S02.E12: Fast Lane

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Barry teams up with Wells to figure out a way to close the breaches, but they are distracted by a meta-human nicknamed Tar Pit who can transform into liquid asphalt. Iris is concerned for Wally's safety after she finds out about his drag racing hobby. When he refuses to stop she makes a bold move that puts her in danger.

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Promo:

[zannej]

Hmm.. I wonder just what Zoom has in mind in terms of getting Harry to help him get Barry's speed. I mean, Zoom is still probably powerful enough that he could mop the room with Barry, so it's not clear why he needs help from Wells if he thinks Barry is "fattened up" enough. Is the plan for Wells to just drain Barry's speed somehow and store it in something to give to Zoom? I wonder if the Iris getting hit with glass thing is in one of Cisco's vibe visions or if Barry will reset time again. Or maybe it is yet another nightmare.

Tuesday needs to hurry up and get here already! :P

[Jediknight]

Way to go Barry, take a stand and point out that Team Flash would have done the same thing.  A superhero doesn't give up, and leave people to die.  That's why Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and everyone else will team up with you in the future.

 

Iris, you could have ducked or taken cover.  Don't just stand there as a car is flying towards you.

[bettername2come]

Yeah, Iris could've avoided that car at least somewhat. But she was rocking the purple hair earlier, so I'll let a little slide.

 

Yay, more of scientist Barry and kindhearted but not stupid Barry. My favorite kind.

 

Tom Cavanagh is a great actor. I keep forgetting about the old Wells the more I see of this one. 

 

I liked how this one was tied together by the "how far do you go for the people you care about?" theme.

Edited February 3, 2016 by bettername2come

[Lantern7]

I thought the episode was lackluster all around, with most of the cast taking stupid pills. Or maybe it's because I found out about the Earth-2 adventure for next week, and I want to see that happen more than character development with Wally . . . who isn't that big of a jackass, but still needs help. I will say that it's funny for a canon Flash fan would have a need for speed before meeting Flash.

 

Is this the first time Team Flash let a meta go free? Tar Pit seems to be an afterthought in the big picture. And he pales to his canon counterpart, though I concede that the budget can only be stretched so far.

 

ETA: The bit where Cisco asked who the best hacker was, and Barry and Caitlin responded with "Felicity Smoak"? That was funny.

[venusnv80]

That was one of the best episodes this season for me. 

 

And I doubt Iris could have moved out the way, considering that it only happened in slow motion to show detail. I doubt cars take that much time to flip over...it's much faster. 

[KirkB]

Venusnv80 got there ahead of me but I was just about to say the same thing. It was done in slow motion so we the audience would be able to see what was going on but in the show world that whole scene probably happened in the span of a few seconds. The people around her saw the car flipping and a red blue turning into the Flash as it caught Iris, who was suddenly impaled by glass.

Edited February 3, 2016 by KirkB

[phoenics]

I loved this episode and was happy to FINALLY see Iris get some real development and screen time. I loved her confronting bad dude and having a backup plan even if she was scared as hell. I loved West Family scenes and the crash was really well done from an effects standpoint.

My only gripe was that Barry not even visiting Iris at the hospital is so OOC that I just can't even - it's as bad as when Iris didn't come to Star Labs after Zoom dragged Barry. That's just not believable. I get that the show wanted to show us the Wests bond, but there really did need to be SOMETHING with Barry and Iris. D@mn.

But overall I loved the episode - I just lament the lack of Barry/Iris scenes this season - they're supposed to be best friends but ... nothing?

I did like Barry stepping up into the hero role and deciding that any of them would have done the same for their family. He's right. That finally felt like a grown up Barry Allen.

Cisco was hilarious as usual.

Wally's "therapy" crack was hilarious!

And Candice Patton was AWESOME this episode. Great, great ep.

Iris and Wally really do look like brother and sister. Great casting.

[Lady Calypso]

Great. great episode. Honestly, it might be my favourite this season because of:

 

1. Iris development! It's not just about Wally! She basically gets an increased role, and it was great to see. Wally was also supportive and concerned about his sister, which was great. 

