The second half of The Flash has gone by quickly, and we're nearing the season finale. In the meantime, the show has been on a month hiatus to build up for the final few episodes. But alas, fear not! The Flash returns on the CW this coming Tuesday, March 17th.

In preparation for its return, I am going to recap the last four episodes like I did previously for Arrow. I've only watched each episode one time, so don't chase after me if I get something wrong. In addition, I'll be lightly recapping each episode, spotlighting only the most important aspects.

Episode 11: The Sound and the Fury

Air date: 1.27.15, The CW

Photo from the CW's The Flash photo gallery albums

The episode starts off with a few laughs, as the STAR Labs gang takes a picture with Barry--though Barry is only slightly concerned taking a picture defeats the purpose of a secret superhero identity. But the laughs are shattered when Dr. Wells returns home to receive a phone call from a mysterious voice before the glass windows in his house break. Wells uses his super speed to zip away just in time (of course, he doesn't tell the police that when they and the gang arrive).

Wells knows who that mysterious voice was: his old protege, Hartley Rathaway (Cisco and Caitlin aren't fond of the man either). He's come to have his revenge because 1. he knew turning on the particle accelerator was a bad idea and 2. He's know been affected by the explosion. He can manipulate sound waves, which is a threat to both Wells and The Flash. He is... the Pied Piper! (duh-duh-dun!)

Barry ends up capturing Rathaway. Wells tries to apologize in order to stop Rathaway. And Rathaway uses more than just sonic manipulations but vocal manipulations to cause both Barry and Cisco to waver in their faith for Wells. He claims Wells is hiding a secret. Wells does admit to a secret--but not the big secret. He confesses to the gang that Rathaway told him there would be problems with the particle accelerator but he went ahead and turned it on anyways.

Rathaway escapes (???) and Wells tries to use his super-speed again but collapses from weakness (???). Wells decides to hold a press conference and come clean about the particle accelerator, if nothing but to gain back the trust of his gang. In Rathaway's escape, he stole Barry's body's scans so when he starts attacking the city, he messes with Barry's internal frequency (aka causing Barry's insides to start to explode). Fortunately, Wells to the rescue! He programs a counter frequency to save Barry and stop Rathaway. As they lock Rathaway up in the pipeline thing of STAR Labs, he tells Cisco that he knows what happened to Ronnie and how to help him... for a price (freedom, duh). Fortunately, Cisco is better than that, right?

Episode 12: Crazy For You

Air date: 2.3.15

Photo from the CW's The Flash photo gallery albums

A teleporter named Shawna breaks her boyfriend out of jail, which calls Joe and Barry to the crime scene. Joe arranges for Henry Allen (yes, Barry's father) to be brought by during the investigation so Barry can see him (feeeeeeeels). They take DNA resuide left by our teleporter in order to track them down. Cisco meanwhile is in STAR Labs making fun of Caitlin for not having a life and also talking to Hartley about Ronnie (duh-duh-dun!). They pick up a trace of Shawna and her boyfriend committing a crime: robbing an armored car.

Barry zips over there, plays a "Run, run, as fast you can. You can't catch me I'm a teleporter-woman" game with Shawna, but the criminals escape. Wells decides to figure out the limits of Shawna's abilities, while Barry and Caitlin go out for a few drinks in order to "have a life" (aka find new love). This consists of Caitlin getting drunk and Barry being pulled into a karoke rendition of "Summer Lovin" where our speedster can... SING! (And all the fangirls sighed; another reason to love Grant Gustin). This performance catches the eye of reporter, Linda Parker, who hits it off with Barry (U G H). However, Caitlin returns hung over so Barry takes her home and gets her settled.

Meanwhile, Henry Allen has been doing some detective work in prison to locate Shawna and Clay and the crime boss. There's some fighting, Henry is injured, and Barry gets mad when he hears about it. But they uncover a big heist that's going down. Luckily, Wells has learned that Shawna can only teleport if she can see where she's going, so Barry aims to limit her vision field by taking out all the lights in the vicinity of the heist. Shawna's boyfriend deserts her, and she's captured and sent to STAR Labs.

During all of this, Cisco lets Rathaway out of the cell (Nooooo), and takes him around to figure out what happened to Ronnie. Rathaway tries to escape but Cisco is prepared and has a device that hurts Rathaway. They learn that Ronnie and Professor Stein have combined bodies. Then, Rathaway disarms Cisco and escapes.

