Violet recaps Season 2 Episode 11 of The Flash, titled The Reverse-Flash Returns, where — you guessed it — Eobard Thawne (a.k.a. Reverse Flash) returns! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts about the episode.
Don’t need the Flash episode recap for The Reverse-Flash Returns? Click here to jump directly to Violet’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Josh’s thoughts on the Flash episode titled The Reverse-Flash Returns, click here to get directly there!
Episode Recap of The Flash, Season 2 Episode 11: The Reverse-Flash Returns
Dr. Wells is insistent on Barry training to become faster. Cisco radios to Barry the location of a runaway truck. Barry runs over, but is unable to stop it, due to it being rigged. As the truck heads towards a dead end, Barry speedily removes all of the truck’s tires, causing it to stop just in time. Back at STAR Labs, Jay and Caitlin report that Turtle is dead. Meanwhile, Eobard Thawne stands near the scene of the truck accident, which apparently was his doing, as he reports to Gideon that he finally figured out what time period The Flash is from.
Down in the Pipeline, the team examines Turtle’s body. Caitlin determines that he died from an aneurysm. Jay is suspicious of Dr. Wells. Barry thinks they should start trying to stop Zoom by figuring out how to close the breaches. Just then, Barry gets called to the police station.
Patty stops by the lab to ask Barry to do an analysis for her. Barry is not very warm toward her, since she is moving, and says there’s not much to talk about. Iris walks in as Patty leaves. Barry tells her that Patty is moving in 2 days to go to CSI school in Midway City, and he doesn’t want to stand in her way. Joe comes in and tells Iris that Francine doesn’t have much time left.
Back at STAR Labs, Cisco asks Dr. Wells for help trying to figure out how to control his powers. Dr. Wells has an idea, and tells Cisco to meet him in the Time Vault. Dr. Wells sneaks up behind Cisco while wearing Reverse Flash’s yellow suit. Wells thinks he figured out Cisco’s trigger – adrenaline, and that fear is the quickest way to get it. When Wells grabs Cisco by the shoulders, Cisco has a vision of Reverse Flash, and says he’s here.
Over at Mercury Labs, Reverse Flash tells Christina McGee she’s coming with him. The Flash shows up just then, and Reverse Flash is surprised that The Flash knows who he is. Reverse Flash says that now that he knows what time period the Flash is from, that means the Flash will soon die. Reverse Flash punches Barry, knocking him out, and speeds off.
At STAR Labs, Joe wonders how it is possible for Eobard Thawne to be alive, since he was supposed to be erased from existence. Dr. Wells explains that it’s possible through what’s called a “timeline remnant.” He draws a diagram with three circles, representing three different points in time. This Eobard Thawne is from the future, a different time than what was erased, and has not yet traveled back in time to kill Barry’s mother. Barry vows to end Thawne in this time once and for all.
Caitlin reveals to Barry that Jay is sick. When Zoom stole his speed, it affected him on a molecular level. She thinks that they should replace his dying cells with the healthy ones of his Earth 1 doppelganger.
Reverse Flash threatens Christina’s life, instructing her to isolate and accelerate the tachyons’ energetic properties so that he won’t be stuck in this time period.
Joe and Iris go see Francine at the hospital. Joe leaves Iris to talk to her mother alone. Iris tells Francine that she’s not angry at her anymore, but she wishes she would have come back a lot sooner, because she would have forgiven her then, just like she’s forgiven her now. Iris leaves the room crying, and Joe gives her a hug.
At the lab, Barry uses the database to help Caitlin find Jay’s doppelganger. Patty comes in and Caitlin leaves. Patty is upset about how Barry doesn’t seem to care that she’s leaving. Barry says that everyone in his life that he loves seems to leave, and that he wishes things were different for both of them, but they’re not.
At STAR Labs, Wells has made some adjustments to Cisco’s vibe goggles. When Cisco puts them on, he is overloaded with several different visions throughout time. He concentrates on Reverse Flash, and sees him kill Christina. Cisco takes off the goggles and tells Wells that she’s dead.
