Tag Archives: Flash Season 2

The Darkness and the Light

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Usually the best part of a superhero show is the action sequences; the fights that our heroes inevitably must take part in. It’s really funny that one of the biggest scraps to take place involves two people with no powers. But we’ll get to that later. Now, we look at Earth-2 where a new metahuman notification application is being displayed by that world’s Harrison Wells. Clearly it works because it goes off at the arrival of the Flash: Jay Garrick. We see here that there is some clear animosity between the two. Jay says that Harrison is responsible for creating all of the metas due to this world’s particle accelerator exploding. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Jay makes it a point to say that Wells refuse to take any accountability for this, on the flip side, Wells believes that the Flash should do his job as the superhero and stop Zoom. Sometimes perspective is the defining line between that which is right and that which is wrong. Where one man see light, the other sees shadow…a fitting theme for this episode. What brings people together is not, I repeat not the acceptance of another person’s viewpoint or philosophy, but the understanding of it. As people, I think we can all agree that no one expects everyone to agree with everything that we come up with. However, we all want to be heard and felt like what we say has a reason to have existence. Nobody likes to feel like they do not matter and what they do or say has no merit.

Back to present day, we see Harrison Wells reading an autobiography about “himself” but as we know, that’s not him. Wells is very stern about the fact that he is not same Harrison Wells that they experienced. I say experienced because, let’s think back, the Wells we all got to know was really the Reverse Flash posing as Harrison Wells. Caitlin wants to run some test on Wells but he says that the result will do no good in distinguishing him from his counterpart…she still goes though. Barry, reminding Cisco that this guy saved him from King Shark questions the reasoning why, to which Wells says that he’s here to help stop Zoom once and for all. He also admits his culpability for Zoom and the metas that are coming after the Flash. Cisco and Caitlin remain skeptical. Harrison reminds us that the test of character is what happens after we lose someone we care about. (This will be important to Harrison’s motivations at the end) Joe walks into S.T.A.R. Labs and upon seeing Wells (remember Joe was aware and trying to keep this hidden from Barry) fires off three shot, which the Flash manages to intercept. Joe, with Barry restraining him, wonders how can Wells still be alive and Harrison responds with “Because you missed.” This Wells is awfully confident considering that Barry was the reason why those bullets did not connect. Caitlin goes off to find someone who can verify Harrison, I wonder who this could be? Meanwhile, Joe and Barry step outside. Once again, Barry having to ask why he wasn’t told something and Joe might have been looking our for Barry’s best interest, underestimated his maturity in the event of this situation. Barry actually expresses how he is having to resist the feelings inside of seeing this individual who resembles the man who killed his mother in every visual sense. This shows the Flash growing into his responsibilities not just as a hero but as Barry Allen and that he can’t go flying off the handle because he knows where that leads him. The fact that Joe says that he needs to go fill in Iris makes me tilt my head. Now, you want to let Iris know what’s up…I guess the Francine thing made him realize that. If he would just apply that to his relationship with Barry…

