The Flash Episode Guide: Season 9, Episode 13 - A New World, Part Four

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

Plot

With Eddie Thawne embracing the identity of Cobalt Blue and assembling a brute squad of the worst evil speedsters in history, Team Flash will be tested as never before.

Influences

The Flash comics of Mark Waid and Mike Baron.


Goofs

Cecile wears her Virtue costume from the future in the fight with the evil speedsters. (While it's entirely possible she asked Chester to make her a suit based on the design she saw, it's unlikely he would have had time to make it in the space of time since Cecile saved Barry in the last episode.)

Cecile's being able to fly with her telekinesis comes out of left field, even if Virtue had that power in the comics. (Maybe Cecile got the idea while making mental contact with her future self?)  

When Khione says goodbye to Team Flash, Barry says it has been one week since the battle with Cobalt Blue and his gang and, logically, one week since Nora's birth. The next scene opens with a title card reading "One Week Later," with Joe saying that Iris gave birth to Nora a week ago. By that point, it should have been two weeks since Nora's birth.

Performances

Jesse L. Martin steals every brief scene he is in.

Artistry

The montage of Iris remembering her life with Barry as Joe sings Baby Nora to sleep is nicely done.

Flash Facts

The subtitle of this episode is Finale, according to the title card, but the subtitle does not feature in the actual episode title.

This marks the final episode of the first and only four-part episode in the show's history.

The episode was supposed to feature the return of Cisco Ramon, but actor Carlos Valdes was unable to appear due to schedule conflicts.

The episode was rewritten at the last minute to give Barry a happier ending. The original plan had been for him to sacrifice himself to become the new personification of the Speed Force and replace Speed Force Nora. We can see vestiges of this in the final scene, where Barry shares his power with three new speedsters.

Barry's opening and closing monologues mirror his opening monologue in 101.

Jay Garrick steals the speed from Cobalt Blue. This is a classic trick perfected by the Wally West Flash, who could boost his powers by draining the kinetic energy form other objects in motion. 

This episode confirms that Chester Runk has black hole powers, In the Mike Baron Flash comics where Chester P. Runk was introduced, Chester was a morbidly obese man who became a living black hole capable of absorbing almost anything into his mass.

Chester's powers are generated by a consciousness-honed universally neutralized Kerr anomaly in his genes. This is a shout out to his codename in the comics, Chunk.

Upon learning that he has powers, Chester says "Dazzling Dwayne McDuffie." This is a nod to legendary comics writer Dwayne McDuffie, who is best known as one of the founders of Milestone Media and for his work writing the Justice League Unlimited show.

Barry shares the Speed Force with three new Speedsters. The first of them is Avery Ho. In the comics, Avery Ho is the Flash of the Justice League of China. 

The Arrowverse version of Avery Ho first appeared in 806, where she helped XS and Impulse to fix the timeline.

The second new speedster to be empowered is Max Mercury. In the comics, Max Mercury was an alias used by a time-traveling speedster  Originally the Quality Comics hero Quicksilver (no relation to the Marvel Comics character),Mark Waid fleshed out his background to make him an 1830s US Army cavalry scout who befriend several Native American tribes. Max has gone by many names, including Windrunner, Whip Whirlwind and Lightning.

The Arrowverse Max Mercury lives in modern times and is apparently a motorcycle enthusiast.

The last new speedster Barry empowers is named Jess Chambers. In the comics, Jess Chambers is the non-binary Flash of Earth-11. The Arrowverse Jess Chambers resembles the comic book version.

Technobabble

Barry tells Team Flash to execute delta maneuvers before they split up and fight Cobalt Blue's team.

Chillblaine determines that Chester's blood generates Hawking radiation at a molecular level. This is the same kind of energy found in black holes. 

Chester's genes contain a consciousness-honed universally neutralized Kerr anomaly, or CHUNK.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Reverse Flash reveals himself to Zoom and Godspeed.)
Zoom: You're Harry Wells. You're the man who helped the Flash defeat me.
Godspeed: No. That's Thawne. The man who helped the Flash defeat me. Any last words, Thawne? 

Reverse Flash: Never wear white after Labor Day. And Zoloman-- ( chuckles ) Love your work. Although slightly derivative, don't you think? Pretending to be the Flash's ally. Let's see. Who's playbook is that from? 

Zoon: Are you mocking me? 

Reverse Flash: Now, you're catching on. 


Khione: The more I embrace who I truly am, the more I see the natural order of things. You say balance is about violence and death, but it doesn't have to be that way. Nature is about more than balance. It's about coexistence. All things living together. Not in conflict, but in mutual trust. 

Barry: Khione, the last avatar I faced... I sat down. I stopped fighting. Thawne didn't. You want coexistence, but I'm sorry. It's impossible. 

Khione: Then you need to believe in the impossible because it's the only way to create a better world.

Continuity

Barry returns to 2023 and runs to the hospital where Iris is still giving birth to Nora.

Chester reports that there's no sign of temporal fracturing yet, but Barry says it has already started in 2049.

Zoom, who died in 223, is pulled out of time at the moment of his death, into the Negative Speed Force.

Eddie's  lair in the Negative Speed Force resembles Dr. Malcolm Gilmore's house, which was Joe West's home.

Godspeed is pulled out of time from an undetermined point. He says he was about to slit Impulse's throat.

Eobard Thawne, in the guise of Harrison Wells, explains that they are in the Negative Speed Force.

Zoom thinks Thawne is Harry Wells at first, but Godspeed recognizes him as Thawne in Wells' body.

Savitar appears next, apparently pulled from time just before Iris West shot him in 323.

Eddie Thawne reveals himself and explains that all four evil speedsters are dead, resurrected by the Negative Speed Force from just before the moment of their death. This is the first confirmation that Eobard Thawne finally died for good in 820.

Eddie says that Godspeed dies in 2052.

Eddie creates a suit of armor for himself and invites the other villains help him destroy The Flash and his legacy.

Barry gets to the hospital about an hour before Iris is expected to give birth.

Eddie shows up at the hospital calling himself Cobalt Blue. He brings blue flowers for Iris 

Eddie plans to kill Barry, which will kill the Speed Force, and allow for the creation of a new world where the Negative Speed Force will rule unopposed. Eddie doesn't care because, in this reality, he can be the hero Barry was and have the life with Iris he wanted.

Nora runs in and saves Barry. She says that Cecile telepathically called to her across time.

Chillblaine, Khione, Allegra, Cecile and Nora join with Barry to face Cobalt Blue, Savitar, Zoom, Godspeed and Reverse Flash. This collective of villains is later named the Legion of Zoom.

Barry faces Cobalt Blue

Cecile takes on Godspeed.

Chillblaine and Khione fight Zoom.

Allegra goes after Reverse-Flash.

Nora goes after Savitar. 

Savitar attempts to impale Nora like he did Iris in the future where Iris died. Nora phases through his blade, breaks it, and uses it to shank Savitar.

Godspeed creates multiple clones of himself to fight Cecile, but she brings him down with a telepathic attack.

Reverse-Flash goes to STAR Labs and attacks Chester with a lightning attack. For some reason, it doesn't kill Chester (although it does hurt him) 

Zoom is hemmed in by a CCPD roadblock set up by Chief David Singh, Captain Kristen Kramer and Officer Daisy Korber.  Apparently Khione called them in.

Reference is made to Zoom killing multiple CCPD officers in The Flash Season 2.

Barry confronts Cobalt Blue in CC Jitters.

Khione absorbs the lighting Zoom throws at her and throws it right back at him.

Reverse-Flash makes reference to Nash Wells and his relationship mentoring Allerga.

Allegra takes Reverse-Flash out with a major light blast. She then tends to the unconscious Chuck, who suddenly wakes up gasping.

Cobalt Blue threatens to kill the people in CC Jitters unless Barry allows himself to be killed.

Jay Garrick shows up and steals the speed energy out of Cobalt Blue. He says this was a trick his Earth-90 counterpart taught him.  (The Earth-90 Flash did the same thing to Barry in 609, so he could sacrifice himself in Barry's place.)

Cobalt Blue drains the Negative Speed Force power from the resurrected speedsters and retreats into the Negative Speed Force. As he does this, the temporal fracturing reaches 2023.