Barry visits his dad again, and Henry claims he knows Barry is the Flash. However, Barry denies it; but his father still gives a few words of encouragement that are both touching and heart-wrenching (*cries and runs to go hug my dad*).

In the closing, we see two city workers enter the sewers and get attacked by something... dark and big... something... GRODD (*gorilla screeches*)

Episode 13: Nuclear Man

Air Date: 2.10.15, The CW

Photo from the CW's The Flash photo gallery albums

The now confirmed, combined Ronnie/Stein (aka Firestorm) make an appearance and Wells sends Barry out on the case to track them (he?) down. They start the investigation by tracking down Stein's wife and paying her a visit. She claims a strange man (aka Ronnie) came home, confused and rambling, and she called the police. But Firestorm left before the police arrived. Ever since then, she feels as if she's being watched. They basically decide that it's Ronnie's body but Stein is in control of his mind and actions. The gang decides to plan a stakeout at Stein's house.

Firestorm  shows up. Barry arrives, tries to help, fails, and plants a tracker on him. They track him down, Clarissa assists in helping calm Firestorm down, and they take him back to STAR Labs. After a few tests, they learn that Ronnie's body is trying to eject Stein, which is going to cause a lot of problems like a nuclear reaction (duh-duh-dun!). Wells suggests they render the host body non-functional (aka murder), but the gang refuses and stands up to Wells, who slinks back to his secret compartment. Firestorm leaves to go to the Badlands, so if there is an explosion, it's far from civilization. Wells configures a device thing to stop the nuclear reaction. Barry and Caitlin follow Firestorm to the Badlands. Ronnie gives Caitlin a passionate goodbye kiss, and Stein uses the device, which appears to malfunction. So there's a giant explosive cloud and Barry, holding Caitlin, zooms out of it just in time. General Eiling learns of the explosion and appears interested in tracking down Firestorm.

Meanwhile, Joe enlists Cisco's help. They decide to reinvestigate the death of Nora Allen (yes, Barry's mother). They return to the crime scene--Barry's childhood house--and look around for anything else that could have been evidence. There happens to be a mirror that used to be in the Allen home that is still present in the house. They look it over, find a few particles and with super cool technology re-create an image of that evening. The image reveals two people in the room with Nora: the Man in the Yellow Suit (Curious George anybody?) and a red blur (that sounds familiar) along with forgotten blood splatters. Cisco takes a sample of the blood and runs a few tests: it's Barry's blood. But not child Barry: Adult Barry's blood. Adult Barry was there the night his mother was murdered, which means... TIME TRAVEL (yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!)

In other news, the episode revealed things moving fast between Barry and Linda. They have one and a half dates, but the second (if you can call making out on a couch as a date) is interrupted for Barry to assist with Firestorm. This leaves Linda not happy (boo hiss). Barry returns to her workplace to win her back; Linda is solid in that she doesn't have time for a pointless relationship. After talking to Iris, Linda decides to end things permanently with Barry, but he wins her back with a very hot pepper (???).

Episode 14: Fallout

Air date: 2.17.15

Photo from the CW's The Flash photo gallery albums

So Firestorm just exploded and Barry managed to get Caitlin out of the way of the "fallout" just in time. However, Firestorm survived the blast (no surprise there) and Ronnie and Stein are back in their regular bodies (how that even works, I don't want to know). Everything is good, except they each share a few similar traits from the other. And that General Eiling is now hunting the down (duh-duh-dun!).

Meanwhile, Joe brings Barry to the house where his mom died and reveals the evidence that Adult Barry was there that night. Wells (with the help of Cisco's pop culture references) explain the possibilities of time-travel, but they don't really know a whole lot. So Barry pays a visit to Professor Stein--who apparently is a time-travel theory fantatic (convenient, eh?). While there, Stein suddenly stumbles in pain, but he's not injured in any way. It's actually Ronnie. It's revealed the two have a linked connection still as a result of Firestorm, and Ronnie is currently being assaulted by General Eiling (duh-duh-dun!). Barry arrives to the rescue, but Eiling has a special device that attaches to kinect energy and traps Barry. Luckily Caitlin arrives with a van, and the three are able to escape.