I love Iris’ reaction to what is going on. She’s like, “Just another day, right?” For her and what she’s been through, you kind of have to admire Iris’ ability to take everything in stride like she does. Joe then gives Iris her gun and hopes that Barry was right and that she won’t have to use it. “You can’t murder someone who everyone believes is already dead right?” What Joe says here is almost a microcosm of how Joe is handling this latest development. Cisco is going back and forth with Barry, wishing that he was getting alcohol instead of a latte, but more importantly about the Wells scenario when they are interrupted by Patty Spivot. Cue the incredible cute awkwardness between Barry and Patty. While not the Line of the Night, it’s worth mentioning, “Stuff, I got to science the stuff out of…” Barry says and Spivot replies with “coolio” and not the rapper either. Cisco’s reaction to this exchange had me dying. This also leads to what happens when bros talk up each other to the point where ego completely takes over. Barry, feeling embarrassed, (as he should) looks at Cisco and asked him about his relationship prowess (did we forget about Golden Glider already?). So Cisco being Cisco actually asks out the woman over the counter…and he gets shut down, hard. Then all of a sudden, Cisco gets one of those mental rushes and sees the bank being robbed and informs Barry of another breacher. When the Flash arrives, a lady in black with a huge helmet on her head uses a massive array of light to flee the scene. Wells identifies her as Dr. Light, once a petty thief, now with the ability to harness and control starlight. When Wells scoffs at Cisco’s levity of the situation, Cisco identifies “Harry” as a “dick” (yes he actually says this). Wells figures that they capture Dr. Light and use her as bait to lure in Zoom so Barry can take him down. Caitlin arriving with Jay, hearing this makes Jay completely question Wells’ idea. We see the two go back and forth, Wells surprised that Garrick is alive, while Jay saying that being reckless is no way to beat Zoom. While continuing to argue over Dr Light’s motivations and what should be done with her, Barry reminds everyone that maybe we should capture her first. Now this leads to Barry asking the obvious question, how did Cisco know about robbery? Cisco fabricates how his phone alerts him of robberies in progress…he basically talks his way out of explaining. Lucky for him, Barry has to focus on finding Dr. Light and keeping the Earth-2 boys a safe distance from each other. Yeah, good luck with that. Barry bumps in Patty and before the awkward levels reach critical mass, Barry decides to ask Patty out for dinner. Proud of you Barry, for individuals that tend to think too much, it does pay to be simple and not ignore the obvious. Speaking of ignoring things that are right in front of you, Harry confronts Cisco on why he has such a issue with him. He makes it a point to ask what his counterpart did to Cisco specifically. As we know from last season, Cisco was killed by Wells putting his hand though his chest. This was your atypical “go along to get along” roundabout between the two. Something of note here, Harry asks to confirm the satellite program Cisco is running to check for solar emissions. Cisco tells him not to worry about it. then we see Wells checking his metahuman app on his wrist. Caitlin tells Barry the silent alarm went off at the Central City Bank, Jay tells Barry that Dr. Light is not a killer and that he can reason with her. Giving Jay some assurance, Barry nods and speeds off, confronting Dr. Light. The Flash tells her that he knows she’s here to kill him, so why steal the money? We get the impression that Dr. Light wants to be free of this mission and when Barry offers his help we see that there is a fear of Zoom not at all different from the concerns displayed by Harry and Jay. Barry gets her to de-mask and upon seeing her face, we see that this is the Earth-2 version of Linda Park, Barry’s ex-girlfriend. Wondering how the Flash could know her identity, she sends out a massive light blast blinding the Flash. We get more of Harry and Jay’s philosophies clashing while Barry recovers from his blindness. Harry feels this could have been avoided if they skipped the verbiage while Jay contends that Barry was caught off-guard. Wells quips, “Always an excuse with you.” Not for nothing but I think Barry personally doesn’t need anyone making excuses for him. Wells is right, he’s the “Fastest Man Alive”, what’s the problem? They all come to the conclusion that Zoom sent this meta specifically because of the relationship factor. So this has to mean that Zoom knows that Barry Allen is the Flash. This also means as Barry points out that Dr. Light probably didn’t know she had a doppelganger in this universe until Barry revealed her identity. Jay emphasizes that Light is not a killer, but Cisco does say the first thing Atom Smasher did was kill his doppelganger.

