The Flash - S1E7 - Power Outage
Previously on The Flash, ‘The Flash Is Born’
On the night of the explosion, some dumbass climbs an electrical tower to get a better view of the particle accelerator. He’s struck and falls to the ground as his two friends watch in horror.
Wells records a journal entry with Gideon and notes that Barry has started showing off with his powers. He uses them to speed up the coffee making as his local shop when he’s running late and he uses it - very much showing off - to catch his own would-be-mugger. Later, Wells reminds Barry that they agreed to help each other solve crimes and advance the research. Wells needs Barry to work harder. To be faster.
Later, Barry walks Joe and Eddie through a crime scenes of a man who was electrocuted. Joe is still jumpy over his encounter with the man in yellow, but doesn’t mention it to Barry. Cisco uses his special facial recognition software to scan the charred remains and ID the victim as someone who worked at the power station. The dead man’s work ID is being scanned at the power station as Cisco speaks. The city begins to experience small power outages.
Barry rushes to the power station and meets the dumbass who was electrocuted almost a year ago. He can now discharge and collect massive amounts of electricity. He blasts Barry and steals Barry’s speed before running away.
Back at the Labs, no one can figure out how Barry’s DNA would be un-transformed. Wells says he needs to run tests to see if the condition is temporary, but first Barry needs to tell Joe the police be able to rely on The Flash. He also warns him that the killer in the burned man case is a metahuman.
As a creepy suspect is being booked into the station, Wells is freaking out because Gideon shows no signs of The Flash or Barry Allen in the news in the future. Barry confides in Caitlin that’s he’s not sure he can live without being The Flash. The electro villain shows up at Star Labs, demanding to see Wells. When he uses his power on the building, the city experiences even more outages, including at the police station. This allows the creepy suspect to grab a cop’s gun and get free. He takes people hostage including Iris and Joe. When Eddie tries to rescue them, he gets shot.
Wells has a plan: Charge Barry up with a massive jolt of electricity to bring back his powers. Maybe. While the gang ponders this option, Wells sneaks down the cells and lets Tony out so he can kill the electro villain. Caitlin hits Barry with the massive jolt and it doesn’t work. Cisco wonders if it could all be in Barry’s mind.
Tony dies in the halls after racing off with electro villain. Before he does, he warns Barry to run. Back in the labs, Wells admits he let Tony out to be a distraction. Barry isn’t happy about that at all. He literally has Tony’s blood on his hands and accuses Wells of not caring about people.
Back at the precinct, the creepy suspect’s demands have been met, but he decides to take Iris with him to make sure he gets away. Joe convinces him to let Iris say goodbye to Eddie since he’s dying. When she kisses Eddie, he whispers the location of his second gun. She slips it and shoots the the kidnapper before he can get away.
After Wells sacrifices himself to save Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin, Barry finally breaks through whatever was holding him back and he kills the electro villain. He later apologizes to Wells, saying that Wells does care after all.
Eddie’s recovering in his hospital, doped up on many meds. Iris leaves to get coffee. While she’s gone, Joe purposely knocks over a vase to see if Barry’s back to speed. They convince Eddie what he just witnessed was a hallucination. At the coffee machine, The Flash speaks to Iris. He says he’ll be there for her next time because she’s worth being on time for. She’s so atwitter she comes back to the hospital room without her coffee. Barry smirks.
In Wells’ next Gideon journal entry, after checking to see if Barry’s future as The Flash was back on (it was), he realizes that attachment to people wasn’t a distraction or slowing Barry’s progress. The people are the key. Later, Wells takes a blood sample from the dead metahuman to determine how he took Barry’s powers to begin with.
Thoughts & Questions:
- So, is Joe so spooked by his encounter with The Man in Yellow that he’s giving up on his promise to help Barry find who killed his mother?
- I was underwhelmed by this week’s villain, but I guess he was necessary since his power looks like it will figure heavily into whatever Wells gets up to.
- Oh, Iris and Barry. You’re both playing with fire. He’s enjoying the flirtatious attention Iris pays The Flash, so he continues to visit her so that he, Barry, can feel it. She’s totally falling for The Flash. Poor Eddie.