Jay says that is Cobalt Blue tries to absorb too much Negative Speed Force energy, he will overload and kill himself, like Eobard Thawne in 820.

Chillblaine and Jay think that letting Eddie kill himself may be the only way to save the timeline, but Barry thinks he can make Eddie see reason. 

Khione says she can get Barry into the Negative Speed Force.

Khione says that Barry needs to change Eddie's viewpoint and that they need to encourage coexistence between the Positive and Negative forces.

Barry confronts Cobalt Blue in a Negative Speed Force space that now looks like his and Iris' loft, but with photos of Iris and Eddie together.

Eddie punches Barry, shouting that he always wins. This echoes a line repeated by the Reverse Flash when he fought Barry in 123. This prompts Barry to point out that Eddie is becoming the very villain he sacrificed himself to stop.

Eddie smashes the Cobalt Blue crystal and agrees to remain the Negative Speed Force avatar in order to maintain the balance. He asks Barry to tell Iris he is happy for her.

Barry returns to the hospital just in time for Nora's birth. 

Jay Garrick confirms the temporal fracturing has stopped.

Chester says he feels fine, apart from being oddly hungry after his fight with Reverse Flash.

Chillblaine theorizes that when Chester bonded with a black hole in 601, some of the cosmic energy bonded with him. This gives him some passive ability to absorb energy.

Joe West, Cecile, Chester, Allegra, Chillblaine and Khione all wait at the hospital.

Cecile makes reference to giving birth to Jenna during 423.

Nora also joins the team, but wonders if she is breaking some kind of timeline rules by being present at her own birth.  Chester and Chillblaine say they think they are okay.

Timeless Wells, the original Earth-1 Harrison Wells, appears to Khione. He confirms the threat of the Negative Speed Force is past and it is time for Khione to ascend and become the protector of the natural order she is meant to be.

Khione says she has to say goodbye to her family first. 

Nora is born without complications.

Chester agrees to take care of Khione's plants.

When Khione ascends, Caitlin Snow is left in her place. It is presumed that Khione was just using Khione's physical body.

A homecoming party is held for Nora and Iris one week after Khione ascends.

Future Nora and Timeless Wells attend the party along with Jay Garrick, Joan Garrick, Chief Singh, Captain Kramer, and several of Iris' employees.

Caitlin is overheard talking to her mother on the phone and promising she will visit her soon, so she can run more tests to make sure she is fine.

Barry apologizes for destroying Caitlin's lab in 816.

Caitlin says she will carry Frost's legacy with her and that what she was doing trying to bring her back was unnatural. 

Joe proposes to Cecile. She accepts.

Barry is shown reading a copy of The Runaway Dinosaur. This was his favorite book as a child, as revealed in 221.

Barry creates lightning bolts to give three people a connection to the Speed Force: Avery Ho, Max Mercury and Jess Chambers.  He runs along the same landing strip at Ferris Air where he first used his speed voluntarily in 101 to do this.

Avery Ho was last seen in 806.

When we see Avery, she is calling in late to work, claiming she had car trouble despite not having a car. Barry Allen did the same thing in 101.

Barry made reference to Max Mercury in 815, as he was looking through time using the Still Force.

Untelevised Adventures

Reference is made to a fight between Impulse and Godspeed, in which Godspeed was about to slit Impulse's throat before he was pulled out of time.

Godspeed dies in the year 2052.

Jay Garrick met The Flash of Earth-90 at some point and learned how to drain the speed from other speedsters.

Nora says the 24 hours around Bart Allen's birth is even crazier than her own.

The Boomerang Factor

The resurrected evil speedsters are beaten far too easily.


The Bottom Line

A lackluster end to a lackluster season, drowning in nostalgia for better days. The best parts of the episode are shot-outs to the show's greatest moments, but those only serve to highlight just how bad this show became toward the end.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 9, Episode 10 - A New World, Part One

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

Plot

It's been several months since Barry Allen's birthday and big things are in the works for Team Flash, with Chester working on a super-suit for Allegra, Khione mastering her powers, and Iris receiving word of a long-awaited career milestone. But Barry Allen is nowhere to be found, lost in time and about to relieve the worst day of his life from another perspective.

Influences

The Flash comics of Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn (character of Cobalt Blue), Flashpoint (the theme of Barry spending time with his parents before their deaths) and The Flash Season One (Barry travels back to the events of the Pilot and the Season 1 finale.)


Goofs

While the cameo from Professor Stein is funny, by this point in time he would have had multiple encounters with the Legends of Tomorrow as a young man. As such, it is unlikely he'd be so quick to dismiss someone claiming to be a time traveler on the phone.

Due to a combination of archival footage being mixed with new footage, Barry is wearing the wrong Flash costume at several points during the fight with Thawne.


Performances

Grant Gustin gives one of his best solo outings as Barry Allen yet, playing up Barry's pain at being powerless to change the past but appreciating the chance he's given to enjoy one last meal with his parents.

Matt Letscher likewise delivers a masterful performance as the original Eobard Thawne that will leave you wishing we had seen more of him in the role over the last nine seasons.

Artistry

The use of the color blue as a theme in the opening scene is nice, from the flowers in Malcolm's home and his suit, the blueberries he eats, to the fact that he's humming Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues."


Flash Facts

The subtitle of this episode is Reunions, according to the title card, but the subtitle does not feature in the actual episode title.

This episode introduces the character of Dr. Malcolm Gilmore. His name, and repeated references to the color blue involving him, are nods to The Flash villain Cobalt Blue.

First appearing in Speed Force #1 in 1997, Cobalt Blue was the twin brother of Barry Allen.  On the night Barry was born, Nora Allen gave birth to twins. The doctor overseeing the twins birth, Dr. Gilmore, was negligent in his treatment of another patient, Charlene Thawne, who was also giving birth that night. To balance things, Dr. Gilmore gave the Thawnes the second Allen child, whom they named Malcolm.

Unfortunately, the Thawnes were an abusive family of con artists, who commanded a strange mystic blue flame. Everyone in the family had this power, except for Malcolm. His search for answers led him to Dr. Gilmore, whom Malcolm murdered after he confessed to taking Malcolm from his birth parents. 

Malcolm later gained access to the blue flame through a talisman crafted by his foster grandmother. Powered by his jealousy for his successful, happy twin brother, Malcom became Cobalt Blue and set out to ruin his brother's reputation by posing as him, having learned Barry Allen was also The Flash. 

The colorful patchwork costume Chester crafts for Allegra with a helmet that hinders her ability to see is a reference to the villain Crazy Quilt. Like Allegra, he had light-based powers, though his were based around a helmet.

Barry's parents take him to an Italian restaurant called Zatara's that is said to have the best pizza in Coast City. This is a reference to Giovanni "John" Zatara, who was DC Comics first magic hero and the father of Zatanna.


Technobabble

Barry baby-proofs his loft with proximity-based meta-dampeners, so Nora can't hurt herself by accidentally using her speed.

The C-Net database that allows the police to look up unlisted phone numbers was not developed until 2002.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry has just realized he's in the year 2000.)
Barry: What did I do this time?

Nora Allen: Bart, do you believe in fate? Because I do. That's why I believe that there's a reason that we met, so that even for one day, you don't have to go through all of this alone.

Thawne:  Somebody's having a bad day. Unfortunately... ( laughs ) It's only gonna get worse.

Thawne: You can't walk away from what's about to happen, Barry.
Barry: I know. I can walk towards it. 

Thawne: You'd actually destroy an entire timeline just to save your own pathetic existence?
Barry: No, Thawne. I'm not here to save myself. I'm here to save you. 

Thawne: I don't understand. You saved yourself and let me kill her instead. Why?
Barry: I had no choice.

Thawne: (slowly, in comprehension) Killing your mother... it's a fixed point. You knew this was gonna happen. And now I'm stuck here in a hell where I get to watch you grow up and become the hero that I should have been! I swear... even if I have to tear the universe apart, I will find a way to destroy you and everyone you love! Because from this moment forward, my life's work will be finding ways to kill you.

Barry: (calmly) I know. And this night tortured me for decades. Not anymore. Because today I got to see my parents one last time and feel how much they loved me. 

Thawne: (desperate) This is the worst night of your life. I know it.