Iris arrives and being last, we get to see her reaction to seeing Harrison Wells again. It’s very telling how her face shows disbelief and composure at the same time, given all she’s had to process as of late. She attends to Barry and answering his text message discovers that Barry is going on a date with Patty. Iris tells Barry not to cancel and suggests that maybe someone can help him with this literal “blind date.” Then we see, (get it, see) Barry yelling for Cisco while Iris directs him. This is the first time in a long time that the synergy between Iris and Barry feels right and not forced. What we get is Cisco giving Barry some shades that will act as Cisco’s eyes so he can walk him though the date. This redefines the term ‘wingman’ for me. Now for some comedy, Cisco eating Chinese takeout during all of this. Patty saying how she judges her dates based on whether or not they stand her up. Following up that with the classic line, “I have a reputation.” Cisco getting Barry to complement her on how she looks, but forgetting that the feed is in black and white so he can’t identify the color of her dress. It seems as if things are going well between Barry and Detective Spivot. While on stakeout, Jay and Caitlin go into his history with Zoom and by extension Dr. Wells. Back on the date, Cisco has become bored due to Barry and Patty sharing their tragic experiences with one another. We learn that Patty drowned when she was nine years old and her heart stopped for like two minutes until her father saved her life. After Patty tells Barry that fear shouldn’t hold back people from becoming who they are supposed to be (funny how Cisco shouts “Preach” given his own unique set of circumstances), Patty tells him something else…that he can’t see. “Abort”, Cisco says now that Barry has been outed by Detective Spivot, really is anyone surprised by this. We have already established how bad Barry is at deceiving people and he’s now dealing with someone who not only is just as bad but whose job description is built for these kind of things…maybe that’s why he hasn’t completely gotten over Iris yet. Just when Jay and Caitlin are about to share a tender moment, Dr. Light attacks the van they’re in. She finds Linda and with Larkin and Iris playing defense, she seeks Linda’s life. We then get a similar eerie line about murder not unlike the one from Joe, “It’s not murder when it’s your double right?” In her mind, she guesses killing Linda in this universe will allow Dr. Light to assume her identity and escape from Zoom. She also confirms what Jay has been saying all along that’s she’s never killed anyone before. Of course, Larkin goes in to try and stop her but Dr. Light sends a beam straight through his chest, killing him. The momentary shock of what she had done gives Iris the opportunity to shoot the helmet off her head. Point-blank accuracy, but considering her father, we shouldn’t be surprised at this. The shock than transfers to Linda when she sees the villain is a splitting image of herself. Jay arrives inside and with the numbers not in her favor, Dr. Light retreats leaving her helmet behind. We then see Patty helping a blind Barry down the stairs and the two share a well-done good night kiss. Conveniently, Barry’s sight has returned to him after this so he kisses her a second time. But, no time for second base, both of their phones go off due to what just happened with Dr. Light.

The issues of Barry’s place in this battle causes tensions between Wells and Garrick to spiral out of control. Wells saying Zoom’s influence will give any of the metas his sends after Barry the desire to kill and that because of Jay’s lack of faith, Barry doubts himself but Wells clearly does not. Wells calls out Jay on the whole “battling Zoom for two years.” He says Garrick has been running from Zoom for that long. Hunting Zoom, no Zoom was hunting you Jay. This prompts Garrick that this path will kill Barry just like it almost did to him. Harry proclaims that Barry runs toward danger, not from it and that Barry is not like Jay and calls him a coward. Them’s fighting words on any planet, in any universe and thus…a brawl begins to break out between Wells and Jay, Barry stepping in before it gets out of control. The belief or lack thereof in Barry seems to be driving this already existing wedge between our Earth-2 gentlemen further and further. But who is in the right here? Does that depend on Barry or maybe Jay and/or Harry have some things about themselves they need call out to the forefront? Wells believes in Barry so much that the mentor/student relationship Jay has with Barry, the roles should be reversed. Team Flash decide to use Dr. Light’s mask in order to find her. Harry says that all they need to do is give it to Cisco…because he has the powers to use it in order to find her. Harry reintroduces us to the device on his wrist, the same one we all saw in flashback, that can detect metahumans. Cisco has been outed. Technically, this would count as another secret, another lie that blows up. But, I think Cisco did in fact heed the words of Professor Stein when he told him that he shouldn’t leave his friends in the dark about his abilities. Wells just outed him sooner. Everything that was happening in this episode was leading to Cisco being forced to tell Barry how he was able to find Light in the first place. It’s just that Dr. Wells figured everything out before Cisco got the chance.

