be luck. Barry guesses that Becky affects the particles around her in a positive way, which causes the connected particles to spin negatively. In other words, she has a good-luck field and when good things happen to her, bad things happen around her.

Cisco detected trace amounts of dark matter on Hazard through the censors on Barry's suit.

Newton's Third Law Of Motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Harry evokes this when explaining that the more good luck Hazard experiences, the more bad luck she spreads around her.

The hydrogen particle hatch and electron hatch are parts of the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator.

The hydrogen electron collision released a charge that temporarily negated Hazard's quantum field.


Dialogue Triumphs

Wally: I thought Jesse and I were having date night?
Harry: Yeah. That's what you thought.

Wally: What did she say? In the message?
Harry: You know - you heard. You - "you're a great guy." I don't remember.
Wally: Don't you have total recall?
Harry: Yeah. (suddenly) No! No... don't. I did! I don't. (pauses) I did but I don't.

Barry: If we can stop evil time-traveling speedsters from destroying the planet, we can find a wedding venue!

(The Mechanic and The Thinker are watching as Hazard causes the boyfriend who was cheating on her to suffer a series of accidents in the restaurant where he just happened to walk in with his other date as she was eating.)
The Mechanic: I don't understand. Your plan revolves around this dolt?
Boyfriend: (on monitor) Who makes soup so hot?!
(The Mechanic stops the video feed.) 
The Thinker: As lusterless as Rebecca is, she may be the most formidable of them all.
The Mechanic: (impatiently) Then why don't we get her now?
The Thinker: The capricious nature of her powers warrants further observation.
(The Mechanic sighs and unpauses the video feed.)
Boyfriend: (screaming) Are those live lobsters?!

Becky: Listen, CSI guy - my entire life has been one piece of crummy luck after the next.
Barry: Look, we all have ups and downs in life-
Becky: (laughs) Not Becky Sharpe. I have only ever been dealt bad hands. But I knew one day the universe would see it made a mistake, and then I'd have the run of the table. I got on that bus and Lady Luck smiled on me.
Barry: Becky, this isn't some higher power fixing a miscalculation. You have powers. And they're affecting everyone around you, making them feel as awful as you made them feel.
Becky: I'm sorry about that but... maybe it's just their turn? Maybe, for once, everyone else can feel how bad I felt my entire life. Anyway, there is nothing you can do to stop me.
(Barry looks around the room as Becky walks off, noting a waitress just barely stopping herself from spilling a tray of drinks, a coffee pot that is continuing to boil past the safety point and a workman with a nail gun pointing it downward and clicking the trigger in frustration as a mother with a baby carriage walks underneath him.)

(After Harry lets the Particle Accelerator activate, saving the day.)
Cisco: How did you know to do that?
Harry: (shrugs) Lucky guess.

Joe: I don't want anything more than for you to find what you're looking for. But I've... I spent so much time without you in my life... I don't want to lose you.
Wally: (smiling) You'll never lose me, Dad. Plus, I 'm a speedster. You need me, I'll come running.


Dialogue Disasters

The whole of the "Iris wants to get married in a hurry" scene. It's at this point that the humor of the episode crosses the line from decent slapstick into poor farce, with Iris acting wholly out of character and disrupting a funeral in an incredibly tacky display. The worst part though is the final lines, as the choking priest is being led away from the ceremony.

Barry: (weakly) You know, it was a... very nice funeral.
Iris: (angrily) Really, Barry?


Continuity

The Thinker's second subject is Rebecca "Becky" Sharpe.

Becky Sharpe is severely lactose intolerant.

Central City has legalized gambling.

We see Rebecca Sharpe board a bus with three other people on board besides the driver. One of them is Ramsey "Kilg%re" Deacon, from 402. The others are a man and a woman. The show's opening ends with them all being exposed to a bright flash of light.

Joe West's house has distinctively noisy pipes.

Jesse Wells dumps Wally West through a Break-Up Cube message.

Jesse Wells apparently lost her virginity to Wally West. It's unclear if she was his first time as well.

When we first see Hazard in action, the app breaks for her Uber driver, a security guard starts choking as she enters a bank, knocking over the ladder which a workman is using. This, coupled with a suddenly spilled cup of coffee setting sparks to flying on a computer and a distracted teller talking to her mom about not using an oven allows her to talk into an open bank vault unnoticed. The Flash is unable to catch her, due to a barrel full of marbles suddenly turning over in the street, causing him to slip and fall.

Cisco claims his cousin Hector was cursed by an ex and has not been able to find a parking place at the mall for three years.

Becky Sharpe is 24 years old and has no prior criminal record. She is still in the CCPD criminal database, due to having been rear-ended four times,  having her identity stolen twice and having a cat burglar literally burgle her cat in the three years she's lived in Central City.

Again, the question is raised of how Becky can be a metahuman when she wasn't in Central City at the time of the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator Explosion.

Cisco did leave some new sensors in Barry's suit, despite claiming to have removed all the new tech in 402. They are capable of detecting trace amounts of dark matter.

Joe West finds out it will cost $15,000 to replace all the piping in his house. He says that is more than his great uncle paid for it originally.

Barry accidentally sees Iris in her wedding dress as she is trying it on at home. It is considered bad luck in some cultures for a groom to see his bride in her wedding dress before the wedding.

The venue where Barry and Iris wanted to hold their wedding burned down shortly after they booked it. Their back-up venue booked another event the morning they found this out.

Barry and Iris' wedding is in six weeks.

When Barry left The Speed Force three weeks earlier (in 401), a wave of dark matter came with him. This triggered the new wave of metahumans, according to Harry.

Harry Wells created the calculations to access The Speed Force.  He warned Cisco against using them, however.

Joe's house suddenly starts leaking water from the ceiling.

Iris refers to The Dominators, Savitar and gorillas when listing bad things that have happened to her and Barry in the past.

Iris' attempt at a rushed wedding ends when the priest has an allergic attack to the cinnamon incense the altar boy used.

Over the past few months, Harry Wells organized a support team for Jesse Quick on Earth Two. He was voted off the team, however, due to being his usual dickish self.

Harry decides to stay on Earth One.

Team Flash determines there were 12 people on the bus that Barry infected with Dark Matter.

Wally went to Earth Two an spoke with Jesse. She said she needed time to focus on herself and he decided he needed to do the same

Wally leaves Central City to stay with a friend in Blue Valley for a while.

The Thinker has a camera inside the head of the Samuraoid that is now in STAR Labs, allowing him to spy on The Flash.

Joe and Cecile decide to keep Joe's house.

Cecile reveals that she is pregnant to Joe.


Untelevised Adventures

We don't get to see Wally's journey to Earth Two and his talk with Jesse Quick.


