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

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

Plot

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

Influences

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


Performances

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


Artistry

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


Flash Facts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Technobabble

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Dialogue Triumphs

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

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

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

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

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


Continuity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Location

Lian Yu


Untelevised Adventures

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


The Bottom Line

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

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2, Episode 14 - Moonshot

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




Plot

The Legends travel to NASA's HQ in Houston in 1970, where Commander Steel - guardian of the last piece of The Spear of Destiny - served as part of Mission Control on the Apollo Space Program. Unfortunately, The Reverse Flash has beaten them to the punch and replaced one of the astronauts on the Apollo 13 mission.


Influences

The films Apollo 13 (setting and general aesthetic, particularly during the landing sequences), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (the "proper credentials" gag at the press conference.), Beetlejuice (the Day-O sequence), The Martian (Ray being left stranded on The Moon, his video diary sequences, Ray directly refers to the movie when he says now he knows how Matt Damon felt) and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (the sequence with Nate and Henry facing each other as Henry sacrifices himself.)



Goofs

How is The Reverse Flash able to stay in one time period long enough to take part in a moon landing mission without The Black Flash catching up to him? (Presumably he can stay off the radar by not using his powers and the zero-gravity environment makes that easier.)


Performances

Honestly, the whole cast deserves a shout-out here.  There's not a single bum performance in the episode.

Matt Letscher gets to show off the playful side of Eobard Thawne here. You get the sense he's sincere about missing working with other scientists and enjoying working with Ray but then you're reminded that as charming as he is, he's still a killer who will cross anyone so long as he can get away with it.

The chemistry between Letscher and Brandon Routh is good with Routh finding a good balance between his usual comic relief role and playing the serious science hero in the face of a scientist villain.

Arthur Darvill gets a nice subtle performance here, broadcasting Rip's confusion at not being in charge without so much as one angry shouting match.


Artistry

The anti-gravity sequences are quite effective and the fight choreography between The Atom and The Reverse Flash is well-handled.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The episode opens with Mick Rory reading the opening narration. Unlike in 211 this time the speech does not end with him asking "Who writes this crap, anyway?"

Elvis Presley did perform at the Houston Astrodome a little over one month before The Apollo 13 Mission. (February 27-March 1 1970 vs. April 11, 1970).

What little we hear about Eobard Thawne's background here matches up with his backstory in the comics. There, Eobard Thawne was a scientist in the 25th century who was fascinated with The Flash and The Speed Force. His studies enabled him to tap into The Speed Force, which he used to travel back in time so he could meet his hero. His first jump took him into a museum devoted to The Flash, where he discovered that he was destined to become The Flash's greatest enemy. The revelation drove him mad and led him to try to destroy The Flash in an effort to avert his destiny, ironically becoming the villain the museum said he was.

The show's closing credits show Professor Stein singing Day-O.


Technobabble

Ray plans to use the dwarf star power source for his ATOM Suit to power the fuel cells of the LEM. Thawne concedes this might work assuming Ray takes the gas spectrometer into account. Unless adjusted for the relative volatility the LEM might explode in mid-launch sequence.

The Waverider uses gravitational inertia to float back to Earth.

38 degrees is the angle at which a spacecraft needs to reenter the Earth's atmosphere

The depressurization caused by blowing the cargo bay doors of The Waverider will correct the angel of descent. Unfortunately, this has to be done manually and whoever opens the doors will be sucked out into space.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Rip emerges from his study with a folder, just seconds after the rest of the team located Henry Heywood working at NASA in 1970.)
Rip: I think I may have found a way to track down Commander Heywood.
Stein: Don't worry, Mr. Hunter. We've already found him!
Rip: ... you did?
Jax: We're heading to Houston in 1970.
Rory: (raising his beer) Yeah! Elvis at the Astrodome!
Nate: And then we're going to rescue my grandfather.
Rory: Then Elvis.
(Rip moves past them to stand on the platform with the Captain's controls for The Waverrider.)
Rip: (flustered) We still need to figure out a way of contacting Commander Heywood without arousing suspicion. To that end that I suggest that we-
Sara: It's simple.
(Sara steps up on to the platform next to Rip.)
Sara: We infiltrate NASA.
(Sara slaps Rip on the back as he simmers silently, looking annoyed as only he can.)

(Rip approaches Henry Heywood at a NASA press conference.)
Rip: Henry. (extending a hand to shake) Great to see you.
(Henry suddenly lets loose with a haymaker that knocks Rip down to the ground. The reporters immediately begin taking pictures as Henry picks Rip up off the ground.)
Henry: (whispered in Rip's ear) You son of a bitch!
(Henry looks around as he pushes Rip toward two security guards and nods to the crowd.)
Henry: Sorry folks. He doesn't have the right credentials.
(All of the reporters wordlessly hold up their press badges as Rip is escorted out.)
Henry: We take press access very seriously around here.
(Henry looks over the crowd and then sees Ray Palmer, sticking out like a sore thumb and trying not to be seen. He glares at Ray.)
Ray: (weakly and quietly) Surprise. We're back.

Flight Coordinator: What's your area of expertise?
Jax: (British accent) I'm a booster systems engineer. They call me "The Rocket Man".