Barry: And today brought me the peace I've been looking for ever since. I have you to thank for that, Eobard, and I'll always be grateful. 
(Barry is suddenly seized by blue energy and pulled away screaming. Faced with no target to attack and the realization that he's doomed himself and totally failed to ruin Barry Allen's life in a meaningful way, Thawne screams in pure impotent rage.)

Continuity

The opening scene details the morning of a mystery man named Dr. Malcolm Gilmore, who works at Mercury Labs. The man is the spitting image of Eddie Thawne, who died in 123.

Allegra is still maintaining a secret identity in regards to her light powers.

Chester made Allegra a new costume, which she hates.

Cecile is still commuting to Central City while living with Joe and Jenna elsewhere.

Joe West makes a big dinner for Cecile whenever she stays the weekend with him and Jenna.

Khione is living in Caitlin and Frost's apartment. She has now mastered the ability to change her body into fog and back.

Khione is keeping a journal, where she writes letters to Caitlin and Frost, whom she considers her sisters.

Khione says it has been "nine months since she started her journey."  Presuming that 909 took place on March 12. 2023, this would place the events of this episode sometime in the middle of November 2023. This matches up with the presumed date that Iris' pregnancy would come to a close, since she discovered she was pregnant in February 2023 in 905. 

Khione refroze a lake for a group of school kids so they could ice skate.

ARGUS has been helping Khione catalog her powers. She says she is discovering a new power every day.

Khione has not talked to Mark in nine months, suggesting he has kept his distance since 907. Despite everything that happened between them, she does miss him and wants to talk to him.

Iris' article about the Red Death from 907, Nightmare Under Red Skies, is nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Barry disappears in a flash of blue energy. He finds himself, in pain, on the streets of Central City.

Barry figures out he is in the past when he sees a woman walking by wearing a portable CD player.

Barry figures out it is the year 2000 based on a license plate.

Barry tries to run back to 2023, but something blocks him from the wormhole portal. He crashes into the back of a Gambi's Cleaners van, just like when he first used his speed by accident while running in 101.

Barry goes to CCPD HQ and tries to talk to Joe West. 

Barry confuses David Singh by addressing him as Captain, when he is only a Detective in 2000.

Barry tries to get Joe West to help him find Dr. Tina McGee, who has an unlisted phone number in 2000. Joe, however, wonders how Barry knows about the City Registry as a civilian. He agrees to help Barry, but asks to know who he is.  It is then that Barry sees a desk calendar and realzies it is the day of his mother's murder.

Barry runs off before telling Joe anything more about the past.

Barry tries to call Professor Martin Stein, who hangs up on him, thinking his talk about being a time-traveler he hasn't met yet is a crank call.

Barry sees his parents while using a pay phone. He walks to talk to them, not paying attention, and is knocked unconscious by a streak of red lightning and nearly hit by a car. He is saved by his father running out into traffic to stop the car to treat him.

Barry wakes up in the hospital with his father, Dr. Henry Allen, watching over him.

Barry gives his name as Bart, when asked who he is.

Barry's parents treat him to a meal when he says his blood sugar is low. They take him to Zatara's, which was his favorite pizza place as a kid.

Joe covers the scene of Barry's accident and identifies him as the weird guy who was acting strangely in the CCPD HQ earlier that day. He tells Detective Singh about his gut feeling that Barry was running from something and in need of help.

Joe hears a voice calling his name. This takes him to a blue crystal, which he picks up. This causes him to be possessed by some dark influence.

Barry's parents offer to let him stay with them, but he runs off and has an anxiety attack.

Barry is discovered by Eobard Thawne, in his original body. This is a younger version of Thawne, who has just learned The Flash's secret identity. 

Thawne denies having anything to do with bringing Barry to the past. He thinks Barry showing up there may be the universe giving him one more chance to torture Barry before erasing him from existence completely.

Thawne takes Barry to O'Shaughnessy's Bar to have a drink and taunt him further.

Thawne admits he came to that point in time to kill Barry as a child. He says the only ways Barry can stop him are to kill him or to lock him up in Iron Heights. He says Barry won't do the former because of his moral code and he won't do the latter because it would cause a paradox. 

Henry and Nora talk about looking for "Bart" and both admit to feeling an odd connection with him.

Barry goes to his parents and tells them they reminded him of his parents and what he'd say to them if he had one more day. He tells them that their love made him who he is and he carries their light with them every day.

Barry is confronted by Joe West, who attacks him with a blue energy that saps his speed.

Barry realizes Joe is possessed by the Negative Speed Force.

One doctor takes the initiative in evacuating people as the Negative Speed Force knocks out the power ot the hospital. This doctor is Dr. Rachel Rosso, the mother of Ramsey Rosso, AKA Bloodwork.

Barry is able to knock Joe West out. This causes the blue crystal he is carrying to disappear.

Barry goes to his childhood home to confront Thawne. This leads to the battle seen in 101 and 123, with 2023 Barry in the place of the future version of himself that stopped 2015 Barry from saving his mother.

Thawne is left powerless and trapped in 2000, as in the flashback scene from 117.

In the final scene, Dr. Malcolm Gilmore is working late in Mercury Labs and is struck by a red lightning bolt. He is oddly injured and, when he stands up, he finds a classified CCPD police report regarding one Detective Eddie Thawne and his mysterious disappearance. Dr. Gilmore sees a photo of Eddie and realizes it looks like him.

Location

Cemtral City in November 2023, based on the date in Khione's journal.

Central City on March 18, 2000.

Keystone City on March 18, 2000 in O'Shaughnessy's Bar,

While it is not clear in this episode, Dr. Malcolm Gilmore's scenes take place in the future of 2049.


Untelevised Adventures

Reference is made to the first time Thawne and Barry met, from Thawne's perspective, in the year 2170.  This meeting has never been shown on camera, though Thawne made reference to it as the reason he hated Barry so much in 805.


The Bottom Line

A solid start to the finale, which builts perfectly on the Season 1 battles with The Reverse Flash.  The only problem is everything else involving the supporting cast feels tacked on, especially the bits setting up Cobalt Blue. Still, Grant Gustin and Matt Letscher sell it.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 9, Episode 5 - The Mask of the Red Death, Part 2

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

Plot

With the Red Death and her Rogues laying waste to Central City, Barry and Iris come up with a plan to stop them but it will require Cecile and the Rogue Squad, who are unwilling to help Team Flash anymore. To save the day, The Flash must face his greatest failure.


Influences

Kingdom Come (The Red Death's method of protecting Central City borrows from the Bat Sentinels and the speed with which The Flash protects his hometown.)


Goofs

Allegra complains about The Rogue Squad not trying to save Chillblaine in the last episode. This would be fair, if Allegra weren't the one responsible for running Team Flash's teleport and controlling the evac that led to the team leaving him behind in the first place.

While it's a dick move on Barry's part that he never checked up on Grodd or Gorilla City, describing it as his greatest failure is a bit much. For that matter, how is the Crisis causing the Gorilla City gorillas to lose their sentience Barry's fault? (Okay, as the Paragon of Love he was responsible for remaking the universe, but still....)

Red Death says that Grodd is amplifying her telepathy. How did she get telepathic powers? Did she steal them from another hero the same way she copied Barry's speed?  If so, why didn't she use it before this episode when it might have been useful, like when she was talking to Iris West-Alllen and pretending to be the Ryan Wilder of Earth-Priime?

It never is confirmed that Red Death's Rogues were captured in this episode.

It never is explained just where Ryan Wilder has been all this time the Red Death was running around.

It also isn't explained how Ryan got to Central City or where she got an anti-speedster Batarang. (Perhaps Luke built one after discussing the problems Reverse-Flash caused with John Diggle? Or maybe he and Chester talk-shop off-camera? Or maybe he started building it after hearing about Red Death?)

Did Red Death kidnap Ryan to get her out of the way? If so, why didn't she just kill her outright or take all of her Batwoman gear to stop her from coming after her? Given her paranoia, wouldn't she be most afraid of the Batwoman of Earth-Prime becoming a threat to her?

This episode completely ignores the rules established in B112 which dictate that two doppelgangers cannot survive on the same Earth following Crisis on Infinite Earths. (It's possible the Negative Speed Force protects its users from this law in the same way it protects them from paradoxes. It may also not apply since Red Death says she comes from an alternate timeline rather than a parallel universe.)