The Bottom Line

There's a good episode here. Unfortunately, it takes place entirely off camera while we watch random stupidity occur. Maybe I'm alone in wanting to see Wally talk with Jesse about their relationship troubles over dated references to famous disasters (seriously, what was up with the Sully reference?) and Iris suddenly becoming Bridezilla and wanting to have a hurried church wedding without any of her friends and family present... but I doubt it. Every major revelation revealed in this episode seems forced and could have used more time to be developed instead of being shoved into the last five minutes while we watch Becky being quirky and adorable as all hell breaks loose around her.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 16 - Into The Speed Force

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




Plot

Desperate to rescue Wally from the prison that Savitar escaped, Barry once again enters into The Speed Force and experiences visions of friends and enemies lost to time and space. Meanwhile, Iris considers the state of her relationship with Barry as Jesse pushes the rest of Team Flash to find a way to track down Savitar.


Influences

The Flash comics of Mark Waid, particularly Terminal Velocity.


Artistry

The lighting and direction of the sequences in The Speed Force are genuinely creepy.


Flash Facts

HR says he is not going to be held responsible by his Earth Two counterpart if Jesse gets stuck in a negative world. Cisco recognizes this as a reference to the original Super Mario Bros. game, where a glitch could cause the player to get trapped in World - 1 - an endless water level. This world is more typically identified as Minus World rather than Negative World, however.

Cisco says "To Infinity and Beyond!" when Barry enters The Speed Force. This is the catch-phrase of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story films.

Cisco refers to the movie The Iron Giant when speculating on how a piece of Savitar's armor might seek out the rest of it once broken off.

The fake Snart in The Speed Force makes a remark about how Jay Garrick is "getting slow in his golden age." Jay Garrick was the first superhero to use the name The Flash, back in what is commonly known as The Golden Age of Comics from 1938 to the mid-1950s.


Technobabble

HR asks why they can't come up with some kind of tether to keep Barry from getting lost in The Speed Force. This leads Cisco to say he could do that and Julian to develop a biological component that can measure Barry's vitals when he is in The Speed Force, letting them pull him out if something happens.

The electrode halo - in addition to being the device that allowed Team Flash to channel Savitar through Julian Albert - is also part of the device that Cisco used to pull Barry Allen out of The Speed Force the last time he entered into it.

Goldtooth is the Cisco Ramon designed inter-dimensional equivalent of Bluetooth.

The electrode halos are electromagnetically linked via Goldtooth. It gives them all the relevant locus information no matter where in the multiverse Barry is. If he needs help, it will automatically stimulate Cisco's prefrontal cortex, letting him open a breach to wherever Barry is and pull him back to Earth One.

Julian speculates that Savitar's blade is made of  some kind of new metal akin to a Luttinger liquid - a theoretical model describing interacting electrons in a one-dimensional conductor such as carbon nanotubes.

HR refers to the theory of Schrödinger's Cat - a paradoxical thought experiment involving trapping a cat in a box with a radioactive source and a poison that will be released upon the emission of radiation - the result of which is that the cat will be both alive and dead until the box is opened and it can be observed.

Caitlin says that the metal of Savitar's blade is made of a near-frictionless material that is a constant state of flux. While totally motionless on the outside, it is constantly moving on the inside as if being affected by an outside influence. Julian likens this to how tides are affected by the phases of the moon. Jesse suggests that the outside influence is Savitar and that he somehow has the ability to control the metal despite it being separated from his armor.

Cisco describes feeling a lot of harmonic feedback when trying to vibe into The Speed Force.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry and Iris are alone in the hallway at STAR Labs.)
Barry: I'm gonna find Wally.  Whatever's holding him, whatever's keeping him trapped in there? I'm gonna get him back.
Iris: Okay.
Barry: Okay.
(Barry looks down at Iris' hand. She still isn't wearing her engagement ring.)
Barry: Iris?
(Iris doesn't meet his eyes.)
Barry: Did I lose you?
(Iris says nothing and just walks away quickly. Barry turns and watched her sadly. Joe enters from behind Barry.)
Joe: Baar?  What's going on?
Barry: Nothing. I'm just trying to.. make her not worry so much.
Joe: About Wally?  Or you?
Barry: Joe, now is not the time, alright?
Joe: Look, you are about to risk your life to save her brother. I think now is the perfect time.
Barry: (sighs) She's having doubts about us. About marrying me.
Joe: She... call off the engagement?
Barry: Guess I changed the future one too many times.

Barry: Where is Wally West?!
Eddie: He's not exactly here per say. He's in the prison you created. Well, your future self, that is.
Barry: How do I get him out? (more intensely) How do I get him out?!
Eddie: I think you' ll find we're not going to be as accommodating as we were the last time you visited us.
Barry: What the hell does that mean?!
Eddie: It means things have changed. We gave you your speed back because you said you'd come to terms with your mother's death. But you lied to us. You went back in time and saved her. And in doing so, you created Flashpoint.
Barry: Zoom had just killed my father -
Eddie: We know. And we understand. Which is why we allowed you to do that. But choices have consequences and I'm afraid we can't let you make any more choices like that.
Barry: Wally's just a kid...
Eddie: He's a Flash. He made his choice. Now he has to live with it. Just like you do.
Barry: I'm not going anywhere until Wally is free.
Eddie: Then be prepared to spend an eternity in here.

(Jesse wants to run off and find Savitar.)
HR: Hold your roll, Jesse Quick. This hesitation that you feel on behalf of the group is our realization that this "go for broke" attitude is the very attitude that got Wallace in his predicament in the first place. Am I right?
Julian: I can't believe I'm uttering the words but... I actually agree with HR.
Cisco: Ditto.
HR: Thanks boys.

(Barry looks on Caitlin holding a baby, singing her to sleep. Ronnie Raymond stands by his side.)
Ronnie: This troubles you. Another life that could have been and never was.
(Ronnie walks over and kisses the baby on the forehead. Caitlin mutely walks off with the baby.)
Barry: Caitlin and Ronnie should have had that. A family... a future.
Ronnie: The future doesn't always turn out as we want it to.
Barry: I see what you're doing. First Eddie. Now Ronnie. Showing me all the people who sacrificed themselves for the greater good...

Ronnie: No, Barry - their sacrifices were for you. As was Wally's when he attempted to stop Savitar.
Barry: Savitar tricked Wally! And now he's trapped. Wally doesn't belong in The Speed Force. You have to let me take his place. (pauses) That's why I'm here. 

Ronnie: Or the other reason, Barry.
Barry: I want to sacrifice myself for Wally. 

Ronnie:: We can't allow that.
Barry: Why not? 

Ronnie: Because where Wally has gone is a hell all his own.
Barry: Savitar said "one would suffer a fate far worse than death".