Ray: He doesn't have super-speed in zero gravity!
Thawne: Newsflash, Raymond - I don't need super-speed to kick your ass!
(Thawne pulls a knife from his sleeve and kicks against the wall to charge Ray.)

The whole of the Day-O sequence.

Rip: What about Mr. Thawne?
Ray: He's a little tied up at the moment.
(Ray walks past Thawne, who is indeed literally tied up.)
Thawne: (groaning) Puns. The lowest form of humor.

Ray: I'm Dr. Raymond Palmer. Time traveler, superhero and most recently - astronaut. It's April 13, 1970 at 2200 hours and I am stranded on the moon. Fuel on the LEM is close to zero. Food and water provisions were designed to last days - not months. So - yeah. I'm gonna have to science the crap out of this.
Thawne: What are you doing?!
(Ray turns the camera to where Thawne is tied up.)
Ray: I'm - uh - filming us for posterity. In case we don't... make it back?
Thawne: I am not dying on the moon!
Ray: Sign- Signing off.
(Ray switches the camera off.)

Henry: After five years I found myself blaming you for the choice I made. Turns out that abandoning my wife and son - even to save the world - was a mistake.
Rip: It's the great irony of time travel. That despite it we still find ourselves living with regret. One of mine was that I couldn't find a better way to protect The Spear. One that would have spared you such a personal sacrifice.
Henry: When you showed up, I thought maybe I could go back. Change history. But what's done is done. All I can do now is look forward.
(Henry offers Rip his hand. Rip shakes it.)

Thawne: I know it's easier for you to think of me as a monster but um - I've met some of history's monsters, Raymond, and believe me - I'm not one of them.
Ray: You killed Barry's mother. Twice! Rex Tyler?! Brainwashed Rip into killing Dr. Mid-Nite?!
Thawne: Time travel has a way of revealing the truth to you. And you and I have more in common than you think.
Ray: Pass me the pliers.
Thawne: We're both scientists. We're both obsessed with achieving the impossible. You dedicated your life to learning how to shrink yourself down to the size of an atom and - I spent mine learning the secrets of The Speed Force.
Ray: I became The Atom to help people!
Thawne: (pauses) You could use the dwarf star in your exo-suit to power an entire city but instead you chose to become The Atom because you weren't satisfied with your small, pathetic life. There is no shame in wanting to be greater! To reach higher! To... (smirking ) walk on the moon,
Ray: Is that why you want The Spear? Reach higher? Become greater? Run faster?
Thawne: No. I'm after something much more... elemental. I want to live. (pauses) Surely you can sympathize?

(Stein explains that the damage to The Waverider will make it reentering the atmosphere dangerous.)
Rory: What are you saying?
Stein: I'm saying that our crew has an infinitesimal chance of ever returning home. And by infinitesimal I mean -
Rory: A snowball's chance in hell?
Stein: That would look rosy in comparison.

(Sara walks into Rip's study. He's sitting there with a drink in his hand.)
Sara: Drinking alone?
Rip: Only as a metaphor.
(Sara walks past him to pour herself a drink.)
Sara: You're in here feeling sorry for yourself?
Rip: Oh, no. I've got more than one way of feeling sorry for myself, surely?
Sara: Thanks for backing my play earlier.
Rip: I wasn't... entirely supportive on this mission.
Sara; Indeed. But still... must be hard. Coming back to your ship and finding someone else in charge.
Rip: No. That was the easy part. The harder adjustment was seeing that you are a much better Captain than I ever was.
Sara: So that's why you're in here feeling sorry for yourself?
Rip: I'm in here trying to figure out what my place is if I'm not this team's Captain.
Sara: So you're saying you don't fit in? You're an outcast? A misfit?
Rip: Let's assume.
Sara: Sounds to me like you're a Legend.
(Rip snorts before looking at Sara. The two clink glasses.)


Continuity

Commander Steel was last seen in 202.

Rip dropped Commander Steel off in New York City in 1965.

Commander Steel gave Rip Hunter his dog tags, to deliver to his wife and one-month-old son, in 1947.

Commander Steel was an nicknamed The Chameleon in the JSA. He spoke seven languages like a local and mastered the arts of camouflage and concealment.

Commander Steel was a fighter pilot before joining the JSA.

The team find a picture of Commander Steel, working Mission Control at NASA on April 13, 1970 as part of the team trying to save the Apollo 13 mission.

Mick Rory is a fan of Elvis Presley and  knows enough about Elvis' most famous performances to know that he played at the Houston Astrodome in 1970. (February 27, 28 and March 1, to be exact.)

Commander Steel joined NASA so he could put his piece of The Spear of Destiny in the most remote place possible. It is hidden with the flagpole of the American flag that Neil Armstrong planted on The Moon during the Apollo 11 Mission in 1969.

Stein, Jax and Rory pose as Flight Controllers with the British Space Program.

Commander Steel knew that Rip Hunter had a wife and son but not that they had died. This indicates that Rip undertook his mission to hide The Spear of Destiny sometime before he went rogue and recruited The Legends.

The Reverse Flash can't use his powers in Zero-Gravity.

