THE FLASH: “Fast Enough” {Recap}

Here we are at the finale of season one and there’s so many items that hopefully will be explained or hand-waved away for this to feel satisfying.

Firstly, we have Eobard Thawne’s Evil Speech of Evil for why he did what he did all those years ago – all in the name of defeating the man Eobard hates – but in trying to solve his own hatred of Barry, Eobard can’t leave the present. As far as Evil Speeches of Evil go, this one is fairly annoying and does lots of handwaving science to explain it, but it does pose the paradox of what Barry wants to do.

At least Dr Stein has the understanding of what will happen should Barry go back and change the day his mother dies. There are fifteen years of history that have happened and in the “original” timeline that Eobard wanted to disrupt nothing could be like this. Of course we have to watch Barry (and the whole team) face the idea of what sort of Butterfly Effect could occur.

What the premise of the episode does allow for, however, is for a huge existential crisis of faith for Barry and everyone else. Henry won’t let Barry try and save his mom because of what else it might change in his life. Good on you, Daddy Allen!

Also, good on you Caitlin for getting what you wanted from Ronnie and getting the wedding you’ve desperately wanted. A wedding that Caitlin walks into while “Don’t Dream It’s Over” is playing. How wonderful and 80s!

Because he must, Barry decides to follow Eobard’s idea and is going to collide with the particle accelerator and hopefully be fast enough not to die. Why is no one else there when he decided this? I feel like Iris’ previous conversation with Barry would have been more meaningful if he also knew that people cared about him not being dead in the end. Thankfully some people worry about a dead Barry Allen, but not enough to stop him from making the attempt.

Cisco gets the best (or maybe worst) news – he might be a metahuman himself because he remembers the timeline from when Eobard killed him the first time.

As Dr Stein talks to Eddie about why he’s actually just as important as everyone else in the lab, Eddie sort of decides that he’s as valuable as all the scientists. It also spurs him to tell Iris he still wants to be with her and to basically forget the future and what it might be.

Thanks to science, Barry has one minute, fifty-two seconds to save his mother once he gets back in time or else the whole plans pointless. He gets back to where he wants to go, but he can’t go ahead and change what happened to him before and save his mother after all that and so he tells her that he’s the Flash and Barry to see her. It’s a rather touching moment that almost defeats the purpose of the trip back in time, but the sentimental side of me appreciates that Barry at least has a moment to see his mother one last time before everything else is going to fall apart.

As the science isn’t always going to work – Barry interrupts Eobard’s trip back to 2024, forcing Caitlin and Ronnie to try and turn off the generators (which they do), but as Barry and Eobard are fighting, Eddie shots himself and erases Eobard from existence all together. Caitlin’s work isn’t perfect, however, and the wormhole reopens and wants to suck the whole universe into it. Barry at least makes the attempt to stop the wormhole from killing them all.

The episode ends with Barry climbing into the wormhole and fades to black.

However, before we leave Central City for the summer, it’d be great if the ladies around the show wouldn’t have to constantly watch their men get hurt or die in order for them to be part of the show.

The Flash airs on The CW.