Violet recaps Season 3 Episode 16 of The Flash, titled Into the Speed Force, where Barry travels into the Speed Force to save Wally! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts about the episode.
- His thoughts on Into the Speed Force, Episode 316 of The Flash
- Her thoughts on The Flash, Season 3 Episode 16: Into the Speed Force
Barry decides that he’s going to go back into the Speed Force so he can save Wally. Cisco figures out how to tether him to our universe, and Julian comes up with something to measure his vitals. Jesse wants to go with Barry, but he talks her into staying behind and keeping the city safe.
Before Barry heads out, he talks to Iris, notices she isn’t wearing her ring, and asks if he lost her. She doesn’t answer, though.
Cisco explains to Julian how they’ll be able to keep track of Barry’s location, and pull him out if they need to. Then after Barry says his goodbyes, Cisco vibes Barry into the Speed Force.
Barry finds himself in his lab at the police station, and goes downstairs, where he finds Eddie, who asks Barry why he’s there. Barry tells him he’s there to save Wally. Eddie says that Wally is in the prison that future Barry created, and explains that the Speed Force isn’t going to be as accommodating to him as they were the last time he came, because of the fact that he went back in time and created Flashpoint. However, Barry says he’s not leaving without Wally.
Back on Earth, Jesse asks Cisco to use the armor that came off of Savitar to find Savitar’s location. Her plan is to go after Savitar, which Cisco tries to talk her out of. Meanwhile, Iris talks to Joe, saying that she’s worried she made the wrong decision by calling things off. Joe tries to reassure her that Barry would have tried to save Wally no matter what.
In the Speed Force, it reminds Barry about what happened to Eddie. After Speed Force Eddie confirms with Barry that the only reason he’s there is to find Wally, he tells him that all he needs to do is go through the elevator doors. However, when the doors open, a time wraith comes out, which Eddie says he’ll have to outrun first. Barry runs around a bit, and is able to make it into the elevator and close the doors, avoiding the time wraith.
When the elevator doors reopen, Barry is at STAR Labs, where he sees Caitlin trying to soothe a crying baby. Ronnie comes in and tells Barry they need to talk.
On Earth, they realize that the shard is trying to reconnect with Savitar and the rest of his armor, which can help them track Savitar’s location. However, everyone tries to talk Jesse out of going after Savitar.
Barry tells Speed Force Ronnie that he wants to sacrifice himself for Wally, but Ronnie says the Speed Force can’t let him do that. However, Barry refuses to leave until he sets Wally free. Suddenly, Hunter Zolomon, aka Zoom, attacks Barry, and Ronnie says that they tried to warn him. Zoom begins to strangle Barry, killing him. Barry admits that he should never have asked Wally to save Iris, that it should have been him. He begs Ronnie to let him save Wally. Ronnie says the only way is for Barry to free himself first. Barry rips off the Flash symbol from his suit and puts it on Zoom. This defeats Zoom, but breaks the tether.
When Barry wakes up, he walks down a hallway and sees Wally behind a hospital room door. When he is about to open the door, Captain Cold appears and shoots the knob.
Jesse suits up in her Flash suit to go after Savitar. H.R. again tries to talk her out of it, so she punches him, knocking him out cold, then heads out.
Captain Cold explains that Wally is stuck in an endless temporal loop, reliving the most painful moment of his life over and over again: his mother’s death. Barry says that he’s not fast enough, but Wally is, that’s why Wally has to save Iris. Speed Force Captain Cold tells Barry that he’s what inspired the real Leonard Snart to sacrifice himself. Then he shoots Barry with the cold gun. However, Jay Garrick shows up and saves Barry.
Jesse lets the shard go and follows it as it flies toward Savitar’s location. Jesse fights Savitar, who tries to take the shard back from her. H.R. coaches her through her earpiece, advising her that the fact Savitar has armor means that he is vulnerable underneath, so she should try to find a gap. As Savitar holds Jesse by her throat, she stabs him with the shard through a gap in his armor. Savitar runs off.
In the Speed Force, Barry asks Jay if it’s really him or another Speed Force test. Jay Garrick confirms that it’s really him, and that Cisco told him what was happening, so he came to help. Just then, Speed Force Captain Cold attacks Jay with his cold gun. He’s about to shoot again, but Barry rushes in and uses Jay’s helmet to deflect the shot. Barry tells Captain Cold that he’s taking Wally. He says they can’t let Barry do that, but Barry goes into the hospital room anyway.