Stein knows all the lyrics to the Harry Belafonte song Day-O.

Nate tells Amaya what Ray told him about meeting her granddaughter in the early 21st century and how she has a destiny waiting for her in 1942.

We learn that this version of Eobard Thawne existed at some point after he worked with Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow while pretending to be Harrison Wells in the first season of The Flash. He speaks of missing the camaraderie of working with fellow scientists to Ray.

Command Steel rigged an essay contest so that he could get his son, Hank Heywood, to Houston to see NASA so that he could see his son at least once.

Astro-navigation is taught in grade schools in the 22nd century.

Commander Steel sacrifices himself to save The Waverider.

Thawne is able to phase through the cells of The Waverider brig once they are back in Earth's gravitational pull. Shortly after that, his warning alarm tells him that The Black Flash is approaching, leaving him with no time to search The Waverider for the two pieces of The Spear that The Legends have.

Nate delivers a message to his father as a teenager.

Rip officially offers up any claim on the position of Captain to Sara.

Amaya asks Gideon to show her the future of Zambesi starting with her return home. She sees pictures of her granddaughter, Mari, in her Vixen costume.


Location

Manhattan, New York - 1965.
NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas - April 13, 1970.
The Lunar Surface- April 13, 1970


The Bottom Line

One of the best episodes of the series to date.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2, Episode 10 - The Legion Of Doom

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



Plot

The Legends are determined to find and rescue Rip Hunter but first they must find the Spear of Destiny. Professor Stein has some ideas on how to accomplish that but they require bringing in a new teammate - his daughter Lily! Meanwhile, Merlyn and Darhk realize that The Reverse Flash is pitting them against each other and decide to renegotiate their partnership.


Influences

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (three bad men in an uneasy alliance slowly turn on each other) and The Flash comics of Grant Morrison and Mark Millar (presence of The Black Flash)


Goofs

In the opening narration, Darhk says he was removed from the timeline 31 years before his death in 2016. In Episode 205, he left the timeline in 1987, which is 29 years before 2016.

So neither Professor Stein nor his wife told their daughter that he was time-traveling in the adjusted reality?

For that matter, in the new reality, Lily Stein knew nothing about her father's work on his FIRESTORM project or learned of how he became Firestorm during the months he was missing following the Particle Accelerator explosion in Central City?


Performances

John Barrowman, Neal McDonough and Matt Letscher all manage the neat trick of being menacing and funny in equal measure.


Artistry

It's a minor point in the script but I love how Mick Rory is the one to congratulate Professor Stein on the birth of his daughter in Hebrew and nobody bats an eye at the psychopathic arsonist saying "Mazel Tov".

The sword-fight between Darhk and Merlyn is well-executed.

The script overall is a work of art, with lots of witty dialogue that covers up the fact that most of this episode is devoted to explaining away various plot-holes from The Flash regarding the nature of time-travel and the various defenses Time is supposed to use to deal with rogue speedsters.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The episode title comes from from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Challenge Of The Superfriends, where the heroic Superfriends fought a villain group called The Legion of Doom.

The episode opens with an entirely new narration - this time given by Damien Darhk.

Instead of the usual icons for The Legends coming together for the Legends of Tomorrow logo, the icons include the Reverse Flash's red lighting bolt inside a circle insignia, a red arrow icon for Merlyn and some sort of mystic symbol for Darhk.

The "monster' which is chasing after Thawne resembles The Black Flash - a being from the comics who is the angel of death for speedsters.


Technobabble

The Longinus Medallion gives off low levels of ionic radiation.

Lily Stein developed an ionic transmographer that fits in her purse. Martin Stein says he never saw one smaller than a house. Lily says she had an idea of how to hyper-miniaturize the technology while on vacation in Tahiti.

A short-wave ionic pulse activates The Longinus Medallion.

Lilly refers to The Waverider as "a temporal navigation vessel".

The Longinus Medallion's information feed mainlines 1.2 zetabytes of data directly into Gideon's brain.

A mnemonic archive is a piece of future technology (invented in the 22nd century that stores a person's memories.

Time wraiths are creatures that hunt down speedsters who alter the timeline and destroy them before they can cause serious, permanent damage.

Lily Stein is working on developing a new series of synthetic proteins.


Dialogue Triumphs

Darhk: (voice-over) My name is Damien Darhk. In 2016, I was murdered by The Green Arrow. But I was removed from the timeline 31 years before my death by a speedster from the future named Eobard Thawne. Together, with Malcolm Merlyn, the former head of The League of Assassins, the three of us are going to locate The Spear of Destiny - a mystical object which can rewrite reality itself. With The Spear in our possession, we will change our past and our future and the world as you know it!