Ronnie: And it's not for you. Leave Barry. While you still can.
(Ronnie turns his back on Barry and starts to walk away.)
Barry: No.
(Barry pulls up his hood and looks at Ronnie, who turns back to face him.)
Barry: Whatever hell Wally's trapped in, I'm going to set him free. And I'm not leaving here until I do.
Ronnie: Very well. But you were warned.
(There is a growl from behind Barry as The Black Flash runs out of nowhere and shoves him across the bank of computer desks.)

(HR block's Jesse's path as she tries to leave the lab with the piece of Savitar's blade. He tells her that he is not letting her pass.)

Jesse: You done?
HR: Yeah. Said my peace. And guess what? I'm still. Not.
(Jesse punches him once at super-speed.)
HR: ... moving.

(HR falls to the floor. Jesse kneels down and checks to make sure the unconscious HR isn't seriously hurt. She nods to herself.)
Jesse: That was oddly satisfying. 

(Barry watches Wally West through the window of the door to a hospital room. Wally is starring at an empty bed, eyes watery. unable to look away. Leonard Snart comes to stand besides Barry.)

Barry: What's happening to him?
Snart: Wally West is caught in an endless temporal loop, just like Savitar after you imprisoned him here in the future. No wonder he hates you.
Barry: What's he seeing?
Snart: He's reliving the single most painful moment of his life. Over and over again. His mother's death.
Barry: Wally... he doesn't deserve this
Snart: And let me guess - you do?
Barry: I know what my hell is. I've already seen it. In the future.
Snart: You don't like the future, Flash? Change it!
Barry: I can't ! Don't you get it?!  I can't! I'm not fast enough! He is! (he sighs and looks back to Wally) That's why you have to let me take his place. Wally can save Iris.
Snart: (annoyed) Not learning your lesson, Barry. You keep telling us one thing and then doing another! (pauses) You want to know what inspired Leonard Snart to sacrifice himself? It was you. Barry Allen. You inspired him to be... better. You inspired him to be selfless. To sacrifice himself for others. To be a hero. Just like you.
Barry: I'm no hero. Not lately.
Snart: So... what? Had enough, Scarlet Speedster?  Time to hang up the cowl and give it all up? Well,, if you're out...
(Snart draws his cold gun and powers it on.)
Snart: ... you're out.
Barry: (tiredly) I'm done fighting.
Snart: We know. And that's exactly the problem.

(Snart blasts Barry, sending him flying against the wall. Barry is pinned to the wall, gasping for breath as the ice sticks him up against the wall unable to move.)

Snart: You think seeing Iris' death is hell? You ain't seen nothing yet.

(Suddenly a red streak appears and knocks Snart down. It is Jay Garrick.)
Jay Garrick: (looking to Barry) Let's get you out of here.

(Barry guides Wally to the door out of the hospital room.  Jay moves to stand where Wally had been.)

Barry: Jay? Let's go. 

Jay: Sorry kid. This is where I stay for a while.
Barry: What? What are you talking about?
Jay: We both know that a speedster needs to take Wally's place. That's why I'm here.
Barry: No. No, Jay! You already lived your hell when you were Zoom's prisoner.
Jay: And you set me free! And I owe you for that.
Barry: Jay -
Jay: I've run a hell of a race. But every marathon has a finish line. Time's finally come for me to cross it. But you? You, Barry... you need to put an end to this once and for all and stop Savitar.
Barry: How?
Jay: Do what you do best. Be The Flash. (Jay holds up his helmet and hands it to Barry.) Cisco said that he could use this to track you and bring you home. 

(Barry reluctantly takes the helmet.)
Barry:  I'm gonna get this back to you again. When I break you out of here.
Jay: (nodding) See you soon, Flash. 

Continuity

Helium is used to power gas stoves on Earth 19. This fact is revealed with HR says "Now we are cooking with Helium!"

The Super Mario Brothers game series exists on Earth 19.

Barry's shoulder is still injured from the last episode.

The electrode halo - the device Cisco used to pull Barry out of The Speed Force in 221 - is given an official name. This is also the same device Julian wore to channel Savitar.

The place where Barry arrives in The Speed Force looks like the Central City Police Department on a stormy night.

Barry saw Eddie Thawne die in 123. He took a trip to the past, where he saw Eddie before his death in 217.

The motto of the Central City Police Department is "Justice For All."

A Time Wraith - last seen in 223 - blocks Barry's path in The Speed Force.

The second location Barry travels to in The Speed Force resembles the hallway and main medical lab of STAR Labs.

Barry last saw Ronnie Raymond when he sacrificed himself to close the super-breach in 201.  He saw Ronnie's Earth Two counterpart, Deathstorm, die in 213.Barry sees a version of Caitlin holding a baby girl. He is told, by the vision of Ronnie Raymond, that it is her daughter.  Barry quickly figures out that this is a vision of the life Caitlin and Ronnie would have had together if Ronnie hadn't sacrificed himself.

Caitlin says that the metal from Savitar's blade, much like the box that held The Philosopher's stone, both exists and does not exist at the same time.

On Earth 19, according to HR, the theory of Schrödinger's Cat is called Schroeder's Cat.

On Earth 19, according to HR Charlie Brown was the kid with the piano in the Peanuts cartoons rather than Schroeder. The joke was that Charlie Brown was a terrible piano player.

HR wears a men's size 11 shoe. Presumably American size, assuming Earth 19 shoe sizes are the same as Earth One's.

The third place Barry finds himself in The Speed Force is a hospital hallway.  Wally is trapped in one of the rooms, seemingly starring at an empty bed.

Barry last saw Leonard Snart in the flesh in 209. A hologram of him appeared in 304. Snart apparently died in L115.

Wally West's personal hell is watching his mother's death over and over for all eternity.

According to The Speed Force, Leonard Snart chose to sacrifice himself because of Barry Allen's example.

Savitar claims to have already lived through all of the events that are about to happen to Team Flash.

Jesse Quick is able to throw lightning like Barry Allen.

Savitar is apparently immune to lightning and can either throw lightning without having to run around first or can absorb and redirect the lightning generated by other speedsters, as evidenced by his throwing a bolt of blue-white lightning at Jesse.

Jesse is able to hurt Savitar by stabbing him with the piece of his blade aiming for a gap in his armor.  HR correctly guesses that Savitar wouldn't be wearing armor if he didn't need it. This confirms that Savitar is mortal and not a god, no matter how fast he is.

Jay Garrick was last seen in 309. He says that Cisco came to his Earth (Earth Three) and asked for help when the team lost contact with Barry.

Jay takes Wally's place in The Speed Force.

Jesse decides to travel to Earth Three until Savitar is defeated - partly to thwart whatever plans Savitar had for her and partly to protect Jay Garrick's Earth until he can return.

Iris declares that she wants to marry Barry.