Why is Iris so stunned by the revelation that she's pregnant? Haven't she and Barry planning for her pregnancy for the past few episodes?  Also, wouldn't that be the first thing she or Barry would think of if she were suddenly nauseous?


Performances

As cliché as they are now, Jesse L. Martin can still nail those inspiring Joe West speeches.

Artistry

The make-up for Murmur with her mask off is disturbing.


Technobabble

By boosting Cecile's empathic telemetry and superimposing it over a grid of the city map, Chester can hone in on whatever she senses.

ARGUS upgraded the satellite security system on the GCPD roof.

The device Murmur and Captain Boomerang install on the roof of the GCPD allow Red Death to be in multiple locations at once.

Chester detects multiple reservoirs of psychic energy, which are like individual manifestations of a single telepathic consciousness. 

Allegra's light powers give her X-Ray vision.

Barry claims psychic manifestations cannot hurt someone. However, he is reminded that Psych was able to make a projection of Savitar hurt him in 705.

Batwoman has an anti-speedster Batarang.

Chester reprograms the STAR Labs satellites to find Grodd's tribe.


Dialogue Triumphs

Joe: If there's one thing I'm sure of after all these years, it's you have a gift for bringing out the good in folks, no matter how bad they started out.
Barry: Well, if that's true, I learned it from you.
Joe: Maybe. Either way... I have run out of things that I need to teach you. Just like I don't need to protect Cecile anymore, considering how much her powers have grown. I should tell you, up until a couple of days ago, Cecile and I were talking about moving out of Central City to the country for good.
Barry: What?
Joe: It's okay. We decided to stay. And it's a good thing because the team needs her here.
Barry: We need you, too.
Joe: No, you don't. I'm not a cop anymore, and I'm not a meta, so what am I doing here?
Barry: Joe... no one is more important to this team... to this family... than you. I mean, think of all the heroes you've raised over the years. We couldn't do what we do if we didn't have you to teach us how. Inspiring people is your super power.
Joe: That's nice. But if it's my super power, it's yours, too, Barry. 'Cause you've inspired me. What I learned about being a parent is whatever seeds we've planted, we have to trust that they take root, no matter how dark things get. So you have faith in your way of being a hero. If you do that, you'll always find your way and those who follow you will, too.

Dialogue Disasters

Most of Javicia Leslie's dialogue as Red Death.

The Rogue Squad saying "It's a Wednesday" in unison and everyone laughing when Ryan Wilder asks if Central City is always like this. 


Continuity

As the episode opens, red Negative Speed Force Lightning is striking randomly around Central City.

The shipyard, Central City High School and City Hall are said to have been set on fire.

Murmur breaks into Captain Kramer's office and steals her pager for summoning The Flash.

Captain Kramer tries to copy Rainbow Raider's power and turns it against him and Fiddler. Somehow, Red Death is able to resist the effect. 

Barry is still depowered after using most of his speed to start up the Cosmic Treadmill.

Barry says they need to do something, but the Rogue Squad point out that they need a plan first.

Iris suggests they can use Cecile's powers to track Red Death's anger and hatred of Barry.

Red Death somehow senses Cecile looking for her, but not in time to stop her from figuring out she and the Rogues are at GCPD HQ.

Cecile also senses intense pain and fear from someone at the Red Death's base. She recognizes the person and informs Team Flash that Chillblaine is still alive.

Barry wants to rescue Chillblaine but the Rogue Squad refuse, saying they should take the fight to Red Death while they know where she is and saving the city is more important than rescuing one guy.

Khione offers to go rescue Chillblaine if nobody else will, but Barry refuses to risk her after losing Frost and Caitlin. 

The Rogues agree to help rescue Chillblaine, guilted into it by Khione's courage.

Cecile tells Joe that her powers are growing the more she uses them.

Cecile senses that Joe still feels uncomfortable about something.

Red Death left Chillblaine alive specifically to set a trap for Barry so she could drain the rest of his speed.

Red Death explains that her newfound psychic powers came from Gorilla Grodd, who is now connected to her.

Barry last saw Grodd in 613, where he was going to find Gorilla City and live with other intelligent gorillas like him. It turned out, however, that the Crisis caused the gorillas in Gorilla City to lose their sentience and they all became scattered across Earth-Prime.

Grodd agreed to amplify Red Death's telepathy in exchange for reuniting his tribe.

The Rogue Squad quit, saying there's no way they can beat Red Death and they want to spend what time they have left with their loved ones. 

Khione watches over Chillblaine but tells Iris that she feels useless. Iris says she feels that way sometimes too, but she eventually found her place on the team and she's sure Khione will figure it out someday.

Khione kisses Chillblaine and this seems to heal him.

Joe tells Barry you have to have faith in the people who follow you. This inspires Barry to try to talk to Grodd again.

Chester is able to track Grodd's telepathic signal.

Grodd is confirmed to be the most powerful telepath on Earth-Prime.

Barry persuades Grodd that he can help him save the formerly sentient gorillas.

Grodd restores Barry's speed with the energy Barry loaned him in 613.

The Rogue squad show up to help fight Red Death.

Batwoman shows up to help fight Red Death.

Batwoman has never been to Central City before.

ARGUS takes Red Death into custody.

Ryan Wilder is a fan of Iris' writing.

Joe decides to move himself and Jenna to the country, telling Cecile she can come be with them on the weekends.

Chillblaine comes to Joe's going away party, but tells Barry he still feels awkward, despite Barry insisting he's part of the family now.

Chester and Allegra kiss again in front of everyone.

Iris complains of feeling lightheaded, leading Khione to tell her that she is pregnant. When asked how she knows, she says she just knows.


Untelevised Adventures

Ryan Wilder gets to know Team Flash off-camera.

Ryan Wilder has a monthly brunch with Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers and Nia Nul. She invites Iris to come to the next one.


The Bottom Line

An easy contender for the worst episode of all time. The Grodd subplot comes out of nowhere and doesn't make any sense.  The new Rogues are completely forgotten partway through the episode. Nothing about Batwoman's appearance makes sense. 

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 9, Episode 4 - The Mask of the Red Death, Part 1

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

Plot

The Red Death launches an assault on Central City and The Flash, with a surprising goal in mind. The new Rogues have to help Team Flash keep the peace as an EMP cuts out all the power in town, as Joe and Cecile have a discussion about where their relationship is going.


Influences

Injustice: Gods Among Us (Red Death is more like the corrupted Superman of this story than the Red Death of the comics, being a hero who crossed the line to fascism to try and build a safer world.)


Goofs

Red Death refers to herself as the Red Death, even though it was apparently Goldface who gave her that name with no indication that was what she called herself.

Come to that, if she thinks she's a hero, why would she choose a name liked Red Death?

Barry calls Khione Caitlin in the final scene in STAR Labs. (This could be due to the stress of the moment, but it seems like a mistake and nobody corrects him.)

Artistry

It's a small detail, but all the Rogues are shown to use ASL when talking directly to Murmur.

Flash Facts

The episode title is a play on the Edgar Allan Poe story The Masque of the Red Death, which Goldface quoted in 903.

Jenna West appears on-camera for the first time since 612.

Rainbow Raider appears for the first time since Season 1. While he doesn't have his full array of powers from comics, he can now inspire fear as well as anger.

Chester evokes the name of Otis Boykin - the inventor of the electric resistor.

Many of Red Death's lines are taken directly from various Batman comics and adaptations.

Red Death's line "I am vengeance. I am the night." is taken from the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Nothing To Fear." "

Red Death's line about criminals being "a superstitious and cowardly lot" was first said in Detective Comics #33.

Red Death's line "Everybody's got their limits. I ignore mine." is from Batman #497.

 Red Death's line "You wanna get nuts? C'mon, let's get nuts!" is from the 1989 Batman movie.

Technobabble

The Cosmic Treadmill requires enough power to light up the Eastern Seaboard.

Barry and Chester plan to reprogram the STAR Labs satellites to scan for the Red Death's tachyon signature.

The Flash's cowl is boobytrapped to administer 50,000 volts to anyone who tries to remove it.

