By Anna (@traveller15)
Flash comes up against the meta-human Blackout who can harness electricity and zaps Barry of his speed. How will he deal with this?
We begin 10 months ago with three friends watching the particle accelerator. Two friends do not survive and one of them did survive the explosion who is Farooq aka Blackout (Michael Reventar) who had climbed onto the electricity substation when hit.
In the present, at S.T.A.R Labs, Dr Wells heads to his secret room where he asks Gideon (his AI assistant) to bring up his log on Barry Allen which contains the status of his abilities and speed over the weeks. He says Barry is a bit of a showoff especially when a guy tries to rob him. Dr Wells believes that while Barry wants to help others it is impeding his full scope of his abilities. The newspaper still shows that the future is still intact for now.
The Flash Team is waiting for Barry to arrive at S.T.A.R Labs, late as usual. When he does arrive Dr Wells tells Barry that he needs to “up a notch” on his speed. Barry gets called away to a homicide. They have a body that was electrocuted and his face is peeled off. To help identify the body, Barry gets the help of Cisco using facial reconstructive software. The Petersburg Grant Substation experiences a drain so Barry goes off to investigate.
Flash comes up against the meta-human Farooq who is harnessing the electricity station supply in which Barry tells him to be “easy there zappy”. Flash gets caught by his flash of electricity and zaps him of his speed and is powerless.
Back at S.T.A.R Labs Barry has lost all his speed. They don’t know if it is temporary or not. Will Dr Wells, Caitlin and Cisco be able to find a solution to reverse the effects on Barry to get his speed back.
At CCPD Barry tells Joe he has lost his speed. Joe says he needs to get it back to help fight the criminals. Iris walks in and says that the Flash will protect the city. As Barry leaves the police station he bumps into William Tockman aka Clock King (Robert Knepper) at the elevator as he is at the station for a prison transfer.
Dr Wells goes to his secret room to see if the future has been altered due to Barry losing his speed. There are no references to him or the Flash in the future.
Now that Barry has lost his speed, he feels that part of his life has gone too. He loved being the Flash of running hundreds miles an hour, the wind and power rushing passed his face and to help people. Cisco identifies the meta-human as Farooq. S.T.A.R Labs gets a surprise visit from Farooq looking for Dr Wells blaming him for the death of his friends. He breaks into the Lab and he causes a power failure throughout the city.
Meanwhile, Tockman manages to free himself and take the police station with Joe and Iris and others as hostage. Barry learns about the hostage situation and wants his powers back. Tockman gives his demand.
Dr Wells has a theory that the cells in Barry’s body are still there they just need jump starting. He will need a massive jolt of electricity to do this. Barry wants to talk to Farooq to see if he can help him even though he has no powers. It’s risky! Dr Wells is determined that no matter what, Barry Allen must have a future. He is looking after the future.
Eddie is in the police station to which Tockman is unaware, he takes a shot at him but he is wearing a bullet proof vest. Tockman shoots back injuring him. Iris believes that the Flash will come to rescue them.
Dr Wells goes down to the meta-human prison where he makes a deal with Girder to free him if he kills Farooq. Girder takes the deal. They fight but Girder loses the battle. Farooq roams around the Lab while Caitlin and Barry hide until Cisco can get the generator working. Barry is on the dreadmill and needs the power surge to get his speed back. It didn’t work. Barry is not happy with Dr Wells for allowing Girder to be killed and believes that everyone is just a pawn to him. Barry has his powers back but he needs to believe in himself.
Tockman’s demands are met and he takes Iris as his hostage. Joe convinces Tockman to let Iris say her farewells to Eddie as he might not survive. Eddie whispers something to Iris. It was “left ankle”. Iris pulls a gun on Tockman, there is shot.
The Flash Team plan their escape from the garage but are stopped by Farooq. Dr Wells confronts Farooq and electrocutes Dr Wells knocking him out of his chair. This jolts Barry to get his powers back and save Dr Wells. The Flash is back. Flash fights Farooq and drains him of his electricity and dies. Caitlin has figured out that Barry’s cells are now producing more energy than ever before and Dr Wells notes that he has finally “kicked it up a notch”.
Barry rushes off to the police station to find Eddie being taken to the hospital and Iris is being comforted by her father.
Barry apologies to Dr Wells but Dr Wells agrees that he doesn’t care much for people. He does what he does as he believes in a better future and that it is one that Barry is a part of. He cares for Barry.
Barry goes to the hospital to visit Eddie. While there Joe knocks the vase of flowers to see if Barry has his powers back. To him awesome they are back. While Iris is getting coffee the Flash shows up apologizing not being there for her. Iris says her best friend is always late but the Flash says she is worth being on time for and takes off.
Back at S.T.A.R Labs, Dr Wells checks in on Gideon to log a new entry. He learns that Barry’s attachment to people is not a distraction and the people he cares about is the key to getting him up to speed. The newspaper shows that the future has remained intact. But does it mean in 2024 that the Flash has gone missing? Barry gets to work training on the dreadmill to get his speeds up.
We end with Dr Wells taking blood from Farooq so he can learn how he took Barry’s powers. Could this be used against the Flash in the future?
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