(Merlyn turns off the TV, where he just saw news footage of Green Arrow killing Damien Darhk. He goes to his couch, pours himself a glass of some kind of liquor, sits down and sighs. Suddenly, Damien Darhk and Eboard Thawne run into the room.)
Darhk: This is the great Malcolm Merlyn? I am unimpressed.
Thawne: Well, he's fallen on hard times. But this man used to be Ra's Al Ghul.
(Merlyn just stares at the two men, as if to silently ask what the hell is going on.)
Thawne: Ah - we haven't met. I'm Eobard Thawne. I'm from the future.
(Merlyn slowly rises from the couch, ready to voice the obvious question.)
Merlyn: What the hell is going on here?
Darhk: Excellent question. Here's another. Do you believe in second chances?
Merlyn: I just watched you die.
Darhk: Yeah. I hear 2016's not my best year but I plan on fixing that.
Thawne: Yeah. But the question for you Malcolm is... do you wish to see your fortunes similar reversed?
Merlyn: By time travel?
Thawne: No. No, something MUCH better.
(Merlyn looks to the smiling Darhk and downs his drink.)

(Merlyn claims he can use his hypnosis training to break down the walls in Rip Hunter's mind.)
Thawne: Is this some... technique you picked up with the League of Assassins?
Merlyn: The League didn't call me "The Magician" for nothing.
(Darhk sighs and rolls his eyes as he looks out the window.)
Thawne: Well, be quick about it. Speedsters aren't known for their patience.
(Merlyn glowers at Thawne as he leaves the room.)
Darhk: What's to stop Hunter's crew from finding the rest of the Spear before Merlyn finishes unscrambling Hunter's brain?
Thawne: The workings of the medallion are lost to history. Trying to get it to reveal its secrets will prove difficult. Plus, we have an additional advantage over them.
Darhk: Enlighten me.
Thawne: (shrugs) They're idiots!

Thawne: This is what I get for relying on a washout and a dead guy.

(Merlyn and Darhk are arguing about the best way to go about robbing the Swiss bank.)
Merlyn: Hunter is an asset! One that we can use to gain access to our objective! To not use him is foolish!
Darhk: Oh! Well, in that case I would have to defer to your superior expertise in foolishness. But if your plan goes south, it's not our speedster friend you need to worry about.
Merlyn: One thing I hate more than taking orders from him... is being threatened by you.
(Darhk and Merlyn glare daggers at each other. Merlyn suddenly smiles.)
Merlyn: Luckily, Damien... I don't find you threatening.

Every single "Why are you looking at me when you say that? gag.

Ray: Wait - she wants to try networking the ancient amulet with an advanced AI system? I'm totally helping!

Merlyn: What do you think's going on with him?
Darhk: It's simple. His mind is pudding.
Merlyn: Not Hunter. Thawne. It's strange how he never stays in one place for very long.
Darhk: Perhaps that's why they refer to them as speedsters?
Merlyn: (smirking) What? You think he left us behind in 1967 Los Angeles because he had a more pressing engagement? What about what he said to us earlier?
Darhk: That he wanted to kill one of us?
Merlyn: No! That he didn't know why he was relying on us! I mean, fair question - why does a time-traveling speedster need to rely on anyone? Thawne's hiding something. (grinning) Wouldn't you like to know what it is?
(Darhk chuckles along with Merlyn and then goes cold dead serious.)
Darhk: Thawne said we knew each other back in 2016. Do I really become so stupid that you think these mind tricks will work on me?
Merlyn: I am not trying-
Darhk: In a trio such as ours, turning one against each other for your own benefit is not only obvious but cliche!
Merlyn: Thawne does not treat us as equals to him. And until he does, neither of us is getting what he wants.

(Merlyn and Darhk are struggling, blades at each other's throats.)
Phil: Okay! Stop! Stop! Time out! Time out! Can't you see that this is what your boss wants! For his underlings to be at one another's throats? Like... literally?
Merlyn: He is not our boss!
Darhk: (To Merlyn) Did he just call us underlings?
Phil: Oh, I'm sorry.  Uh...Henchmen.
Darhk: (pointing his sword at Phil) Try again.
Merlyn: Wait, wait, wait... what if he's right?
Darhk: Oh, you actually care what this pudding-brain hippie has to say?!
Phil: It's just like the movie The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Three bad guys. Nobody knows who to trust so they all end up screwing each other over.
Darhk: (To Merlyn) It's an interesting theory. (To Phil) Which one are we?
Phil: The point is that neither of you are Clint Eastwood and so neither of you end up going home with the gold.
Merlyn: We're not after the gold.
Phil: Yeah, I know, I now. I know what you're after. (To Merlyn) You - you want to change your past. (To Darhk) And you - you want to change your future. And the fast guy is the only one who can make those two things happen.
Merlyn: (To Darhk) I told you! Thawne doesn't treat us as equals. Even the hippie knows it! And he also knows that the only way to stop Thawne from screwing us over is for us to work together.
Darhk: Two former memebers of The League of Assassins versus a speedster?
Merlyn: I am liking those odds.

Jax: (staring at Stein's mug) Is that whiskey?!
Stein: Of course it's not whiskey! It's brandy! What do you take me for - a sailor?

(Merlyn and Darhk have strung their trap on Thawne.)
Thawne: It seems you two have formed an alliance. There's just one problem...
Merlyn: That you're the only one who can give us what we want? Yes. We know.
Darhk: You're always so quick to remind us how much we need you, Eobard.
Merlyn: But clearly you need us.
Darhk: You could have gotten into this vault all by yourself. Why didn't you?
(The alarm on Thawne's wrist starts beeping. He looks down at it, clearly nervous.)
Merlyn: And for that matter, why would a man who can travel through time always be in such a hurry?
Thawne: We don't have time for this!
Darhk: Oh, I've got all the time in the world...