Cisco breaks the news to Caitlin and Barry, and also tells them that Reverse Flash ran through a speed machine and went back to the future. Cisco remembers that in his vision there was a clock that said 9:52. Right now it’s 6:00. They realize that Cisco saw the future, so they get to work trying to locate Christina and Reverse Flash.
At the police station, Patty talks to Joe. She has gone through Barry’s case files which involve The Flash. She says the only thing that makes sense is that Barry is The Flash. Joe tries to play it off, but Patty tells Joe he’s a terrible liar.
Iris goes to see Wally and tells him that he should go see their mother before it’s too late.
Barry reports to Caitlin that he hasn’t been able to find Jay’s doppelganger. Joe stops by and tells Barry that Patty figured out that he’s The Flash, and suggests that he tell her. However, Barry says he doesn’t want another person that Zoom or Reverse Flash can hurt. Just then, Cisco detects tachyon activity, and Barry runs to the location.
Barry arrives just in time to stop Reverse Flash from killing Christina. He then destroys the tachyons, which angers Reverse Flash, because that was his way home. Reverse Flash says he’ll find another way home, then runs away, and Barry chases after him. Barry soon catches up to Reverse Flash, and punches him repeatedly. However, Joe tells Barry to stop, not to kill him, just to bring him in.
They put Reverse Flash in the Pipeline. Dr. Wells tries to stop Barry from going down there to talk to him, so that he doesn’t learn more about him.
Caitlin and Jay go to Jitters and talk. She tells him she couldn’t find his doppelganger. He tells her there’s a good explanation, and to meet him at the park tomorrow.
Cisco goes down to the Pipeline to talk to Reverse Flash. Cisco tells him that he was the one who figured out Reverse Flash was back and helped track him down with his powers. He tells him it’s ironic because Reverse Flash is the one who gave him those powers, and helped him build that cell.
Barry meets Patty at the lab. She tells him she knows he’s the Flash. She says if he admits that he’s the Flash, then she’ll stay. However, he denies it. She breaks down in tears and leaves.
Barry goes to talk to Reverse Flash, though stands in the shadows. Reverse Flash is confident that he’ll learn the Flash’s name soon. Just then, Caitlin calls Barry upstairs. Cisco is seizing, and Caitlin isn’t sure she can stop it. Joe and Wells hold him down, while Caitlin sedates him. Suddenly, Cisco becomes transparent. Dr. Wells says that when Barry captured Reverse Flash, it ruptured the timeline. Dr. Wells says that Barry must send Reverse Flash back into the future in order to restore the timeline. Barry isn’t sure how, since he destroyed the tachyon drive. However, Dr. Wells says that Barry’s speed coupled with Thawne’s speed will catapult Reverse Flash into the future.
Dr. Wells explains to Barry that this is how Reverse Flash learned about the Flash, STAR Labs and about Harrison Wells, and there’s nothing Barry can do about it. This is Reverse Flash’s origin story. Flash and Reverse Flash run in circles around the Pipeline, and Barry is able to throw Reverse Flash into the future. This restores the timeline, and Cisco is okay.
At the park the next day, Jay shows his doppelganger to Caitlin. His name is Hunter Zoloman, because his mother died in childbirth, and he was eventually adopted by the Zolomans. However, his cells are unable to help Jay because Jay’s cells were mutated when he became a speedster. The only way to reverse Jay’s sickness is to find Zoom and get his speed back.
Wally stops by Joe’s house to tell Iris that he’s taking her advice to go see his mom. He asks her to come with him, and she agrees.
When Cisco awakens, they explain that they had to send Thawne back to his time. Barry says he couldn’t let him take another person he cares about. Joe brings up the fact that Patty is on the train to Midway City, and Barry says that he had to let her go too. Barry confirms to Joe that he’s ready to make sacrifices. Just then, Barry gets a phone call from Patty that she’s on the train and there’s a man with a gun. He says he’ll get her help. The Flash runs to the train, and Patty says it was a false alarm. He lets Patty see his face without vibrating it, and says he just wanted to make sure everything’s okay. She confirms that everything is good, and as he runs off, she says, “Goodbye, Barry.”
