S02.E21: The Runaway Dinosaur

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

With Barry gone, the team must figure out a way to handle the return of an old enemy – Girder. Realizing Girder is retracing his steps from his last attack, Iris volunteers to act as bait to trap him in S.T.A.R. Labs. Meanwhile, Barry fights to return to his old life.

Promo:

[CletusMusashi]

I refuse to watch the teaser, for fear that it might convince me that this episode does not, in fact, involve an actual runaway dinosaur. I mean, yeah, part of me already suspects that it's just a metaphor, but I'm hoping, god damn it! If anybody knows for sure that the title is not meant to be taken literally, please keep it to yourself and let me have this, just for a few more days. A dinosaur could be even better than a talking shark!

Edited May 6, 2016 by CletusMusashi

[Trini]

Comic preview; answers a question about dead metahumans.

[zannej]

Hmm... Interesting. Thanks for the link, Trini!

[Trini]

*Spoilery!* extended promo with Kevin Smith:

[pookat]

"Come home to me, Barry."

[sob]

[bettername2come]

Ah! Oh my God! That was beautiful! Iris "No, you get behind me!" West being a damn hero. Bonding between everyone. Emotions. Westallen love. Hilarious West family moments. Mama Allen and Barry. Barry putting his head on his dad's shoulder. Barry catching his shadow like he's Peter Pan. So many emotions. Too many feelings. Kiss her, you fool! Okay, fine, the cheek is okay, I can deal with a cheek kiss and a hug while you hold the umbrella like a gentleman.

And then Zoom continues to be the world's worst ex-boyfriend. Good luck, Caitlin. Don't be a supervillain.

[Jediknight]

"That wasn't my mom or yours."

What the butt Iris?  Barry's mother was murdered, she was always there for Barry while alive.  That was not the right thing to have her say.

So we've got a Legion of Doom (not Hawk and Animal) of sorts, if only Barry had some friends to help out.  That would be super, but of course they won't get permission to bring in the Justice League, but we should get Wally and Jesse as speedsters.

Poor Tony, he was a bully in life, but he didn't deserve to die or to become a zombie.  He also saved Barry with his last breaths.

I love that Harry knows exactly what's going on.

[johntfs]

And of course Jsaon Mewes and his mom's Hummer.

Papa Allen: "I'm staying with you from now on, Barry.  And by from now on, I of course mean until the end of the next episode when I'll almost certainly get murdered by Zoom, but still, from now on."

[CocoaGoddess]

This is the Iris West I've been begging for for TWO YEARS.

She is such a hero, and this felt so much about her journey too!

Please get this woman into the police academy. 

[johntfs]

1 minute ago, CocoaGoddess said:

This is the Iris West I've been begging for for TWO YEARS.

She is such a hero, and this felt so much about her journey too!

Please get this woman into the police academy. 

Screw the police academy.  Just put her into SHIELD, er, ARGUS.

[AD35]

Judging by the way Barry and Iris held hands and talked at Nora's grave, is it safe to assume that they are now officially together?

Quote

So we've got a Legion of Doom (not Hawk and Animal) of sorts, if only Barry had some friends to help out.  That would be super, but of course they won't get permission to bring in the Justice League, but we should get Wally and Jesse as speedsters.

Too bad Barry's new friend Kara aka Supergirl isn't close by,

[ruby24]

Um...is there a reason they're not letting Barry and Iris kiss? It seems like they're purposely holding off on that.

[ottoDbusdriver]

So is the "speedforce as an entity" a real thing in the DCU or was that just Barry's mind trying deal with his own shit ?

How come Barry's costume was intact when he came back ?  Shouldn't it have been missing the piece that Cisco was vibing on ?  And was the mini-tachyon generator still embedded behind the symbol ?

[Lantern7]

Good episode. The show should pay a royalty to Mark Waid for the concept of a loved one being a magnet to bring someone back from the Speed Force. Not sure we needed Black Lantern Zombie Girder, but what the hell, right?

