The Flash - S1E6 - The Flash is Born
Previously on The Flash, ‘Plastique’
Rooftop Rendezvous
Iris is still writing about The Streak, thanking him for protecting the city. Barry appears as The Streak and whisks her to the rooftop for another chat. Clearly, he likes being able to talk to her as a hero since she’s not speaking to him as her friend. She’s also enjoying these encounters as we see her ignore a call from Eddie to talk to The Streak. Barry insists that if she’s not going to stop writing about him, she at least has to find a better name than The Streak. Before they can brainstorm on a new one, nearby sirens mean his presence is needed elsewhere.
Iron Man
A stolen Hummer is barreling through the streets, chased by police cars. At a barricade, Eddie and Joe fire at the car, and Eddie is freaked out when the driver turns his face to metal in order to avoid getting shot. Barry steps in, but he’s no match for the bad guy who turns his face to metal again to take Barry’s punch. He beats Barry up, dropping a line about how he must have been born to take a beating. Barry runs away.
The gang finds Barry at Star Labs suffering from a fractured hand, broken ribs, and a concussion.
Joe is busy investigating the death of Barry’s mom, so he asks Barry to work with Eddie to track down the metahuman - and come up with something science-y to satisfy Eddie’s questions. During a briefing, Barry learns the suspect is an old classmate, Tony Woodward, who used to bully him. When Iris comes to check on Eddie, she and Barry are cool towards each other, but Barry smirks when he hears Iris lie to Eddie about why she wasn’t returning his calls the night before.
Joe goes to Wells for help figuring out who really murdered Barry’s mother and I don’t like this development AT ALL.
Wax On, Wax Off
Cisco and Caitlin come up with a plan to train Barry with a mechanical sparring partner. This leads to a dislocated shoulder.
Eddie asks Barry to meet him where they found the stolen car. There’s no Tony and none of the ATM machines he stole. At the scene, Eddie questions Barry about what’s going on with Iris. He knows they’re good friends and he doesn’t want to see them lose that. This leads to another flashback of Joe teaching a young Iris and Barry how to box. And he drops this great advice, “Some times the best defense in a fight is to not start one, but if you come against someone you can’t beat, it’s okay to run away.”
Joe’s Theory
Joe tells Wells about a man in yellow appearing in a swirl of red and yellow electricity to kill Barry’s mom. He thinks someone with Barry’s ability took him out of the house that night. Wells says it’s not possible.
Barry and Eddie go to interview an old co-worker of Tony’s and the guy immediately takes off running. For some reason, Barry uses his speed to cut the guy off. Eddie catches him, side-eye’ing the hell out of Barry. The co-worker believed Tony was dead. The night of the particle accelerator explosion, Tony was in the middle of beating up his boss when he was struck and fell into a vat of molten metal. They thought they’d killed him. He ran thinking Eddie and Barry were there to arrest him. Now we know how Tony got his ability.
Over Compensating Tony
Tony shows up at Iris’ job. He wants to know who The Streak is, but she says she doesn’t know. Then he tries asking her out, and wonders if she wants to stop by his place out at West Keystone. When a news report shows Tony is a wanted man, Iris pulls out her phone, pretending to call her boyfriend because he’s late, but Tony uses his metal strength to crush the phone. Then he drops a wad a cash so I guess it’s safe to assume he broke into the ATMs. Iris uses her blog to contact The Streak and tell him where Tony lives.
Pissed off, Barry heads out to the old factory where Tony worked (in Keystone). This encounter with Tony leaves Barry trapped under shelves. Cisco and Caitlin find Barry and bring him back to the labs. Wells is furious that Barry went off half-cocked. Barry knows it was stupid, but 1. this guy tortured him as a kid and 2. Iris.
Then Cisco drops a bomb. Barry COULD damage Tony if he hit him going 837 mph, with a 5.3 miles head start. Yikes.
Wax On, Wax Off Part 2
When Joe learns about Tony’s visit to Iris and Barry’s subsequent encounter with him, he warns Barry to not let his emotions rule him. Eddie reports Tony was seen leaving town and the state police are taking over. Frustrated that Tony got away, Eddie wants to blow off steam and hit something. He and Barry bond a bit over a punching bag. Eddie was also bullied as a kid and he offers Barry some punching tips, which Barry promptly uses (mixed with his speed) to bust open the bag. Oops.
Over drinks, Joe questions Wells about whether or not there was a particle accelerator active when Barry’s mother was killed. He also wants to know when he got to town since his lab opened a month after the murder. Wells is offended and leaves, but not before telling Joe to look up ‘Tess Morgan’ if he wants answers.
House Calls
Iris thinks she’s safe in the house since there are police posted outside. Wrong. Tony arrives, takes out the cops, and snatches Iris. The police have no idea where Tony has taken her.
Tony has taken Iris back to their elementary school because he apparently wants to relive his last glory days. He also wants her to write a new blog all about him and his tiny, tiny penis. Iris sets off the fire alarm, which helps Joe figure out where she is. He sends Barry. The rematch goes better than the first two… at first. Barry is using his speed to avoid getting pummeled, but the tables are soon turned and he’s hurt pretty badly. He remembers what Joe told him as a kid about being smart and running when he knows he’s been beaten. And he leaves.
But Barry runs exactly 5.3 miles away. And then stops.
He runs back, exploding windows in his wake, and hits Tony in the face with a super sonic punch, causing the metal around his face to break and disappear. Before Tony can hit Barry, Iris knocks him out with a sweet right cross.
Revenge of the Nerds
Tony is locked up at Star Labs, and Barry has the pleasure of revealing who he is to his old nemesis.
Joe apologizes to Wells after learning Tess was Wells’ wife who died. He moved to town to start over after her death. Wells swears nothing he did was responsible for the death of Barry’s mom.
Barry arrives at Jitters, as himself, and he and Iris reconcile. He then helps her come up with a new name for the city’s hero: The Flash.
Joe is going over the files on Barry’s mom when the same red and yellow electric flashes appear in his living… and the yellow man. When it stops, his papers are gone and there’s a warning Iris will be hurt if Joe doesn’t back off.
Thoughts & Questions:
- Loved how Barry returned to the rooftop almost immediately to give Iris a lift back downstairs.
- Cisco and Caitlin coming up with a scientific way to figure out how many bugs Barry eats in a day, when he runs, was hilarious.
- Wells refers to Tony as “a man of steel.’
- Eddie wants to know what kind of tool steals a yellow Hummer. Joe counters, “What kind of tool buys a yellow Hummer?”
- So, who’s going to bust out all the bad guys kept below Star Labs? And Tony knowing who Barry is can’t be good when that happens.
