The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 23 - Finish Line

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



Plot

The Speed Force Bazooka has failed and Iris West is dead. Now, Team Flash struggles to move past their grief to find some way of stopping Savitar before he kills again.


Influences

The Flash: Terminal Velocity (Savitar, The Flash trying to save the life of the woman he loves after witnessing a dark future), The Flash: Out Of Time (The Flash fighting a corrupted future version of himself), The Flash: Lightning Strikes Twice (the Speed Force storms at the end of the episode) and Doctor Who (general wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey shenanigans and the use of the phrase Reverse The Polarity Of The Neutron Flow)


Goofs

Why didn't Savitar go chasing after HR and Iris himself? Even without the armor, he's got to be faster than Killer Frost.

Why doesn't Barry try to run HR to the hospital? If he's hanging on long enough to explain what he did and say his goodbyes, there's plenty of time for the Fastest Man Alive to get him to the ER.

How is it that everybody except HR forgets that Barry knowing about their plans is a bad thing?

Given the relative eternity Savitar had to hone his powers and become The God Of Speed, why didn't he also take the time to develop the skills he needed to build a quantum splicer himself?

Harry's speech to Tracy, while well-delivered, turns out to be completely pointless since Tracy doesn't wind up having to do anything for the rest of the episode except be heart-broken.

With Savitar having been removed from existence thanks to Iris not dying, shouldn't The Speed Force trap that contained Savitar also have blinked out of existence since there was no need for it ever to be made?

The one thing missing from this episode?  Jesse Quick. We really needed her to show up again to make this tribute to Season 3 feel complete.


Performances

It's hard to say who does a better job playing multiple versions of the same character here - Grant Gustin or Tom Tom Cavanagh,

After being given precious little to do this season, Candice Patton makes up for it here.


Artistry

The image of Barry outrunning the exploding Philosopher's Stone while carrying Iris is a striking one.


Flash Facts

Barry makes reference to begging his parents to take him to a science expo in Midway City as a child.  In the DC Comics Universe, Midway City was home to the Silver Age Hawkman and Hawkwoman. Depending on the story, it was either in Illinois and was based on Chicago (in much the same way Metropolis was based on New York City) or was located in Michigan, near Sault Ste. Marie.

Savitar makes reference to a villain named Devoe that Barry has yet to face, whose defeat required the use of a cerebral inhibitor. This is likely a reference to Cliff Devoe a.k.a. The Thinker - a Golden Age super-villain and enemy of the Jay Garrick Flash. Devoe was the District Attorney of Keystone City and - frustrated with his inability to put a major crime-boss away -  decided to switch sides. He offered his skills as a strategist to other criminals, eventually coming to head his own gang. He also took possession of a device he called The Thinking Cap, which further enhanced his intelligence and gave him the powers of telepathy and telekinesis.

In assessing the damage at STAR Labs, Cisco asks Wally to "reverse the polarity on the neutron flow". This is close to a stock phrase, "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow", which was used in a good deal of science-fiction television.

The phrase was first used in the original Doctor Who series and was said by The Third Doctor actor Jon Pertwee. Writer Terrence Dicks recalled that Pertwee had trouble remembering some of the technobabble the writers came up with but he did like the line "reverse the polarity" and asked Dicks to use the line more often. Dicks obliged. Curiously, while The Third Doctor often said "reverse the polarity", he only uttered the full phrase "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" twice in the show's history. Future Doctors, however, did make use of the full phrase.


Technobabble

Julian - with the help of Caitlin's mother - develops an experimental gene therapy that will rewrite Caitlin's meta-DNA and restore her to normal.

Savitar asks Vibe to turn the Speed Force Bazooka into a intradimensonal quantum splicer. This device, once connected to The Speed Force, will allow Savitar to splice himself across all of time, existing at every possible moment.

Savitar refers to a device called a cerebral inhibitor that was used to stop a villain named Devoe.

By changing the polarity of the climbing arc on The Speed Force Bazooka, Cisco changed it into a Speed Force Skeleton Key which retrieved Jay Garrick from the prison in The Speed Force.

Cisco asks Wally, in trying to access the damage at STAR Labs following the Earthquake, to reverse the polarity on the neutron flow.

The earthquakes recorded by Central City University measured 6.6 and 7.2 on the Richter Scale.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry pulls up the future newspaper image in the Time Vault. It has changed back to how it originally was, with Iris-West Allen writing the story about The Flash's disappearance.)
Iris: Iris West-Allen.
Barry: It changed back!
(Iris gasps as the two hug. Joe looks at the image in disbelief.)
Joe: Does that mean what I think it means?
Barry: Yeah, Joe. The future is ours again.
(Barry pulls Joe into a group hug with Iris.)

(Savitar staggers as he has flashes of new memories. He begins to slowly and uneasily walk away from where Killer Frost has Vibe pinned down.)
Killer Frost: Savitar?
Savitar: (frantically) Something's...wrong!
Killer Frost: What is it?
Savitar: She's... not dead.
(Vibe looks up, hope starting to fill his face.)
Killer Frost: How is that possible?
Savitar: HR!  He took her place!
Vibe: (softly) HR...
Killer Frost: I- I thought you said HR lived?
Savitar: Not anymore!
Killer Frost: (thoughtfully) If Iris doesn't die...
Vibe: ... that means the future's changing.
Savitar: (moving towards Vibe) So is yours!

Barry: I wasn't sure you'd come. Must be an odd sensation? Getting new memories? You having an uncertain future.
Savitar: What do you want? I'm busy.
Barry: (laughs) Doing what? Getting erased from existence?
Savitar: We'll see which one of us gets erased.
Barry: Are you still planning on becoming a god?
Savitar: Cisco and Caitlin are still alive. If that's what you're worried about.
Barry: Oh, I know. You need them, right? To pull off your grand ascension?
Savitar: Look, Barry - if I wanted to talk to myself, I could have done that back at my lair. What do you want?
Barry: I want to help you.
Savitar: (scoffs) Really?
Barry: You don't have much time before the paradox reaches you. Come back to STAR Labs. Let Cisco and Caitlin go and let us figure out a way to save you.
Savitar: You really think I'd trust you?
Barry: You showed up. So you remember me coming here. Did I have any tricks up my sleeve? Was I.. was I planning on blindsiding you?
Savitar: I dunno, Barry. Maybe I get off on watching you grovel.
Barry: No, I don't think that's it. I think you're hearing me. I'm still in there. Deep down, buried beneath the scars and the pain, that part of you that... it must feel so lonely. But it also knows what it's like to have a family. To have friends. You can have all that back.We can stop hurting each other.
(There is a long pause as Savitar seems to consider this. Barry finally speaks again.)
Barry: I remember when I was six, and ah...I begged Mom and Dad to let me go to the science expo in Midway. And uh, well. we got a flat tire on that dirt road, no spare, so we were towed to that garage in a tiny little one-street town. Of course we were stuck there all day. And we got ice cream. And French fries with gravy at that little diner. And then that night we watched the local fireworks show.  Actually turned out to be a great day. And it's my favorite memory of Mom and Dad. What was the name of that town?
Savitar: (quietly) ... Masonville.
Barry: I'm still in there. Come home.