Barry says that he thinks they need some space while they figure out everything and that he's afraid he did propose to her for the wrong reasons.

Iris will stay in their apartment while Barry stays with Cisco.


Location

The Speed Force


The Fridge Factor

Averted hard in the case of Jesse Quick, who makes all the correct intellectual leaps to figure out how to use the piece of Savitar's armor to find him and hurt him.  Honestly, I'd rather the show follow her and see her adventures on Earth Three than watch Barry whine about saving Iris for another seven episodes this season.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode but not for the reasons you'd think. The sequences in The Speed Force are powerful, precisely because they keep Barry off-balance and knock him out of the "I must save Iris!" rut he's been in for the past few episodes.  The sequences with Jesse Quick are strictly standard in terms of writing yet are made engaging by Violett Beane's performance. As good as Grant Gustin and Candice Patton are, however, they can't make the continual drama between Barry and Iris engaging and reducing Iris to the role of She Who Must Be Saved has killed all of the character's momentum. Still, it's nice to see Wentworth Miller snarking it up as Snart, regardless of the circumstances. And John Wesley Shipp continues to get more and more impressive with ever appearance he makes as Jay Garrick.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 15 - The Wrath of Savitar

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




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.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 14 - Attack On Central City

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




Plot

When Grodd returns to Earth One leading the armies of Gorilla City from Earth Two, Team Flash faces a challenge unlike anything they've ever faced before. Can Barry stop Grodd without giving into the demands of Ape Law - kill or be killed?  Or will he find another way?


Influences

The Flash comics of John Broome (creator of Grodd), countless Flash comics involving Grodd leading an army of gorillas, the Planet of the Apes movies (basic idea of an intelligent ape uprising), any Doctor Who story involving multiple Doctors (the conflict between the two Wells) and the comic Multiversity (the character of The Accelerated Man).


Goofs

If Grodd's telepathy is strong enough that he can control a metahuman well enough to make them use their powers in a controlled circumstance (i.e. having Gypsy create a breach), why didn't he mind-control Cisco into doing that last week?

Barry's sudden crisis of faith regarding not killing his enemies comes out of left field and doesn't ring at all true.

Harry's math regarding the number of combinations possible in a five digit code is slightly off. Assuming the digits 0-9 can be used for each number in the code with repetitions allowed, the total number of combinations is 100,000 - not 90,000.  The 90,000 number seems to be based on this site, which assumes the combination is an actual number and thus couldn't have a 0 as the first digit.

So Grodd just stood there and watched Barry disarm the nuclear weapon?  He didn't try to mind-control Barry into stopping what he was doing?  He didn't attack Barry?  He just... stood there.


Performances

Tom Cavanagh playing against himself as Harry and HR is just plain delightful.


Artistry

The effects for the gorillas are vastly improved from last week.


Flash Facts

This Valentine's Day themed episode was aired on February 28, 2017 - two weeks to the day after Valentine's Day.

Gypsy makes reference to a character named Luke Starkiller.  In several of George Lucas' early drafts for the first Star Wars movie, the main hero's name was Luke Starkiller rather than Luke Skywalker. Reportedly, the reason for the change was that George Lucas worried that the name Starkiller might not be seen as heroic in the wake of the Manson Family's murder of actress Sharon Tate.

Harry makes several references to the movie Rocky, doing an impression of actor Burgess Meredith, who played the trainer Mickey.

HR makes reference to a great poet of Earth 19 named Alfred Yankovich. On our Earth - and apparently Earth One, based on Iris' reaction - Alfred Yankovich is better known by the name "Weird Al" Yankovich and is a famous songwriter and parodist. He also has distinctive long curly hair on both Earths.

Fort Reynolds is the name of a military base with nuclear missiles near Central City. In the real world, there were two forts in the United States with the name Fort Reynolds.  One was built in Colorado and abandoned in 1872. The other was in Virginia in Arlington County and was abandoned in 1865.

The speedster in the scarf and the goggles whom Gypsy speaks to regarding the "breacher" she busted on Earth Two is identified in the show's advertising materials as The Accelerated Man. In the Multiversity comics, The Accelerated Man was The Flash of Earth 19.

Earth 19, in the modern DC Multiverse, is the Earth of the Gotham By Gaslight reality where The Age of Heroes began in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era. Here, Bruce Wayne was a student of Sigmund Freud and his first case saw him fighting Jack The Ripper.

Despite sharing a number, the Earth 19 of The DC Multiverse is a different place than the Earth 19 of the DCTVU.


Technobabble

The device Harry builds with Wally will broaden the overall harmonic resonance of Cisco's vibrational frequencies all while focusing them on a fixed temporal locus.

Harry describes vibing blind as like riding a monster wave - you need to stay above the temporal flow or your consciousness can get sucked under.

Harry says there was an Earth Two neuroscientist who was able to achieve near total memory recovery using trans-cranial magnetic simulators on damaged brain tissue.  Caitlin notes the same process is used on Earth One, but as a depression treatment.

In the Earth Two experiment, the scientist focused all their energy on the occipital cortex. Harry theorizes that the connection Grodd creates between himself and those he controls telepathically goes both ways and leaves behind trace memories that could be used to figure out his plan.

Cisco says that anyone can draw but that some people have a more developed visual cortex and manual ability.

Cisco notes that the computers that control nuclear missiles are basically analog, still using floppy disks. As such, they have to be stopped in person and can't be hacked from STAR Labs.


Dialogue Triumphs

(HR watches Harry brushing his teeth.)
HR: Ohhhhhh!  You go front to back!  Tooth-brushing? You go front to back. Cause I'm a small circles guy.  I wonder how the other Wells brushes his teeth?
Harry: The murderer?
HR: I'm fascinated by the subtle differences between us, you know?
Harry: And the not so subtle ones.
HR: Like what?
Harry: Like the fact that I'm a genius and you're a moron.
(Harry spits in HR's coffee mug and walks out. HR is nonplussed for only a moment.)
HR: (smiling and waving) Okay! See you at the party!

(Jesse tells her father that she wants to stay on Earth One because of Wally.)
Harry: This guy? You like him?
Jesse: Yeah.
Harry: He makes you happy?
Jesse: Dad...
Harry: ...Okay.
Jesse:  That's it? You're not going to yell?  You're not going to go throw that over there?
Harry: Your happiness is what matters to me. You're both adults. I respect your decision. Don't screw it up.
(Harry leaves the lab.)
Jesse: Okay.  That was weird...
Wally: I guess that this means we have to find you a place?
Jesse: Me? More like us!
(Jesse smiles and leaves the room.. Wally makes a nervous face once she's away.)