As Cisco explains his powers, everyone cannot believe he kept this from them. At the behest of Wells, Cisco touches the helmet trying to get any sort of mental fix on Dr. Light’s whereabouts, with each attempt Wells getting more aggressive and what I’ve noticed about his leadership style, Wells tries to get people to not just confront their fears but attack them with the same ferocity that he emotes with. How Wells interacts with Jay, with Barry and now Cisco. One of the messages throughout the episode was fear and how we choose to deal with it. Do we run from it or do we allow it to make us stronger? Cisco, doubting himself with each unsuccessful try says he can’t do it. Harry, grabbing the helmet, goes up to him by slamming it into his chest, says with conviction, “Yes you can!” Dr. Light is about to get on a subway and leave town, so the Flash rushes off. There is a parallel here with this fight with Dr. Light from the standpoint of Harry and Jay with their relationship to Barry. Recall in the first season, Barry, having the words of the Earth-1 Harrison Wells in his ear, couldn’t break through his own self-imposed doubts because Joe doubted him. Once he got the support from Joe, the Flash was able to overcome himself. Here, after failing to get to Dr. Light’s blind spot, Barry gained no further usefulness from Jay. Harry stepped in and advised Barry to run at a speed that will cause afterimages of himself to appear to confuse Dr. Light. Harry assures Barry he can run that fast since he’s traveled through time (per Cisco’s admission). Once again Barry doubts himself; then Jay interjects by coming to terms with some of this own faults. He tells Barry to listen to Wells and that Barry is faster than him and to not let fear hold Barry back like it did to him. With that endorsement, Barry tries again and manages to knock out Dr. Light, winning the day.

Barry, who I think doesn’t want another Reverse Flash situation, decides to agree with Wells and prepare to go one on one with Zoom, using Dr. Light as bait. Jay does not agree nor support this and much to Caitlin’s disappointment, decides to leave S.T.A.R. Labs as long as Wells is on board. His departing words suggesting that he might not be the Wells they knew but he has just as many secrets. Jay may not be on board, but the rest of Team Flash seem pleased with Barry’s confidence and willingness to want to end the fight before it gets out of control. Is optimism an Earth-1 thing? Hopefully, we’ll see Jay Garrick again. Cisco goes to get coffee for the others and it’s the same barista that shot him down before. She explains that she’s new in Central City and that Cisco just caught her off guard and asked him if coffee was all that he wanted. Score one for Cisco and speaking of, he gets a codename from Barry and Caitlin: Vibe! All the while, Wells watches intently…

Line(s) of the Night: “I think coffee is the one constant in the multiverse.” Jay talking to Caitlin while on stakeout.

“Barry, I lost my eyes!” Cisco reacting to Barry putting his augmented shades in his pocket,

Flashlines: Linda Park’s run in with the editor Larkin about her stance on not glorifying a star football player that hit his wife. Subtle, yet strong message being sent through this exchange between progressive female and male editor simply focused on the sports aspect. Cisco likes people who come up with good names for the bad guys; see Jay Garrick and in this case Patty who does give the name King Shark. Cool that instead of the traditional Dr. Light, we get a female one…there are both male and female versions of this character in the comics. Wells listening to “Baby, You’re No Good” while reading about his counterpart, unintentionally funny. Jay says that Dr. Wells was perfectly fine with profiting off of the metahumans he created through his tech apps and now something about him has changed and he doesn’t trust him. (That change might have something to do with the last scene of the episode) Apparently Atlantis is above water on Earth-2 according to one of Jay’s good friends who is from there. Harrison tells Barry to run fast enough to the point he creates copies of himself; he calls this the Speed Mirage. Caitlin says that she doesn’t think any of us (Team Flash) would turn evil if we all of a sudden got powers…foreshadowing?!!! Kendra Saunders is the name of the barista that Cisco got the number from…she also has a codename: Hawkgirl. That ending scene…Zoom has a young lady locked up and based on what we know, it has to be Harrison Wells’ daughter; puts some things into context.

Strong episode…fear turns men into cowards, turns cowards into heroes. How much will fear take hold next week when Zoom makes his play? Flashout!

Family of Rogues

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How do you start off an episode Barry Allen? Talking to the woman you care about most on the phone, normal. Hearing gunshots in the background of said conversation, not normal. Now telling her to jump out of a window, yeah this is episode three of The Flash.