(Tracy is in her lab space at STAR Labs. Harry Wells enters behind her. Tracy sees his reflection, and spins around, gasping.)
Harry: I - uh, I'm not HR. My name is Harrison Wells. I'm from a different Earth.. in the Multiverse... how to explain this?
Tracy: ... you're his doppelganger?
Harry: ... yeah. Something like that. Look - these people? They're good people. And they need your help.
Tracy: By helping the bad guy that I spent weeks trying to stop? No! I won't do it. The only reason I agreed was because of HR.
Harry: HR needs your help.
Tracy: HR is dead!
Harry: That's why you need to stay! Because of what Savitar took from you! Because of what Savitar took from HR! Everything! HR paid the price that he did because he loved these people. Because he loved you. And because when the moment came, HR didn't run.

(Killer Frost blasts Savitar with the gun that Cisco made. Energy arcs between the gun, Savitar and the portal into The Speed Force. Suddenly, the energy shifts and Savitar, who momentarily seemed to be splitting into infinite versions of himself, is suddenly quite solid and held by the beam.)
Savitar: What?! No!
(Suddenly, a streak of yellow lightning comes from the portal and circles around, knocking Savitar down. Killer Frost drops the gun in shock as Jay Garrick - The Flash of Earth Three - comes to a stop before her, smiling.)
Jay Garrick: I've been waiting a long time to do that.
Savitar: Garrick?!  How did you-
Vibe: He didn't. I did.
(Vibe enters the scene with The Flash, Kid Flash and Gypsy. Vibe is holding Jay Garrick's helmet, which he tosses to him.) 
Vibe: By changing the polarity of the climbing arc, I changed your Speed Force Splicer into a Speed Force Skeleton Key. Didn't think I was actually going to let you become a god now, did you?

(Savitar charges at Barry, whose back is turned to him as he approaches Caitlin and Cisco. Suddenly, a shot rings out as Savitar falls to the ground. Everyone turns to see Iris West, holding a gun. Savitar stars to crumble into nothing as everyone looks at his body. Barry then moves to Iris, who hugs him.)
Iris: All these months you were trying to save me from him. Look at that - I saved you.

(Iris reaches to one side of the couch and pulls up a box.)
Iris: I can officially mail these.
Barry: What are these?
Iris: Save The Date cards for our wedding. On one of my braver days, I filled them out. I never mailed them not knowing if I would live to see the.ceremony... but now, I guess, it's safe to -
(There's a sudden rush of air as Barry disappears along with the box of invitations. He arrives back two seconds later, smiling widely.)
Barry: Delivered.
Iris: (slapping his shoulder) I wasted a lot of money on stamps, thank you very much!


Continuity

After Iris was captured, HR used the piece of Savitar's armor they still had from 316 to track him and find where Iris was being held. He then used his hologram generator to make himself look like Iris, and vice-versa, allowing Iris to escape while HR was captured in her place.

Before he dies, HR asks Barry to tell Cisco something for him. He also tells Tracy that he loves her and that her future will be glorious.

Barry confirms that the future newspaper story about his disappearing on April 25, 2024 is once again written by Iris West-Allen.

Julian is revealed to have been working on a cure for Caitlin with Caitlin's mother.

Savitar reveals that his Plan B was using Cisco to build a device that would allow him to spread himself across the whole of time. His claims his reason for kidnapping Caitlin was to use her as leverage in getting Cisco to work for him.

Harry Wells is retrieved from Earth Two to convince Tracy to help save Savitar.

Savitar refers to the medical lab at STAR Labs as being the place where they thought up the cerebral inhibitor they used against a villain named Devoe. He then states that they haven't gotten to that point yet.

Gypsy sensed that Cisco was in danger from across the Multiverse because they are connected.

The one thing The Black Flash cannot fight, according to Savitar, is cold. This is the true reason why Savitar kept Killer Frost around - to kill The Black Flash before it could stop him.

Vibe ultimately shows Killer Frost mercy and offers her the cure to her condition. Killer Frost then saves Vibe when Savitar is about to kill him for ruining his plan.

Barry is able to vibrate through Savitar's armor and knock him out of it, taking control of it. When Barry is in the armor, it glows red rather than blue.

Barry destroys Savitar's armor by vibrating through it.

Savitar is ultimately killed by Iris, who shoots him as he is about to try and kill Barry.

HR is buried with a tombstone with a statement that is often mistakenly attributed to Mark Twain - "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." (Thanks to JeffRo for pointing out that Mark Twain never said this.)

Barry, Wally, Joe, Iris, Tracy, Jay, Harry, Julian, Cisco and Gypsy all attend HR's funeral.

Iris tells a story about John Lennon at HR's funeral. The story goes that, as a child, Lennon was asked by a teacher to write down what he wanted to be when he grew up. Lennon wrote a single word. "Happy." The teacher told Lennon that he didn't understand the assignment. Lennon told the teacher that they didn't understand life.  HR Wells, Iris concludes, did understand life. (It is worth mentioning that there is no evidence that John Lennon ever said this. Thanks to JeffRo for pointing this out.)

Cisco leaves HR's drumsticks on his grave.

At HR's funeral, Barry tells Cisco what HR's message to him was "That doing this took strength that he gave to me."

Caitlin shows up at the end of the funeral. She returns the cure to Julian, saying that she's not Caitlin Snow or Killer Frost and she needs time alone to figure out who or what she is now.

Iris refers to the song Barry sang to her in 317 and they agree it should be the song for their first dance as husband and wife at their wedding.

Central City does not experience earthquakes.

Jay and Barry realize that the storms causing the Earthquakes are being caused by the release of the energy from The Speed Force Trap. Someone has to go back into it to balance the energy and - it is revealed - The Speed Force wants Barry.

The Speed Force manifests to Barry in the form of his mother.

Barry asks Wally to carry on for him as The Flash.

HR agrees to stay on Earth One to help out.

Julian agrees to stick with Team Flash as well.

Barry says Cisco will have to be the one to lead the team now.