2. Scientist Barry is back! He was smart! He actually did his job! He got to be a smart hero!

3. No Jay. That means Caitlin didn't get to be dumb, so the team felt whole again. 

4. Harry. We got to see a lot of subtle development with him. We got to see him more genuinely torn, this time with his relationship with Barry. So much of it has been him and Cisco that it was nice to see Harry starting to like Barry and feeling genuinely guilty about taking his power (I mean, if you could read it that way). 

5. Supportive Joe. He was less of a central character, which was so nice. 

 

Ok, so the minor nitpick is the meta that they introduced. He wasn't bad, and he was definitely sympathetic, but I wasn't loving him all that much. But hell, it provided a great character moment for Barry. 

[cambridgeguy]

Where the hell was Jay?  He's dying, he knows his only hope lies with the Star Labs team doing some research or beating Zoom, AND he's not a native of this reality so where does he wander off to?

 

Iris does need to learn to bring some sort of backup. Recording the conversation was a smart move but wouldn't have helped if that guy had snapped.  Posthumous stories aren't ideal.

[benteen]

This episode definitely got better as it went along, especially with Barry not acting like an idiot for once at the end with Wells.  He was correct and it was a strong moment for him.  Maybe there's hope for him after all.

 

I was glad when Wells blew him off during the whole "like a father" to me speech from Barry.  Enough with you 80,000 father figures, Barry!

 

Strong episode for Iris too.

 

Looking forward to the trip to Earth-2.

[quarks]

The Fast and the Furious stuff kinda bored me, but the rest of the episode was ok, I guess.

 

Good things:

 

1. Liked the quick nods to Oliver's mayoral campaign and Felicity Smoak. And yes, Cisco, she's better at hacking than you are. You are better at designing costumes. Own your strengths, Cisco. Own your strengths.

 

2. Cisco thinking he'd created metahuman Tinder. Oh, Cisco.

 

3. Caitlin finally back to working with Team Flash to fight metahumans, and checking Barry's health.

 

4. Hey, Iris got to go investigate stuff like a real reporter! Sure, it was all to service her brother's plot, but at least she got to investigate stuff. And I like that she's sorta developed an undercover wardrobe. I also liked that her investigation eventually tied back into the metahuman of the week, as coincidental as that was.

 

5. And finally, Barry remembered that yes, he's a hero and he's supposed to save people! Yay!

 

Questionable things:

 

1. I liked Harry Wells' decision to admit that he'd been stealing Barry's speed, but wow was that decision a) telegraphed and b) very very slow.

 

2. We have to make this decision as a group, Barry says, apparently not noticing that a couple of the usual members of the group (Iris, Jay) are nowhere around.

 

3. I cracked up that the metahuman Barry needed to defeat could be pretty much defeated just by turning on a fire hydrant.

 

Bad things:

 

1. Well, it was nice of Felicity to move out of Central/Star City's one hospital room just in time for Iris to move in, though I'm shocked - genuinely shocked - that Wally and Joe didn't run into any of the Star City people in the corridor.  (Seriously, shows, you couldn't even move some of the posters around?)  It was also very nice to see that underpass again since we haven't seen that in a few episodes and I was starting to worry about it.  

 

2.  I know I should just stop asking these questions, but can you really determine the percentage of speed force lost from just a blood sample and DNA?

 

3. When the show announces, in script, that it's repeating a plot and even a scene from a previous season, this is a sign of something, and not a good something.

[CocoaGoddess]

I thought this was the best episode of the season so far. Patty annoyed me, but man did that character drag down the overall vibe and pacing of the show. So happy she's gone, will never mention her again.

 

Candice Patton was absolutely amazing and this is the kind of material befitting of the LEAD actress of the show. I don't need to see Barry and Iris mooning over each other, but it's good to see her working, investigating, and this time around, all of the stories connected with one another and just made the entire team seem a lot more cohesive and together, even if they didn't share scenes together. THIS is the kind of writing I want to see on this show. 

 

I personally felt sorry for the meta villain this week and thought that his victims had it coming. Terrible way to go. 