Caitlin: Cisco, I promise, there is a beautiful, intelligent woman out there who's going to challenge you to be the the best version of yourself. In fact, she could be right around the corner.
(A breach opens and Gyspy jumps out.)
Cisco: (smiling) Gypsy!
(Gypsy blasts red energy from her hand and knocks Cisco off his feet.)

Barry: Any sign of him?
Cisco: Not since you asked 30 seconds ago.
Barry: Okay, he's a giant gorilla! Who is probably leading an army of giant gorillas! How can you not find him?!

(Cisco tries to convince Gypsy to join them in fighting Grodd.)
Cisco: We need you.
Gypsy: You need me? (smirking) Are you trying to Luke Starkiller me?
(Cisco pauses, seems to consider that difference in their worlds, smirks and steps forward.)
Cisco: What if I am? Is that what it's going to take to get you to stay?

Joe: Hold on. You all want to put a bunch of magnets against my skull, to look into the mind of a psychotic, murderous ape?
Harry: Yeah.
Joe: (deadpan) Fine.

Harry: Barry, there's a thousand things I've done that I'm not proud of! (sighs) Some of them recently. Every time I do one of those things, it makes it easier to do the next time. I look at you out there battling the darkness with Honor and Hope and I'm reminded there's always another way. Always. Killing Grodd is not your answer. Saving one life doesn't justify taking another. Find the other way.

Cisco: General Matthew McNally. And I'll give you one guess - just guess - what he's in charge of.
Barry: (shaking his head) I know you're going to say military weapons, but I really hope you don't say military weapons...
Joe: It's worse, Bar. Nuclear missiles.
Caitlin: McNally has the highest clearance. He can have a rocket in the air in less than ten minutes.
Barry: So are the satellites back to functional?
Harry: We ran a full antagonistic. Any nuclear weapon that is authorized to fire, an alarm will sound.
Barry: Okay. Good.
(An alarm goes off. Barry face palms with both hands.)
HR: Does it sound like that? That's an alarm.
Harry: (sarcastically) Yeah. It's THAT Alarm, HR.


Continuity

Friend's Day is a holiday on Earth 19 roughly equivalent to Earth One's Valentine's Day.

Jesse tells Harry that she wants to stay on Earth One.

Julian is in London at the time of this episode.

Caitlin refers to Lisa Snart's flirtation with Cisco, which started in 116.

Gypsy was last seen in 311.

Gypsy was on Earth Two, hunting another fugitive from Earth 19 when Grodd took over her mind and used her powers to create a breach between Earth One and Earth Two.

HR's nickname for Harry is "Hardhat".

Apparently, on Earth 19, the hero of the Star Wars movies was Luke Starkiller.

Harry has an untreatable terminal illness. He isn't sure how long he has to live and asks Wally to keep this news secret from Jesse.

Cisco sees the gorilla attack occurring at the intersection of State and Oakhill. This is one block away from the main bridge into Central City.

Wally tells Jesse what Harry told him about being ill. She presumes her father was lying. It turns out she was right - Harry was lying, figuring that Wally was too honest to hide anything from Jesse and that he'd do the honorable thing and tell her to stay with her dad.

When tapped into Grodd's brain, Joe creates a sketch of a human adult male. This man turns out to be Air Force General Matthew McNally.

Fort Reynolds is a nuclear missile launch site near Central City.

On Earth 19, Alfred Matthew Yankovich is a renowned poet - not a song parodist.

Military haircuts are the same on Earth 19 as they are on Earth One - very short.

Cisco is now able to "vibe" people's emotional states as well as their locations. He claims to feel Gypsy's urge to be a hero.

Caitlin makes reference to King Shark - last seen in 215.

Cisco needs Gypsy's help to find Solovar. - presumably because her command of her powers is enough to locate beings with whom she doesn't have a direct connection.

Solovar returns to Earth Two along with his people.

Grodd is handed over to ARGUS.

Harry returns to Earth Two.

Barry proposes to Iris with the ring his great-grandfather gave his great-grandmother after WWII. He couldn't afford a ring to propose before he shipped out. He bought the ring three years later while in London and gave it to her when she met him on the docks at the Brooklyn Shipyards when his ship came in.

We do not hear Iris' answer to the proposal.

Casablanca is Wally West's favorite movie.

Jesse is confused by Casablanca and asks if it took place during the War of The Americas.

Earth Two had more wars than Earth One.

Savitar reappears as Wally is running to Big Belly Burger, in the final scene.


Location

There is a brief scene on Earth 19 when Cisco goes to Gypsy as she is talking with The Accelerated Man.


Untelevised Adventures

Gypsy tracks another fugitive from Earth 19 to Earth Two. This is how she came to be under Grodd's control. We don't see her hunt for the fugitive or their eventual capture after Cisco frees her, but Gypsy is seen reporting on the capture to The Accelerated Man before Cisco arrives on Earth 19.


The Fridge Factor

Gypsy's reasons for not wanting to get involved in the fight with Grodd - that she was traumatized by visions of his plans for destroying Central City - really ring false given how tough she was built up in her first appearance.


The Boomerang Factor

Barry's sudden crisis of faith regarding killing comes out of nowhere and Grodd could have easily won the battle if he'd tried telepathically controlling The Flash.


The Bottom Line

An improvement on Part One, despite a number of plot holes. There's a lot of good character moments here - most of them involving the interplay between the two Wells. Still, Barry's sudden crisis of faith seems to be introduced only because he has so little to do in this episode without the angst and the romance between Jesse and Wally is so much more engaging than Barry's whining over everything turning against him as he tries to save Iris.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 13 - Attack On Gorilla City

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




Plot

When Jesse Quick returns to Earth One seeking help after her father is abducted, Barry, Cisco, Caitlin and Julian travel to Earth Two. They are quickly captured by Grodd, who claims he needs their help to stop Solovar - the leader of a secretive city of super-intelligent gorillas - from launching his own attack to take over Earth One!  Meanwhile,Wally is anxious to get to spend some time with Jesse but there seems to be some kind of wall between them now...


Influences

The Planet of the Apes films (Julian name drops the franchise, the concept of an intelligent ape uprising, the general aesthetic of the Gorilla City sets) and the Indiana Jones films (Julian's explorer outfit.)


Goofs

Tom Cavanagh's voice for when Harry Wells is possessed by Grodd isn't intimidating.

The green-screen work during Barry's "I will not kill him" speech looks a bit off.


Performances

Watching Violett Beane and Keiynan Lonsdale play off of each other is the best part of the episode.


Artistry

The art design on Gorilla City is fantastic.

The CGI for the gorillas is top-notch.


Flash Facts

First appearing in The Flash #106 (April/May 1959), Gorilla City was a technological Utopian society society founded by super-intelligent, telepathic gorillas, who were enhanced by a meteorite. In the original comics, Grodd was originally a rogue member of this society.