The Fridge Factor

Averted hardcore, with Iris being the one to save Barry from Savitar after a season of being the damsel in distress.


The Bottom Line

Much like Season 3 itself, it's a mixed bag made more tolerable by some fantastic performances. The most vexing part is the lack of some of the best bits of the season (i.e. Danielle Pannabaker as Killer Frost is largely sidelined for most of the episode and Jesse Quick is completely absent) while bits that didn't really work at all (i.e. Gypsy's "romance" with Cisco) are given a prominence that doesn't feel deserved.

I may stand alone on this, but I felt more grieved by the loss of Tracy and HR's love than I did Barry and Iris' separation at the end of this episode. Is that because we know that this loss is temporary and that Barry has to return, if only because we have a newspaper from the future that says so?  Maybe.  Either way, this season finale wasn't bad but it could have been a lot better.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 20 - I Know Who You Are

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





Plot

Barry, Cisco and the rest of Team Flash seek out Tracy Brand - the physicist Barry's future self said would one day help him to trap Savitar in The Speed Force. Unfortunately, Killer Frost is looking for her as well, promising a battle between the former friends. Meanwhile, Joe's ponders his relationship with Cecile and how it can grow with half of his life hidden from her.


Influences

The Terminator (a future threat tries to kill the woman who is destined to bring about his downfall, name-dropped by Tracy Brand) and The Flash: Out of Time by Robert Venditti (basic idea for Savitar's identity),


Goofs

As showy and impressive as it is, why did Killer Frost freeze HR's drink - a trick showing more fine control of her powers than she's ever shown before - when all it did was tip him off that she was close? (Caitlin's influence trying to warn him?)

After taking Tracy to STAR Labs, Barry asks Joe why he hasn't told Cecile about Team Flash. Given that all of the events of the episode take place in one night (we know this because Cecile says that she told Joe that she loved him that morning whens he visits him at his house later) when has Joe had time to talk to Cecile?


Performances

The chemistry between Anne Dudek and Tom Cavanagh is brilliant and salvages what might be an otherwise creepy subplot with HR hitting on a woman under severe duress.

Carlos Valdes and Tom Felton do a good job playing off of each other, exploding the underdeveloped dynamic between Cisco and Julian.

Jesse L. Martin is a treasure. Not a lot else needs to be said.


Artistry

The sequence in which Barry saves Tracy Brand from Killer Frost's attack in the lab is a new high-mark for the show's excellent slow-motion effects work.

Ignoring that Killer Frost really should not be able to out-pace The Flash on ice-slides, the chase sequence looks amazing.


Flash Facts

In this episode, Killer Frost shows the ability to create ice-slides - bridges of frozen water on which she can move at great speed. Ironically, while this ability is often utilized by ice-manipulating heroes and villains in comic books (Iceman from The X-Men being the most famous example.) no version of Killer Frost in the comics made use of this ability. This may have been due to the pre-New 52 Killer Frosts being heat-vampires rather than an ice-creating elemental. The Killer Frost in the Justice League cartoon, however, did have the ability to create ice slides.

While not creating ice-slides, the Killer Frosts in the classic comics did have the ability to fly - presumably by using cold air to provide lift or through some latent telekinetic ability that also allowed them to shape and manipulate the ice they created by draining the heat from objects.

At one point Tracy Brand compares herself to Sarah Connor in The Terminator. Cisco corrects her and says she's more like Miles Dyson. In the Terminator mythology, Miles Dyson is the scientist who creates the neural-net processor that leads to the development of Skynet - the artificial intelligence that tries to take over the world but is defeated by John Connor, son of Sarah Connor.

"Eppur si muove" is Italian for "And yet it moves." As HR notes, this statement is attributed to the astronomer Galileo who reportedly said this phrase after being forced to recant his research which proved that The Earth moved around The Sun rather than the reverse, which was the accepted dogma of the Roman Catholic Church at the time. Since then, the phrase has become a rallying cry for scientists whose research is held back or decried by political or religious pressure.

Tracy theorizes that Savitar's armor is made of a theoretical substance capable of dispersing heat at high temperatures. This sounds remarkably similar to how - in the modern The Flash comics - Wally West was able to create a costume of pure Speed Force through sheer force of will to protect him from the effects of friction and static build-up.

The concept of Barry Allen having to fight a future corrupted version of himself lies at the center of the New 52 Flash story Out Of Time.


Technobabble

Tracy Brand's dissertation was on the purely suppositional nature of extra-dimensional energy. Barry tells her - not realizing she hasn't talked with anyone about her hypothesis yet - that her work on relativistic quantum mechanics and its application to interspatial theory to manipulate matter on a sub-atomic level is groundbreaking.

Barry is able to use a spark of his speed lightning to ignite a gas torch as a weapon against Killer Frost.

Tracy Brand's theories of quantum mechanics involve ideas of wave-particle duality, quantization of energy and time- symmetric formulation of quantum theory and how the boundary conditions lead to principle causality and the psychological arrow of time.

Tracy Brand studied speedsters and theorized the idea of The Speed Force's existence based on the energy produced by a speedster in motion being more than they could generate through sheer kinetics. She theorizes this energy could be manipulated or controlled... perhaps even turned into a prison of sorts.

Barry's costume is made of vulcanized Teflon. It neutralizes any electron imbalance and prevents the friction of Barry's movements from generating a lethal dose of static charge.

"Eppur si muove" is Italian for "And yet it moves."

Tracy Brand notes that the way light reflects off of Savitar's armor is unlike any metallic compound she's ever seen.

In Fermi liquid theory, any sort of non-Fermi liquid is called "strange metal". This is a theoretical compound capable of dispersing heat at high temperatures.

Tracy theorizes that Savitar moves so fast that he needs his armor - which is made of this "strange metal" to neutralize the charge that builds up around him.  This seems to be like Barry's vulcanized Teflon costume, but on a much larger scale.

Tracy further theorizes that without the suit, Savitar would just be a man with a major case of static cling. She also guesses that Savitar's own velocity could be used against him with the right device and he could be trapped in The Speed Force.


Dialogue Triumphs

HR: So our hopes of defeating an evil speed god hinge on a grad student?
Barry: Yep.
HR: ... could be worse.

(The window in the door of Tracy Brand's lab ices over and shatters. Killer Frost enters.)
Killer Frost: Admission here is so easy.

(Barry has been knocked down by one of Killer Frost's blasts. Cisco nervously approaches her.)
Cisco: So... you've gone full-on Killer Frost, huh? New threads and everything.
Killer Frost: No more pencil-skirts for me.
Cisco: (raising his hands defensively) I don't want to hurt you.
Killer Frost: You won't. But I will hurt her.

