Flash Season 1 Finale – Fast Enough Plot Summary:
When the particle accelerator is back online, Barry (Grant Gustin) will have to go back in time to stop Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanaugh) on the night of his mother’s murder 15 years ago.
‘Fast Enough’ begins differently than previous Flash episodes. We are greeted with the usual monologue, but not the usual montage. Instead, we pick up right where last week’s episode left off. We open on the suit. “My name is Barry Allen and I am the fastest man alive.” We see Barry’s friends watching as Barry takes the elevator ride down to the lower level of the particle accelerator. “When I was a child I saw my mother killed by something impossible.” Barry isn’t amazed by this revelation anymore. He is no longer trying to convince the audience that all of this is true. We have been there since the beginning. We are right there with him. “Secretly, I use my speed to fight crime and find others like me.” We see, for the first time, a captured Wells pacing in his containment chamber. “And one day I’ll find who killed my mother and get justice for my father.” A beat. “And that day is today.” You’re goddamn right it is.
Wells (Cavanaugh) tells Barry everything. He reveals why he came back. He details the night that he killed Barry’s mom. He even explains why he helped Barry train to become his mortal enemy. Cavanaugh nails every second of the monologue. While he was fun as a secret evil character, it really doesn’t get much better than full clip evil Wells. This conversation also yields a couple of surprises.
1. There are no cows in the future.
2. Future Barry moved Child Barry to protect him from Reverse Flash.
(Very Important) 3. Wells has a plan to get everyone what they want, including himself. Barry just has to decide whether it is worth the risk.
Barry gets everyone’s opinions on the matter and the gang is split. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) is on board with the plan and believes Barry’s hero career has been building to this moment. He knows that, while he loves Barry, he is owed a normal life. Conversely, Cisco and Henry Allen (John Wesley Shipp) are in the No camp. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) believes it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too dangerous, which is 100% correct. If someone told you that you could save your mom but you won’t remember your friends and you might die in the process, that’s one thing. If all of that is accompanied by “and you may also create a black hole that will kill everyone”, that’s a whole other thing entirely. Henry Allen knows that Nora (Michelle Harrison) would want their son to continue being the hero he is today and if that means she stays dead, it’s worth it. The Henry/Barry scene is unbelievably emotional and a perfect end to their arc this season. I mean, damn. This kid can act.
https://youtu.be/IW77rehDLEo
Eddie (Rick Cosnett) has a tough time understanding his part in this drama and is about to leave when he has a great moment with Martin (Victor Garber). Martin basically tells Eddie that he has been wrong about causality time travel all along. He has a unique opportunity to really affect his future because he is somehow disconnected from it. By being told what he will become by Wells, Eddie can change that and affect everything. Or something like that. It’s complicated. Either way, Eddie takes this information as a sign that he is meant to be with Iris and fixes everything he screwed up last episode.
Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Ronnie (Robbie Amell) also take this opportunity to clear up some loose ends. During a ceremony outside of S.T.A.R. Labs, officiated by who else but Martin Stein, Caitlin and Ronnie officially tie the knot and go from the least to most stable couple on the show in a matter of episodes. Not only is the chemistry between Caitlin and Ronnie sweet but more importantly, the dynamic between Ronnie and Martin is awesome. They are so fun to watch and while we know we are getting more of Stein in Legends of Tomorrow I really hope he brings Ronnie with him.
Cisco manages to get some time alone with Wells. Besides completely (and again, very correctly) objecting to going through with the plan, Cisco decides to confront the good doctor for murdering him in the alternate timeline. In the first big moment of foreshadowing in the finale, Wells apologizes to Cisco because his knowledge of the alternate timeline means he was affected by the particle accelerator and does have some sort of metahuman ability. Fans who have done their homework know what is in store for Cisco, but Harrison offers a clue when he uses the word “vibrations” to describe Cisco’s new ability.
Reluctantly, Cisco and Ronnie agree to build the device Harrison needs to go back in time, which happens to be a Time Sphere. In the second big foreshadowing moment of the episode, Wells reveals that he got the design from a one Rip Hunter, who built the first one. Fans will recognize Rip as the time traveling bad boy who will lead the crew from the new Legends of Tomorrow spin-off.