Continuity

It is confirmed that the version of Malcolm Merlyn working with The Legion of Doom was pulled from time from the end of Arrow's fourth season. (i.e. May 2016)

Merlyn is trained in the art of hypnosis.

Sara still refuses to call their enemies The Legion of Doom.

Merlyn is unable to use hypnosis to retrieve Rip Hunter's memories because there's nothing to retrieve.

Darhk finds a barcode engraved on one of Rip Hunter's teeth. It turns out to be account information for a security deposit box in Switzerland. The box was last accessed in January 2025.

The rest of The Legends learn about the existence of Lily Stein.

Lily Stein learns about her status as a Time Aberration, brought about because of Martin Stein's talk with his younger self in 205,

Rip Hunter's security deposit box number is 4587.

The photos of the Speedsters The Legends analyze include Kid Flash, The Rival, Trajectory, Jesse Quick, The Flash and Jay Garrick - The Flash of Earth 3.

The food replicator on The Waverider is capable of simulating anything except for American Cheese. Ray finds this ironic, given that American Cheese is already synthetic.

Stein says the reason he and his wife originally never had children was because he was afraid that he would be as distant and cool as his own father was in raising him.

Nate hits upon the idea that their speedster enemy is the opposite of Lily Stein - someone whose existence was erased due to a time aberration rather than being born as a result of one. This spurs Stein's memory regarding the battle between Team Flash and Eobard Thawne.

Stein relates the events of F123 and how Eobard Thawne was erased from existence thanks to his ancestor, Eddie Thawne, committing suicide. He also explains how The Speed Force acted as a buffer which protected Thawne to a point.

Nate theorizes that the reason Thawne needs Merlyn and Darhk to help him is that Thawne has to keep moving so that reality doesn't catch up with him and erase him from existence.

Thawne later confirms this, making mention of The Time Wraiths (first seen in F217) and how he is being hunted by a being that is similar yet far worse.

The creature hunting Thawne resembles the villain Zoom following his abduction by Time Wraiths in F223 - a zombie-like being in a black Flash costume. The creature tracks speedsters in motion and cannot sense them if they stand perfectly still. The creature also has a physical form, as Thawne is successfully able to push it into a bank vault. (While not confirmed this being greatly resembles The Black Flash from the comics - the angel of death for speedsters.)

The episode ends with Rip Hunter, in 1776, attempting to assassinate George Washington.


Location

Star City - May 2016
Undisclosed Location sometime after 2025. - Eight months after Merlyn left 2016 from his perspective.
Central City - January 2017.
Zurich - January 2025.
New Jersey - December 25, 1776.


The Bottom Line

A fantastic episode which puts our villains in the spotlight and lets them run wild to great effect.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 1 - Flashpoint

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


Plot

By stopping Eobard Thawne from killing his mother, Barry Allen has rewritten time. His parents are both alive and well and The Reverse Flash is safely locked up. He's finally free to live the life he dreamed of - particularly since a new Flash - Wally West - has risen up to replace him in this new timeline. Yet Barry's actions had unforeseen consequences that may imperil everything he has fought to save.


Influences

The comic mini-series Flashpoint, the film It's A Wonderful Life (Thawne describe's Barry's life in the new timeline as the reverse of the movie, where a man named George Bailey sees how terrible the world would be without him.) and the film Back To The Future II (the scene of Barry trying to explain divergent timelines mirrors Doc Brown's attempt to do the same as does the general plot of the hero's actions while time traveling accidentally causing bad things to happen.)


Performances

I believe this may be Matt Letscher's longest turn as Eobard Thawne. It's certainly his most effective. For the first time he truly projects the same sense of menace as Tom Cavanagh in portraying The Flash's most vicious enemy along with the same twisted sense of humor and honor that causes him to enjoy Barry's suffering and the irony that he gets to be the instrument of saving the universe because of Barry's screwed-up attempts to fix things.

On that note, Candice Patton - who has probably been the most poorly served out of all the show's regular cast - gets a fantastic turn here playing a version of Iris West who possesses the spitfire attitude of the character from the comics and gets to show it off as The Flash's partner (albeit a different version of The Flash) and as the assertive woman Barry Allen fell in love with. The writing forced Iris into a passive role far too often in the first two seasons. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

While Grant Gustin is forced to play the fool for much of the episode, I dare you not to share Barry's joy as he sees his parents, happy and grown into middle age together or to not be touched as he says goodbye to them for the last time.


Artistry

The editing effects used to indicate Barry losing his memories.

The special effects in Wally's fight with The Rival and Barry's fight with him afterward are amazing and the fight choreography is good.


Flash Facts

The episode's title - and basic plot - are taken from the DC Comics crossover event Flashpoint. Written by Geoff Johns, the story focused upon Barry Allen using his powers to travel back in time to save his mother's life, inadvertently creating a divergent timeline where the lives of most of his friends were changed forever and the DC Universe was a generally more awful place.