Tracy:You're interested in my theories on quantum mechanics?
HR: Your ideas of wave-particle duality. Your quantization of energy. And your time-symmetric formulation of quantum theory. And -
(Cut to the STAR Labs portable lab van, where Cisco and Julian are manning the station. Cisco is talking into a walkie-talkie.)
Cisco: - how the boundary conditions lead to principle causality and the psychological arrow of time.
HR: ... and the psychological arrow of time.
Tracy: You really know your stuff!
HR: Well... je suis... smart.
Cisco: (over HR's ear-piece) Lay off the French. And lay off the improv too, please?

(Team Flash explains to Tracy why Killer Frost is trying to kill her.)
Joe: We know it's a lot to take in.
Tracy: Well, to be fair you're basically telling me I'm Sarah Connor in Terminator.
Everyone Except Tracy: Wellll...
Cisco: More like Miles Dyson.

Julian: Caitlin could be home now. Had you stopped her, she would be here. But you didn't! You couldn't! Tell me why!
Cisco: Because I'm afraid!
Julian: Afraid of what?!
Cisco: Afraid of killing her! (holding up his hands) I'm walking around with two loaded guns here, ready to go off. I mean, what if she's hurting Barry or Joe or you? And I have to save you and I can't control my powers and I end up killing her?! She's my best friend. And I rather it be me than her.

Tracy: How did you know I was here?
HR: (clears throat) I may have done a bit of holographic stalking. I stalked you. Holographically.
Tracy: You mean, in the future, I'm still obsessed with a 500 year old Italian polymath?
HR: (laughs) It would appear so.

The Flash: I know who you are.
Savitar: It's about time.
The Flash: Yes, it is. Everything with you is about time, isn't it? The past? The present? The future? You know all of it, right? And you know everything about me! About Joe! About Wally!  And Iris?! You know our strengths. You know our fears. You know how much we love each other. And you know how to use that love against us. All this time we thought we couldn't stop you because you were one step ahead. But that's not it! You don't just know what's going to happen to us. You were there. You lived it. You remember... when you were me!
(Savitar kneels down and his armor begins to unfold. Out of it steps a somewhat familiar figure.  The hair is longer and dirtier and the face is scarred... but it's clearly Barry Allen)
Savitar: Like I told you.from the beginning.. I am the Future Flash.


Continuity

According to the data from Future Barry, Tracy Brand will win the 2021 Nobel Prize, The Copley Medal and a Presidential commendation.

In 2021, Tracy Brand develops the technology that traps Savitar in The Speed Force.

During the events of this episode, Wally is on Earth Three visiting Jesse Quick.

In 2017, Tracy Brand is a graduate student enrolled in Central City University's theoretical physics program. She failed her dissertation and is in the process of burning her notes when Barry, Cisco and HR find her.

On Earth 19, the great physicist Einstein's first name was Norbert. Not Albert.

On Earth 19, the fried potato snack Americans call Fries and the British are Chips are called Finger Chips.

HR's drink of choice at CC Jitter's is a triple-shot no-whip mocha Flash.

Tracy Brand's drink of choice is on the CC Jitter's secret menu. It is called The Zoom - triple espresso with a shot of cayenne.

Team Flash wipes the security footage at Central City University to protect Caitlin's identity.

Team Flash tells Tracy Brand about her future and that her theories regarding The Speed Force are right.

HR claims to have written a book of motivational speeches on Earth 19 - All's Wells That Ends Wells.

The Galileo of Earth 19 also coined the phrase"Eppur si muove".

HR is familar with the writings of Galileo and knew that there is a statue of him in one of Central City's parks. It is because of this that he recognizes the landmark in one of Tracy's photos from the future.

Joe dumps Cecile just before she is taken hostage by Killer Frost.

Killer Frost is able to repeat the exact words Barry is going to use as he tries to talk sense into her. She claims this is because Savitar knows what Barry did in his past and told her what Barry said.

Savitar tells Barry that the time of his ascension is almost about to happen.

Cisco takes a blood sample of Killer Frost while she's fully mutated. Julian thinks he can use that to reverse engineer a permanent cure for her condition.

The team notes that Savitar rescued Caitlin rather than kill Tracy Brand, indicating that he needs Caitlin for something.

Joe takes off his wedding ring and tells Cecile that he loves her, promising there will be no more secrets between them. We later learn that he told Cecile about Barry and Wally's secret identities and his work at STAR Labs.

Barry figures out that Savitar is a corrupted future version of himself.


Untelevised Adventures

We don't get to see HR's talk with Tracy and how he convinces her to try and help Team Flash build a speed trap for Savitar.


The Bottom Line

Flawless. Absolutely flawless.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 18 - Abra Kadabra

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




Plot

Gypsy returns from Earth 19 in pursuit of another dimension-hopping criminal - one from the 64th century, armed with advanced technology that may as well be magic by the standards of 21st Century Earth One. Calling himself Abra Kadabra, the fugitive seems to harbor a grudge against The Flash and knows far more about him than he should. Still, he is willing to tell Barry all about Savitar in exchange for his freedom...


Influences

The Flash comics of John Broome and Mark Waid. Caitlin invokes Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law. Back To The Future is name-dropped by Cisco. Caitlin's transformation into Killer Frost in the final scene resembles the transformation of dead humans into Wights in Game of Thrones.


Goofs

The office building we see in the opening scene is labeled as belonging to Stagg Industries. In Season One, Simon Stagg's company was Stagg Enterprises. (Possibly he had two companies in his name? Or maybe this was changed by Flashpoint?)

Caitlin's discovery that she's been impaled on a pipe looks more goofy than horrific.

Iris can't seem to decide if she's confident in Barry's ability to save her or not. I swear that it changes from episode to episode whether she is refusing to worry about the future or is desperate to do anything to avert her fate.


Performances

David Dastmalchian proves a perfect Abra Kadabra, finding the perfect balance of smug smarm and showmanship essential to the character.

While I regret the writers' apparent need to give Caitlin a romantic subplot every season, the chemistry between Tom Felton and Danielle Panabaker in this episode is fantastic and they're easily the most convincing couple out of all the romances on the show... which makes the final scene all the more painful.


Artistry

While the show generally does a fantastic job with its slow-time CGI, the sequence in which Kadabra releases hundreds of playing cards into the air as a smokescreen looks particularly well-done.

Between the tense direction, all of the ensemble performances and the pitch-perfect music, everything in the surgery scene works together perfectly.

The final scene - with its use of silence apart from the sound of the heart-monitor as Caitlin dies - is similarly powerful.