[benteen]

Although a strong episode for Iris, she still was stupid to confront that criminal in the way that she did.

[phoenics]

Although a strong episode for Iris, she still was stupid to confront that criminal in the way that she did.

I guess if Joe had stopped trying to be best buds with Wally, Iris wouldn't have felt compelled to do whatever she had to do to protect him. CP was right when she said that Iris was going to act more like the parent than Joe.

But yes, that was dangerous.

[CocoaGoddess]

It was totally dangerous, but I was expecting her to whip out a can of mace or a stun gun at any moment. 

[bmoore4026]

Wally's becoming a hemorrhoid on this show, though, if he were a white redhead like in the comics, he might have been even more irritating.  I know Wally's integral to the Flash mythology, but there are better characters already on this show.  Do we actually need a Wally West?

 

Also, who in their right minds would name their kid Wally nowadays, black or white?

 

I also hope Wells daughter and Ivan Ooze Flash fuck off and die.  Stupid people almost killing my Barry and are the reason Jay is all sick.  Hope they merge into one being and get double Flash fried while Wells wails and despairs. 

 

Yeah, this season is starting to get to me.  At least next episode we're going to see Earth 2, with hopefully an explanation why everything is in semi-sepia tone.  

[paigow]

My only gripe was that Barry not even visiting Iris at the hospital is so OOC...

This must be the only show on CW where the superhero does not visit his injured girlfriend in the hospital.....

[ottoDbusdriver]

So did Wally show up at Joe's house with a cold pizza from Coast City pizza ?  It's ok when Barry does that because it's usually still piping hot.

 

But I'm not buying this metahuman at all -- that dude was dead the moment his face hit the pool of tar and he took his first deep breath of tar.

 

So, did the dark matter lightning bring this dude back to life as Tar Guy ? Tar Dude ? Tar Man ? To paraphrase David Bowie, there's a Tar Man waiting in the sky. He'd like to come and meet us. But he thinks he'd blow our minds. :)

 

How did this Tar Man get around Central City without anyone noticing ? Did he travel around everywhere underground -- seems like that would take a while ?  Did he take Uber Tar ?

 

Seriously, he was defeated by cold water and a punch from Joe.  That is just so lame.

[Lady Calypso]

This must be the only show on CW where the superhero does not visit his injured girlfriend in the hospital.....

 

Maybe because they're not dating? But nonetheless, it is stupid that Barry didn't go to the hospital to visit, but I can only assume he decided to focus on finding Tar Man and then he had to deal with this whole 'Harry stole my power' thing. I guess Barry would feel guilty that he wasn't fast enough to save Iris from injury and he wanted to give her space for her father and brother, whilst being filled with guilt. And perhaps he went right to go visit her right after letting Harry out.

 

But of course, I can only assume and hope this is the reason, seeing as the show has forgotten that they're supposed to be best friends. I don't know WHY they can't get this right, seeing as the show KNOWS Barry and Iris work well together, as do Grant and Candice. They know Candice works well with the other actors when given the chance. They really need more female writers, or at least writers who are able to write female characters. 

[thuganomics85]

While there was a lot I liked about this episode, this might have been the worst metahuman yet.  Everything about it was lame: the origin story, the visual effects, the acting, and the way it was defeated.  At least the show seem to realize this and he was pretty much the second or even third fiddle in this entire thing, but that didn't stop him from being lame as hell.

 

Hey, with Patty gone, guess who finally gets screen time?!  That's right, the show remembers that Iris is actually the female lead in this damn thing!  Great job, show!  It's nice to see Candice Patton get to actually do things, besides hang out in the background.  I don't even mind that Iris foolishly confronted that gangster by herself, because at this point, everyone has done something stupid.  At least her stupidity didn't cause massive chaos or almost cause the destruction of the world.

 

Glad Joe finally stepped up and actually acted more like a father to Wally instead of a friend, but I still feel like a lot of this boils to Joe being kind of sexist, and having different standards for his sons, compared to Iris.  I still think he lets Wally and Barry get away with way more shit then he does with Iris.