Did Jay recruit the worst of the worst from Earth-2? I didn't see any familiar faces, either from the show or from comics. Granted, I wasn't paying rapt attention.

[Lady Calypso]

I loved this episode. I was enjoying all of it. Iris got significant screentime, Barry got to have his pep talk by the Speedforce (that's new) and a "Run Barry Run" by his mother-image. We got a hilarious unintentional iZombie crossover (Greg Finley....you got to be a zombie for a little while longer). 

So...yeah, I'm going to say that Henry is probably going to get killed by Zoom. Unless they're going to up John Wesley Shipp to a main cast member, I don't know if he'll survive. Which sucks because there's no point in killing him, and I like him. Henry can just stay away for "enter reason here".

Westallen! The feels! 

Well, I'm going to say that Wally does have powers, but they're just hidden until he touches Barry...or something. And Jesse might have powers too, so that's cool.

Some really funny moments, like the Jason Mewes cameo. Really great episode overall.

[Actionmage]

I liked it. Iris got to actually be the BAMF we knew she could be. Henry got to be doctor-y. Cisco was science-ing all over the place and Vibing and hitting most of the good one-liners. Wells got to be brilliant. Barry got to sort of work out his emotional baggage.  Joe was semi-supportive of Iris' plan. Wally? I'm looking forward to you being in the next two episodes, I hope.

From what Kevin Smith said, I was actually expecting more- more of a reaction from me  about what I was watching. I understood and enjoyed the episode, but I was expecting ugly crying and gutpunches to the feels. I loved that Jason Mews got to visit Big Belly; I wonder how it stacks up to Mooby's? *g* Still, it was an interesting look into where the writers think Barry's head is at.

Poor Tony. Yeah, he was a bully a chunk of time during his life, but as Jedi Knight noted, he was trying to protect Barry when he died and then Eobard- Wells was doing who knows what, post-mortem. I hope Tony is at peace now.

Joe? Wally isn't five; essentially sending him to his room when Iris is leading Poor Dead Tony back to STAR isn't helping anyone. Tell Wally that Iris is safe and there is a plan. Quit infantilizing Wally. (Yhough, his misguided attempt to see if Wally was meta was hilarious! *G*)

I just hope Caitlin doesn't think she can continue to try to stop Zoom by staying behind enemy lines. There are too many folks who don't need much of a reason, or one at all, to kill. You'd be painting a target on your back by staying. Yes, I heard the anvilicious " Don't call me that name!" I would not mind a meta'd Caitlin, but I'd prefer our Caitlin to stay on the side of angels.

I am ready to see what's up for the next two episodes!

Edited May 11, 2016 by Actionmage
Clarity of which Wells.

[madhacker]

Kevin Smith should direct more episodes of this show, that's all I have to say about the awesomeness tonight.

Well, that and I was kinda hoping Jason Mewes would've snuck in  a "snoochie-boochies" just for the fans.

[Lantern7]

madhacker . . . I think Kevin has one more episode in him for next season. And I would expect more immature content with him and Jason are involved. Like speculation on how badly Barry could burn Iris in an intimate moment. Or if he could smoke up like a regular stoner.

[tennisgurl]

I am feeling ALL of the WestAllen feels tonight. Those two are meant to be, so do not screw with them, writers!

Poor Tony. Yeah he was a bully, but he was a pretty minor threat as far as villains go, and he died trying to help Barry. I hope he gets some peace soon. 

This was a really great episode, one of my favorites this season. Can we get more Kevin Smith please?

[catrice2]

I don't know what it is for me this year.  I was bored this episode. Why did Zoom walk out to talk to everyone?  All he cares about it speed, you would think he would have "zoomed" out.  I found the Zombie ( and Cisco's jokes) very boring.  

I would think Iris and Barry's moment was worthy of a kiss...similar to the one they had before he "turned back time" and took away the moment when she told him she loved him even when Eddie was o.k. 

Clearly Joe thinks there may be something wrong with Barry. 