After getting the device from Barry's skin (it's like little nails all over his body), they decide to keep Ronnie and Stein under protection from Eiling until they can figure something else out. Ronnie goes with Barry to Joe's house, while Stein stays with Wells. But Wells isn't so trustworthy (or maybe he's been manipulated) and he's made a deal with Eiling and he hands Stein over (duh-duh-dun!). Eiling takes Stein to a military base and begins to torture him via electrocution (which apparently, he also did to a gorilla named... GRODD). Using Ronnie and Stein's linked ability, the gang figures out where Stein is being held (using glass to carve into skin as well as morse code). Barry (and Ronnie) arrives, saves Eiling, but gets hit with a bad bomb of phosphorous. Stein and Ronnie are forced to combine once again in order to escape, but no harm is done since they willingly did it.

However, not all is good in the end. Ronnie and Stein decide they have to leave Central City in order to protect those they love from Eiling and also understand the capabilities of Firestorm. The end scene reveals the Man in the Yellow Suit (aka Wells) taking Eiling to the sewers (duh-duh-dun!). Grodd--in all his dark and monstrous glory--appears and telepathically communicates with Eiling before snatching him away. (And now I want to make so many Curious George/monkey jokes).

Whew!! That was a lot of words. Now that we've recapped the latest of The Flash, what's in store for the rest of Season 1? Well, let me tell you: a lot. The CW released a Villian promo that highlights the villains appearing in the next couple episodes. It looks like we're in for one exciting ride. :)

Waaaaait, we're getting more meta-humans, Captain Cold (again), AND MARK HAMILL AS THE TRICKSTER?! (Fun fact: Mark Hamil played the Trickster in the 90s Flash TV show, which are the photos in the trailer of him "twenty years ago" literally). I'm super pumped.

Also if you watch the very beginning, I think Barry is going to reveal himself as the Flash to somebody important (I've got bets its Iris).

And we can't, of course, forget the fact that BARRY IS GOING TO TIME TRAVEL. *runs around house screaming*

This. Will. Be. So. Epic.

Question to be answered:

1. Where's Linda been (and will Barry be able to maintain a relationship while being a superhero)?
2. What about Gorilla Grodd? Will he even face off with Barry this season or are they keeping him for a another season?
3. TRICKSTER (okay that's not a question)
4. Who is Barry telling his secret identity to and WHY?
5. Who's that guy in blue talking about "being amazed" at the beginning of the promo?
6. What about DR. WELLS killing Barry's mother?

-Jaime

I apologize for not posting these the last two weeks. One week I totally forgot and the other week I thought it was Friday, not Saturday. I'm a little stressed out lately - and The 100 isn't helping!

The 100

CW

2x14: Bodyguard of Lies

Wednesday 8|9c

 

In the Dead Zone

 

Jaha (who thinks he's Moses. Broses?) is leading the straggling few who decided a hike across a desert to a questionable 'city of light' was a good idea across a desert. Murphy is being gloriously sarcastic about the whole thing. A dude named Harris is cracking jokes about Reapers and Grounders when BAM! - he steps on a land mine, and so does another gal. Blood and limbs rain down, and they realize they're stuck in a minefield with absolutely no idea of how to get out. A sandstorm comes up (because naturally) and they wait it out. When it fades, they see light shining beyond the next mountain of sand. Broses proclaims that this is all a test, and if they have enough faith, they'll make it. Murphy graciously tells him 'you first, Chancellor.' Jaha leads them out of the minefield using his walking stick and they race up the dune to find....

solar panels?

A whole lotta solar panels, reflecting the sun. No city. Murphy, righteously angry, throws a rock at a solar panel and a drone detaches from its perch and flies past them. They follow the drone to the edge of the water, where it continues to fly. Fortunately for everyone, there's a boat! Broses tells them to get in. They do.

....Wow, guys.

To coin a Murphy phrase, 'What level of crazy is too much for you?'

 

In Mount Weather

 

Cage: Where are the 44? (RIP, three kids that Cage killed)

Lieutenant: I don't know.

Cage decides that they'll use the fact the kids killed ten Mount Weather soldiers (in SELF DEFENSE) as anti-propaganda so people will come forward with the kid's locations. In the control room we see via radar that the Grounder Army is camped just outside the range of the acid fog. We see Bellamy (HI BELLAMY) running around trying to stop the acid fog from happening. His keybard stops working, two guards realize he's not Lovejoy, and start firing at him. Now that they know they have an intruder, Bellamy's life just got about 100x more difficult - and it was no piece of cake before, chocolate or otherwise. (Sorry, Monty.)