To give some examples of the changes in the Flashpoint timeline apart from Nora Allen never dying at the hands of The Reverse Flash, Bruce Wayne was killed by Joe Chill as a child instead of his parents. The nations of Atlantis and Themyscira were at war and threatening to destroy the rest of the world in the process. Oliver Queen was still a prominent weapons manufacturer and Hal Jordan had never become Green Lantern.

The Flashpoint reality of the DCTVU is similarly altered by Barry's saving his mother's life. These changes include...

* Nora and Henry Allen are still alive.
* Barry lives with his parents.
* Wally West is The Flash.
* Wally got his speed powers after his car was struck by lightning while he was testing a new nitro formula.
* The Flash's greatest enemy is a villain called The Rival.
* Barry Allen was not raised by Joe West.
* Iris Allen hasn't been in touch with Barry since elementary school.
* Barry's supervisor at work is Captain Mendez rather than Captain Singh.
* Barry is well-liked by his boss.
* Joe West is an alcoholic and not well-respected at work.
* Joe's relationship with Iris is strained rather than loving.
* Joe does not like Barry at all and likes the idea of him dating his daughter even less.
* Iris is aware of Wally's secret identity and has been helping him with his crime-fighting since the very beginning.
* Iris and Wally were apparently raised together.
* Iris dubbed Wally Kid Flash in the press rather than The Streak (her first name for The Flash).
* Joe is not aware of his childrens' vigilante activities.
* The STAR Labs building is now Ramon Industries.
* Cisco Ramon is the richest man in America, based on his various tech apps.
* Cisco wears glasses.
* Cisco designed The Flash's costume under duress.
* Cisco has no interest in dealing with metahumans.
* Dr. Caitlin Snow is now a pediatric optometrist rather than a bio-engineer.
* Caitlin doesn't know Barry, Iris, Cisco or Wally.
* Joe West saves Barry by shooting The Rival rather than the first Weather Wizard.

Another change from the comics to the DCTVU is that Barry lost his powers immediately in the Flashpoint comics. Here, Barry's power loss is more gradual. The amnesia as the new timeline solidified was gradual in both the comics and the TV show.

Wally's costume as The Flash is modeled on the second Kid Flash costume from the comics. Originally, Wally West dressed as a smaller version of The Flash with an identical red costume.

While he had yet to don a costume in the comics when this episode aired, Wally's costume here also resembles the outfit he eventually took on when he became Kid Flash in the post-Rebirth DC Universe.

In the original comics, The Rival was the arch-enemy of the Jay Garrick Flash. He first appeared in Flash Comcis #104 (Feb.1949).  His real name was Dr. Edward Clariss and he was a professor at the university Jay Garrick attended. Jealous of The Flash, Clariss attempted to recreate the experiment that gave Jay Garrick his super-speed. While Dr. Clariss was not able to permanently gain super-speed, he did craft a formula that allowed him to duplicate The Flash's powers for short periods. Dubbing the formula "Velocity 9", Clariss' claims were rejected the scientific community. This inspired Clariss to become a criminal, wearing a darker version of the Flash's outfit in an attempt to frame Jay Garrick for his crimes. He was later absorbed into The Speed Force and emerged 50 years later as a being of pure speed energy to plague Jay Garrick once more.

The DCTVU Flashpoint reality version of Rival is also named Edward Clariss. There is no indication that he is a doctor, however, or what his occupation was before becoming a criminal or how he gained his speed powers. Curiously, he is aware of the existence of The Speed Force.

The Rival is unique in that he is the only one of the various "Reverse Flash" villains whose costume does not reverse the direction of his counterpart's lighting bolt emblem.

The Rival's costume here resembles a black version of  Barry Allen's red Flash costume, but with larger, horn-like black lighting bolts on the sides of his helmet rather than golden lightning bolts and a yellow lighting bolt outlined in red taking up half his chest. As with his comic book counterpart, the lighting bolt mirrors the direction of Barry Allen's flash emblem going down from right to left.

Alex Desert - the actor who plays Captain Julio Mendez in this episode - also played the part of Barry Allen's co-worker Julio Mendez opposite John Wesley Shipp in the 1990 The Flash TV series.

When Wally shows Barry his "secret base" and Barry is surprised, he asks if Barry was expecting some kind of fortress. This is a reference to Superman's secret base in the comics - The Fortress of Solitude.

The story of how Wally got his speed powers in this reality mirrors that of Barry Allen, only instead of being thrown through a rack of chemicals after being struck by lightning, his car was struck by lightning while he was testing a new nitro formula.

There are some hints that the Flashpoint version of Cisco might have a weaker version of his Vibe powers. He's seen experimenting with a visor that enables him to see things as if he was really there. He also makes a reference to how he might be killed by a speedster which matches up to how various alternate versions of himself were killed by Zoom and The Reverse Flash.

The Rival's hideout is revealed to be the sawmill on Williamson Street. This is likely a nod to Joshua Williamson, who was the writer on The Flash comic book at the time this episode aired.

The movie Twister and the game Twister both exist in The Flashpoint universe.