Tom Cavenaugh looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. It was a strange episode overall. 

[Whodunnit]

So did Barry like jump start Jesse (and probably her powers) out of the coma?

[DearEvette]

I enjoyed this quite a bit.

- I liked how everybody seemed to have a mini plot.

- I liked that Iris and Cisco got to spend some quality time working together.

- I loved almost every line out of Cisco's mouth.  He was killing me! 

- I liked how Dad-like all the dads were.  And also how they all seemed to be working together for each others' kids.

- I loved how Iris seemed to finally come into her own.  What a great episode for her.

- I liked the balance between the lighter, funnier stuff with Iris, Cisco and even Joe versus the heavier stuff with Wells/Henry and then the heaviest stuff with Barry.

- And finally, I adored the last scene between Barry and iris.  I was never really convinced by Iris/Barry's chemistry in season 1.  I actually thought Iris had better romantic chemistry with Eddie.  But something happened the back half of this season that made me finally feel them.  Maybe it was seeing the Earth-2 version of them or maybe it was Iris finally accepting it?  Whatever the case I like them.

[ruby24]

Iris was great in this episode. Why don't they give her this much stuff all the time? They need to just turn her into a cop. She and Cisco were good together too.

If it takes Caitlin not being there to get Iris this much to do, then I say go ahead and turn Caitlin into Killer Frost and remove her from the team. She was not missed at all in this ep, imo.

I still think Barry and Iris need to kiss already- Iris hasn't actually kissed him at all! He kissed her in the day that was erased, plus her E2 self being all over him, lol.

[atomic]

18 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Good episode. The show should pay a royalty to Mark Waid for the concept of a loved one being a magnet to bring someone back from the Speed Force. Not sure we needed Black Lantern Zombie Girder, but what the hell, right?

Did Jay recruit the worst of the worst from Earth-2? I didn't see any familiar faces, either from the show or from comics. Granted, I wasn't paying rapt attention.

 

Spoiler

Still not seeing a familiar face? :)

[catrice2]

4 minutes ago, ruby24 said:

Iris was great in this episode. Why don't they give her this much stuff all the time? They need to just turn her into a cop. She and Cisco were good together too.

If it takes Caitlin not being there to get Iris this much to do, then I say go ahead and turn Caitlin into Killer Frost and remove her from the team. She was not missed at all in this ep, imo.

I still think Barry and Iris need to kiss already- Iris hasn't actually kissed him at all! He kissed her in the day that was erased, plus her E2 self being all over him, lol.

I am not sure why they are holding out on the big "kiss."  You would think after all they have gone through to be together and as Barry said, "wasted so much time," why waste any more time in showing each other how they feel?  I chaste kiss on the cheek in that moment just did not work, nor did it sell the moment.  I am not sure why that was the choice.  That is why so many fans have a hard time buying this relationship...they don't allow them to show any passion.  To be fair, I never saw it with Iris and Eddie either , or Barry and Patty.   Wally is pretty pointless to me. 

[benteen]

God, is all he ever does is cry?  When in doubt, whip out the dead horse that is Nora Allen's death.

Zombie Girder was fun.  Nice to see Henry return and Iris was good in that one.  But I wasn't feeling it throughout most of this episode and I'm tired of Barry crying in every single episode.

Joe must enjoy having another kid to lie to.

[ruby24]

So apparently Candice was sick during the filming of this episode...maybe that has something to do with them not kissing? I don't know. I would like them to show some passion as well, and that would have been the perfect moment for a big kiss.

[Ottis]

Yay on the Mom stuff. Barf on the Iris "come home to me" stuff. Felt intrusive, like Iris needed to insert herself. 

What kind of reporter doesn't know the dual meaning of a "morgue?"

"Plan H!" Ha.

Not much surprise from the rest of the team that Barry has his powers back. 

Now I think the actor who plays his dad  (Henry) is just stiff and perhaps not a hidden bad guy. 

Barry was angry? Huh. 