 

Barry might be a doofus, but I loved him for standing up to Team Flash when they wanted to shun Harry, because seriously.  Not saying what Harry did was right, but Barry is totally on the money that everyone in that damn team would have done the same thing if it was their loved one.  Joe would have done that for Iris, Barry, and Wally.  Cisco for his family.  Caitlin if she could somehow get Ronnie back... assuming she still remembers him.  So, great job at not being a judgmental prick, Barry!

 

Don't worry, Cisco.  You might not be as great of a hacker as Felicity, but I doubt she can whip up all the contraptions you can pull out of your ass.  Everyone has their strengths!

 

Jay randomly disappears again.

 

Sounds like they're going to head to Earth 2 now.  That could be fun!

[Bobbin]

Actors are rarely the same age as the character they play, rarer for characters' ages to be mentioned. So it was cool when Wells pointedly referred to Barry as a 26 year old. I'm thinking Tom Cavanagh was wishing "happy birthday" to Grant Gustin, who just turned 26 on January 14.

[Ruby25]

I liked Barry for the first time basically all season, in this episode. He was acting smart, doing science things, smiling and being kind and sweet again. The minute they get rid of Patty, the Barry I like from the first season returns? That can't be a coincidence.

 

Bring on Earth-2!

Edited February 3, 2016 by Ruby25

[VCRTracking]

I don't blame Wally. If I had a sister and she looked like Iris I'd be in therapy too!

[zannej]

I really liked this one. There weren't any scenes I wanted to fastforward through. They did seem to gloss over the death of Joe's ex-wife. I guess I shouldn't have expected them to show the reactions of Iris, Joe, and Wally when she actually died and/or discuss the funeral. Also, just because a person is dead does not mean their medical bills stop. If Wally inherited anything from his mother, the hospitals would be coming after the estate for any bills still owed-- and even if nothing was owed, hospitals sometimes still try to bill people. And postmortem arrangements can be expensive. To have the body taken away, cremated, have a notice in the paper, and have some death certificates made up it can cost over $2k. It's even more expensive if the body is buried. Although, maybe the mother had life insurance to pay for that.

 

Am I the only one who thought it was odd that Iris was still in the hospital when the glass had just hit her in the shoulder? Where I live they would have made her wait in the waiting room for over 3 hours before finally taking her in to a room where she would have waited some more. Then they would have stitched up her wound, given her some antibiotics, had her wait a couple of hours, and then sent her home. In a better hospital, they would have seen her in maybe 45 minutes, stitched her up, and sent her home.

 

It did bother me that Barry didn't stop by to visit her.

 

I loved how the more Barry was trying to bond with Harry, the more upset Harry got. Barry had no idea why, but it was obvious that it was making Harry feel more guilty. Poor Harry getting hurt by Zoom and not being able to tell anyone. If Caitlin had been paying attention, she might have thought he was having a heart attack. Pain in the left chest/shoulder area can be a sign of heart attack. It was odd how Harry at first said "no" about pain and then said it was a headache. I guess Barry knew not to push it though. I almost didn't notice later on when Harry had the tear run down his face. I do wish he'd actually told the others that Zoom hurt him and threatened to torture his daughter. That would have made it clear just how serious it was.

 

It was not very bright of Iris to go face the scumbag alone. She should have brought a weapon to defend herself just in case. And the guy could have taken her phone away-- so it would have been better if she said that the conversation was being uploaded live. Not sure why she didn't take that to the CCPD right away so she could have proof that he threatened her so he would have been arrested. I'm so glad they actually used her reporter skills this time around. I hope they continue with that.

 

The villain of the week was the weak spot. Did he lose his powers? Did they lock him up in the pipeline? What happened with him? I did like that Joe got to punch him out.

 

I liked Barry a lot more this week. He was capable, intelligent, and empathetic. Loved how he pointed out that Cisco essentially made the same call to sell him out to save his own brother-- and that nobody held that against him. Oh, and I love how Harry keeps reminding them that to him, his earth is Earth 1.