Solovar also first appeared in The Flash #106. The progressive leader of the Gorilla City gorillas in the comics, Solovar was respected for his wisdom and his impressive psychic powers. He weathered several attempts by Grodd to overthrow him and usurp control of his people.

Julian lies to Captain Singh, telling him that he and Barry are going to a morphology conference in Bludhaven. In the DC Comics Universe, Bludhaven is a city near Gotham City which was patrolled by the vigilante Nightwing.


Technobabble

Jesse says that she and her father took a week to translate a mathematical cryptogram that was sent to their STAR Labs on Earth Two.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: Harry's my friend. I'm not just going to abandon him. I'm going back to Earth Two.
Cisco: And I suppose you'll want somebody to come with you who is going to open those breaches for you?
Barry: We had... so much fun last time!
Cisco: (deadpan) Fun-ish.

(Barry is trying to explain where he is going to Julian, who he needs to cover for him at work. He finally lets the name Grodd slip.)
Julian: Grodd? The telepathic gorilla?
Barry: Yeah.
Julian: Where are you going? Are you going to the Planet of the Apes?!
Barry: No, it's just a city of them.

Jesse: When I first got my power, you were so lost not having yours. And I thought maybe part of the reason you liked me was...you were attracted to speed and not me.
(Wally chuckles.)
Jesse: I know! I know, okay? But... I saw you out there today! Being Kid Flash? You were complete Wally. You were scary complete.
Wally: I could have all the speed in the world. I'm not complete without you.

Barry: Solovar never wanted to attack Central City. You do.
Grodd: You took my home away from me and now I will take it back! The gorillas saw what you did, Flash. They saw you defeat Solovar and now they are afraid of humans and will do anything I order. And I will order them to invade your Earth and your city will burn!
Barry: You were planning this the whole time.
Grodd: Yes. Father taught me well. Always think ahead.

(Cisco proposes his idea that someone kill him to stop Grodd's invasion.)
Julian: He's right. Cisco's death would change the newspaper headline in the future.
Harry: Headline?
Caitlin: It's a long story.
Julian: But it would also make another one come true. The one about Killer Frost...
Caitlin: You want -me- to kill him?
Cisco: Think about it. Grodd doesn't know you have cold powers. You might be able to use them.
Harry: Cold powers? (To Caitlin) You have cold powers? (in revelation, to Cisco) I knew it! I knew that you and I did not get Barry out of that mirror!
Julian: Wait! Caitlin! If you kill someone, there's no going back. You'll be Killer Frost for the rest of your life. Now, I did not come all this way to see that happen!
Caitlin: (incredulous) Did you come here because you "live for danger" or to protect me?
Julian: (putting his emotionless mask back on) I just don't want to see you become something you're not.

HR: When it comes to love. you've got to go for it!  You know? Everything else be damned. Because if you don't, you're gonna end up being the kind of person that lives the rest of their life with regret. And I know that telling your dad that you're switching Earths - that's got to be a difficult conversation to have, but one that you've got to go for if you want to be happy. But - you know -  that's just my opinion. What do I know? I'm just a handsomer guy than your dad, with a song in his heart. Good luck, Jesse.


Continuity

Grodd was last seen in 207 just after being sent through a breach to Earth Two to a sanctuary that Harry Wells said was set up for gorillas who had been mistreated by scientists. Harry Wells also noted that there were talking gorillas on Earth Two.

Barry refers to the news crawl from 310 and the text "City Still Recovering From Gorilla Attack".

Jesse finds out Wally is a speedster now.

The Africa of Earth Two (or, at least, the part where Gorilla City is located) is not hot and has vegetation more consistent with a temperate forest than a tropical jungle.

Grodd is somehow able to repress the powers of Team Flash while they are imprisoned. It is unclear if he is doing this telepathically or if it is a property of the cages.

The Indiana Jones movies apparently exist on Earth Two.

Harry refers to the events of 304 and how they used extreme cold to free Barry from a mirror but it wasn't enough and Caitlin had to finish the job, secretly, with her powers.

Jesse decides to move to Earth One. She and Wally seem to officially become a couple.

Julian asks Caitlin out to dinner.

The final scene show Grodd assembling his armies, talking to Gypsy (or some version of her), telling her that she will open the breaches for him.


Location

Gorilla City on Earth Two.


Untelevised Adventures

How exactly Gypsy winds up under Grodd's control in the final scene.


The Bottom Line

Serviceable but not the slam-dunk one expected from the advertising. The Grodd plot is predictable and most of the cast is given little to do but sit in a jail cell and worry for most of the episode. Given the high-end Silver Age concept, the script is surprisingly joyless and it's Julian of all people who makes the inevitable references to Planet of the Apes. At least the production values are top-notch but the whole episode seems oddly lifeless.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 4 - The New Rogues

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



Plot

Two new metahumans - Mirror Master and The Top - emerge looking to settle an old score with Captain Cold. Barry and Jesse get in the middle of things, with Jesse's rash actions leading to disaster! Meanwhile, Harry Wells begins scouting the multiverse looking for another Harrison Wells that is willing and able to replace him on Earth One when he returns to Earth Two.


Influences

The Flash comics of John Broome (creator of The Mirror Master and The Top) and the television series Twin Peaks (Cisco refers to it when explaining how he can make Barry's backwards talk understandable).


Goofs

It seems odd that Iris isn't the least bit disturbed by the idea of kissing Barry in front of her dad, like Barry and Joe are.


Performances

The romance between Jesse and Wally reaches its naturally conclusion and Violett Beane and Keiynan Lonsdale play it perfectly. Ironically, given that they are the younger couple, their relationship seems to be handled with more maturity than the romance between Iris and Barry and I put that entirely down to the performances of these two talented young actors.

Speaking of romance, Ashley Rickards and Grey Damon are stunning as The Top and Mirror Master. Turning these two Rogues into a romantic couple was a bold choice and damned if the actors do not make the most of playing a couple in love who are intent on building a new life for themselves... albeit by robbing Central City blind.


Artistry

The cinematography throughout the episode is stunning, taking full advantage of the mirrors on the set and using them to establish a number of arty shots.

The special effects work is solid throughout the episode, from the high-speed chase sequences to the "twisty world" effects when The Top uses her powers, all the way to the final battle with Mirror Master jumping from mirror to mirror to evade The Flash.

There's some nice comedic irony in the script, with The Flash beating Mirror Master using a hologram and a mirror trick.


Flash Facts

The industrial building Sam Scudder uses as a hideout is Broome Industries. This is a tribute to John Broome - The Flash writer responsible for creating both The Mirror Master and The Top.

Sam Scudder a.k.a. The Mirror Master first appeared in The Flash #105 (March 1959). A criminal since childhood, Scudder became obsessed with mirrors and the idea of entering into them. Eventually, he somehow succeeded, discovering a whole other dimension which he dubbed The Mirror World. Scudder also developed all manner of weapons and devices based around the manipulation of light - chief among these being lasers and holographic illusions.