[Actionmage]

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What kind of reporter doesn't know the dual meaning of a "morgue?"

Iris surely knows what a paper's morgue and a lab's morgue is. The point of her 'ew' reaction was that there are dead bodies on a lower level when this was supposed to be a lab for things not dead.

Quote

So apparently Candice was sick during the filming of this episode...maybe that has something to do with them not kissing?

I can see that. Even if Candace and Grant were okay, maybe this close to the end of the season, Production didn't want to stretch out the filming schedule with a sick lead actor.  CP looked her usual lovely self in the episode, so either it wasn't too horrible or make-up is getting overlooked for some industry bling. *g* 

Shallowly, I loved SpeedForce!Iris' green coat and our Iris' carmel/tan coat at Nora's grave.

[ChelseaNH]

All that time I wasted learning CPR when I could just yell at people to restart their hearts.

[Lantern7]

ChelseaNH . . . ever watch The Avengers? Hulk saved Iron Man's life that way.

ETA: Seeing the army . . . anybody else think of the Brain assembling the massive Brotherhood of Evil in the final season of Teen Titans?

[quarks]

Mixed episode for me.

Good things:

1. Hey, Iris got to do something this episode!  More than one thing! What show are we all watching again?

2. The Jason Mewes cameo.  Further proof that he's most definitely a one note actor, but I laughed.

3. Cisco explaining the zombie metahuman to Barry while Harry stood next to him making faces. I also laughed.

4. Pretty entertaining metahuman army at the end there.

5. Awww, Barry had to say goodbye to his mother and the dinosaurs, but he has his dad back. For now.

Questionable things:

1. A qualified doctor is right there in Star Labs, so let's all just.....yell at the people on the floor who aren't breathing. On the other hand, it worked. I probably shouldn't knock it.

2. So is Wally going to become a speedster once Barry touches him, too? And is anybody going to bother to tell him that Barry is not, in fact, really gone, or is he going to get to discover this himself between episodes?

3. I get why Reverse Flash was keeping the metahuman bodies around last season. But once he was gone, why didn't Team Flash try to do something with the bodies that was not "leave them in the basement where they could conceivably turn into zombies."?And before anyone points out the low probability of that happening, I would just like to note that this is the same show that has a telepathic gorilla and subatomic particle thingies that were around during the Big Bang and can now take on human form and have long conversations with people urging them to run run run.

4. Speaking of which, even the ghost of Barry's mother got into the "Run Barry Run" thing. I guess the Speedforce really does want Barry to do what everyone on the show keeps telling him to do.

5. Don't put "dinosaur" in the episode title and then fail to give me a dinosaur, show. Most unfair.

Bad things:

1. Iris finally got to do stuff. Meanwhile, Jesse spent the episode in a coma, Caitlin spent it kidnapped, and Barry's guilt about his mother and need for one more story about a dinosaur meant that a metahuman zombie was able to go damage a coffee shop. Geesh, Flash.

2. Joe, we all know you prefer your sons, but maybe be a little less obvious about it by not, say, breaking the gift your daughter just gave you to find out if you now have two metahuman sons?

3. Yes, by all means, let's explore the magical and mystical world of the Speed Force - which just happens to be on old Flash sets.  Even worse, where did the zombie metahuman go to offscreen? That's right - ONE OF THE EXISTING FLASH SETS. Come on, Berlanti. Ingenuity can really only take you guys so far.

4. On the one hand, I'm glad Barry's guilt about not saving his mother has been sorta dealt with. On the other hand, SpeedForce, since you were bringing this up in the first place, why not mention the OTHER problem with that plot and suggest that just maybe, risking the entire planet so that you can go rescue your mother in the past is a kinda risky thing to do?  And that GIVING YOUR SPEED FORCE to the bad guy rather than trying to come up with some alternative plan to rescue Wally is less heroism and more shockingly bad decision making?

[statsgirl]

As the Speedforce kept changing into people in Barry's life, all I could think about was how much better Deep Space Nine had done it and how much I miss that show.