Even with their backup generators, STAR Labs can only operate at 20% power after the EMP.

Pied Piper uses a CB frequency 160 hertz to communicate with his team.

Pied Piper's Harmonic Frequency Tracer can be used to detect Flash's vibrational biometrics anywhere on Earth. Unfortunately, it won't work if The Flash's powers are blocked by meta-cuffs.

A Red Team is a group of journalists who try to pick apart a major story before it goes to print.

Chillblaine overloads the capacitors on the Cosmic Treadmill so it shorts out after The Flash charges it. Instead of opening a wormhole, it shoots all the lighting The Flash put into it at Red Death.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: Mark, you don't have to do this.
Chillblaine: If I want Frost back, I do.
Barry: What happens when she turns on that treadmill and busts a hole in the timeline? Or decides it's a lot easier to just kill you than help you bring Frost back?
Chillblaine: If I die, I die. Who would even care?
Barry: You are a part of Team Flash.
Chillblaine: No, I'm not... not anymore. Now I'm just another dirtbag who double-crossed you. Aren't I?
Barry: Mark! Before Frost was one of my best friends, she tried to kill me. People make mistakes. I was so desperate not to make the same mistakes I made with Thawne that I rushed into thinking the Red Death was the new Avatar. But, actually, she's a new threat, one I wasn't ready for, and now the whole world might have to pay for my mistake, and the only one that can help me out of this is you.
Chillblaine: Me? You've got the wrong guy. It's too late for me.
Barry: No, you're wrong. It's never too late for second chances. 


Dialogue Disasters

Red Death: You want to know who I am? I'm the last glimmer of crimson a killer sees before he draws his final breath. I am vengeance. I am the night. I am the Red Death


Continuity

As the episode opens, Chillblaine is assembling the Cosmic Treadmill 

Red Death says she will take care of the power source when Chillblaine asks how it is supposed to run.

Red Death leaves Chillblaine to recruit one more Rogue for their team.

At this point, Barry believes Red Death to be a man and the new Negative Speed Force avatar.

Barry theorizes Red Death may be a corrupted innocent, like Dr. Meena Dhawan from The Flash Season 8 finale, based on the fact that they could have killed him in 903 but did not.

Iris is sent Ryan Wilder's last GPS coordinates by Luke Fox.

Cecile finds out that Joe has been talking to a realtor without her knowledge.

Joe found a house with a big backyard in a good school district. Unfortunately, it's a two hour commute from Central City.

Chester talks with his podcast follower, WookieLover77, about Allegra.

The new Rogue Red Death recruited is revealed to be Roy Bivolo, aka Rainbow Raider, who last appeared 121.

Bivolo has upgraded his powers and can now cause fear by looking at people as well as anger. This allows him to paralyze The Flash, who becomes so scared he hyperventilates and passes out. 

The Red Death uses the Negative Speed Force to generate an EMP that knocks out power in Central City.

The Flash asks Bivolo why he's working with the New Rogues when he had previously only cared about money.  Bivolo says he wants payback for being locked in the STAR Labs pipeline for nine months.

All the Rogues are revealed to know ASL so they can communicate with Murmur.

Khione suggests calling in Barry's Rogues when the Team Flash comms are shorted out.

Red Death tells Barry that their real target is Iris.

Red Death, posing as Ryan Wilder, shows up at Barry and Iris apartment.

Red Death lies, telling Iris that she was driving into Central City when her car batter got fried and her arm was burned by the EMP  She also claims to have encountered the Red Death on Gotham City and to have been nearly been killed by them after they looted her utility belt.

Red Death claims that Luke Fox told her Team Flash was looking for her and that she drove from Gotham City to Central City in a day. When Iris questions this, she says her car goes fast.

The Red Death has the ability to control their armor remotely and is confirmed to be talking to Barry through an empty suit while simultaneously talking to Iris.

The Red Death reveals they kept Barry alive to use him as a power source for the Cosmic Treadmill, as only organic speed can charge it.

Red Death claims she is a big fan of Iris podcast.

Iris catches Red Death in a lie when she notices her distaste about the idea of Barry working with Rogues and says that attitude is understandable given Ryan's foster mother was killed by the Royal Flush Gang.  In truth, Ryan's mother was killed by the Wonderland Gang.

Iris also noticed that Red Death was familiar with the layout of her apartment, when the Ryan Wilder of Earth-Prime had never been in Barry and Iris' home before.

Red Death claims that, in her timeline, Iris West-Allen was her best friend and The Flash became the world's biggest villain. She also says she lied because she knew Iris well enough to know that she'd need to build a rapport first, because she wouldn't believe her if she had just said "I am your best friend in another timeline."

Red Death also claims that there was no Batman in her world, that she was adopted by Thomas and Martha Wayne just a few days after she was born and that it was she who saw them gunned down in Crime Alley as a child.

Red Death claims she protected her Gotham City for 10 years as Batwoman, fighting villains like Hush, Simon Hurt and her own brother.

Red Death began studying the technology her enemies used and then began studying the technology of her allies in a group called The League. (Presumably The Justice League.)

Red Death created her own Artificial Speed Force to imitate The Flash, knowing that with his powers she could put criminals behind bars before they could even think of committing a crime. She claims she was so successful in stopping crime that The Flash became jealous, freed his Rogues from Iron Heights, and turned them into an army that tore apart Gotham trying to get to her.

Red Death tried to hide in the Speed Force, but was rejected and kicked into the Earth-Prime timeline. She needs the Cosmic Treadmill to return home, so she can stop her Flash from destroying her world. She claims that she needs Iris to help her do this because the Iris of her timeline is dead and she's the only one who could talk him into surrendering. 

Joe tells Cecile that he wants to move so that Jenna doesn't have to grow up knowing the hardship that Iris, Barry and Wally did.

Red Death tells Iris that she accidentally killed Iris' doppelganger in her timeline

Iris points out all the holes in Red Death's story, like how she claims her Flash was jealous of her, but she was the one who created an artificial Speed Force to imitate him.

Cecile uses her powers to save Jenna from the breaking windows as a Negative Speed Force storm rages across Central City.

Pied Piper is able to detect Barry by Route 119 once he is put on the Cosmic Treadmill.

Allegra uses her teleportation clouds from Nash to take The Rogue Squad to Red Death's hideout.

Chillblaine betrays Red Death and rigs the Cosmic Treadmill to explode.

The Rogue Squad rescue Barry and Iris, but leave Chillblaine behind as they escape.

Allegra tries to talk to Chester about their relationship but he says it should probably wait until after the crisis is over.

Cecile considers that Joe might be right, but after Jenna draws a picture of Cecile saving her, Joe decides they should stay in Central City because it would send a bad message if he made Cecile stop being the hero she is.

Red Death swears revenge on The Flash, promising to destroy his world since he won't let her go back to her own.


Untelevised Adventures

Red Death describes her world and how she became Red Death.



The Fridge Factor

Averted with Iris, for once, as she manages to see through Red Death's lies and tricks her into revealing her real plans.

The Bottom Line

A bit of a disappointment compared to the build up. Most of the cast is on stand-by while the episode focuses on the cat-and-mouse game between Iris and Red Death. This would be fine, except Javicia Leslie hams it up to show how crazy Red Death is when it would be much more effective for her to be cool, controlled and more like the Superman of Injustice her character imitates.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 9, Episode 2 - Hear No Evil

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

Plot

As Team Flash argue about how to address the fate of Caitlin and Frost, Pied Piper comes to STAR Labs seeking help fighting a new version of The Fiddler.

Influences

Dark Knights: Metal (presence of The Red Death)


Goofs

Joe's sudden fears about Cecile putting herself at risk because of her increased powers seem illogical, given she's already putting herself at risk as a metahuman defense attorney. Also, he doesn't seem to have similar fears about both his sons who have speed powers or his reporter daughter who has been repeatedly kidnapped and taken out of reality because of various supervillains. 

When Pied Piper mentions being attacked by someone called The Fiddler, Iris makes reference to Izzy Bowin and says they were friends the last time they met. Iris apparently forgot that Izzy Bowin was killed by The Thinker shortly after they met, so this Fiddler can't be her. (It's possible that Izzy was one of the lucky metahumans resurrected after Crisis on Infinite Earths.)