Flash Facts

The opening scene takes place at Stagg Industries' building in Central City. In the comics, Stagg Industries is the business of Simon Stagg, who was the chief nemesis of the the superhero Metamorpho.

The DCTVU version of Simon Stagg was killed by Eobard Thawne in the second episode of The Flash's first season.

Stagg Enterprises  was mentioned twice before on Arrow. In the sixth episode of Arrow's first season, Laurel Lance said they were the single largest donor to her legal clinic. In the tenth episode of Arrow Season One, a Stagg Enterprises chemical factory in Starling City was the target of one of Firefly's attacks.

First appearing in The Flash #123 (May 1962), Abra Kadabra is one of The Flash's deadliest foes. Born Citizen Abra in the far future of the 64th Century, he became obsessed with stage magic and illusion at a young age. Unfortunately, science had advanced to the point where the amusements of slight-of-hand magic were passe and Abra could not make a living at his chosen craft. Stealing a time machine prototype, Abra went back in time, armed with a variety of "tricks", to where he thought he might find a more appreciative audience. His efforts to force an audience to applaud him using mind-control technology would gain the attentions of The Flash, who went on to defeat him again and again, as Abra became obsessed with proving his power and gaining true magic powers.

After Wally West took over the mantle of The Flash from Barry Allen in the comics, Abra became obsessed with destroying the new Flash or otherwise making him miserable. This was due to Wally West being the hero who would ultimately defeat Abra at some point in The Future. This grudge has continued even into the Rebirth universe, where Abra Kadabra was the main villain of the first storyline in the Titans series.

The DCTVU version of Abra Kadabra seems true to the original comic form, save for the fact that he comes from an alternate Earth. Gypsy confirms that he's from the 64th century and that they think he has some kind of nanotechnology built into his body which allow him to perform a number of "tricks" including teleportation and telekinesis.

In what seems to be a nod to Abra Kadabra's grudge against Wally West in the comics, Kadabra has a grudge against Barry and he confirms that the two are great enemies in the future, despite this being the first time Barry has met Kadabra and the episode ending with Kadabra going to be executed. This indirectly suggests that Kadabra learned of his final fate at some point in his past and turned on The Flash trying to avert it.

Abra Kadabra's second robbery occurs at Kord Industries. In the DC Comics Universe, Kord Industries is the technologies company run by Ted Kord a.k.a. the second Blue Beetle.

The DCTVU version of Kord Industries has been mentioned several times on Arrow. According to Thea Queen, Kord Industries is one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the DCTVU. They also manufacture consumer goods, including "awesome cel phones." They are Palmer Technologies' main business competitor. The Clock King worked for Kord Industries before he turned to crime.

In considering Abra Kadabra's technology, Caitlin invokes Clarke's Third Law - "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke was a British author, inventor and futurist, probably most famous for his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey. Along with Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein, Clarke was considered one of "The Big Three" science-fiction writers of the mid-Twentieth Century.

When naming Barry Allen's greatest enemies, including himself, Thawne, Zoom and Savitar, Abra Kadabra also mentions someone with the last name DeVoe. This is likely a reference to Clifford DeVoe a.k.a. The Thinker.

Created by John Broome for All-Flash #12 (Fall 1943), The Thinker was an enemy of the Jay Garrick Flash. Clifford DeVoe was a failed defense attorney who realized that most of the criminals he represented had the skills to commit various crimes but lacked the intelligence to plan their heists efficiently or to manage an organized criminal empire. He established himself as The Thinker, organizing the small-time crooks of Central City into an organized mob. He also fought against The Flash using advanced technology - some of it stolen and some of it of his own design. Chief among this devices was The Thinking Cap - a helmet which enhanced The Thinker's intelligence and allowed him to project mental force blasts as well as control the minds of others.


Technobabble

Barry notes that, instead of sprinklers, every floor in the Stagg Industries building uses a halon gas system that absorbs all the oxygen in case of fire. Interestingly, the manufacture of new halon-based extinguisher systems have been banned in the USA since 1994 due to halon gas depleting ozone. Several halon systems are still in use in around the country, however, thanks to a grandfather clause that prevented existing systems from needing to be replaced. The halon systems were quite popular in libraries, archives and computer labs where a sprinkler-based extinguisher would risk damaging printed materials and electronics.

Gypsy says they think Abra Kadabra's tricks are powered by nanotechnology implanted into his body. This allows him to accomplished several different tricks, including telekinesis, holograms, explosives and teleportation.

Cisco is able to input search parameters into the STAR Labs' satellite to make it search for anyone in Central City who vibrates at a different frequency than "ordinary Earth One folk". This enables him to locate Abra Kadabra without using his Vibe powers.

Julian finds an odd particulate residue at Stagg Industries. He's not precisely sure what it's made of save that it is organic and has some metallic hydrogen properties. Presumably it's a byproduct of Abra Kadabra's nanotechnology.

Kadabra has some device which enables him to locate Eobard Thawne's hidden Time Vault in STAR Labs and to locate a glowing blue sphere hidden inside of it. This is later revealed to be a futuristic power source.

Cisco says that when Caitlin's metahuman powers activate, her metabolic rate offsets cold tissue destruction. In layman's terms, she can regenerate the damage done to her body.

It is normal for shrapnel to cavitate and displace tissue during surgery. Hemorrhaging can occur if there is too much blood loos.

One piece of shrapnel is wedged between Caitlin's kidney and her inferior vena cava. This part of the body is surrounded by several major blood vessels. Damage to them can cause shock. There is also a tendon, which Julian has to work around.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Two guards walk through a high-tech lab in Stagg Industries.)
Guard #1: Looks like we may need to find a new job. Heard Stagg Industries may be getting bought out.
Guard #2: By who?
Guard #1: Doesn't really matter now, does it? All I know is we've got millions of dollars in tech - (gesturing to an large glass case holding some piece of technology) like whatever that thing is - that no one's using.
(Abra Kadabra emerges from behind the case, seemingly appearing out of thin air.)
Abra Kadabra: Then surely you gentlemen won't mind if I abscond with some of it?
(The two guards draw their guns as Abra Kadabra gestures at the case.)
Abra Kadabra: This piece in particular...
Guard #2: How did you get in here?!
Abra Kadabra: Believe me, that's the least impressive of my tricks.
Guard #1: Hands up, pal! Do it now or I'll shoot! Stop!
(Abra Kadabra ignores him and walks around to the other side of the case. The guards open fire as Abra Kadabra presses his hands against the glass. With a flash of blue light, he is inside the case, which it turns out is quite bulletproof. Abra Kadabra raises his hands like a stage magician who just pulled off an amazing trick before turning his back on the guards and taking the technology. The guards stand there, dumbfounded that their shots failed to penetrate the case.)
Guard #2: How the hell did he do that?
(Abra Kadabra waves his hand and there is another flash of blue light. When it fades, the guards are inside the glass case and Abra Kadabra is on the outside, as the alarms begin to go off and red lights flash.)
Abra Kadabra: Maybe you can figure out how I did it? But I doubt you'll have time...
(Abra Kadabra snaps his fingers and turns away. As he does so, water begins to pour into the case, seemingly from nowhere. The two guards begin to panic as the glass case begins to fill up, the water rising to their waists in seconds...)