Thanks, AK. You've ruined Barry/Iris for me forever.

[Whodunnit]

Ahhh... the tiny budget of CW shows. I think that the only way they would get better scenery would be if they got a sponsor in like a travel agency or something--as I believe they did on the tv show "Covert Affairs".

[Trini]

Not that it wasn't nice of The Speed Force to give him a new suit, but I was really hoping for naked Barry.

No Barry/Iris kiss? COME ON.

Zombie Girder? Really?? I guess that was supposed to add levity to an emotionally heavy episode, but... it was so random.

Other than those things, this was a really good episode.

The Iris we had tonight, can we keep her? It sucks that they had to omit Caitlin to give Iris more action/screentime, though. (Seriously, is it that hard to have multiple female characters doing something?) Iris and Cisco should definitely get more scenes together.

So... the speed force is a person? Entity? I just went with it, but they really didn't explain. And I haven't read the comics.

Poor Wally. If he hasn't figured it out already, they need to just let him in on the 'secret'. Joe trying to test him was funny, though. Quit breaking your kids' mugs!

Glad things are finally moving forward with Barry and Iris (It only took nearly the whole season); glad Barry dealt with his issues, but does The Speed Force give all speedsters therapy?

So who needs a Lazarus Pit, when there's a faulty particle accelerator right here in Central City?

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Very good episode all around.  The feels, a zombie, a 'kiss', and Henry's home!

Really waited long enough to amp up the seriousness of the Zoom situation, with the tacked-on-the-end of this episode introducing his army of metas.  And seriously, Cait (yes, CAIT, cause I know you hate it!), way to leave your friends hung out to dry.

So, Jesse wasn't a speedster (at least not fully) until Barry electo-touched her, and it woke her from the coma?   Speedforce cures all!   

[FiveByFive]

I don't know how it happened but after being annoyed with the series for weeks they finally had an episode I enjoyed.

I even teared up a little when Barry was reading to MotherForce. 

I'm not sure how to feel about the fact that:  It took every female character on the show to be gone all episode for Iris to actually shine which says to me, what people have expressed including myself, they're not doing a great job at writing for her at all because when they really use her she's awesome. 

Not only did I not care that Caitlin wasn't there it made me realize she's kind of redundant. What did she do that was so special that she did often? Then I really thought about it: when she wasn't pining after Firestorm she was pining after Zoom. While I don't want her to become Killer Frost: it would be nice if they did something with her that didn't involve a man and that includes Barry. Let's meet her family. Let's see what she does when she's not at work. They hinted at her possibly having a brother that died that she didn't know about. Let's have some great stunt casting and a visit from her mom.

The final scene was perfect except for the "kiss on the cheek." Maybe I've been burned by "Sleepy Hollow's" whole, "I'm in love with you ... like a buddy loves a buddy!" schtick but I thought that would have made the scene perfect.  Let the romantic interest be a romantic interest and if it doesn't work out within the context of the story then fine but at least give it a chance.

I've always been for Iris/Barry but I feel like the show is really "earning" it now and after this episode it's something I'd really like to see soon. 

[twoods]

1 hour ago, ChelseaNH said:

All that time I wasted learning CPR when I could just yell at people to restart their hearts.

He was giving her pretend TV CPR- you could see his hands pumping on her chest while they were showing him being freaked out. At least, I thought that's what it was.

Grant is such a terrific crier- why is he not nominated for a GG? Stupid voters. I like that he was finally at peace with his mother's death, and my WestAllen heart squeed a few times. Their talk should have ended with a kiss.

It would have been nice to see the team a little surprised that Barry had his powers back. I did like how Iris protected Cisco and didn't run away like a damsel.

Greg had lots of practice being a zombie since he was one on IZombie. Too bad he keeps getting killed off- he's too hot to not be on the CW. 