[johntfs]

 

The villain of the week was the weak spot. Did he lose his powers? Did they lock him up in the pipeline? What happened with him? I did like that Joe got to punch him out.

 

What part of the episode would you cut to show Barry grabbing the guy and putting him in the pipeline?  Joe knocked him out and figure Barry put him the pipeline.  This isn't Law and Order: Central City.  We don't need to see every single step that happens after they take down a meta.  We pretty well know what happens next.

[zannej]

What part of the episode would you cut to show Barry grabbing the guy and putting him in the pipeline?  Joe knocked him out and figure Barry put him the pipeline.  This isn't Law and Order: Central City.  We don't need to see every single step that happens after they take down a meta.  We pretty well know what happens next.

They wouldn't have needed to cut anything. They could have just had someone say he was secured in the pipeline. They didn't need to show it.

[TwistedandBored]

I loved this episode. It moved the main storyline a long, gave an insight into what Wally loves about speed racing, and let CP shine. All in all, it was a great episode. 

[quarks]

 

Am I the only one who thought it was odd that Iris was still in the hospital when the glass had just hit her in the shoulder? Where I live they would have made her wait in the waiting room for over 3 hours before finally taking her in to a room where she would have waited some more. Then they would have stitched up her wound, given her some antibiotics, had her wait a couple of hours, and then sent her home. In a better hospital, they would have seen her in maybe 45 minutes, stitched her up, and sent her home.

 

 

This is all true, but the shows only have the one hospital set - the room everybody ends up in, and the hallways just outside. Given the high injury rate on both shows, you'd think they would have built an ER set as well, but apparently they really like that room.

[phoenics]

I also wonder if Iris had surgery - they usually don't hook you up to machines like that unless some kind of surgery was involved. A quick stitch up wouldn't require that, making me wonder if they meant to imply that she'd had surgery to repair an artery or something...

I do wonder if there are some deleted scenes somewhere.

[CocoaGoddess]

I had to fanwank to myself that they had to get her into surgery to repair a damaged artery.

 

I think the slow mo of the scene kind of took away the severity of her getting hit with a large shard of glass at that speed. It was probably pretty bad.

[benteen]

You know, nobody mentioned the fact that Wells killed the Turtle in all of this.  Granted, Turtle was no great loss to society and Barry has certainly racked up a body count this year.  But that happened in the field and Wells is a guy who flat out murdered someone.

[bettername2come]

Just realized that the song Barry quoted at the beginning is "Girls Chase Boys" by Ingrid Michaelson. Not sure I would have pegged that as one of Barry's favorites.

 

Edited to add: Double just realized - that's the song that played when Barry went to see Iris after he woke up from his coma. And that's the lyric first heard in the scene. Nicely done, show. 

Edited February 3, 2016 by bettername2come

[marcee]

For what it's worth, Barry's the one who brought her to the hospital in the first place. So he was there...and as far as I can tell we don't know how long he stayed.

Edited February 3, 2016 by marcee

[kennyab]

For what it's worth, Barry's the one who brought her to the hospital in the first place. So he was there...and as far as I can tell we don't know how long he stayed.

 

I also doubt that he didn't come visit the hospital as Barry, and it would have been nice to actually see it, but the episode was pretty full already. As it was, the final showdown with Tarpit came off as fairly rushed. I don't think they could have shoe-horned in an extra scene, and I have a feeling that they're keeping Barry and Wally away from each other for now on purpose. Flash and Arrow seem to compartmentalize storylines quite a bit, which can be a bit frustrating as a viewer.

[Primetimer]

Barry has to deal with a metahuman made of tar -- and not at full speed, either.

Read the story

[johntfs]

I had to fanwank to myself that they had to get her into surgery to repair a damaged artery.

 

I think the slow mo of the scene kind of took away the severity of her getting hit with a large shard of glass at that speed. It was probably pretty bad.

 

Well, it's glass so figure when it hit some of it shattered and they'd need to go in and clean out the broken shards at least.  Contrary to TV reality, there really isn't a "good" place for the human body to get impaled by a sharp edged foreign object.

