The Flash Recap: Flash Back

Season 2 / Episode 17 / The CW

And you say Central City!

This was a very interesting episode right here nerds and ninjas. Barry been going through all levels of feels these last couple of weeks and kicks off this episode by getting mad real with his predicament. He’s been too trustworthy. He let Wells (Thawne) into his life, looked at him like a father figure and he betrayed Barry. He let Jay Garrick (Zoom) into his life, believing him to be his equal, and it turns out he’s the evil that Barry’s been battling all year. He’s had it up to HERE with this gullible nonsense and is ready to do whatever he has to in order to take the next step in his evolution. He’s going to crack the code. He’s going to find out a way to become faster. He’s going to defeat Zoom.

S.T.A.R. Labs:

Cisco has some books to help Barry get faster, but..
Caitlin has little dose of reality she’s about to hit Barry with.
Caitlin: You’re slow. You quite simply ain’t shit compared to your competition. You, Zoom, and Reverse Flash all have legs that run at the same speed. But their legs spend 30% less time on the ground than yours. Ain’t a damn thing you got on them.
Barry: Soooo I’m dumpster diving trash compared to them?
Caitlin: Well, your strides could be a little more Jesse Owens.
Barry: Learn from some dead guy? I’ll keep that shade remark in mind when your next boyfriend is facing impending death.

West Household: Barry heads over to see the chocolate fam. They begin discuss how crazy is it to have another ally turn out to be the villain terrorizing their lives. Iris cuts the air of depression with some emotionally draining news (for Barry at least). She tells barry she went on a date with the new editor, then gets all CW soft talking about how she misses Eddie. Barry is such a G. Mad respect to this kid who handles this Iris drama with incredible grace.

Wally pulls up and begins to let the fam know how his project is going. His professor loved it. Wally is offered an opportunity to help research ways to increase speed. Of course Barry’s ears perk up once he hears this. Wally continues and eventually gets to the point in his story where he says that his professor urged Wally to utilize the greats for inspiration, so he’s been reading the journals of Ferrari, Porsche and those OG speed innovators. The light in Barry’s head begins to flicker and his ass is out of the house so fast that Wally might start getting suspicious about Barry being the Flash.

Wally helps Barry have an epiphany where Barry now wants to use Eobard Thawn to help him get faster.

He wants to jump through time and have a few convos with Wells/Thawne.
Harry proceeds to go in on that assss. “Your plan is asinine. How many times have you traveled through time? You could alter the timeline. No matter what, when you return…In one way or another, something will be different.”

Flash don’t give a dam what Harry is scared of. After last episode, he feelin all types of ways. Got his ass whooped by a female speedster and couldn’t even stunt the way he should’ve when he popped up on Supergirl. Long story short, he bout to do whatever is needed to boost his speed. Including, altering time itself.

So the plan is to go back to last year, to the moment that Team Flash had taken down Hartley Rathaway, aka Pied Piper. Flash is supposed to knock out last season’s Flash with a tranq, put the beats on Hartley, then trick Harrison Wells (time traveling Eobard Thawne in reality) into revealing his secret to become faster.

Despite Harry Wells’ piercing looks of death and brooding silence, Flash prepares himself for time travel. He’s a determined young man after the constant betrayal he has endured and heads down to the Speed Force fast track in the basement and travels back to season 1. Aaaaannndd Barry is nearly beheaded by some dementor looking creature in the timeline, which knocks him off his perfected trajectory. Barry winds up arriving earlier than he wanted, but you know what? Barry ain’t worried about that noise! He goin’ make this work.

Back in the Day

Step 1: Neutralize this time’s Flash for 6 hrs with the tranq that Caitlin gave him.

Step 2: Have an amazing Flash vs. Flash mini battle as Season 1 Flash is confused as all hell how current Flash is there, trying to stab him with some needle.


Step 3: Hide S1 Flash, take his red lighting bolt emblem so nobody asks any questions then take out Hartlyand get him back to S.T.A.R. Labs just like it originally happened. He even stops the would be explosion that happened when the team didn’t know he had an explosive in his hearing device (Even though I’m pretty sure he’s not supposed to do things like that in the past… but who am I to question Barry?)

Step 4: Convince Harrison Thawne that current Flash is closing in on an equation and needs help taking Flash to new speed levels.

Unfortunately, there’s a big problem with Step 4; Eobard Thawne is from the future.. and isn’t an idiot. He immediately can tell something fishy is going on when Barry drops this, literally, out of this world equation up on the clear board that apparently every incarnation of Wells has been writing on. Oh and there’s also that Dementor creature that has his deadly sights set on ending Barry’s life. Yeaaaah that thing pops up in Barry’s forensics lab, looking for ya boy, trashes the place and causes quite a bit of chaos down at the CCPD.

Barry’s Bachelor Pad Lab: Barry is doing his day job. Joe is wondering why Barry’s begin all weird around Eddie. Barry shrugs it off.