[Trini]

4 hours ago, johntfs said:

Papa Allen: "I'm staying with you from now on, Barry.  And by from now on, I of course mean until the end of the next episode when I'll almost certainly get murdered by Zoom, but still, from now on."

La la lalaaa; I can't hear you!

[Whodunnit]

I think that when Barry touched Jesse, he accidentally lent her a tiny bit of his speed, and that jumpstarted her speedster healing ability. ( Assuming that the same rules apply for her as for Barry.) 

I hope that they do introduce us to Caitlin's family; we have seen Barry's family, the West family, we know about earth 1 Harrison Wells fiance, earth 2 Harrison Wells's daughter and his wife's death ( though not her name) and we saw Cisco's family and seen him bond with his brother Dante. All we know of Caitlin outside of Star Labs is about her mom being 'frigid'. (We also know about Ronnie, but we know little about their past and most of what we do know took place in Star Labs). Come to think of it, we have never seen Caitlin's house... no doubt that is because of the tiny set budget.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Whodunnit

[Trini]

36 minutes ago, FiveByFive said:

Not only did I not care that Caitlin wasn't there it made me realize she's kind of redundant. What did she do that was so special that she did often? Then I really thought about it: when she wasn't pining after Firestorm she was pining after Zoom. While I don't want her to become Killer Frost: it would be nice if they did something with her that didn't involve a man and that includes Barry. Let's meet her family. Let's see what she does when she's not at work. They hinted at her possibly having a brother that died that she didn't know about. Let's have some great stunt casting and a visit from her mom.

I've thought from the beginning of this season that Caitlin should have kept her job at Mercury Labs (but still working with Team Flash), and maybe have Tina McGee recurring as her mentor.

And speaking of Caitlin, we did see her bedroom that one time when Barry had to bring her home drunk.

[AudienceofOne]

Yawn

But I did love that Greg Finley got to be a zombie (again) and Cisco's hilarious meta 'iZombie' comment made me laugh out loud.

And Iris was actually useful (we had to get rid of a female character to do it, though - can't have more than one) but I'm still not seeing any great romantic feelings for Barry here. Your mileage varies. I'm well aware.

[BkWurm1]

2 hours ago, quarks said:

Mixed episode for me.

Good things:

3. Cisco explaining the zombie metahuman to Barry while Harry stood next to him making faces. I also laughed.

 

 

Best moment of the episode when Cisco was getting Barry up to speed on zombie guy.  But otherwise this was a VERY mixed episode.  Actually, I'd say it was a real mess.  It wasn't poorly acted but WHY are we suddenly back to talking about his mom and WHY does he have to come to terms with letting her go before he can get his speed back when there has been nothing indicating that this has been an issue since at least the start of the season. (And NOTHING to indicate that the two are tied together. 

 Let's set aside the absurdity of Barry using the Speedforce to work out his abandonment issues but context matters and while I really wanted to be invested in his dream world walk about, I couldn't help feel like it was left over material that they were shoe horning in as filler.  Barry accepting that he can't save his mom without letting lots of other people die is something they explored in the comics and I'm pretty sure that's why it was brought up now but it didn't fit the current narrative  either from a plot or an emotional standpoint so what should have been very moving (and I'll admit, the recitation of the dinosaur book got to me) left me feeling extremely confused and disconnected.

Also, they brutally undercut Iris and Barry's connection.  Iris just doesn't know it yet.  Iris thinks she's the one that convinced Barry to come home when we all know the reality was Barry was finally just ready and now COULD come home.  Does anyone think that he would have not reached for Cisco's hand this time around?  Or Wells or his dad or ANY familiar face??  Why does the show do this to them?  It should have been a super romantic event and it was filmed and framed as such and yet it was completely unearned and unsupported by the narrative.  Didn't help that while before Barry wasn't interested in Iris saying, hey fate wants us together I guess we should try, he's now I BELIEVE!!!  May the Speedforce be with you! 

And of course no kiss.

One line about maybe we should take things slow and they could have skipped the kiss but this was just poor writing.  I'm sure that they are purposely saving the kiss for a BIG MOMENT (probably the finale) but waiting does the characters no favors. 