Technobabble

The Rival doesn't leave any hair or skin samples at the scenes of any of his crimes.

Wally says that he got his speed powers after his car was struck by lightning while testing a new nitro formula.

Thawne theorizes that the reason Barry is losing his memories of the old timeline when Thawne isn't is that Barry's speed is accelerating the process of Time overwriting his memories.

While not stated directly, it can be inferred that the cage preventing Thawne from using his powers is also protecting him from the effects of Time in much the same way that a Faraday cage can shield something from electromagnetic influences.

Barry's explanation of The Flashpoint universe mirrors the astronomical theory of parallel universes and a shared multiverse.

Based on Caitlin's suggestion, Cisco is able to reprogram the city's speed/traffic cameras to register near-sonic velocities. This enables them to track The Rival to his hideout.

The Rival generates two tornadoes measuring F3 on the Fujita Tornado Damage Scale. This indicates winds between 158 to 206 mph.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: (opening voice-over) There's only one thing I know about life. I know some things happen by chance. And some things happen, because we make them happen.

Wally: What have you got against my city?
The Rival: The city's just fine. It's the people in it who need to be educated... that I have no rival! Especially not you.

Iris: Barry Allen, you're very cute, you know that?
(Barry chuckles nervously.) 
Iris: But you could try talking just a little bit slower.
Barry: Speed. That's always been my problem.

(Barry enters the warehouse where he's built Thawne's cage. He's holding a Big Belly Burger to-go bag.)
Barry: Dinner.
Thawne: There had better be curly fries in there.
Barry: Yeah, human beings can go almost three weeks without food. So I'd sound a little more grateful if i were you.
Thawne: Well, you wouldn't do that to me, Barry. After all... you're the hero. Or did you forget that? Too busy leading your reverse It's A Wonderful Life? (chuckles) Reverse, huh? That's irony for you. So what should we call this brave new world that you've whipped up for us?  I was thinking... Flashpoint.
Barry: (holding up the Big Belly Burger sack) So you don't want this?
Thawne: You may have figured out a way to dampen my speed with this glass cage but I will get out of here and I will destroy your life, Flash. One way or the other.
Barry: No. You won't. Ah, you're never getting out of here. And you're never going to hurt anybody ever again. I have everything back that you took from me. I have everything Zoom took. I'm finally free. I'm home.
Thawne: This isn't your home, Barry. This is a mirage. A fiction that will end us both unless you let me the hell out of this thing!
Barry: Wow. You're not listening, Thawne. Why would I want to get out of here? I'm whole, here. There's even a Flash so I don't have to be.
Thawne: Yeah? And who is this dashing young speedster, huh? Do you know? You even care? While you sit around and hide like a lost, lonely little boy, letting someone else risk their life to protect the city, our common enemy is coming for us both.
Barry: What common enemy is that?
Thawne: Time. It's already screwing with you and everyone you love and pretty soon it's going to take me right down along with you.
Barry: (laughing) Wow. Wow!  You know? You've got some nerve. I'll give you that. Warning me about messing with other people's lives?! You know the whole reason I did this is because of what you did to my life? My family? My mother?
Thawne: Yeah. Well, one day soon - BARRY - you'll be begging me to kill her again.

(After Barry shows unusual concern about him getting in trouble at work.)
Joe: And what the hell makes me so interesting to you, Mr. Allen? I'd really like to know.
(Barry starts to open his mouth.)
Joe: And remember I have a hangover. And a gun.

(After Iris asks Barry about his parents.)
Barry: They're like stupid in love. I hope I have what they have someday.
Iris:  You just haven't met the right girl yet? Is that it?
Barry: That's the thing about the right girl. She's out there.Waiting. Just have to be lucky enough to find her.
Iris: Where did you come from Barry Allen?
Barry: ... I've always been here, Iris.

(Wally tells Barry his origin story.)
Wally: When I woke up, I was the fastest man alive - The Flash.
Barry: (muttered) More like Kid Flash.
Wally: Don't call me that.
Iris: I call you that.
Wally: Okay, how about nobody calls me that?

(After Barry refers to the Ramon Industries building as STAR Labs.)
Iris: Where have you been the past few years?
Barry: Running around.

Thawne: And here I was starting to think you'd forgotten all about me.
Barry: But I am forgetting! What's happening to me?
Thawne: I was wondering when you'd notice.
Barry: It's like I'll be thinking of a moment from my past and then it... it vanishes. And I can't get it back. Why?!
Thawne: Flashpoint. It's a side effect. See, I told you before - you don't know what you're doing. This new reality you've created is starting to overwrite the reality that you and I know. So your original life - your friends, your family - pretty soon all of that will just... fade away.
Barry: Why isn't it happening to you?
Thawne: Not sure...
(Barry scoffs.)
Thawne: Unless...
Barry: What?
(Thawne looks at the walls of his cell as if thinking.)
Barry: What?!
(Thawne starts laughing.)
Barry: What the hell's so funny?!
Thawne: Your speed! (laughing) The more you use it, the faster you lose your memories!
Barry: No. No, you're lying. You just want me to let you out of here. That's never going to happen.
Thawne: The you I know from the future? He's not this stupid. Pretty soon you won't even remember that you're The Flash. And when that happens, this world will become permanent. Time will set like concrete and nothing will be able to change it back to the way it was.
Barry: That's fine by me.
Thawne: You know what you have to do! You have to take me back to that night and let me finish what I started!
Barry: You go to hell!
Thawne: You're taking both of us there!
(Barry storms off.)
Thawne: Now, who is the villain, Flash?! Now, who is the villain?!