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 2 Episode 11 of The Flash: The Reverse-Flash Returns
Yeah, so I wasn’t really a big fan with their explanation of how it’s possible for Eobard Thawne to still exist. The whole point of Eddie killing himself was so that Eobard Thawne would not exist. But I suppose the whole scene with stopping the black hole kind of prevented that from fully happening, because really, this timeline should have been erased from existence too, since Eobard Thawne would have never been able to kill Barry’s mother, since he didn’t exist. So I guess this “time remnant” explanation was the only way to set forth the rules going forward. Yeah, time travel. It’s a tricky thing. But at least now we sort of know the rules we are dealing with, and that there are certain “fixed points” in time. I’m sure the show will continue to come up with arbitrary reasons to deem certain points as fixed, but oh well, it happens in most time travel movies and shows.
Of course Patty had to finally go and figure out for herself that Barry is The Flash, though Barry denied it to her face. They really should have let her in on the secret a long time ago. It seemed like she would be a great addition to the team. But I guess the show had its reasons for wanting to get rid of her (such as the long term goal of getting Iris and Barry together eventually?). The reasoning for not wanting to tell her that Barry is the Flash was counterintuitive, especially since now she knows anyway, so there was really no point in not telling her all along. In any case, now she’ll be in Midway City, and if the team has to travel there for whatever reason, they’ll have her to call upon. Also, I don’t read a lot of comics, but maybe there’s some other DC characters that live in Midway City that can make an appearance — or yet another spinoff.
The Jay Garrick storyline was very unnecessarily drawn out. Of course he already thought of finding his doppelganger, and actually already found him. What do you think he’s been doing on all those episodes where he’s not really around? He didn’t have to have Caitlin meet him at the park the next day to show her his doppelganger, he could have just told her the story right there and then, and if she wanted to see the doppelganger, then he could have said to meet him at the park. Oh well, I guess it was just excuses to have Caitlin and Jay spend some private time alone.
As for Iris’s storyline this episode, although her mother’s death is just a side story, I felt like Iris’s “goodbye” to her mother was really short. I’m glad that Wally came to see Iris and asked her to come with him to see their mother, so that she could see her two children together, if just for once. However, it was a little disappointing that we didn’t get to see that reunion. That is, unless it’s in the next episode?
For now, I’m ready to get back to figuring out how to fight Zoom, and seeing what Dr. Wells’ involvement will be in that. I also would like to see some more timey-wimey stuff!
Josh’s Thoughts: The Flash, Season 2 Episode 11: The Reverse-Flash Returns
This episode of The Flash felt like an episode that had to explain itself. What I mean by this, is at the beginning of this season/end of last season, there was a significant impact to the timeline with Eddie killing himself. As explained in the show, this would lead to the dissolving of his bloodline, thereby making Eobard Thawne erase from existence.
How this gets confusing, is that this should change not only the future of the what happens in the show (since Eddie will never have kids, thus erasing his lineage from the future), since Eobard goes to the past, it should change that as well, given that he significantly altered the original Dr. Wells’ timeline, as well as Barry’s, and people surrounding both of them.
In my recap of the season finale from last year, I discussed the paradox the show created with how it handled this. Everything should be different now, but it isn’t. That’s where this episode comes in—it served as a device to “fix” the illogical-ness of the timeline. When Team Flash encounters Eobard, they are able to come up with why—which is basically an echo of what was supposed to happen before the timeline was altered. It might satisfy most average viewers of the show, and I sort of understand where the explanation is coming from, but I am still having a hard time swallowing it.
But aside from that, I am sad to see Patty go—for now at least. I assume she will be back eventually, and it is good that she “knows” Barry is the Flash, and even better, she seems to understand Barry’s reasoning, even though she might not agree with it.
But finally—I am waiting for the “shoe to drop” meaning, Dr. Wells from Earth 2 turning on Barry. It will be a sad time, as I again find this Dr. Wells very likable, even though he is significantly different than the Eobard Thawne Dr. Wells. I guess my anticipation will have to hold tight for now…
Scenes from The Flash, Season 2 Episode 12: Fast Lane
Here are scenes from the next episode of The Flash, titled Fast Lane:
I’ve yet to see the Flash tv show yet, but I always thought the Reverse Flash was an interesting villain. So I’m gonna have to check this out.