Now to the B story.

Zombie Girder was pure filler and in another episode that didn't start out with them first thinking Barry was dead and then lost with no way of bringing him home, the super rapid switch to Iris and Cisco joking around in the morgue might work, but in this episode everyone should have been super worried and concerned the whole time.  Iris actually displayed more worry and concern over Wally and Jesse being passed out than she did over Barry supposedly being dead.  Fail.  The tone of the monster of the week part was super at odds with how the characters should have been feeling.  For that reason until Barry returned, none of it worked for me.  All the jokes feel flat and the emotions really off.  Only Barry's dad and Wells captured the right feeling.  Even Joe was off but Iris was WAAAAAAY off for the gal at the end of the episode that is supposed to bring back Barry through the power of their love!!  She didn't seem the least bit concerned or distracted by Barry being missing and or dead. 

Like I said, it was a mess.

Odds and ends.

If this show just has Caitlin decide, eh I'll be evil because Zoom is probably going to win, well, I don't know if I'll do anything differently but I will confidently award Flash the prize for worst writing in the Flarrowverse. 

Yeah, Henry proclaiming he's not going anywhere is code for, oops, sorry you had to die dad. 

Anyone else find it hilarious that while Barry was in the Speedforce, instead of everyone constantly saying "Run Barry Run!" they said "Sit Barry Sit." Lol. 

Wally sure is obedient and uncurious these days, isn't he.

Speaking of Joe's kids - him breaking Iris's gift to him - the writers are trolling us now, aren't they.  Lol. 

Edited May 11, 2016 by BkWurm1

[thuganomics85]

I totally forgot Tony was played by Greg Finley, so that really made his return in zombie form even better.  I certainly wouldn't be against more iZombie folks showing up here.  Or somehow making a crossover happen.  I can just see Harry and Cisco with Ravi.

The Barry stuff was well acted by Grant Gustin as always, but I found it by the numbers.  Basically, Barry needs another pep talk, so basically Speed Force does so itself, in the form of all the ones closest to him.  Which, naturally, ends with Nora, which really brings on the waterworks, because they can't have an episode without Barry crying.  Whatever.  He's back and not only does he have his powers back, he seems to have new ones, since he jumpstarted Jesse out of her coma.  Hmm...

All the stuff at STAR labs was way more entertaining.  Glad the show finally allowed Iris to step up and actually take charge in a lot of it.  She and Candice Patton really fit in well with the rest, which makes it even stranger that it took them so long to do so.  But I really want more Iris/Cisco scenes in the future. Those two were gold.

They really are pushing Barry/Iris again, and I want it to work because of the chemistry between Candice and Grant, but it was just so weird that after all that effort to rescue him, they only just hug.  I mean, yes, it would have been cliched, but if there was ever a time to finally kiss, that would have been it.  It just still feels like they are too afraid to pull the trigger yet.

Henry might as well have just said "Well, Barry!  It's time for someone to die, and the showrunners don't want any of the regulars to go, so I'm sticking around because I am totally it!  It's going to suck, but that's just the way it is!"  I will be stunned if he doesn't die.

There is totally something going on with Wally.  I don't know if he's hiding it or he just doesn't know, but there is no way that explosion didn't effect him on some level.

Zoom's big plan is just to unleash a bunch of metahumans on everyone?  Was expecting something a bit more, here.

[patchwork]

Any episode that has a lot of Iris screen time I want to like but the zombie stuff didn't mesh well with Barry being stuck in the speed force and Iris bringing him back was undercut by Barry being all set to leave anyhow. 

An easy fix for this would have been for Barry to hear Iris while they were preparing for the second attempt and that being how he gets back. 

And again for the second time running they don't have a WestAllen kiss when it makes perfect narrative sense to have one, it's weird and very obvious that it's being artificially delayed so it can happen in the finale. 