The DCTVU version of Sam Scudder differs from his comic book counterpart in that his powers are due to his status as a metahuman rather than advanced technology. He has the power to teleport himself and others through reflective surfaces. He can also trap people inside of mirrors.

Harry Wells says that there was a Mirror Master on Earth Two, but he wasn't a metahuman. He was a criminal armed with some sort of special mirror gun. Wells doesn't know how the gun works, but speculates that the gun had dimensional warping tech that changed everything into two-dimensions. This is a nod to the Mirror Master's powers in the comics.

Harry Wells identifies the Mirror Master on Earth Two as a man named Evan McCulloch.  In the comics, Evan McCulloch was the name of the second Mirror Master. An orphan with a dark side, Evan fell into the life of a criminal. After building a reputation as the sort of man who could reliably do dirty deeds with no questions asked, McCullouch was approached by the FBI - who had taken possession of Sam Scudder's costume and equipment after his death - and offered a chance to work for them while posing as a super-villain.  McCulloch played along at first but eventually went rogue (literally!) and soon fell in with The Flash's Rogue's Gallery.

The Top a.k.a. Roscoe Dillon first appeared in The Flash #122 (August 1961). As a boy, Dillon was obsessed with tops to the point where he ignored all other toys. Falling into the life of a criminal as an adult, he got out of prison and decided to build a new career around his favorite toy. Dillon discovered that by spinning at tremendous speeds, he could dramatically increase his intelligence. This eventually lead to him developing psionic powers, including telekinesis, telepathy and the ability to instill vertigo in people. He was also able to possess the corpses of the newly dead, following his own apparent death.

Rosalind "Rosa" Dillon, the DCTVU version of The Top, is a gender-flipped version of the original Top and Sam Scudder's girlfriend. She has the power to cause intense vertigo in other people.

The character of Cecile Horton first appeared in The Flash #332 (April 1984). She acted as The Flash's legal console when he was put on trial for murdering The Reverse Flash.

In the DCTVU, Cecile Horton is a prosecutor with the Central City District Attorney's office rather than a Public Defender. She is also an African-American woman, whereas the comic book version was Caucasian.

We see four versions of Harrison Wells from other dimensions - two of which are named by a specific Earth number. Curiously, these numbers do not correspond with like numbers in the official number of the various universes that make up The DC Comics Multiverse.

The first alternate Harrison Wells (aka Hells Wells) dresses like an American Old West cowboy and speaks with a Texan accent. This may be a reference to the DCM Earth 18 - the Wild West inspired world of the characters seen in the story Justice Riders.

The second Harrison Wells is dressed in a steampunk costume, with a top-hat and goggles. He is identified as being from Earth 17.

In the DCM, Earth 17 is also known as The Atomic Earth. In that world, the crash of the rocket carrying Superman to Earth triggered World War III and 97% of the world's population was killed in the ensuing nuclear fallout.

Curiously, this second version of Harrison Wells would seem to be a better fit for the DCM's Earth 19 - the setting of the story Gotham By Gaslight - a world in which various heroes came into existence during the Victorian era, but various advanced technologies existed.

The fourth version of Harrison Wells comes from what Caitlin labels Earth 19. As mentioned above, Earth 19 is a steam-punk setting in the DC Comics Multiverse.

Cisco refers to Twin Peaks and the character of The Man From Another Place in explaning how he can record Barry's speech when he is trapped in the mirror world and turn it into something they can understand using backmasking.

Joe understands the technique of backmasking and refers to hidden messages being placed in Ozzy Osbourne albums. Officially, Ozzy only did this once - as a sarcastic response to the accusations of hidden Satanic messages being found on his albums when played backwards. That message "Your mother sells whelks in Hull." was itself a parody of an infamous line from the film The Exorcist.

This episode confirms that Caitlin's cold powers allow her to chill an object to Absolute Zero. In the DC Comics Universe, only Captain Cold - out of all the villains with cold-based powers - has the ability to lower temperatures to absolute zero with his Cold Gun.

Ironically, The Flash uses a hologram of Captain Cold and an optical illusion to trap Mirror Master. In the comics, holograms and optical illusions are two of the Mirror Master's most frequent tools.

The Droste Effect is the technical term for when an image appears to repeat into itself forever. The effect is named for Droste cocoa powder - a popular Dutch brand, whose packaging was the first recorded instance of the effect in 1904. Artist M.C. Escher was fond of employing the effect and - as Barry notes in this episode - the effect can be created by standing between two mirrors, creating the illusion of the person between the mirrors repeating into infinity.


Technobabble

Jesse Quick is almost as fast as Barry, her top velocity peaking at just under Mach 3. This is just over 2300 mph.

Jesse's heart rate while running at top speed is 100 BPM.

Harry constructs a "fishing pole' satellite with which to broadcast his "bait" - a message embedded with a tachyon-enhanced laser.

Harry describes his "bait" as "a complex algorithmic cryptogram, designed to test deductive reasoning, intelligence quotient and problem-solving skills." Harry also describes it as an invitation and an elaborate "Help Wanted" ad. Cisco describes it as a riddle.

Harry speculates, when asked about the Mirror Gun of the Earth Two Mirror Master, that it had dimensional warping tech that changed everything into two-dimensions.

Sam Scudder is able to travel in and out of mirrors by linking Einstein-Rosen bridges through anything with high solar reflectance. Or, in simpler terms, he creates wormholes through reflections.

The Earth 19 Harrison Wells complements Harry's embedding secondary measures in the primary data string of his cryptogram.

The sounds made by a person trapped in a mirror sound backwards in the real world. This means that Barry can't be understood by his friends until Cisco figures out a way to take what he says and play it in reverse.

Cisco uses backmasking - a recording technique where sounds are recorded backwards onto a track that is meant to be played forwards - to translate Barry's speech when he's trapped in the mirror world.

Barry is unable to phase through the mirror once stuck inside it because the molecules of the mirror, once used as a wormhole by Scudder, are in a hyper state of flux. In order for the molecules to reach a state Barry can phase through, they need something incredibly cold to slow them down.

Once chilled to absolute zero, the mirror has to maintain zero-point energy long enough for Barry's molecules to pass through it. While doing this, they have to account for the internal energy of the mirror's molecules. This means that while absolute zero is the lowest possible temperature, it is not the lowest enthalpy state possible.

Harry and Cisco try to overcome this issue by building a molecular decelerator onto the cryogenic generator. However, it is only able to lower the temperature of the mirror to -280 degrees Fahrenheit. This is roughly half as cold as Absolute Zero, and is equal to -173 degrees Celsius and 99.8167 degrees Kelvin.