(Abra is walking down a staircase, holding a piece of technology, alarms blaring in the background, as The Flash runs up.)
The Flash: I don't think that's yours, pal.
Abra Kadabra: (surprised) Flash?
The Flash: You didn't think I'd want to come meet the newest resident of Iron Heights?
Abra Kadabra: No. I assumed that you'd show. I just didn't expect you to be so young. (grinning as he emphasizes each word) Barry. Allen.
The Flash: Now, how do you know who I am?!
Abra Kadabra: (taking a handkerchief from his sleeve) I'm from the future!

(The Flash looks at him in disbelief. As Abra speaks, he drapes the handkerchief over the technology in his other hand.)
Abra Kadabra: You don't believe me? Let's see... uh... 2017? Hmm...how are things going with your doomed love, Iris West? Or your greatest foe... Savitar?

(Abra suddenly jerks the cloth away revealing his hand to be empty.)The Flash: You know Savitar?
Abra Kadabra: I know everything about him. And you. 

(The Flash suddenly runs forward and grabs at Abra's arm. When he slows down, he realizes he is holding a fake mannequin's arm.)

The Flash:  What the-?
(Abra waves a hand in The Flash's face and there's a bright flash of light.  The Flash is blinded as Abra runs for the door. Suddenly, a breach opens and Gypsy emerges, firing a blast of red energy which knocks Abra down as The Flash recovers. Abra stands as well, slipping some playing cards from his sleeve as he does so.)
Abra Kadabra: Gypsy. Still seeking revenge, I see?
Gypsy: I'm gonna get it this time.
Abra Kadabra: We'll see.

(Abra grins as transfers the cards from one hand to the other, fanning them out.)
Gypsy: No!
(The Flash charges forward as Gypsy ducks and covers and the cards suddenly jump into the air, multiplying into a swarm of cards. Barry bats them away but by the time he gets through the cloud of playing cards, Abra Kadabra has vanished again.)

(Flash, Kid Flash, Gypsy and Vibe have Abra Kadabra surrounded.)
Gypsy: You can't out-rick all of us, Kadabra.
(Gypsy and Vibe both fire their blasts at Kadabra. The blasts go through him.)
Abra Kadabra: I think I just did.
(Abra Kadabra fades away in a flash of light, revealed to be a hologram.) 

Caitlin: (To Julian) I was so focused on not hurting you as Killer Frost that I forgot that I could hurt you as Caitlin Snow. And for that I'm very sorry. So I understand if you don't trust me anymore. But maybe you can find it in your heart to forgive me?

Caitlin: I don't need a hospital! All I need is a mirror and a steady set of hands.

Barry: I have nothing to offer you. No reprieve. No escape from what you're facing. You've done some terrible things. But you are still a man. You have a family. Friends. People you care about. Somewhere inside of you there must be a glimmer of hope. It's that part of you that I'm asking... I'm begging... help me save her.
Abra Kadabra: The Flash. Begging. (grinning wickedly) See, here it is. In the future, you and I have been enemies for years. Oh, there have been others, of course. There was Thawne. Zoom. DeVoe. But none of them hurt you like Savitar. He truly broke you. I have to be honest, I was always a little bit jealous. But now... it's like I get to kill her too.
(Abra Kadabra grins with mock cheerfulness as he glances at his handcuffs.)
Abra Kadabra: If you'll excuse me, I have my execution to attend.


Continuity

Stagg Industries/Enterprises - first mentioned in 102 - is seen. The company is apparently in danger of being bought out.

Julian and Caitlin apparently stopped dating in the wake of 315 and the revelation that Caitlin had stolen a piece of The Philosopher's Stone.

Abra Kadabra's powers allow him to block both Cisco and Gypsy's ability to "vibe" his location.

Earth 19 does not have satellites capable of analyzing the vibrational frequencies of people across an entire city. Cisco offers to set Gypsy up with something similar to the STAR Labs set-up.

Cisco refers to the last time he worked with Gypsy and her kissing him in 314.

Abra Kadabra's third robbery is at Mercury Labs, which was last mentioned in 223 after Zoom stole a magnetar from them.

Mercury Labs does not exist on Earth 19.

Abra Kadabra claims that Savitar was the first speedster and that Barry didn't find a way to stop him until after Savitar killed Iris. He also claims to know Savitar's true name.

Julian served as a field medic during his time in the Royal Army. He never performed surgery, however.

Gypsy confirms that she was dating her former partner and that Abra Kadabra killed him three years earlier.

Gypsy theorizes that the technology Abra Kadabra is stealing is being used to build a time machine.

Cisco confirms that all the components Kadabra had been stealing were similar to what he used to build Eobard Thawne's Time Sphere in 123.

Cisco says the only thing he never understood about the Time Sphere was what it used for a power source. This is revealed to be the blue sphere that Kadabra stole from The Time Vault.

Cisco now has such fine control of his powers that he can create a portal to catch a falling Kid Flash and open a second one to let him land safely closer to the ground in a matter of seconds.

Barry is now able to phase through a moving vehicle, grab a figure inside of said vehicle and phase himself and said figure out the other side of the vehicle while - all while in mid-air!

Cisco tells Gypsy that he's not sure how he feels about her in the wake of her refusal to let Abra Kadabra walk - even for a little while - so that they can learn about Savitar's identity.

Gypsy returns to Earth 19 with Abra Kadabra.

Julia says his stitch-work may leave Caitlin with a scar on her stomach. Caitlin says she was never much for wearing two-piece bathing suits anyway. The two of them apparently make amends, with Julian kissing Caitlin.

Barry decides to go into the future to find out information on who Savitar is.

Strawberry Jell-O is Caitlin's favorite flavor.

HR spent the last two days in a romantic tryst with a woman namdd Rhonda.

Lime Jell-O is HR's favorite flavor.

Caitlin's heart stops shortly after HR returns. She flat-lines in the rush to save her and Julian removes the necklace holding her powers in check. Her heart restarts shortly after that and her scar heals. The episode ends with Caitlin's hair and skin having turned white amd her unleashing a blast of ice, having seemingly finally changed into Killer Frost.