Barry approaches Wally and tells him that he’s free now, and they’re going home. Jay volunteers to take Wally’s place. Barry tries to talk him out of it, but to no avail. He then gives Barry his helmet, which Cisco said he could use to track him and bring him home. Barry vows to give the helmet back to Jay when he returns to break him out of there.
Barry and Wally safely return to Earth, and Barry explains that Jay stayed back to save Wally. Iris, relieved, hugs Barry, saying she thought he’d lost him.
Later, Barry tells everyone about what (and who) he saw while in the Speed Force, and explains the lesson he learned: that it’s his responsibility to save Iris, and that’s why the Speed Force wouldn’t let him take Wally’s place. Barry vows to beat Savitar and get Jay Garrick out of the Speed Force. He tells the others that what Wally saw is going to haunt him for awhile, so Kid Flash will need to take a break.
Wally and Jesse have a talk about Jesse going after Savitar. She then tells Wally that she’s going to Earth-3 because Savitar mentioned having plans for her in the future, which she doesn’t want to let happen, plus Earth-3 needs a Flash to protect it while Jay is in the Speed Force. They tell each other that they love each other, then kiss.
Everyone says their goodbyes to Jesse, then Cisco opens a breach for her to go through. H.R. then reports to everyone that Savitar feels pain underneath his suit, that he’s not a god, he’s just a man.
When Barry returns to his and Iris’s apartment, Iris is waiting for him. Her engagement ring is on the table. He tells her that it’s impossible not to be consumed by having seen her die. Iris responds by saying she questioned whether he was asking for the right reasons, and in the end realized that he asked because he loves her. She says she wants to be his wife. Barry tells Iris he loves her, but that she was right — he proposed because he thought it would save her, and that he thought Wally would save her. He says that he alone has to save her in the future, but not by changing it, by embracing it. Barry tells Iris that he thinks they need some space for awhile. Iris tearfully says okay. Barry tells her she can stay there, and he’ll go stay with Cisco.
Her Thoughts on The Flash, Season 3 Episode 16: Into the Speed Force
Well this was a nice way to see some characters that we haven’t seen in awhile, and don’t really have a reason to see. Even though it wasn’t really them, and was merely the Speed Force taking their form. I’m not sure why it necessarily has to be Barry to save Iris, and why it couldn’t be Wally, but fine, sure, this is pretty much Barry’s show, since it is called The Flash, after all, so I suppose he has to be the hero. But the Speed Force was trying to make a point that all these people keep sacrificing themselves because of Barry, when Barry should be the one to do things for himself. However, yet again, someone sacrifices themself for Barry — in this case, it’s Jay Garrick, who takes Wally’s place so that Barry doesn’t have to.
As for Jesse, it’s understandable that she would want to go after Savitar, but also seems pretty stupid that she would do it on her own. Maybe she should have gotten Jay Garrick’s help first, since apparently he’s available to call upon for help. The only reason she survived was because H.R. randomly was able to help her with some advice that conveniently proved to be helpful. Honestly, we haven’t really seen Jesse in action very much, when it comes to saving others or attacking villains, so it’s difficult for us to trust that she would be able to take down Savitar and support her decision to want to try.
Additionally, I don’t really get the logic behind her wanting to go to Earth-3 now. Sure, it’s to help fill the speedster void that Jay Garrick left, but what about Earth-2? Didn’t they lose their speedster when she moved to Earth-1? She didn’t seem very concerned about that. I also still feel like her and Wally’s relationship is very underdeveloped, to where it feels awkward for them to be saying the “L” word to each other. Basically, Jesse’s character overall feels underdeveloped to me. And now that she’s going away again, it’s going to continue to feel that way.
Anyway, I guess we’ll see what Barry has up his sleeve in terms of trying to figure out how to save Iris. But first it appears that we’ll have a musical filler episode before we can get back to such important matters.
His Thoughts on The Flash, Season 3 Episode 16: Into the Speed Force
COMING SOON
Scenes from The Flash, Season 3 Episode 17: Duet
Preview of Season 3 Episode 17 of The Flash