Performances

Grant Gustin seems to be channeling Stephen Amell in the scene where he lays down the law with Chillblaine.

Danielle Panabaker makes Kihone into an instantly engaging character.


Artistry

The use of rainfall and storm effects in the background of this episode is fantastic


Flash Facts

Pied Piper's nightclub is called the Krakatoa Club. This is a reference to the loudest sound in recorded history, which was the 1883 eruption of a volcano on the Indonesia island of Krakatoa. The eruption was heard almost 3000 miles away and is estimated to have been nearly 310 decibels at ground zero. To put that in perspective, 200 decibels is lethal to humans and sounds measuring 150 decibels can rupture eardrums. 

This episode introduces a new version of The Fiddler. Much like the new Captain Boomerang, this Fiddler is a convicted criminal who seems to have been empowered by The Red Death. Her real name is Andrea Wozzeck and she seems to be a metahuman with sonic control powers, which she can focus through a specialized violin. Her fine control is such that she can trap people in a state out of phase with reality or cause a person to develop a arrhythmic heartbeat that will slowly kill them.

The Fiddler traps the employees of Pied Piper's nightclub out of phase with reality. This is similar to a stunt from The Flash comics where The Fiddler, joining forces with The Thinker and The Shade, caused Keystone City to become trapped in a pocket dimension. 

Technobabble

Chillblaine says the CRC was supposed to unzip Frost's neural DNA from Caitlin and isolate her brain patterns. Unfortunately, a power fluctuation caused the process to malfunction. 

The new Fiddler is armed with a teleporter, similar to the one used by Captain Boomerang.

When the CRC fails in STAR Labs, Chester detects tachyon feedback when the neural conductive readouts start surging.

A sonic cuff in STAR Labs' medical bay is able to stabilize the heart arrhythmia that the Fiddler instilled in Pied Piper. 

Chester runs a full diagnostic on the CRC. He determines that neural DNA could never unlock Frost's consciousness. He says the only way Chillblaine's plan would work is to use endogenous neural imprints, creating a literal map of Caitlin's mind.

Hartley boosts the efficiency of his Pied Piper gauntlets by 400% while planning how to fight The Fiddler.

Barry says that Dr. Thomas Snow's notes reveal that he tried to create a Caitlin 2.0 that wound be immune to ALS, but instead he created a daughter with two mixed consciousnesses Reversing the process would kill one of the two consciousnesses. . 

Rather than killing Hartley's employees, The Fiddler traps them in a vibrational phase. This is apparently painful and described as a fate worse than death.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry has a seat opposite Chillblaine at a table in his favorite bar.)
Chillblaine: You're wasting your time.
Barry: And you screwed up, Mark. Badly. 
Chillblaine: (grunts) Yeah.
Barry: I know why you did it.
Chillblaine: (amused) Okay. No, go ahead. Enlighten me.
Barry: Because you love Frost. With all your heart. And you still do. Sometimes when we love someone like that we do the wrong things for the right reasons.
(There is a long pause as Barry considers his next words.)
Barry: I know I have.
Chillblaine: (skeptical) Please.
(There is another long pause.)
Chillblaine: Are you saying you're not mad at me?
Barry: No, I am. But I understand why you lied. But there's something you need to understand now too: how we operate. You are part of this team now. And that means we have your back. But you need to have ours. Which also means no more going rogue.
(Chillblaine sighs, clearly skeptical.)
Barry: Mark.. if you lest us in... we work together... we can do the impossible. But we have to stick togehter. 

Snow: You're not a killer. I can tell.
Hartley: You don't know me!
Snow: Actually, and I can say this quite truthfully, I think I know you better than I know myself.
Hartley: I used to be a meta-criminal. A Rogue, as they say. I used to hurt people all the time. And I enjoyed it.
Snow: What changed you?
Hartley: (frustrated) Oh, Roderick, okay?  (pauses) Roderick.
Snow: You changed to keep him safe. That's beautiful. But that's not real change, is it?  Deciding to change for the person you love doesn't mean you've decided who you want to be. That's a choice you still have to make for yourself.

Continuity

This episode picks up where 901 ended, with the rest of Team Flash joining Barry in answering Caitlin's distress call.

The woman who looks like Caitlin with blue streaks in her hair introduces herself as Snow. She says that despite her appearance, she is a blank slate with no memories or powers.

Chillblaine makes reference to Barry destroying Caitlin's lab in 816.

Chillblaine explains that Snow was born of Caitlin's sacrificing herself to try and bring back Frost in 819 and that Caitlin is now dead.  Thankfully, he has a plan that will bring her and Frost back to life.

Chillblaine says he can bring Frost and Caitlin back if he's loaned a steady power source. 

Team Flash agrees to help, though Barry seems reluctant.

When the rest of Team Flash leave them alone, Snow asks Chillblaine how she did, revealing there is some kind of deception in play. While Snow is unsure about what they are doing, Chillblaine reassures her this is what Caitlin would want.

Allegra and Chester agree to discuss their kiss from 901 later, once Frost and Caitlin are fine.

Joe tells Cecile that he does not want her on the front line as a superhero. This is the main reason he wants to move from Central City. 

Hartley Rathaway (aka Pied Piper) and his boyfriend Roderick last appeared in 618.

Hartley and Roderick are revealed to now be running a dance club called the Krakatoa Club. It is located at the corner of Park and Second in downtown Central City.

Hartley is attacked outside his club by a woman armed with a high-tech violin, who calls herself The Fiddler.

Barry pulls Snow out of the CRC when it starts failing.

Snow says that the CRC hurt her.

Snow accidentally lets it slip that Chillblaine 's plan was to bring back Frost and Caitlin rather than just Caitlin.

Chillblaine defends his decision to lie to Team Flash by pointing out that Barry destroyed Caitlin's lab when he learned about her plan to resurrect Frost.

An intruder alert in the med lab informs Team Flash of Hartley breaking into STAR Labs, seeking treatment for the arrhythmia he developed after being attacked by The Fiddler.

Hartley confirms that The Fiddler who attacked him is not Izzy Bowin from 414.

The new Fiddler is confirmed to be working for Red Death. She is throttled for failing to complete her mission in attacking Pied Piper and is told that if she fails a second time she will die.

Barry tracks down Chillblaine at O’Shaughnessy Pub, getting drunk.

Barry says he will help Chillblaine resurrect Caitlin and Frost, but he will need to be completely honest to him and the rest of the team from now on.  Chillblaine agrees, albeit reluctantly. 

Chester and Chilblaine work on repeiaring the CRC while Barry gets Dr. Thomas Snow's notes about how he created Frost while trying to cure Caitlin's ALS.

Snow meets Hartley while he is upgrading his Pied Piper gauntlets. She confirms that she does not have Caitlin's medical knowledge or Frost's ice powers.

Snow realizes that Hartley is worried about Roderick being hurt by The Fiddler.

Snow believes killing is wrong and that deciding to change for someone doesn't really make you change.

Hartley says Central City is the metahuman violence capital of the world.

Barry determines that there is no way to bring back Frost and Caitlin - only one of them can survive.

Team Flash put it to a vote as to which Snow sister they should bring back. 

Chillblaine, unsurprisingly, votes for Frost, saying that Caitlin wanted to give her life to save Frost.

Allegra votes for Frost, presumably because she was closer to her than Caitlin.

Chester votes for Caitlin, saying that after his experiences with Deathstorm in 809 have convinced him that no good can come of trying to bring the dead back and that, given the choice, Caitlin is only mostly dead.

Iris votes for Frost, later telling Barry that she never really got to know Frost when she was alive, having not really given her a chance to reform and be part of Team Flash.

Barry says he needs more time to think, but Chillblaine says he'll only wait eight hours before making another attempt at bringing Frost back.

Barry admits he was mistaken to destroy Caitlin's lab in  816, saying the last thing he said to Caitlin was "I'm sorry" but that he wasn't.

Cecile speaks with Snow about how she is feeling, after discovering that she cannot read her emotions or mind. She is apparently the first person Cecile's powers didn't work on.

Snow loves rain and nature because she feels connected to all living things yet disconnected at the same time.  She says that  everything in nature has a purpose and she hopes to find a purpose of her own.