We cut to Jay Garrick, Cisco and Caitlin inside the holding area for the primary “breach” that looks like unstable matter acting as a wormhole. In trying to figure out how Zoom would use the breaches, Barry figures that only a speedster would be able to access them…and of course Barry gets repelled to the other side of the room. Jay explains it quite well actually; “think of the breaches as doors, in between them there is a hallway that is ever-shifting with the doors following suit.” Just when Cisco agrees with Jay’s naming of said explanation as the ‘Speed Cannon”, Professor Stein kicks everyone out telling them to get some rest, for their youth’s sake.

While not the main plot of the episode, there were two components that served as the meat and potatoes of what I wanted to expound upon. The “potatoes” if you will was Francine, Joe’s former wife re-entering the picture wanting to see Iris again. Joseph, as she calls him, says that divorced men take off their wedding rings, widowers don’t. Francine probably appreciated the sentiment behind him wearing the ring, but that was before Joe’s response which was arguably the most coldest moment for him since the pilot when he outright told Barry his father killed his mother. Think about the line for a second. We know what a widow is, which will give some subtext to something else that happens later on, but he is basically telling this woman that she is dead. Do not get that message misconstrued; there is nothing underlying about what Joe said. Then comes the left cross; Joe places an envelope full of money in front of Francine and tells her to leave town. So not only does Joe see Francine as dead but so dead that he is willing to pay money out of his own pocket to keep it that way. If I can be transparent for just a moment, what things in our lives from our pasts would cause us to reach down and sink into desperation that would prevent those memories from coming back to the forefront of our present? It had been twenty years since Francine presumably “left” and her response to Joe’s obvious question with “Now I’m ready”, Joe interrupts with “Now, you’re too late.” Time is funny but not when you are at its mercy. Time plays no favorites, nor does care about our personal issues and happenstances. Time is the great equalizer. Does it heal all wounds? From personal experience, no but time does allow for life to go on after the fact. No one man is more powerful than the hands of time. Time can never truly be up simply because we say so, as long as we have breath, there is always a bit of time left. I get that Iris losing Eddie is a bitter pill and to be fair Joe has to not only see it as that being his daughter’s boyfriend but his partner on the force and his second one lost at that. So when Francine says she knows what it means to lose the love her of life, Joe adamantly questions this and gives her 48 hours to leave Central City and walks out of the bar leaving Francine defiantly proclaiming that she is not going anywhere.

Now we have special coffees that are being called “The Flash.” Anything to get Patty and Barry interaction…I guess. Oh and speaking of potentials bumping into each other, “You can bump into me anytime” says an inviting Lisa Snart to Cisco. (Which by the way Barry’s reaction to this while drinking his coffee was gold!) This leads to Lisa (also known as Golden Glider) explaining to Team Flash that her brother Captain Cold has been kidnapped and needs to be rescued. Lenny (Leonard Snart) has an interesting relationship with The Flash in that he not only knows his secret identity, but he didn’t kill him during the metahuman transport late in the first season (which Cold sabotaged by the way). Lisa is calling out that debt Flash owes to Captain Cold, yes Lisa does not know the Flash is Barry Allen. We also find out that Cisco can always track the Cold Gun by it’s ultraviolet cold signatures. So when the Flash goes off to intervene, we find that Snart is working with his father and promptly blasts Barry freezing him up to his chest. Unlike last season, Flash’s suit has a built in thermal threading that expounds from his insignia thawing out the Scarlet Speedster.

Lewis Snart: Lisa and Lenny’s father is as much the criminal as his kids, but that’s not what’s pressing. The real “meat” of the episode is after being questioned why Lenny would work his dad isn’t so out of the ordinary, Lisa reveals a bruise on her neck explaining that it came from her not being a criminal but a daughter. Child abuse is a very sensitive and hot-button issue, especially with the backdrop of the equally touchy issue of how parent raise their kids. Without going into detail, I can appreciate this show for tackling this in such a way that it gives character development and much needed depth to Lisa and by extension, Lenny. There has always been a certain lightheartedness with the Flash’s Rogues and giving them some empathy makes me not only care about our heroes but wanting to see their antagonists come out from the other side in one piece as well. Without struggle there is no progress, you know. We then see Barry and Lenny talking over dinner, yeah… The Flash and his Rogues. Lenny warning Barry to stay out his family business or else and Barry trying to be the inspiring hero. Then Lenny leaves Barry with the bill…because, you should know.

