S08.E16: The Curious Case of Bartholomew Allen

[Trini]

The Flash gets blasted with a shockwave forcing his body to age prematurely.

Caity Lotz directed the episode written by Thomas Pound & Jess Carson (#816).

Airdate: 5/25/2022

[cambridgeguy]

At least they finally acknowledged that Iris being around in the future means everything should work out OK and there's no reason to mope, but maybe partying it up is swinging a little too far in the other direction, especially when they were all worried about Barry aging to death.  Why are they so concerned when Barry is supposed to be around in the future too?

And damn, did Barry have to choose the cruelest method possible to stop Caitlin's experiment?  He could have just taken the mirror gun without shattering everything in the room before leaving.  In an actual lab that type of mess would probably warrant calling in a hazmat team.

Oh, and Caitlin, Barry DID try to bring back his dead parents.  He created the Flashpoint and plenty of people were happy to dump on him for a while because of it.

Edited May 26, 2022 by cambridgeguy

[Terrafamilia]

So, is Caitlin now going to become a supervillain?

[Primal Slayer]

Did we seriously just spend an episode on "the bad guy of the week WANTS TO MAKE EVERYONE OLD!!" ? 

[Primal Slayer]

Barry comes into Caitlins lab and goes ALL LIGHTNING on the place and leaves Caitlin with the mess? He could've just sped everything out of there and left it empty. Dramatic.

[Jediknight]

We're getting Killer Frost.  No way is that the end, and in no way does the plan go well for Caitlin.

[tennisgurl]

Barry: What the hell are you doing in here?"

Caitlin: "Barry, what are you thoughts on Necromancy? Asking for a friend..."

I kept waiting for the other show to drop with Caitlin, especially as the episode kept going and we hadn't seen her, and holy crap did that shoe drop. I half expected Barry to walk in to see Frost's rotting corpse laying there with bolts in her neck while Caitlin installs a skylight while waiting for the next storm. I am glad that Barry stopped Caitlin from doing anything too crazy, but did he have to stop her like that? Destroy the entire lab with lightening and then just peace out? 

I can appreciate that everyone has just taken a "we know Iris is fine in the future so this will sort itself out" approach to Iris disappearing, but I feel like they've swung too far the other way, they should be at least a little concerned about what is going on here. Barry and Joe are the only people who even mentioned her, although that is pretty standard. Even knowing that she is obviously going to be fine, I really miss Iris being around. 

The episode itself was mostly good, I usually like when Cecile and Barry get nice plots together, even if I'm often left wondering how she's keeping up with her job as a lawyer when she seems to spend all of her time at Star Labs or playing Dungeons and Dragons. Even with Barry doing poorly, feeling sick and losing his memory, this was definitely one of their comedy episodes, with a cackling super villain, Barry being a lovable dork, a wacky opener, and a generally more light hearted tone after much drama. I tend to prefer this show on the more fun side, even if I think they can lean too much into the wacky sometimes, especially with comedic relief characters like Chester, I had more fun with this one then I have with this show in awhile. And it was great to see Singh again.

[AD35]

19 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

So, is Caitlin now going to become a supervillain?

Apparently for a 2nd time. And as a discount reply to WandaVision. Apart from the ending I thought the ep was more of the better ones, and my favorite parts involved seeing Singh again and him talking with Joe. And Singh at the table with everyone else.

Edited May 26, 2022 by AD35

[Cthulhudrew]

I love hate how Barry superspeed searches the entire shipyard except for the van, and then he's all "I'm going to slow down to normal speed levels and do some closeup investigation." Every time they do that, it is almost as stupid as him slowing down to regular speed to engage in dialogue with the villain and allowing them to get the jump on him. 

That said, this was one of the better episodes of the season, IMO.

Edited May 27, 2022 by Cthulhudrew

[thuganomics85]

Favorite part about this episode was not just Singh showing back up finally, but even getting a dramatic reveal for his first scene.  Damn straight Singh deserves the dramatic reveal!  Enjoyed his scenes with Joe, although I'm guessing this is going to play a part over why Joe/Jesse L. Martin will eventually no longer be a regular going forward.

Even though I understood the logic behind it, it still felt weird watching everyone be so casual about Iris disappearing.  Maybe some of it could also be chalked up to them distracting themselves as well, but it still felt odd watching Barry playing Dungeons & Dragons while his wife is off somewhere unknown.

Mission of the week wasn't the best, but it had its moments at least.  Cecile giving the pep talk this time was different and solid, if overlong.

Man, I'm all for Barry stopping Caitlin from getting her Dr. Frankenstein on, but he really went about it the most extra way possible.  He's probably just created a new villain now, as I imagine this could kickstart Caitlin going back to the dark side again.

Glad to see Caity Lotz (sniff... RIP, Legends of Tomorrow) in the director's chair again.  Thought she did great.  Not with just how things were shot, but the cast seemed to have more energy compared to the norm/lately, so I wonder if she helped make the set more lively this time.

[rmontro]

Okay, Barry doesn't want Caitlin to work on bringing Frost back, but wow what a dick move.