There is another Cisco moment that has to be some sort of foreshadowing. Fans know from interviews that scenes involving Ronnie transforming matter and Reverse Flash admitting that he still has flashes of emotion from the original Harrison Wells were cut for time from the episode — so whatever has stayed must be of high importance. That being said, there is a seemingly unnecessary exchange involving Ronnie and Cisco about the Tungsten plates contained in the Time Sphere. It ultimately serves no purpose except to highlight that Cobalt is used to coat the plates which does allude to a relatively new Flash villain known as Cobalt Blue. Interestingly, Blue is also a Thawne that many have theorized will be the eventual identity of Eddie and that seems both more and less likely considering the rest of the episode.
After saying a tearful goodbye to the rest of the crew, which features the greatest line in the history of the show “May the Speedforce be with you,” Barry steps into the accelerator and readies to go back to the night his mother was murdered. His trip through time shows a couple of huge moments in the past and future of the series. In order we see young Barry standing with Joe, Caitlin Snow with blonde hair using ice powers (Killer Frost), the outside of the Flash museum, Barry in jail, and an edited shot straight out of the Legends of Tomorrow trailer before landing back in the fateful night from his childhood.
The question of whether Barry should go back and save his mother is answered by, in a surprising moment of clarity, by Iris. Instead of worrying about what everyone else needs him to do, Barry has to do what he needs for himself. Barry’s trip to the past goes the way he is expecting. He appears in his childhood bedroom and sees the confrontation between Flash and Reverse Flash in his living room. As he is about to make his move and stop the Reverse Flash to save his mother, the future Flash signals to our Flash that he has to stay where he is and let his mother die. This is likely a nod to the comic events of FlashPoint, in which Barry does save his mother and wrecks everything in the process, eventually going back and stopping himself from ever saving her. This is both a clever way of acknowledging and avoiding this complicated but important comic event.
In the end, Barry gets a few seconds with his dying mother that provides him with the closure he needs to move on with his life. The Flash does a great job of providing these moments of emotional weight without them feeling cheap or exploitative. Every time a character is crying in the finale, and there are a ton, has been earned of the course of a genuinely emotional season and other superhero shows can take notice. *cough cough* Felicity.
Barry returns to the present and foils Well’s plans of escape with a new resolve having just seen his mother’s murder at the hands of the Reverse Flash. Unfortunately Wells gets the upper hand and just as Wells is about to kill Barry, the big shocker of the finale is revealed. Eddie chose to take his own life in attempt to, once and for all, remove his evil descendant from existence and cement his status as a good guy. And you thought Barry was the hero of the episode. Like mentioned earlier, it is very possible that Eddie will return as Cobalt Blue but I honestly hope they do it in a way the preserves the character we have grown to love during this season. Much like a certain character who didn’t survive the first season finale of Arrow, a death like that can serve to anchor a show about superheros in real life consequences that give everything else true weight.
This first season of Flash has been everything we could have asked for. We saw an incredible year of growth for Barry as well as great performances from supporting characters like Cisco and Joe. The Reverse Flash was a unbelievably fun and engaging first villain and the performance of Tom Cavenagh elevated the series beyond what anyone expected of it. The groundwork for the Rogues was laid beautifully and we even got multiple appearances from a certain psychic gorilla. A Psychic Gorilla! Arrow taught us that the superhero show can be cool. Flash reminded us that it can also be emotional, beautiful, and most importantly a hell of a lot of fun.
Rating: 10/10
https://youtu.be/488MnaUt1mU
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Matthew Nando Kelly is an incredibly cool and handsome staff writer for Pop-Break who was allowed to write his own bio. Aside from weekly Flash reviews, he writes about film, television, music, and video games. Matthew also has a podcast called Mad Bracket Status where he discusses pop culture related brackets with fellow Pop-Break writer DJ Chapman. He loves U2, cats, and the New Orleans Saints. He can also occasionally be found writing lists on Topless Robot and his twitter handle is @NationofNando
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