We go back home to Barry looking at old family pictures and Joe revealing that he had lied to everyone about Iris’ mother being dead. You ever a tell a lie for so long that not only other people start to believe it but you yourself? It gives that earlier bar scene a different spin when you look at it that way. Joe could have been rationalizing this in his own mind, this woman who has been out of my life returns from out of nowhere and I now have to deal with this. In what ultimately makes Joe the MVP of the episode, he goes into what went through his head and his heart in constructing this illusion. To me this doesn’t fall into the category of the long list of lies that are the real driving force behind this show. Joe had not only the burden of becoming a single father to his lone daughter but also to Barry and his circumstances. I think he felt keeping Iris’ stability from the truth that she was basically abandoned by her mother attributed to his own dealings with Francine as his wife not to mention both Joe and Iris being a support system for Barry. I don’t think Joe would have been able to deal with two kids with two different mother issues as a father. To Barry’s advice (for a change) Joe later tells Iris the truth and completely breaks down and my heart broke for him because you could tell that he not only hurt for Iris but for himself because he tried to hold his family together when his very family (Francine) was tearing them apart. Iris wasn’t very good last season with people keeping things from her. (Even though the first of these on the show was Iris keeping her relationship with Eddie from her dad.) Iris consoles her dad and tells him that she understands and it’s okay; she also makes the decision to go see her mother for herself.

After Patty, Joe and Barry discover traces of thermite on Lewis’ headless victim, Joe thinks that maybe Lewis put a bomb in his own son to get him to do these jobs. Barry deduces that Captain Cold does care about one thing and Team Flash make that same discovery when they find traces of thermite in Lisa’s neck. In dire situations desperation leads to either two things; panic or trust. Due to this, as well as the earlier moment of Lisa explaining the plight of being child that wasn’t good enough to Cisco (who understands that all to well himself) Lisa puts her trust in Cisco when he comes up with a way to save her. There is a risk however. Thermite’s explosive properties come from concentrated air, which is going be used in a device that will literally suck the bomb from out of neck, Ghostbusters-style. Barry’s next big idea: go undercover as a tech assistant for Snart to buy Team Flash some time. Nice of the show to give credibility for Barry to Lewis when in doing a favor for Lenny last season he was able to crack the same firewall that is on tap now. Oh and the look Captain Cold gives Barry after convincing his father to let him in on the job, gold! Barry uses his super speed to catch the bullet and play dead after unlocking the security firewall when Lewis shoots him. Lenny uses his Cold Gun to freeze the laser defenses but warns his father that they will go active in just over two minutes. All the while Cisco is preparing to remove the bomb from Lisa’s neck with Captain Cold holding the Flash at gunpoint with his father demanding he ice him over or else his sister, Lewis’ daughter dies. Cisco succeeds which I assume would break Lewis’ heart…then Captain Cold proceeds to do just that, literally, with his cold gun. And next to Joe’s conversation with Iris, the most surreal moment of the episode happens when the Flash asks why, Lenny says, “He broke my sister’s heart, only fair I break his.”

The episode ends when Jay, agreeing to stay in Central City until they stop Zoom, along with Team Flash witness Stein pass out again but not before flaring up like Firestorm. Oh and those breaches…it looks our old friend Harrison Wells just came through one.

Line(s) of the Night: “You’re a criminal, but you have a code.” Barry talking to Lenny over dinner.

“It’s good to go out on a high note.” Lewis Snart to Barry after he cracks the security code…and then shoots him.

Flashlines: Lewis Snart blows up a henchman’s head…Amanda Waller style. Guess Jay Garrick’s Central City has a Big Belly Burger as well; it’s all relative. Speaking of Jay, it seems that Caitlin has taken a liking to the physicist. We find out Francine was a drug addict…heavy stuff. Captain Cold telling Barry that he’ll be out of jail sooner than he thinks, don’t all villains? Oh and Patty giving Barry her number, score!