(Wally and Iris are suddenly standing in Cisco Ramon's private lab. Barry is there in costume.)
Iris: Who are you?!
(Barry takes off his mask.)
Barry: The man who's going to help you stop The Rival.
Iris: ... Barry?

(Barry runs into the room with Caitlin.)
Caitlin: Oh! (looking around nervously) What just happened?
Cisco: Stop bringing strangers into my lab! Who is this?!
Barry: This is Dr. Caitlin Snow. In my timeline, she's a part of our team.
Cisco: Did you...? You - you just kidnapped this woman!
Barry: No, I didn't... (pauses) Well, yeah I guess I... I... She's a scientist! We need her!
Caitlin: I'm not a scientist!
Barry: You're not a scientist?
Caitlin: I'm an ophthalmologist.
Barry: An eye doctor?
Caitlin: A pediatric eye doctor.
Wally: ... aaaaaand we're done.
Iris: (To Barry): Okay. Uh... can I talk to you in private?
Barry: Yeah.... yeah.
(Barry and Iris exit the lab.)
Caitlin (To Wally): Excuse me?
Wally: Hmm?
Caitlin: ... Have I been kidnapped?
Wally: ... Unclear.

Iris: I have a good life. I have a good job. I love my brother. But something has been off. Something has been missing. And that feeling that something is not right with my life? That went away the moment that I met you. (pauses) We're something else to each other where you come from, aren't we?
Barry: Yes.
Iris: What?
Barry: It's... escaped definition.
Iris: But it's love? Because this is what love feels like.
Barry: Since the day that I met you.

Barry: I thought I could just make things better, but everybody's been paying for my happiness.

Barry: We need to go back in time. To that night.
Thawne: To do what?
Barry: You know what I need you to do.
Thawne: Yeah. But I want to hear you say it.
Barry: ... I need you to kill my mother.
Thawne: With pleasure.
Barry: I hate you.
Thawne: And I hate you. And I sometimes wonder which of us is right.

(Barry and Thawne start to run but Barry trips and falls to the ground, his speed apparently gone.)
Thawne: God, I wish I could kill you.
(Thawne reaches down and picks Barry up by the back of his jacket.)
Thawne: But today... I get to be the hero.

(Open on a bedroom in a suburban house. We see a man and woman in bed together sound asleep.)
Deep Voice: Clarris?  Clarris!
(The man sits up in bed, gasping.)
Clariss: Who's there?
Deep Voice: It's time to wake up.
(There is a scratching noise. Clariss gets out of  his bed and walks to a mirror opposite his bed. Something scratches the word ALCHEMY on the inside of the glass.)


Continuity

The footage of Barry's saving his mother from Eobard Thawne in 223 is shown twice - once in flashback before we see Barry taking Thawne to the present and once again as Thawne returns to kill Nora Allen.

Wally West's lightning is yellow, like Barry's.

The Rival's lighting is red, like Eobard Thawne's.

Like Barry, The Rival has mastered the trick of being able to throw lighting. Unlike Barry, he is capable of throwing multiple bolts in rapid succession.

Barry is able to construct a jail-cell that is able to cut off Eobard Thawne from The Speed Force. It appears to be similar to the cell Zoom used to hold Barry in 214.

Cisco specifically refuses to help Wally and Iris any more citing his fear of a speedster vibrating a hand through his rib cage. This is how alternate versions of Cisco were killed by Eobard Thawne in the alternate timeline of 115 and by Zoom in 213.

Barry knows a story about how Cisco in his reality used all the money he earned from his summer job as a pizza delivery boy when he was 15 to pay off his brother Dante's gambling debts. Luckily, the Flashpoint version of Cisco did the same thing.

The Rival is aware of the existence of The Speed Force.

When Barry returns to the present, he discovers that Iris and Joe are no longer on speaking terms.

The final scene of the episode seems to show the main-universe version of Edward Clariss. He is seen in bed with a woman and woken by a deep voice which tells him it is time for him to wake up.


Location

An alternate timeline set in a variant version of Central City.


Untelevised Adventures

Barry spends three months living with his parents in the Flashpoint reality. During that time, Wally West fights The Rival several times.


The Boomerang Factor

While this story is well told, it is still dependent on Barry forgetting everything he's known about how screwing around with the timeline is bad. Very bad.


The Bottom Line

A solid opening for the third season. I wasn't expecting the Flashpoint timeline to be resolved this quickly but the episode ending suggests that things are far from over. The supporting cast is underutilized (Caitlin barely gets a cameo) and the Wally/Rival scenes could have used some beefing up. Still, The Reverse Flash has never been so menacing despite his lack of power and this episode has done more to define the Barry/Iris romance and make it convincing than any other episode to date.