Last week The Flash returned and continued Barry’s season-long arc facing off against DeVoe, now in the body of country singer metahuman Izzay. Every step, DeVoe has been one step of Barry, thanks to his superhuman intelligence. Last week wasn’t all doom and gloom, as Barry was able to learn that DeVoe’s teleportations come from another dimension, meaning that he has a secret lair that Cisco and Caitlin may be able to use their science skills to discover and perhaps Barry may have the upper hand against.
This week, we get a break from Barry vs DeVoe as we instead have a bottleneck episode where Barry has to save the city in a very unique way. The entire episode takes place in a matter of seconds, but thanks to this being the world of superspeed, a whole lot happens as we are introduced to “Flashtime” (thanks, Cisco, clever with the names as usual).
The episode begins with Barry continuing his practicing on how to race against the closing of one of Cisco’s breaches. Barry as always, has to get faster to overcome the odds. If Cisco and Caitlin are able to discover where DeVoe’s secret other dimensional lair is, then he has to be real quick to run into the portal to then face off against his adversary. However, Barry is not having much luck. Iris being his loving wife recommends that he take a break and the two spend some quality time together as husband and wife so he can take his mind off DeVoe and their troubles. Jessie Quick, who we haven’t seen for quite some time, comes from Earth-2 to talk with Harry and help some of their daddy/daughter issues that have been popping up as of late. While all this is going on, Team Flash is called into action for a regular crime.
Joe and the Central City police department are facing off against a group of armed terrorists who have come to an ARGIS facility. Taking heavy fire, he calls in Team Flash for an assist. While Barry, Cisco, and Killer Frost are able to take on most of the bad guys, the lead terrorist gets the drop on them and is able to press the button on a nuclear bomb. Here is where the rest of the episode gets mighty interesting. We finally get to see the world as Barry sees it when he uses the Speed Force. Cisco coins it “Flash Time,” where the rest of the world looks like it’s at a standstill because Barry is moving so fast. Because Jessie is a speedster, she is also able to operate in Flash Time and she and Barry now have to figure out a way to stop the bomb from exploding.
They try a bunch of options. After recruiting Earth-3’s Jay Garrick, the try all sorts of ways to stop the bomb from going off and destroying Central City. They cannot use their speed to get the bomb out of the city, cause the sheer force of their powers will cause the bomb to explode Flash Time or not. Barry then touches Cisco, bringing him into Flash Time where he hopes that Cisco can use his Vibe powers to breach the bomb into another unpopulated Earth. However, in Flash Time, Cisco’s powers do not work as he’s not a speedster. The same goes for Killer Frost when Barry tries to get her to cool down the bomb after bringing her into Flash Time. The next person Barry tries to lean on his Harry, who says to have the bomb blow up in the Speed Force. However, Harry’s unsure what will happen to the Speed Force, and ay Garrick states that it will destroy is, and negate the powers of any speedster throughout the multiverse. The three speedsters try to throw lightning to stop the explosion. However, Jay Garrick is getting too old of this $h*t and cannot keep up as he cannot throw a lightning bolt. The three speedsters are getting tired for exerting themselves in Flash Time. Soon enough, Jay leaves Flash Time, and then Jessie does to be with her father.
Barry’s frustrated as it seems as though there’s nothing he can do to fix this. He goes to STAR Labs to spend his last few moments with Iris. In Flash Time, he tells her that he’s failed and he loves her, calling her his “lightning.” Iris, ever the level-headed leader of the team realizes that there’s a way to save the day. To save Barry, Team Flash used a device fused with his DNA to convince the Speed Force that he was still in it. Barry can simply run into the Speed Force, get the device, and throw it at the nuclear explosion and the energy from the Speed Force will negate the explosion. As Barry does this, the bomb is stopped and the day is saved.
The episode ends with Harry and Jessie making amends over his coldness over the death of his wife (her mother) by using a device that allows her to read his thoughts. The two are able to reconcile as she heads back to Earth-2. Jay Garrick heads to Earth-3 where he reveals that he’s going to retire being a speedster, but not before training a new speedster to be The Flash on his earth. He tells them that the new mystery speedster is a woman, but he doesn’t reveal who that person in. Later in Jitters, Harry and Caitlin enjoy a cup of coffee, and they run into the mystery woman from Barry and Iris wedding (who I still think he their daughter from the future) who planned to bump into them. Who she officially is, will have to wait for another day.
Next week, Iris manages to get Barry’s Speed Force powers, as is the new Flash!