Untelevised Adventures

Gypsy refers to Abra Kadabra having killed before on Earth-19 three years earlier and again more recently. It was three years earlier that Abra killed Gypsy's partner/boyfriend.


The Fridge Factor

Powerfully acted though it is, it cannot be denied that Caitlin's injuries here do little but provide angst for the men in her life (especially Julian) and that her becoming evil because of her powers is a load of bull poop.

Again, Iris has no role in this episode but being saved and inspiring Barry.


The Bottom Line

Easily the strongest episode of the season to date and one of the best episodes of The Flash ever.

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 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 12 - Untouchable

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



Plot

A metahuman criminal with a destructive touch has been methodically killing people all around Central City. As Team Flash steps in to deal with him, the killer sets his sites on Joe West. Unfortunately, it's Iris who winds up in the crossfire!


Influences

The Flash comics of Cary Bates and Mark Waid.


Goofs

Iris has undergone a complete 180 since last week, going from being more afraid of not living her life well before dying to being deeply afraid of dying.

How can Joanie Horton say that Kid Flash is the one thing she misses about Central City when Kid Flash first appeared after she left for college?

Why don't the bullets Joe shoots at Clive penetrate his clothes?

While Cisco's idea to use focused cold to slow the decay of Iris' body is brilliant, his analogy is terrible. The decay of bananas is hastened by cold temperatures - not slowed.


Performances

Jesse L. Martin doesn't always get the best-written speeches but damned if he doesn't sell the hell out of Joe's sense of betrayal when he finds out that he wasn't told about Iris's impending death.

Once again, the odd relationship that is slowly developing between Caitlin and Julian is the high-point of the episode's subplots. Kudos to Tom Felton and Danielle Panabaker for two subtle performances.

It's a brief thing, but Keiynan Lonsdale has some great non-verbal reactions in the scene where Kid Flash confronts Clive Yorkin after Barry phases the train.


Artistry

Good special effects on the sequence when Joe shoots at Clive.

There's some great direction and blocking, with reoccurring images of lower arms being gripped - both as a prelude to attack and as a means of comfort.


Flash Facts

The episode opens with Barry and Wally racing each other as part of Wally's training. Speedsters racing each other has a long tradition in the various Flash comics.

In the comics, different speedsters have different tricks they can manage that other speedsters can't. Wally's difficulty in phasing through solid matter is a reference to that. In the original comics, Wally West - at one point - was unable to phase through solid matter without making it explode.

Clive Yorkin first appeared in The Flash #270 (February 1979). A career criminal with multiple life sentences for murder and robbery, he agreed to be part of an experimental procedure that would "cure" him of his desire to do bad things. The process failed, driving Yorkin insane as his pain and pleasure responses were reversed and he developed the power to kill people by touching them.

Curiously, Clive Yorkin was believed to have killed Iris West. It was later shown, however, that she was killed by The Revese Flash, who was moving at super-speed.

The DCTVU version of Clive Yorkin differs from his comics counterpart in that his touch causes matter to decay rapidly. He touches a table and causes it to disintegrate in seconds and the bullets Joe shoots at him dissolve on contact.

This version of Clive Yorkin also seems to have some fine control over his power - otherwise he wouldn't be able to wear clothes - and he is able to turn the power off so he can touch objects without destroying them. We see this when he is drinking from a coffee cup while stalking Laura Stone.

The lounge singer we see Clive Yorkin attack is named Julio Mendez. Julio Mendez was the name of Barry Allen's co-worker in the CCPD crime lab in the 1990's The Flash TV series. Captain Julio Mendez was Barry's boss in the Flashpoint reality. All three roles are played by actor Alex Désert.

Joanie Horton is attending college at Coast U. Presumably this is located in Coast City. In the comics, Coast City is the home of Hal Jordan (a.k.a. The Silver Age Green Lantern.)

Barry using his speed to phase through solid matter is a classic Flash trick and Wally West was able to increase or decrease the speed of objects in motion by leaching their speed through The Speed Force or lending his own speed to them. To the best of my knowledge, however, the trick where Barry makes a train intangible in this episode is the first instance in any medium of any version of The Flash making a large object intangible by lending it his speed. The theory is sound, however, by the standards of comic book science.


Technobabble

When placing bets on the Flash/Kid Flash race, Caitlin declares that her winnings will be going to a new confocal microscope.

Certain chemicals - any acid with a pH below 2, for instance - can cause a similar reaction to an aggressive necrotized fasciliitis (i.e. flesh-eating bacteria)

STAR Labs has a 3-D image medical scanner.

Quebracho is a Spanish word used to refer to a number of hard-wooded species of tree native to South America. It literally translates as "ax-breaker." Cisco constructs a wall of double-reinforced quebracho to train Wally in phasing through solid matter.

After 8 hours, the victim of the death touch resembles a desiccated corpse. After that, the body disintegrates completely into powder. Julian and Caitlin both note that no bacteria or disease known to medical science causes a body to continue accelerating a host's tissue decay after death.

Barry describes the process of phasing by saying that he vibrates at the natural frequency of air. This puts his cells into an excited state that let him move through solid objects. He does this by connecting his body with the air, feeling everything around him and thinking of becoming pure electricity.

One of the DNA elements found on Julio Mendez's body is consistent with an element found in the husks Julian Albert created as Alchemy. This leads him to conclude that the metahuman killer was one that he created.

Joanie Horton says she doesn't drink coffee since she learned that hot roasted coffee beans carry cancer-causing levels of acrylamide.

In the early stages of the death-touch, the victim experiences a fever (Iris' temperature was 104 degrees Fahrenheit) and elevated heart-rate. At that point, the decay spreads to her subcutaneous tissue.

Cisco hits upon the idea of using focused cold to slow Iris' decay. Caitlin fears that she lacks that fine a control, however, and there's additional risks in failing to keep the process continuous. Too high a temperature and the decay will spread. Too low a temperature and they risk losing Iris' arm to frostbite or killing the nerve endings.

In quantum mechanics, the daughter universe theory tells us that for every decision you make, a universe exists where you don't make that decision.

