S02.E17: Flash Back

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

The Flash Meets A Specter Of The Past
And he's not too happy about Barry's latest time-travel shenanigans.

[johntfs]

There's an illustration in the AD&D rulebook about the Detect Evil power that applies to Eobard Thawne as Wells (E-Wells for short).  The illustration is that of an evil wizard coming into an inn during a downpour.  If the Detect Evil is used it won't work because the wizard has no evil intent at that moment.  He just wants to get warm, dry and fed.  However, if one spends a sufficient amount of time with the wizard he will reveal his evil.

 

E-Wells is an evil person.  That said, he's still human and not immune to emotional pulls.  Spending so much time mentoring Barry (along with Caitlin and Cisco) leaves its mark.  E-Wells protects and cares for Barry, albeit sometimes in evil ways (murdering Simon Stagg, trying to kill General Eiling).  So we have E-Wells' instinct to protect Barry in effect when future-Barry comes in.  At the same time E-Wells is very concerned with protecting his own timeline because he needs to go back to his own future era and needs it to be intact.  Killing future Barry might disrupt that.

 

We as passive audience viewers might figure that the "best" thing for E-Wells to do is to kill future Barry, but we have no skin in the game.  E-Wells has a lot of emotional skin in this particular  game and as such decides that the safest thing to do is to gave Future Barry what he needs.

[zannej]

You score points for mentioning Dungeons and Dragons. I still need to wrap up the adventure we had going when my sister visited the year before last.

I'll continue further discussion of Eobard in the appropriate thread.

Edited April 2, 2016 by zannej

[LisaM]

Time travel gives me a headache. 

[Snorfbat]

Something that made this DC fanboy very happy: In the opening scene, Barry read some books super-quickly then added a formula onto a board.

 

3X2(9YZ)4A is the formula that Johnny Quick uses to achieve superspeed! Geek fist pump!!!

 

Edited to add this awesome Mort Meskin artwork:

Edited April 21, 2016 by Snorfbat

[ottoDbusdriver]

Something that made this DC fanboy very happy: In the opening scene, Barry read some books super-quickly then added a formula onto a board.

 

3X2(9YZ)4A is the formula that Johnny Quick uses to achieve superspeed! Geek fist pump!!!

 

Nice catch !!

[sarthaz]

On 3/30/2016 at 0:57 PM, CletusMusashi said:

Barry's manners are slipping, I think. This episode was, from Piper's perspective, the first time that the two of them have seen each other, yet he completely neglected to remove his mask and say "Hello, my name is Barry Allen. Also known as The Flash. Pleased to meet you." The nice polite Barry that we know would never go an entire episode without introducing himself to new friends. Or enemies. Or random bystanders. Or dogs. Or squirrels. Or fire hydrants.

A year late to this party, but I LOL'd.  "Remember, don't tell the woman I'm currently in love with.  It's important that we awkwardly lie to her and needlessly sabotage our relationship, because even though my enemies put her in danger every other week anyway, telling her would put her in danger from my enemies.  No time to explain!"

Also late, but this episode was terrible.  None of it stands up to logic, from the idiotic plan, to Barry's complete disregard for changing everything, to Eobard even bothering to help future Barry.  What a mess.