by Kbear! on March 28, 2017
In a voiceover, Barry (Grant Gustin) thinks about how everyone has suffered because of him creating Flashpoint. To save Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) Barry is going back into the Speedforce. Everyone wonders how Barry will be able to get out of the Speedforce. H.R. (Tom Cavanagh) is able to get Cisco (Carlos Valdes) to come up with an interdimensional tether to pull him out. Julian (Tom Felton) and Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) will monitor his vitals in case he gets in distress. Jessie Wells (Violett Beane) wants to go with him, but Barry needs her to stay and protect the city in his absence. Barry quietly talks to Iris (Candice Patton) and asks her did he lose her, she walks away. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) is concerned about Barry going, he is afraid of losing two sons.
Barry enters the Speedforce and it looks like the Central City police station. The Speedforce takes on the form of Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett). Speedforce Eddie is mad at Barry for lying to them and going back in the past to save his mother and creating Flashpoint. He tells Barry Eddie could have married Iris and had Joe as his father in-law if he hadn’t sacrificed his life to stop the Reverse Flash. He brings the point home showing Iris and Joe. Wally is in the prison Future Flash build for Savitar, and as a speedster, he is paying for his choices, the same as Barry will pay for his choices. There are consequences for their actions. Speedforce Eddie asks if the only reason Barry came to Speedforce was to rescue Wally. The Flash has to outrun a time wraith.
Iris and Joe are in the room that has the future story of The Flash disappearing, with her name no longer being on the byline. She is afraid she made the wrong decision ending her engagement to Barry. She is afraid her actions made Barry go into the Speedforce. Joe assures her that Barry was going into the Speedforce to rescue Wally regardless.
Barry has outraced the time wraith and is now in a version of Star Labs. He sees Caitlin hold a baby; the child she and Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) could have had, if he hadn’t sacrificed his life to stop the wormhole Barry created. These were sacrifices for Barry. Now Barry wants to sacrifice himself for Wally. Now the Black Flash is after Barry. Speedforce Ronnie tells him he must free himself first. The Black Flash is kicking Barry’s ash, so he uses the tether to defeat him. Losing his tether alarms everyone back at Star Labs.
Barry finds Wally in a hospital room. Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller) tells him Wally’s prison is constantly reliving his mother’s death. Barry wants to take Wally’s place in this prison because Wally is the only one who can save Iris. Speedforce Snart shoots at Barry with his ice gun. He is going to teach Barry what Hell is when Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp) shows up to save Barry. Cisco told Jay where Barry was. They are able to defeat Speedforce Snart. Barry enters the room to get Wally and take his place. Jay tells Barry he has to go back to defeat Savitar. Since a speedster has to take Wally’s place, he is staying. He tells Barry the way for him to defeat Savitar is he being The Flash. Since Barry does not have a tether, they can use Jay’s hat as the tether to get Barry and Wally back home.
Jesse asks Cisco if they can use Savitar’s spear tip to track him. She is going to go after him. The gang is trying to figure out how to locate Savitar but they don’t want Jesse to go after him alone. H.R. tells her to wait for “the real Flash”. She forcefully tells him that on her world, she is “the real Flash” and she has fought monsters before. H.R. tells her not like Savitar. Jesse tells H.R. to leave her alone. Jesse takes the spear tip and lets it go so it can reunite with the rest of Savitar’s armor. Savitar is waiting for Jesse. He tells her he has big plans for her. She contacts H.R. for help, he suggest she stab him in an area not covered by armor. Jesse stabs Savitar in an unprotected area and he screams in pain. A win for Jesse Quick.
Barry and Wally return without Jay. Barry explains Jay stayed there so he and Wally could return. Everyone is sad. The main lesson he took away was he has to save Iris; it’s not anyone else’s responsibility. Because of the emotional turmoil Wally has been through, Kid Flash will take a break. Jesse is going to Earth 3 to protect the people there in Jay’s absence. (Then who is protecting Earth 2?) She and H.R. are cool again. H.R. tells everyone that Jesse found out that under the armor, Savitar is just a man, not a God. Iris and Barry are back at their apartment. Iris loves Barry and she wants to be his wife. Barry loves Iris, but Barry has to embrace the future. For them to move forward, they have to take a break. Poor Iris, Barry SUCKS!
***
Many of our old favorites return for this episode. People who have sacrificed their lives because of Barry. Eddie and Ronnie sacrificing their lives to stop someone or something Barry couldn’t stop; and Snart sacrificed his life because of Barry’s example. Just more fuel to make an already guilty feeling Barry feel even guiltier. Barry said he went into the Speedforce to rescue Wally because he was the only one who could save Iris. It seems like Barry went to sacrifice himself to make up for the harm he has created for everyone else. The Speedforce wants him to take responsibility for his actions. People have sacrificed themselves so he can do his job. He can’t sacrifice himself to make himself feel better. I like Barry Allen, but like most of us, sometimes he can be quite the tool.
Grade: B
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