Absolute Zero is 0 degress Kelvin, -273.15 degres Celsius and -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Droste Effect is the technical term for when an image appears to repeat forever. Barry refers to it as an infinite reflective loop.

Every inch of Sam Scudder's cell has been modified with an anti-reflective material, to prevent him from using his powers.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Scudder is dressed in a fancy suit, admiring himself in a full-length mirror.)
Scudder: How do I look?
Dillon: Better. (pauses) How much?
Scudder: Do we really need to ask that question?
Dillon: Our take wasn't that big.
Scudder: Big enough.
(Scudder takes her by the hand and spins her in front of him, holding her close as he looks at their reflection.)
Scudder: The only question you should be asking is what size rock you want dangling from this beautiful neck. A kiss from you makes my world spin.
Dillon: (chuckles) You're so full of it, you know that?

(Barry trips Jesse as they are racing around the track in The Speed Lab)
Jesse: Okay. Well... that wasn't very heroic.
Barry: Nope. But there is a lesson in there somewhere.
Jesse: What's that?
Barry: The difference between having powers and having precision.
Jesse: What do you mean?
Barry: I mean, it's gonna take more than speed to take down some of these metas. You've got to think. Anticipate. When you enter a new environment, you've got to case every inch of it. You never run in blind.
(Barry suddenly stops, looking astonished.)
Barry: Oh my God...  I've become Oliver.
(Barry laughs as Jesse looks confused.)

(As Harry is describing the criteria he is using to test his doppelgangers.)
Cisco: Will it test their attitudes, too? I'm not sure I can stomach another Wells with your bedside manner.
Harry: I care for you too... you jack wagon!

(Wally enters the room where Jesse is thinking. He points to her mask, dropped on the floor.)
Wally: Aren't you going to need that?
Jesse: What's the point? You know, I thought I was ready. But clearly I'm not.
Wally: Jesse, you can't blame yourself for this. What happened to Barry...
Jesse: - was totally my fault! I mean, he told me to stay back but I didn't listen! You know, I just ran in blind and... and now he's stuck, so...
Wally: Look, you made a mistake. So what? I mean, I'm sure Barry made a lot of mistakes at first too.
Jesse:  ... yeah.
Wally: Don't let this destroy your confidence. You're meant to do this, Jesse. You're meant to be a speedster. That's why you have these powers and I don't.
Jesse: You're just trying to cheer me up. (sighs) I know you said you don't want to hang, so...
Wally: Uh, no. I said I didn't want to hang out because I was scared. Because you live on another Earth. But...I realized I don't want to be scared of that anymore.
(Wally moves in and kisses Jesse.  They hold the kiss a moment and then laugh softly.  Wally steps back does a courtly bow and offers Jesse her mask. She takes it with a wide smile on her face.)

(Mirror Master jumps into a mirror and comes up behind Captain Cold. He tries to punch him but his fist just goes through him. Captain Cold flickers and turns around.)
Captain Cold: Bang!
(The hologram of Captain Cold fades away as The Flash walks into the Hall of Mirrors.)
The Flash: Funny thing about holograms - they're just pale reflections of the real deal.


Continuity

Mirror Master and The Top both gained their powers on the night of the particle accelerator explosion. Leonard Snart was present, ready to kill Scudder for violating his rules about spending their share of the loot while the heat was on.

Mirror Master was apparently pushed three years into the future when he fell into the mirror.

There are metahumans with telekinetic and cloaking powers on Earth 2. Harry suggests both as possibilities for how The Rival was killed in his cell in Iron Heights in 302.

Jesse Quick's costume resembles that of the villain Trajectory from 216, with the addition of a Flash logo.

While training Jesse, Barry refers to the speech Oliver Queen gave Barry while training him in how he had to learn not to rely exclusively on his powers in 108.

Oliver told Barry about Captain Cold leaving with the rest of The Legends.  Barry apparently told Joe about this in the pre-Flashpoint timeline, but didn't in the new timeline.

Caitlin has never been fishing before.

Barry has never taken Wally on a run at super-speed before.

Jesse kisses Wally.

Wally admits to being attracted to Jesse, but he doesn't want to start getting romantic with her when she's eventually going to go back to her Earth. They agree to be friends but Wally laters changes his mind and kisses Jesse.

Four versions of Harrison Wells from other Earths are able to solve Harry's test.

The first alternate Wells dresses like an sheriff from the American West and speaks with a Texas accent. He identifies himself as "Hells Wells" and says he has a checkered past he'd rather not speak about right away.

The second alternate Wells is from what Cisco dubbed Earth 17. He speaks with a British accent and wears a steampunk-style outfit with a top hat and goggles.

The third alternate Wells speaks French and is dressed as a mime.

The fourth alternate Wells is wears a trilby hat and button-up vest with a t-shirt and jeans. He is from what Caitlin calls Earth 19. He seems both nice and not-evil, according to Cisco.

Caitlin uses her ice powers to chill the mirror in secret when Harry and Cisco's improvised device can't get the job done.

Caitlin's powers allow her to lower temperatures to absolute zero.

The CCPD has the ability to monitor specific cells in Iron Heights from their main station.

Joe realizes that Cecile Horton is flirting with him but is afraid to ask her out.

Cisco vibes across 18 dimensions for the first time.

The Harrison Wells of Earth 19 asks to be called HR. He has a much better sense of humor than Harry Wells, speaking in a mock deep voice and saying "Greetings Earthlings" when he first meets Team Flash.

Harry tells Cisco that their device didn't work and that something else removed Barry from the mirror.

Harry and Jesse return to Earth Two, with Harry trying to tell them never to do something just before he vanishes.

HR Wells also likes Big Belly Burger as much as Harry.

Barry decides to move out of Joe's house and get his own place.

Caitlin's cold powers appear to be getting out of control, as she freezes the water in her shower by accident. Her lips have also begun to turn pale blue and a streak of her hair is bleached white.


Untelevised Adventures

The Top was apprehended at some point in the past after her powers manifested and locked up in Iron Heights' metahuman wing.


The Fridge Factor

The scene of Caitlin in her shower is a little fan-servicey.


The Bottom Line

A rare episode where one wishes we saw more of the villains of the week than the supporting cast. Mirror Master and The Top are two of the better baddies to be introduced in recent memory and the interplay between them as a couple is a neat twist on the usual villain partnership. It's certainly a lot more interesting than the forced humor of Wally feeling awkward getting romantic with Iris in the same house as Joe. The romance between Wally and Jesse is more enjoyable, precisely because Violett Beane and Leiynan Lonsdale underplay their scenes. Again, less is more and the episode - while enjoyable - would have done better to sacrifice some of its subplots.  Maybe introduce Joe's new love interest and the new Harry Wells another time?