 

 

They wouldn't have needed to cut anything. They could have just had someone say he was secured in the pipeline. They didn't need to show it.

 

Well, if it'll help.  "Tar Pit has been secured in the Pipeline," someone said.

[Lantern7]

Read the recap. Totally missed the part where Tar Pit got captured.

[tennisgurl]

Good episode! See, this is Barry at his best. Smart, scientific, goofy, and compassionate. Really, all the characters came off really well in this episode. Wally was even better, now that we have a bit more than generic Rebel Without A Cause anger. 

 

Also, confirmation that Barry is 26! Same age as me. Man, he has a real job and saves lives frequently. I am still in grad school starring at a mountain of loans, lucky if I can save someone from a mild inconvenience at my Graduate Assistanceship. I wonder how old Caitlin and Cisco are supposed to be, have they ever said?

 

I want Earth 2! Or Earth 1, depending on your dimension of origin! 

[slayer2]

 

 

My only gripe was that Barry not even visiting Iris at the hospital is so OOC that I just can't even - it's as bad as when Iris didn't come to Star Labs after Zoom dragged Barry. That's just not believable. I get that the show wanted to show us the Wests bond, but there really did need to be SOMETHING with Barry and Iris. D@mn.

But overall I loved the episode - I just lament the lack of Barry/Iris scenes this season - they're supposed to be best friends but ... nothing?

 

Agreed! Glad you mentioned it! This was my only gripe as well. So glad to see CP front and centre again and Iris and Wally have a great sibling chemistry, I do hope they go back to the WestAllen shipping show (never thought I'd say that) soon. At least in the sense that there's some awkwardness or hesistancy that could lead to future coupledom. I'd hate to see another Patty like character hijack the show from Iris and watch their wonderful dynamic go down the drain.  Also show, speaking of that, I realize you were just trying to be funny. but the less said about Felicity Smoak on THIS show, the better for me. Thanks. Bring on Earth 2 squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Edited February 4, 2016 by slayer2

[AudienceofOne]

ETA: The bit where Cisco asked who the best hacker was, and Barry and Caitlin responded with "Felicity Smoak"? That was funny

 

 

By far the best part of an otherwise lacklustre episode.

 

Iris annoyed the crap out of me this episode. Lecturing her insta-brother to change his behaviour 10 seconds after she met him? Ergh

[phoenics]

Agreed! Glad you mentioned it! This was my only gripe as well. So glad to see CP front and centre again and Iris and Wally have a great sibling chemistry, I do hope they go back to the WestAllen shipping show (never thought I'd say that) soon. At least in the sense that there's some awkwardness or hesistancy that could lead to future coupledom. I'd hate to see another Patty like character hijack the show from Iris and watch their wonderful dynamic go down the drain.  Also show, speaking of that, I realize you were just trying to be funny. but the less said about Felicity Smoak on THIS show, the better for me. Thanks. Bring on Earth 2 squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

I agree that Iris and Wally have great sibling chemistry and I LOVED seeing Iris go into big sister mode because she NEEDED to. Joe was acting like Wally's best bud and not doing what was necessary to keep him safe - if Iris had decided not to confront Wally and try to get him to stop, Wally would be dead, since Joe wasn't going to do anything. Iris hit all the right points last night and really was a treat to watch. The look Wally gave Iris where he then shut his eyes, lol, was hilarious.

That's a sister and brother bond - loved seeing that with Wally and Iris and also really liked how the show sharply contrasts that with Barry/Iris - there is a clear and distinct difference that they've drawn there.

I am excited for Earth 2 - we will see what they come up with!

[GHScorpiosRule]

This was my favorite episode of the season thus far--which only goes to prove that you cut away all the romantic angst, and concentrate on just the hero aspect of it, makes for a much better show!

 

Not that I'm saying I don't want to see Barry and Iris finally get together-I do-but I don't want any "angst" to be a factor, if that makes sense.