Cecile says that something about Snow seems inherently friendly and she is not scared of her, despite being unable to read her mind and emotions. 

Snow says that she is cure of only two things. First, whoever she is she likes herself. Second, she doesn't want to go back into the CRC.

Barry and Iris tell Snow that they are going to let her decide if Frost or Caitlin should come back, based on the logic that Dr. Thomas Snow didn't try to force his daughter to decide which personality would be dominant and they can't make that choice either. Only Snow can.

Hartley leaves STAR Labs to confront The Fiddler after she returns to the Krakatoa Club.

The Flash easily takes out The Fiddler and destroys her Fiddler. It is then that she reveals that, like Izzy Bowin, the instrument only focuses her powers. She is still able to attack him and Hartley with a sonic scream.

The Flash stops Hartley from killing The Fiddler and reveals that his employees and boyfriends are trapped out-of-phase with reality.

With Flash's help, Hartley uses his gauntlets to save all the people Fiddler phased. This also cures Hartley's heart problem.

The Fiddler steals Hartley's gauntlets after Captain Boomerang stuns the crowd with a trick boomerang that seems to put them out of phase with the rest of the room. They teleport away together.

The Fiddler is identified as an ex-con named  Andrea Wozzeck.

Snow decides that she wants to be her own person and refusing to go back into the CRC.

Hartley uses his powers (and a sonic scream) to destroy the CRC, saying he just helped a new friend when Chillblaine asks if he knows what he did.

Chillblaine swears revenge on Pied Piper and leaves STAR Labs, furious.

Snow decides to take the name Khione - the Greek snow goddess Dr. Thomas Snow references in his notes in 405.

Barry and Iris decide to take a trip to go see Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.

The team go out and dance at the Krakatoa Club.

Allegra asks Chester to dance with her.

In the final scene, Captain Boomerang and The Fiddler construct some sort of device that seems to stabilize Red Death.

Red Death says that The Flash disgraced them, but they will have revenge.

Location

O’Shaughnessy Pub on the south side of Keystone City.

Untelevised Adventures

Chillblaine's interactions with Khione before she contacted Barry are undescribed.

Barry meets with Dr. Carla Tannhauser to get access to Dr. Thomas Snow's notes.


The Bottom Line

An incredibly disjointed episode. There's a lot of good moments here, but there's surprisingly little unifying the two storylines, apart from Snow/Khione pestering Pied Piper and inspiring his becoming a real hero. The Piper and Chillblaine plots are otherwise unconnected and the brilliant moments are outweighed by the bits where the rest of the ensemble gets in the way of the story. It also doesn't help that the new Fiddler is barely developed as a character or a threat.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 9, Episode 1 - Wednesday Ever After

 

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

Plot

Barry starts creating a "map book" based on what he's learned of his future and trying to build the best possible life for himself and Iris. Unfortunately, the future isn't what it used to be and the two quickly become trapped in a time loop, repeating February 1, 2023 over and over.

Influences

The movie Groundhog Day (Specially evoked by Cecile. Ironically, it takes place the day before the American holiday of Groundhog Day, which is celebrated on February 2nd.) and Legends of Tomorrow, particularly the Here I Go Again episode.(Being trapped in a comedic time loop.)

Goofs

Candice Patton has a far more subdued response than the rest of the cast to the red lightning death in Barry's nightmare sequence. They all scream and shake while she just slumps over into his arms.

Allegra is awfully free about discussing her secret identity in the open office of CCC Media. 

The Rosewood Hotel Georgia, a notable hotel in Vancouver, is prominently featured in the background shots of downtown Central City.

The episode concludes with the dramatic reveal of a bat-shaped emblem made of red lighting, revealing the mysterious figure backing Captain Boomerang as the Red Death. However, the episode says nothing about this and the symbol only has meaning if you read the Dark Nights: Metal comics featuring the character or heard the news about the character being played by Batwoman actor Javicia Leslie.

Performances

Richard Scott Harmon is engaging as the new Captain Boomerang.

Artistry

The new Captain Boomerang costume is a nice mix of elements from the classic costume (scarf and cap) and the more militarized costume favored by Owen Mercer in the comics.


Flash Facts

This is the first episode where Jesse L. Martin is not part of the opening scroll of recurring characters before the title card and is credited as a Guest Star.

The title card sequence now features Jon Corr's Mark "Chillblaine" Blaine as a series regular, but he does not appear in this episode.

This is the first episode to feature Richard Scott Harmon as Owen Mercer, AKA Captain Boomerang II.

First appearing in Identity Crisis #3 in 2004, Owen Mercer was the illegitimate son of George "Digger" Harkness, the first Captain Boomerang. Owen grew to young adulthood ignorant of his heritage, until his father tracked him down with the assistance of the Calculator. The two bonded briefly just before Digger's death at the hands of Jack Drake. Owen was recruited into the Rogues as the new Captain Boomerang by Captain Cold, but ultimately left them to join Nightwing's Outsiders and Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad. Ironically, he was later killed by the Rogues during the Blackest Night event for killing innocent women and children at the direction of his father's zombie, in a misguided effort to resurrect him.

The Arrowverse version of Owen Mercer is said to be a career criminal who has been in and out of Iron Heights since he was 19. He does not have any known connection to Digger Harkness. He also lacks the limited superspeed that Owen Mercer had in the comics, which enabled him to throw boomerangs fast enough to tag The Flash.

Iris is said to win a Pulitzer for an article titled "Nightmare Under Red Skies." This seems to be a clear nod to how Crisis events in DC Comics always have skies turning red.

The episode ends with the revelation that the brains behind the new Captain Boomerang is an evil speedster whose symbol resembles the Bat-Symbol made of red-lightning. This is the symbol of the Red Death, who first appeared in Dark Days: The Casting #1 - a tie-in to the Dark Nights: Metal event.

The Red Death was an evil version of Bruce Wayne, from the dark universe dubbed Earth -52.  In this world, Bruce Wayne merged with his world's version of Barry Allen, stealing his speed and going insane, killing his enemies while Barry Allen's soul, trapped in the Speed Force, was powerless to do anything but watch.


Technobabble

The Omega Maneuvers apparently involve all of Team Flash ganging up on a single villain.

Chester uses a portable force-field to protect a box full of explosives Tar Pit is trying to destroy.

The new Captain Boomerang is armed with exploding boomerangs, electric boomerangs, a force-field and a teleporter.

Chester detects composite temporal particles surrounding both Iris and Barry. He says this confirms they've been exposed to a tachyon feedback loop.

Chester determines that the device Captain Boomerang keeps stealing is the battery of a Roemer Accelerator, which is a compact and portable version of the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator. He says that Barry's speed interacting with such a device could be create the temporal loop.

The battery Captain Boomerang stole as being made of quantum-based micro circuitry. 

On Day 3, Chester tries to reverse engineer the photon relays of the battery. 

Chester detects a fusion signature inside the Roemer Accelerator, determining that Captain Boomerang planted a tactile nuke inside the device.

Dialogue Triumphs

The Flash: (To Tar Pit) Welcome back. Let's do this. One last time.

The Flash: Hey there! You must be new in town!  I'm The Flash.  And you are?
Captain Boomerang: Your worst nightmare, dumbass. And please - you can call me Captain.
(Mercer holds his coat open too show off the rows of boomerangs.)

(Iris just realized that the timeline is messed up.)
Iris: Barry, what did you do this time?

The Flash: Captain Boomerang, right? Didn't we do this already?
Captain Boomerang: Nope. And since you know who I am, I'm sure you're aware that I'm your worst nightmare.
(Mercer holds his coat open too show off the rows of boomerangs.)
The Flash: You said the same thing yesterday.
Captain Boomerang: Dumbass, we just met. Just now. Let's skip to the fighting part so I can cut that stupid look off your face.
(Mercer throws his boomerangs at The Flash, who easily dodges them. In the middle of all this, Iris calls him on his cowl radio.)
Iris: Barry, did you time-travel us?
The Flash: If I did, it wasn't on purpose!

Captain Boomerang: There is one thing you don't know about me - I always have a comeback!

Continuity

This episode takes place on Wednesday February 1, 2023.  It is said to be one week after the events of 820.

The opening sequence finds Team Flash fighting Tar Pit, who last appeared in 212. Frost, Chester, Allegra, Cecile, Joe and Iris all join Barry in the fight.