Julian determines that the way the death touch works is that it causes the blood to attack the cells in her body. This is the precise opposite of the way that Barry's blood causes his body's cells to regenerate damage. He theorizes that introducing speedster blood into Clive Yorkin's system will negate his powers.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry and Wally are suited up, stretching on a road a few miles outside of Central City.)
Wally: So this is it, huh?
Barry: Yeah. This is the starting line to our race.  Cisco set up censors all along the course and he'll be tracking your speed all the way to the finish line on the other side of town.
Wally: No, I meant this is it - the day the greatest upset in speedster history goes down.
Barry:Wally, man, this isn't about winning or losing. Okay? This is about training. So you can get faster and beat Savitar and save Iris.
Wally: (nodding) Yeah. Which I'm going to do!
Barry: Okay.
Wally: But first I'm going to make you eat my dust. I'm sorry.
Barry: Okay. You know there's a reason they call me The Fastest Man Alive?

Joe: Do I know you?
Clive: You don't remember me? You and your cronies had a very fun time ruining my life. Not gonna let you do that this time around.
Joe: I think you have the wrong guy.
Clive: No, no. You're the Joe West I remember. Look a lot more full of life now, though. But don't worry. I can change that.
(Clive reaches over and touches a table, which begins to dissolve to ash almost instantly.)

(Caitlin and Julian are left alone in the lab after Joe stormed out and everyone else left.)
Julian: (sarcastically) Well, that went swimmingly.
Caitlin: Joe's right. We should have told him before now.
Julian: What you should have told him is that I'm the one responsible. That the meta trying to kill him is one that I created.
Caitlin: Julian, you can't change what happened to you. It's not your fault.
Julian: You keep saying that, but it IS my fault! People are responsible for their own actions. To say otherwise is just... it's just a way to make yourself feel better.
Caitlin: Is that what you think I'm doing? Making excuses for things I've done in the past?
(Julian says nothing. He just looks at her, unsure of what to say.)
Caitlin:(scoffs) You know, I'm really starting to regret bringing you in here.
(Caitlin leaves the lab as Julian's mask cracks and the regret is plain to see on his face.)

Barry: Look, when I got these powers, I - uh... I was really lucky in a weird way. You know? I had a lot of people helping me through all of this. I had Wells. Both of them. And Jay. And Zolomon. I mean. two of them turned out to be bad guys but they were good teachers who really taught me how to use my powers. I just don't think I've been that for you yet.
Wally: You're telling me everything that I need to know. I'm just not getting it! I-
Barry: No. That's not it. It's-  I- I've been letting you coast by on your raw talent, which you have a lot of. But teaching is a lot more than just doing something and expecting you to follow. It's about inspiring and empowering you to use your gifts to succeed on your own. That's what I need to do. That's what I'm going to do from now on.So the next time you're out there and you're alone, you will win. Deal?
Wally: Deal.

Caitlin: (scared) Just a little bit longer and she's dead. (Killer Frost's voice) How's that for changing the future?
Julian: I know who you are Caitlin, and you do not want to do this!
Caitlin: This is who I am. You said it. It's time for me to take responsibility for my actions. Time for me to own who I really am.
Julian: Who you are is Caitlin Snow! I know first hand the battle going on inside of you. I know what it feels like. When it happened to me, I lost! All right? I was weak and I let it win. And I did - I did horrible things to a lot of good people. And you don't have to do that. You are not going to do that! You're stronger than I am, Caitlin. You're far stronger than I am. You're one of the strongest people I've ever known! You can win this fight.
(Julian slowly reaches over and clasps his hand around Caitlin's left lower arm.)
Julian: Iris needs your help now.
(Caitlin's eyes shift back to normal and she focuses anew on freezing Iris' arm.) 

(Kid Flash phases through Clive Yorkin. Once he is through, he looks down at the cut on his hand that he made before he started running. It has already healed shut and the blood is gone.)
Kid Flash: It worked! I did it!
Clive: You sure did.
(Clive Yorkin walks over and grabs Kid Flash's lower arm.)
Clive: Goodbye Kid Flash.
(There is a brief pause. Kid Flash glances down at Yorkin's hand and then looks up, puffing his cheeks out as he makes a silly face.)
Kid Flash: (in mock surprise) Oh! What?! Look at that!
(Clive stares at his hand in shock.)
Kid Flash: Your powers are neutralized, Yorkin.
Clive:  What did you do?
Kid Flash: I won.


Continuity

Financial wagering was made illegal on Earth 19 following an incident involving Vice President Al Capone.

The Al Capone of Earth One was seen on L208.

Abraham Lincoln is on the $100 bill on Earth 19.

The restaurant where the first murder occurs - Luigi's - seems to be the restaurant mentioned in the news feed from the future in 310. The one that reopened after a murder.

Barry realizes all of the murder victims were cops in The Flashpoint reality.

Cecile Horton's daughter Joanie is a student at Coast University. Presumably this is located in Coast City. She has not chosen a major and is a Kid Flash fangirl, declaring that he is the only thing she misses about Central City.

Iris tells Joe about the future Barry saw in 309.

Cisco is able to use his Vibe powers to get visions of alternate realities, such as Flashpoint, by focusing upon a person as they think about that reality.

Barry has never tried using his powers to lend his speed to a large object and enable it to phase before this episode. He manages to make an entire high-speed train intangible.

Barry says "Run, Wally, Run." to Wally.

Wally phases for the first time.

One Yorkin's blood was stabilized, Julian was able to use it to make an antidote to reverse the death touch.

Joe refers to Savitar's prophecy in  309 and asks if Iris is the one who dies. Barry says yes. (Technically, Savitar said one would betray the team, one would fall and one would suffer a fate worse than death.)

Julian notes there is still one husk meta created by Alchemy unaccounted for.

Caitlin asks Julian out for a drink. He accepts.

At the end of the episode, Jesse Quick arrives through a breach and tells Wally that Grodd has kidnapped her father and taken him to Gorilla City.


Location

Cisco sees a scene from The Flashipoint universe.


The Fridge Factor

Again, we have Iris being placed in danger to give Barry, Wally and Joe angst.

The idea of a power being inherently evil is troublesome enough without it being applied to the one woman with powers on the show's ensemble. Having the pep-talk that keeps her from going over the edge come from her current love interest doesn't help matters, though it IS well acted.


The Boomerang Factor

A lot of the drama in this episode could have been avoided had Team Flash finally learned the lesson about NOT LYING TO EACH OTHER EVEN IF THEY THINK IT IS FOR A GOOD REASON!


The Bottom Line

Another episode where the excellent ensemble acting salvages an otherwise unremarkable script. I appreciate the craft of Danielle Panabaker and Tom Felton's performances even as I struggle with the implications of Caitlin being saved by the promise of love with Julian ala Frozen. The villain of the week is well realized and the conflict between the various Team Flash members doesn't seem forced, though the "We need to be honest with each other" lesson is incredibly old at this point. And the Wally/Barry relationship has rarely been handled this well.