 

And I know that it wasn't the show's intent, but my goodness, I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Candice/Iris's face in slow motion as the shard of glass pierced her heart! Not the shoulder! Even though it was supposed to be the shoulder, otherwise she'd be dead. I can't put into words what it looked like to me, but it made me snerk, and I know I wasn't supposed to do that. I know I was supposed to be scared for her.

 

Can last night's Barry stay? I very much like this Barry.

 

I will admit, that all this talk of "speedforce" just confuses the heck out of me. I don't recall any of my 'toons ever referring to Flash's speed to the speed force, EXCEPT for that one episode in JLU where Wally's Flash went supersonic to separate Brainiac from Lex, and caused him to shimmer and nearly fade to the bright light, before Shayera, Bats, Supes, J'onn, GL, and Diana pulled him out, and he told them he didn't think he could ever go that fast ever again. If he did, he wouldn't make it back. 

[driedfruit]

Iris annoyed the crap out of me this episode. Lecturing her insta-brother to change his behaviour 10 seconds after she met him? Ergh

 

He was risking his life stupidly and breaking the law, she was perfectly right to step in since Joe was being an idiot. As a cop and a father (new or not) Joe should've had his ass arrested if that's what it took to stop him. Wally might have hated him for it, but at least he'd be alive. That's the burden of parenthood. 

 

Racing was somewhat popular with some of my acquaintances back home, and people's parents reacted severely to that kind of thing because of the very real death toll.

Edited February 4, 2016 by driedfruit

[Ruby25]

I noticed even a bunch of redditors commenting last night on how the minute Patty left, the show seemed to improve, lol.

 

Seriously though, without her we got two major things- 1) Barry from the first season, with his nerdiness, his intelligence and his kind, puppy dog like happiness, which hasn't been seen all year and 2) interaction between him and Wells, which hasn't happened in a long time, and I think really showed what a missing factor that has been as well.

 

I really think forcing him into such distracting relationship drama this season decreased his ability to interact with the rest of the cast in ways that were essential to the success of the first season. It also had a negative effect on his attitude for some reason. Even though it was stated that she supposedly made him "happy," I don't know about you guys, but I didn't see one hint of season one style happiness on him until several moments last night. His demeanor was totally changed, lol.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Ruby25

[SevenStars]

By far the best part of an otherwise lacklustre episode.

Iris annoyed the crap out of me this episode. Lecturing her insta-brother to change his behaviour 10 seconds after she met him? Ergh

She wasn't trying to change his behavior, she was trying to save his life. Instant brother or not, she cares about him. If she hadn't tried her hardest to protect and save him, I would have questioned her love for him. She doesn't have to know him all her life to care about his life.

In this case, I think Iris reacted perfectly. She just lost her mother for the second, she doesn't want to lose a brother she just find too because of stupidity.

[VCRTracking]

I agree that Barry's speech was one of his finest moments on the show.

[Trini]

I really liked that this episode managed to connect the West family (Iris especially) story to the main villain-of-the-week story. More of that, show! I think the A, B, and C plots were handled pretty well; although Tarpit was defeated a bit easily.

 

Too bad Jay Garrick has been a waste of space (and budget) this season. They should have had him in a few episodes at the start and then brought him back for a few in the second half.

[millennium]

Way to go Barry, take a stand and point out that Team Flash would have done the same thing.  A superhero doesn't give up, and leave people to die.  That's why Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and everyone else will team up with you in the future.

 

 

 

I did like Barry stepping up into the hero role and deciding that any of them would have done the same for their family. He's right. That finally felt like a grown up Barry Allen.

 

 

Yup, that was a shining hero moment.   GG made it sound heartfelt, too (as compared to the speechifying Oliver does on Arrow).  What Barry didn't say -- and maybe it was more powerful because it was left unsaid -- was that he himself placed the whole world at risk when he attempted to save his mother.

 

And you know, I've been no fan of Iris, but something in this episode felt very different.   She seemed more mature and self confident.   I'd like to see more of that.

 

Thank goodness Patty Spigot is gone.   Now if we could only get rid of Wally West.

I agree that Barry's speech was one of his finest moments on the show.

 

ITA.