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‘The Flash’ Recap ‘The Race of His Life’

The Flash Recap ‘The Race of His Life’

In the season finale of The Flash, Barry faces off against Zoom, who just murdered Henry in front of him. I loved their opening fight. It was really cool and well done. Barry manages to overtake Zoom, but another Zoom appears out of nowhere and kills the one Barry had been fighting. It was a speed remnant. Zoom tells Barry that he is almost ready before running off.

Henry’s funeral is incredibly emotional. Barry is unable to speak, so Joe does the honors and it rips you in half. All of the emotional scenes of the night were handled so well. The entire cast really shined tonight. After the funeral, they all go to Joe’s house to unwind. Wally confronts Barry about being the Flash and thanks him for everything that he’s done. It was a really nice moment. Barry then steps outside for air and Iris follows him. They are talking when suddenly Zoom appears. Barry chases him and Zoom says that he wants to race Barry. If Barry wins, Zoom will leave. Barry is all for racing Zoom, but the rest of Team Flash don’t think he is emotionally stable enough to face him. They agree to lock up Barry and try to defeat Zoom themselves.

Mercury Labs has been developing new tech that Zoom stole to create a machine that will allow him to access the rest of the multiverse. In order to get the machine to run, Zoom will use his and Barry’s speed. The team figures this out and that is part of the reason they lock up Barry. They know that Zoom is once more just trying to use Barry for his own gain. Barry was in no condition to be reasoned with, so I agreed that he needed some time to cool off. Unfortunately, the team believes that they can take him down using Caitlin. She distracts Zoom, pulling him into a position where Harry and Joe could use the boot and tranquilizer guns. Cisco would then open up a breach and they’d send Zoom through. Everything sort of goes to plan, but then Joe’s tranquilizer gun jams so he has to go up to Zoom. They subdue him and send him through the breach, but it all happened so quickly that Zoom got a hand on Joe and pulled him into Earth-2 with him.

The team had agreed that no matter what happened, they would not open up another breach. When Wally finds out about this, he frees Barry. Barry tells them that he has to race Zoom. It is the only way to stop him. Cisco uses his vibe power to project Barry to Earth-2 and accept the race invitation.

Before Zoom and Joe return to Earth-1, Zoom tells him all about his plan. He was the fastest man on Earth-2, but had always craved more power. That was when he developed the Velocity drug, but soon realized that it was killing him. Zoom figured out a new plan, which involved stealing speed from other speedsters. Enter the man in the mask, who Zoom reveals is another speedster, and that he also stole his name, Jay Garrick. He wasn’t quite able to steal his speed, but he kept him locked up as a trophy anyway. Zoom says he will do the same to Barry once he defeats him.

Team Flash gathers at Zoom’s machine and summon the speedster and Joe. They arrive and Zoom tells Barry he will give him some time to say good-bye, then runs off with Joe. The team offer words of encouragement and tell Barry that they are not going anywhere. Barry goes to face Zoom. The rules are simple. Their speed will power the machine. All Barry has to do is stop him before the machine reaches full power. If he doesn’t, it’s good-bye rest of the multiverse. Earth-1 will be all that remains and it will belong to Zoom.

Image: The CW
Image: The CW

The race begins and Barry is still not quite fast enough to beat Zoom. At least, that’s what it seems. Instead, Barry had another idea. The machine reaches full power, but Barry was able to create his own speed remnant. The real Barry knocks Zoom off of the machine and beats him up while the remnant counteracts the machine. The remnant is able to reverse the effects, but is killed in the process. Good news is that the multiverse lives, but it was sad to watch a Barry die. Zoom has been defeated. Barry is about to phase his hand through Zoom and kill him, and Zoom goads him to do it, even though he knows he won’t. Barry then says that he doesn’t have to kill him. Enter the time wraiths. They appear out of the Speed Force and drag Zoom away. This may not be the last we see of Zoom as he could possibly return as the Black Flash. He certainly looked creepy after the wraiths got a hold of him.

Team Flash was victorious. Not only did they defeat Zoom and save the multiverse, Barry was also good on his word and rescues the man in the mask, who turns out to be the real Jay Garrick, aka the doppelgänger of Henry Allen. He was pulled away from Earth-3 where he was the Flash by Zoom. It was really sentimental to see John Wesley Shipp suit up again. Cisco says he can get Jay to Earth-2, and Harry says and he and Jesse can do the rest. They are going to return to their home. It was sad to see all three of them go.

Team Flash is celebrating their win, but Barry is not feeling it. Iris confronts him and he says that this is the most broken he has ever felt. Iris confesses her love for him and he says he feels the same, but he cannot be with her right now. She tells him that she understands and will wait for him. They kiss and then she leaves Barry on the front porch. Barry looks back in the house and tells everyone that he’s sorry but he has to do this.

Barry runs back in time to when his mother was killed. He runs in after his younger self is taken out of the room and takes down Reverse-Flash. He looks up and sees himself from when he went back in season one watching. That version slowly vanishes as the timeline changes. Barry tells his mother that everything is going to be okay.

It looks like we have entered Flashpoint. In the comics when Barry is manipulated by Reverse-Flash to save his mother, he returns to a world that is on the brink of war between the Amazonians (led by Wonder Woman) and the Atlanteans (led by Aquaman). Unfortunately, Barry does not have any powers, but remembers when he did. Though we probably won’t get the Amazonian/Atlantean war, we will get a completely blank slate for season 3. This ultimately opens up an endless amount of possibilities.

It will be interesting to see what happens as a result of his decision on the other CW shows. This will probably also help work Supergirl into the mix. Some immediate ideas as to potential changes include deaths. Maybe this is how we’ll get Katie Cassidy back on Arrow (because she is greatly missed). Two deaths directly associated with the season one finale and Barry going back but not changing the timeline were Eddie Thawne and Ronnie Raymond. It is now entirely possible that they could return in season 3. Another death that occurred just recently was Leonard Snart on Legends of Tomorrow. It is possible that if Barry did not become a speedster, he never would have interacted with Snart and kind of become his friend. Barry’s influence in part led Snart to be more of an anti-hero and join the team in Legends of Tomorrow.

The possibilities are endless and incredibly exciting. Once again, The Flash has left us with a cliffhanger that leaves us wanting more and not thrilled to have to wait until the show returns in the fall.

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