On 5/25/2022 at 9:44 PM, Primal Slayer said:

Did we seriously just spend an episode on "the bad guy of the week WANTS TO MAKE EVERYONE OLD!!" ? 

I think it's more like he wanted to be young, and everyone being old was a side effect of that, but yeah.

[Lantern7]

Does it say something about this season where "Villain of the Week Makes Barry Prematurely Old" is the main plot for one of the better episodes? And that Barry's premature aging was mostly and conveniently under the skin, sparing Grant the old man makeup?

I'm pretty meh on Singh for the most part, but I liked his normal old guy talk side plot with Joe. And the best part?  Joe West dressing up as a wizard for the D&D game at the end! It's Law & Order: Middle Earth!!!

*sigh* If it wasn't for the teaser, I'd say Caitlin would be the main bad guy for the rest of the season. I should have known that Thrawne (or however the hell you spell it) never goes away, even when he gets killed over on Legends. Barry might have been in the right in refusing to resurrect Frost, but . . . . yeah, he did it in the most dick way possible. And how much you want to bet he went back to the D&D game?

[Trini]

Yeah, this would have been a perfectly fine filler episode - except that *Iris is missing* and no one is concerned enough to do anything about it. The pacing of this time sickness plot is completely nonsensical. If the writers needed to have Candice/Iris away, they could have spread out her absences, and/or found a less drastic reason for her not to appear, that didn't involve her disappearing off the face of the Earth with no way to get her back. Especially when the writing is just ignoring the situation.

Anyway it was nice to see Singh again, and that he actually had a subplot with Joe. I was just a little annoyed that they keep mentioning Jenna who we never see; and that they only highlight Joe's fatherhood in relation to Barry.

On 5/25/2022 at 9:13 PM, Terrafamilia said:

So, is Caitlin now going to become a supervillain?

I WISH. They don't have the stones to do that.

On 5/25/2022 at 9:10 PM, cambridgeguy said:

...

And damn, did Barry have to choose the cruelest method possible to stop Caitlin's experiment? ...

On 5/26/2022 at 3:42 PM, tennisgurl said:

... I am glad that Barry stopped Caitlin from doing anything too crazy, but did he have to stop her like that? Destroy the entire lab with lightening and then just peace out? 

On 5/27/2022 at 1:37 AM, thuganomics85 said:

...

Man, I'm all for Barry stopping Caitlin from getting her Dr. Frankenstein on, but he really went about it the most extra way possible.  ...

On 5/27/2022 at 2:01 PM, rmontro said:

Okay, Barry doesn't want Caitlin to work on bringing Frost back, but wow what a dick move. ...

On 5/25/2022 at 9:50 PM, Primal Slayer said:

Barry comes into Caitlins lab and goes ALL LIGHTNING on the place and leaves Caitlin with the mess? He could've just sped everything out of there and left it empty. Dramatic.

Totally overdramatic, but deserved, IMO. After years of coddling despite her betrayals, if there was ever a time for Barry to put his foot down, it's now. I mean, Caitlin's last attempt to raise the dead got her "sister" and others killed, so I don't think sweeping up some broken glass is too much of a punishment.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Trini
spelling, d'oh!

[Primal Slayer]

21 hours ago, Trini said:

Totally overdramatic, but deserved, IMO. After years of coddling despite her betrayals, if there was ever a time for Barry to put his foot down, it's now. I mean, Caitlin's last attempt to raise the dead got her "sister" and others killed, so I don't think sweeping up some broken glass is too much of a punishment.

How many times has she had to deal with him messing up time though for his own selfish needs?

[legaleagle53]

41 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

How many times has she had to deal with him messing up time though for his own selfish needs?

Enough times to know that he was right about it never turning out well for him or anyone else, so her attempt to resurrect Frost would be an even bigger disaster, just as her attempt to bring Ronnie back almost got everyone killed. That and her own experience with Barry's attempts to rewrite his personal history to one more to his liking should have taught her that there are some things that should never be messed with. Clearly, she hasn't learned a thing, and that's why Barry literally had to go scorched earth on her to stop her in her tracks.

[Trini]

22 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

How many times has she had to deal with him messing up time though for his own selfish needs?

Once.

[bettername2come]

I liked the villainous plot. Very Sanderson Sisters of him. He must build the machine and suck the lives out of the people of Central City before sunrise, otherwise it's curtains!

I'd forgotten how much I loved Chief Singh and this is some of the best Singh ever. I love his friendship with Joe. I enjoyed seeing him in casual wear and I'm glad he showed up to family game night. I love that Joe dressed up like a wizard for game night. It didn't occur to me that Allegra doesn't have a superhero name. It has occurred to me that Cecile doesn't.

Ooh, Barry, you just had to go all King Triton on Caitlin's lab, didn't you? Then again, Caitlin's attempting necromancy and invoked his dead mother, so I guess he had a point. She's gonna go full villain now isn't she? No Frost, no Cisco, and after this I don't think Barry's gonna be able to pull her back from the edge. Maybe her mom.