[Xenith22]

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Poor Wally. If he hasn't figured it out already, they need to just let him in on the 'secret'. Joe trying to test him was funny, though. Quit breaking your kids' mugs!

So after the explosion Iris tells Wally that Barry is gone...and that is that?  No questions?  Surely to god he will put things together on his own when Barry shows up again right?

 

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4. Speaking of which, even the ghost of Barry's mother got into the "Run Barry Run" thing. I guess the Speedforce really does want Barry to do what everyone on the show keeps telling him to do.

What I found hilarious though was that there was then no actual running involved...instead he slowly took an couple steps to the portal and strained to reach Iris' hand because dramatic effect? (accompanied by CGI that would make many 90s shows cringe.)

 

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Um...is there a reason they're not letting Barry and Iris kiss? It seems like they're purposely holding off on that.

Was this either a winter or season finale?  Because there is your answer...  Seriously though I would have thought if Iris was really thinking of Barry in that way now, and that she had recently thought he was dead and unsure if he would ever be back that she would have planted one on him at his return?  Whatever...

 

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If it takes Caitlin not being there to get Iris this much to do, then I say go ahead and turn Caitlin into Killer Frost and remove her from the team. She was not missed at all in this ep, imo.

Eh, I don't think that's really a fair assesement.   Caitlin's absence had nothing to do with how Iris was written?  I mean what did Iris do that Caitlin would have definitely done instead?   Really I think her absence was strictly about not knowing what to do with her.  I mean having her escape or contact the gang yet again would have made Zoom look like an even bigger idiot.   We've been playing the Caitlin tries to get Hunter to be a better person game for weeks now and did not need yet another plot of that.  So what was there for her to do that would have not felt completely extraneous?

 

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So... the speed force is a person? Entity? I just went with it, but they really didn't explain. And I haven't read the comics.

 

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So is the "speedforce as an entity" a real thing in the DCU or was that just Barry's mind trying deal with his own shit ?

That's a pretty loaded question...  Freaking DC writers never seem to be able to make up their minds.  Basically the speedforce is another plane of existence, and it is sorta sentient in that it does choose who gains access.  It also usually has a subconscious pull that tries to make people in it not want to leave.  (Which seemed pretty absent.  I mean Iris was seemingly used just as a physical connection to pull him back, instead of being an emotional connection that kept him from losing himself and willingly becoming part of the speedforce?  Not to mention it seemingly even telling him he can leave at anytime...)

However I do not recall it ever actually directly conversing with someone like this?   Now the use of the word "we" opens up the possibility that Barry was in fact not conversing with the speedforce itself per-see but with dead speedsters who had become part of it....as it is essentially the speedster's version of heaven.  Of course the changing form thing is new.  However where things really break down is Barry's mother. The show tried to imply that really was somehow the spirit of Barry's mother which made no sense unless she herself had secretly been a speedster?   And if it wasn't Barry's mother then the lying about it and somehow knowing about the book she read to him as a toddler gets kind of creepy (not to mention the physical contact like stroking his face).

Edited May 11, 2016 by Xenith22

[Locutus]

IDK if it's already been mentioned... but got major Sisko/Prophet flashbacks.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Locutus

[mrspidey]

Great. Now even the Speedforce needs to give Barry peptalks...

[FurryFury]

Wow that was bad. Speed Force is sentient? What a dumb idea. And Barry's scenes in the Speed Force were just horribly boring. I actually fast-forwarded through them after a certain point. And he's still hung up on his mom's death? Ugh.

That Tony (?) zombie was random, I barely remember this villain. Couldn't they at least use somebody more recent, like that aging dude? Or somebody memorable. 

I do think GG and CP tried really hard in that last scene, and they probably would have succeeded if the writing for WestAllen previously was at least a little better. But as it is, I don't care about this romance.

Evil Teddy Sears is still super hot, so the show at least has this going for it. I hope Caitlin will be the one to kill Zoom, DP actually looked believably terrified  at the end.

Edited May 11, 2016 by FurryFury