S.T.A.R. Labs:

Barry walks in and Wells/Thawne thinks to himself, this boy is acting reallll funny.Barry and Wells get back to work on the speed formula work. This time around, Wells isn’t really interested in helping Barry increase his speed. Na, he’s on that Taken flow, more interested in knocking our hero out and dragging his body to the secret future room for interrogation.

Wells: Thought yo ass was slick didn’t you
Barry: You feeling aright? Why do you have me handcuffed in this weird lair?
Wells/Thawne: You can’t bullshit a bullshitter.
Barry: What are you taking about? Its me. Barry. Good olllll innocent wholesome goody too shoes Barry Allen.
Wells/Thawne: Who are you? Better question, where are you from?
Barry: Son, I’m from Central City. Forensic Scientist. Got hit by lightining. Run really fast. Fight crime with you by my side.
*Wells stands up out of his wheelchair*
Barry: ……
Wells/Thawne: Not even a flinch bitch! My Barry would have flipped a shit if he saw me use my legs out of nowhere. My Barry would have had an aneurism and passed out if he found out I could walk. Now I’m going to ask you one more time, where are you from, imposter.
*Barry attempts to phase his hand out of the cuffs*
Wells/Thawne: AHA!! I haven’t taught my Barry that move yet. Got cha.
Barry: Let me out of these cuffs Thawne.
Wells/Thawne: You know who I am. This must mean you’re from the future…why are you here?
I need to get faster. You’re the only one that can help me.

WAIT if you’re still alive, then I haven’t beaten you. My plan fails. I don’t get to go home. and in that case, MEGA DEADLY VIBRATING KARATE CHOP!
Barry: Not exactly punk ass who’s heart is jealous. Lets just say, we came to a mutual agreement and I sent you back to your time. How did you know to come at me like this?
Wells/Thawne: Well, that creature that wants to consume your essence only appears when a speedster time travels. Its called a wraith. They essentially police the timeline and hate all Speedsters… you know we’re not the only two right?

Nerds and geeks alike all do a little mental backflip at the possibilities that line just created for future seasons of The Flash.

Barry: Yeah, I know. Thats why I’m here. So now that the air is cleared, let’s get back to work on that.
Wells/Thawne: Na, how bout I just murk you out since I don’t actually need a future Flash.
Barry lying his ass off: Yea, I wouldn’t do that. Anything happens to me and S1 Flash finds out everything regarding ya deceptive bitch ass.
Wells/Thawne: NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I hate you so much more than before.

Cisco and Caitlin out here getting attacked by the wraith and run up in Hartley’s cell to protect themselves.

The team huddles up and starts to brainstorm reasons this thing is laying down the demonic law at all of these locations that Barry spends most of his time. They make the incredibly difficult connection that the creature must be seeking out Barry. Barry feigns any knowledge about this situation, but his ass dam sure knows that it came from that time jump.

S.T.A.R.: Labs: 

Meanwhile, the team is up trying to figure out a way to use Hartley’s gloves to help stop the wraith when Season 1 Flash zips into the building looking for “the other Flash”
Cisco and Caitlin: “You ok bro? What the hell you talking out”
Current Flash: I’m who he’s talking about. I’m Barry from the future.
Cisco: WHAAAAT, you can travel through time? WHOOOOA is that an updated emblem? Oh man! This is so cool. Will me seeing this give me the inspiration to update the look, or will I come up with the idea on my own? Do I have GF in the future? Is she sexy?



Wells/Thawne: Cisco, shut up. You need to stop talking too, future Barry. The timeline is very delicate. We need to get you back home, now. Come with me. They sneak off to the secret lair and Wells/Thawne gives him a tachyon enhancement. “Take that flash drive and increase the speed force in your system.”

They come up with the plan to use the next year to create a device that can kill the wraith, lure the creature so that it will travel back with Barry and Team Flash will be capable to destroying it when it pops up ready to kill Barry. The wraith is seen approaching S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry prepares himself to hit up the Speed Force fast track in the basement.

Back to the Future

Barry sticks the time hop landing this time and immediately asks Cisco if he created a something to neutralize the wraith. Cisco whips out this gun and blasts the wraith to no effect!! It swoops over to pin down down Barry and begins to Tshang T’ Sung absurd his soul, but not before Harley comes through to save the day with his wraith obliterating gloves.

Barry is blown away that Harley is an ally of the team and blacks out.

Late episode shockers

Barry, Caitlin and Cisco go into the secret lair room and plug in the flash drive. At first it doesn’t work, but after a frustrating fist to the platform, crazy projected images explode out. The answers Barry needs.

Iris is out here being all sad, with it being a year since she lost Eddie. Barry drops a beautiful video he took while he was in the past. Eddie pours his heart out with birthday love on next levels of amazing.

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  • Ja-Quan is a NYC teacher and artist holding a B.A. in Sociology and History from SUNY New Paltz. On his journey to become Hokage, the Lord of The Speed Force and Protector of the Recaps can be found North of The Wall, chopping it up on Twitter @OGquankinobi

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