Barry realizes the opening fight sequence is a dream after noticing that Frost is still alive. This confirms that whatever happened to Caitlin in 820 did not bring Frost back.

Everyone except Barry dies of apparent brain hemorrhages after red lighting sparks in their eyes. 

Barry tells Iris to "just say yes" before going to work. 

Joe and Chester are training Cecile in using her telepathy by throwing footballs through a tire.  Cecile has the strength to manage this task easily, but lacks fine control. 

Cecile's telekinesis is strong enough to a glass beer mug with a thrown football.

Cecile senses something wrong when she tells Joe she's excited about being the muscle of Team Flash.

Allegra tells Iris about the events of 817 - specifically, how Taylor, Vanya and Aariz now know about her powers and how she and Taylor are no longer fighting.

Taylor is working on an ad-free portal for the CCC Media website, but complains to Iris about the filing system needing to be fixed.

Allegra surprises Iris with the news that she had a meeting with Cat Grant, who wants to buy CCC Media and turn it into a subsidiary of CatCo Worldwide Media. Cat Grant reportedly offered them a blank check and said all Iris had to do was "just say yes."

Allegra notes that Nora and Bart said Iris would eventually build her own giant media empire and win a Pulitzer Prize.  She thinks this may be what sets her on that path.

Iris says she will get back to Allegra and that she left her phone at home, clearly nervous about the deal.

Barry is called into the office of Captain Kramer.  He immediately puts his name up for the recently vacated position of Director of CCPD's CSI department. Kramer is stunned by this, as the position literally just became open. She is concerned, however, that Barry won't be able to balance the work load and being The Flash. Barry convinces her it won't be a problem and she agrees to recommend him to the mayor.

The Flash is summoned to deal with the robbery of a Kord Industries truck.

The robber reveals himself to be the new Captain Boomerang. Chester and Allegra identify him as an ex-con named Owen Mercer.

Mercer makes his escape after putting up a forcefield that Barry runs into and teleporting away with a component stolen from the device inside the Kord Industries truck.

Barry is oddly undisturbed about Captain Boomerang escaping and tells Chester and Allegra than can deal with him tomorrow. It is later revealed that this is because he knew he didn't catch the new Captain Boomerang the first day they fought him.

The device Captain Boomerang disassembled sparks after Barry leaves the crime scene.

As they are getting ready for bed, Iris asks Barry if he knew about the CatCo offer.  Barry says that he did and reveals his map book charting the future that leads to XS and Impulse being the way they are.

The map book says that Sue Dearbon will become the richest woman in the world in 2024 after buying Big Belly Burger and forcing them to shift to a plant-based menu.

The map book also says that Iris wins her first Pulitzer in 2023 for an article titled "Nightmare Under Red Skies." This could foreshadow a coming Crisis event.

Iris is upset by Barry trying to map out the future and not letting their future together be a surprise.

Barry tells Iris about how he keeps having nightmares about failing to keep her and their family and friends safe and the map book is his way of making sure they get the future they are meant to have.

Barry tells Iris that she is going to get pregnant with Nora in three months (May 2023) and will go on to win two Pulitzers.

Barry makes reference to the Mirror Dimension from The Flash season 7 and the battle with Despero and Iris' time sickness from The Flash season 8.

Pink particles float around Iris and Barry as they go to sleep that night.

When Barry and Iris wake up, it is still February 1, 2023.  Neither of them notice this, however.

Iris does not notice that Allegra is repeating the same news she gave her "yesterday" until she starts talking about the blank check from Cat Grant. Allegra is confused by Iris knowing what she is going to say before she says it.

Barry doesn't notice that time is looping until he is called into Captain Kramer's office. However, his confusion over thinking she was already recommending him for the CSI Director job causes her to reconsider the recommendation since he is clearly overworked.

Barry tries throwing lightning at Captain Boomerang the second time they fight, which triggers an explosion that seems to kill Barry... until he wakes up in bed next to Iris. This causes them to figure out they are stuck in a time loop.

Chester figures out that the Kord Industries tech interacting with Barry's speed is what is causing the time loop.

Barry borrows the key component Captain Boomerang stole so Chester can analyze it.

Chester's efforts to test the component on Day 3 causes an explosion that kills him and Barry.

Chester blows himself and Barry up again on Day 4.

By Day 18, Barry has Chester wearing an armored suit and tells him not to touch the battery at all.  This time, Barry blows them up with a Speed Force spark accidentally starts the explosion.

On Day 19, Iris is up before Barry wakes and is drinking wine for breakfast. She tells Barry that she's decided to enjoy herself since it probably won't matter.

Iris reveals that she's refused to say yes to the CatCo deal every single day since they got stuck in the loop.

Barry suggests that Iris defying the map book is what caused the time loop instead of the Roemer Accelerator theft. Iris doesn't care , however, saying that if the choice is doing what some book tells her to do or just having fun being trapped in the same day with no consequences, she'll happily be stuck in the same day forever.

Iris tells Barry that being bounced around in time was her worst nightmare and that is why she's come to love being able to live in time normally over the past week and is afraid to let anything control what she does, good or bad.

Barry winds up running around the entire city with his map book trying to clear his head. He winds up at Joe's house, just as he and Cecile are getting ready to have dinner.

Barry shows Joe the map book.  He reads an entry which says that Barry and Iris will eventually move into his house.  Nora will chip a tooth on the staircase and Bart will say his first word on the same couch they are sitting on.

Joe tells Barry that Iris may be safe in the future he is creating, but it says nothing about if she is happy with it or how it comes about.

Barry decides to burn the map book, agreeing with Iris they should let the future come as it will and just trust that things will work out.

On Day 20, Iris and Barry decide to spend the day together and just have fun with the loop. This leads to Barry going with Iris to work and handing out bagels.

Iris decides that, rather than take the offer from Cat Grant, she is going to get a loan from Sue Dearbon, buy the Coast City Gazette, and use that to start her empire on her own terms rather than as part of Cat Grant's network.

Iris and Barry spend the next few hours enjoying a pool and tropical drinks somewhere.

Iris goes with Barry to his meeting with Captain Kramer and helps convince her to give him the recommendation for the Director job.

This time, Iris goes with Barry to fight Captain Boomerang, shooting him with an energy gun while he's distracted by Barry making fun of him.

Captain Boomerang still escapes by teleporting.

Rather than try to move the accelerator, Barry uses his powers to phase the nuclear explosion through the city until it dissipates. 

Allegra and Chester kiss for the first time in sheer joy that they didn't get blown up.

Barry says they went through the time loop 58 times.

Iris takes a phone call from Sue Dearbon. She confirms that Iris now owns the Coast City Gazette and it is part of her company.

Allegra asks how a thug like Mercer is suddenly a tech genius and where he got access to a teleporter and high-tech boomerangs. Joe says Mercer must be working with someone who is the brains to his brawn.

Barry and Iris decide to take a "baby-moon adventure" since they never really got to have the classic newlywed phase.

Cecile successful throws a football through a tire with her mind for the first time.

Cecile asks Joe why he feels anxious and he says he's feeling the need to get out of Central City.

Barry runs to STAR Labs after receiving a signal from Caitlin's cell phone. He is greeted by a strange woman who looks like Caitlin, but with dark blue streaks in her hair. She apologizes for scaring Barry, but says she is not Frost or Caitlin.

In the post-credits scene, Captain Boomerang delivers the battery to a mysterious figure and trades it for a case full of more trick boomerangs. The figure, who looks like a living shadow with red lightning sparks inside it, is a speedster who leaves red lightning behind as they run. The episode ends with a bat emblem made of red lightning - the symbol of the Red Death.

Location

Central City - February 1, 2023 and February 2, 2023. 


Untelevised Adventures

It is said that Barry and Iris have been on vacation for the past week.

Allegra has an off-camera meeting with Cat Grant regarding selling CCC Media.


The Boomerang Factor

Averted with style by the new Captain Boomerang, who is competent and capable.


The Bottom Line

A welcome return to form in most respects. The Red Death reveal doesn't work that well, thanks to all the spoilers about who they will eventually turn out to be, but it is more than made up for by the shock of Danielle Panabaker's new role.

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.