Until next week guys, Flame…I mean Flashout!

The Man Who Saved Central City

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“My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive. When I was a child I saw my mother killed by something impossible, my father went to prison for her murder, then an accident made me the impossible. To the outside world I’m an ordinary forensic scientist, but secretly I use my speed to fight crime and find others like me, and one day, I’ll find who killed my mother and get justice for my father. I am The Flash!” – Barry Allen (Grant Gustin/Season 1 Intro)

First of all, how great is it that the Scarlet Speedster is back…or is he? When we last left the Flash, a singularity (or for all intents and purposes: a black hole) had opened up in the sky and was about to consume Central City until our hero raced upward to somehow counteract the ever-increasing vacuum.

This is not the usual blow-by-blow of the episode proper but rather a walk-through of it with some personal commentary to provide thinking points of not just the show but thinking points to apply on our own daily adventures.

I’ll admit right off the bat, I’m not crazy about the six-month jump in the story. I didn’t like it in Young Justice, I don’t like it here. This will give credence to the many flashbacks that will be on display this season. Second thing of note, Adam Copeland guest stars in this episode…better known as the Rated-R Superstar; former WWE superstar Edge. One day I plan on writing why Edge was one of my favorite wrestlers and how his career was very inspiring for me to watch. Speaking of stars, the MVP of this episode was definitely Professor Martin Stein: which I will get into shortly.

Line of the Night: “Stop asking questions” – Iris talking to Joe

Some context: Barry Allen has basically alienated himself from the rest of his friends for the past six months and it is finally starting to catch up with him when he takes on Atom Smasher (the villain of the week). While Joe feels giving Barry his space won’t cause him to further distance himself, Iris on the other hand uses the same fatherly advice she once received from him. Sometimes when a person repeatedly tells you no when you try to ask to help them, you have to decide to take the decision out of their hands. Effectively eliminating the question altogether… It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission, you know. As people we can’t always wait for an invitation to do good. You don’t do what’s right because someone gave you the okay, you do what’s right because it IS right. Being a good friend does not always mean that they are right in everything that they do and being supportive can break through even the most stubborn of friends.

On the other side, we can’t shoulder the load all alone when we don’t have to in attempt to provide solace or justification for our actions. Central City was going to honor the Flash with a Key to the City for saving the day six months prior. In flashback, we find out that while Barry was able to destabilize the singularity; there was another force that was able to stop the wormhole itself. Enter Professor Stein and the newly-wed husband of Caitlin Snow: Ronnie Raymond. Together, they were Firestorm; DC’s answer to the Human Torch. Long story short, Ronnie sacrificed himself to the wormhole expelling Stein for the Flash to catch him before he hit the ground. In Barry’s eyes, he already had the burden of Eddie’s sacrifice in the Season 1 finale, now coupled with this he does what many of us do sometimes. Barry immerses himself in his work, stays to himself and refuses the help and support from everyone around him under the pretense of “it’s what’s best for everybody else.” We all have people in our lives that love us, that care, that worry. Whether that number is small or many, we have to let them. It does a disservice to what they might be trying to do or achieve in their own lives. My grandmother used to tell me to not keep someone from being a blessing to you…if not for yourself, for them.

Professor Stein was the one to figure out how to ultimately stop the destruction of Central City in the flashback. He was the one who gave our villain the name Atom Smasher; due to the radiation he absorbs (sorry Cisco) as well as the means to defeat him with the help of the reunited Team Flash (Caitlin, Cisco, Iris, Joe) Lastly he gives the big motivating moment at the end of the episode with a single word: Kadima which means “forward” in Hebrew. Let us all move forward in all that we do and achieve!

Flashlines: Barry receives a final “gift” from the now deceased Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne; a recorded confessional of his admittance of killing Barry’s mom, Nora Allen…which subsequently gets his dad Henry out of jail after 14 years. Zoom is coming. The Flash logo on the suit now has white which was pointed out to make the lightning bolt stand out. Oh and the episode ends with the appearance of Jay Garrick, enough said.

The time travel thing might be a bit tricky but all in all, a great start to season 2. See you next week! Flashout!