 

Bellamy catches a guard, beats him unconscious, and takes his keycard. (I love Bellamy so much. He doesn't kill unless he has to, unlike some other characters on the show.) He finds Maya's dad, Vincent, who tells him that they've moved some of the kids to areas that were already searched. Bellamy asks Vincent if there's another way to shut off the acid fog, and Vincent tells him there's a place called the 'retro-fit zone' that's off-limits and HEY! Has no cameras! HOW CONVENIENT!

Vincent gives Bellamy a soddering gun. Why?

...I guess he was out of glue guns, or staplers, or tasers.

 

In the Grounder Camp

 

Lexa attempts to calm down Clarke, who is freaking out over the kids in Mount Weather, specifically - BELLAMY. For the first time on the show, someone acknowledges the existence of Bellarke (a ploy by the writers, I'm sure, to assuage the pain of what happens a bit later) by pointing out that Clarke worries more about Bellamy than the others.

Lexa wants Clarke to be an android-leader without emotions, but Clarke just wants to keep people safe. YAY! CLARKE WITH FEELINGS IS BACK! I missed you, Clarke With Feelings. Clarke and Octavia have a brief conversation where Octavia realizes that Clarke knew about the missile before it landed and killed a bunch of people.

'You'd fit right in on the council,' Octavia tells her.

BURN.

But true, in that moment.

Grounder Bodyguard informs Octavia that she's been re-assigned to guard duty. Clarke, suspicious, tells Lexa that Octavia won't tell anyone about the missile. 'You take care of your people,' she says, 'I'll take care of mine.'

Lexa says sure, yeah, and then tells the Grounder Bodyguard to kill Octavia. Clarke gets wind of it and puts a gun to the Grounder Bodyguard's head before he shoots Octavia, and then she takes him to Lexa's tent. Lexa orders the Bodyguard to stand down and has him leave, and they have an exchange about feelings and doing what's right.

Lexa points out that, while she let 250 people die in the village, she didn't let Clarke die. Clarke, taken aback, tells her that if anything happens to Octavia, she'll tell EVERYONE about the missile. This makes an apparent impact, because later, Lexa calls for Clarke to tell her she trusts her, and she won't harm Octavia.

And then Lexa kisses her.

 

OKAY.

*deep breath*

I mean, I saw this coming (on Lexa's part, anyway) from a mile away.

But I think the writers have a serious apology to make to Bellarke shippers.

A. SERIOUS. APOLOGY. Because while Bellarke might be end-game, HOW MANY MORE DELAYS CAN WE EXPECT? FOR REAL? C'MON.

Clarke backs away from the kiss and says she's not ready for another relationship...yet.

In Camp Jaha

 

RAVICK IS BACK!

 

 

Bellamy has found the Poison Fog Vats (that's fun to say) they're taking turns trying to help him figure out a way to turn it off or neutralize it. This entire scene, while nerve-wracking, is adorable because it's like two teenagers trying to tell their mom how to work a computer. Basically, this is the entire scene:

 

Bellamy goes through every option on the monitor and then Wick has a brilliant idea - they can activate the cleaning solution to neutralize the gas! It seems to work, and when Bellamy announces the PH level has gone down, RAVICK HUGS. And they almost kiss, but....they don't. Sigh.

They send out the flare to let the Grounder Army know the gas is neutralized, and then Raven runs back in and starts making out with Wick.

Wow. Nobody saw that coming since the first encounter. *sideways glance* Nobody. I mean, I ship them and all, but this just seems fairly...abrupt? Sudden? Odd? We find out Wick's real name is Kyle, which changes absolutely nothing. Wick he shall stay.

When they're through, Raven tries to slip away as per her Modus Operandi, and Wick tells her, 'if you want to do this, I'm in, but I don't play games. So figure it out.'

While I admire Wick for being straightforward like this, I don't think Raven is ready. Another sigh.

 

In the Grounder Camp

 

They see the flare, and Lexa admits to Clarke, 'you were right to have faith in him.'  I'm hoping Clarke was feeling a little more than faith, but ahem. Cough. Lexa calls her army to battle.

 

In Mount Weather

 

Bellamy thinks his job is accomplished, but he notices a gauge on one of the vats that says the PH levels are exactly the same, and he realizes none of the acid has been neutralized. FLIPPIN' CAGE. URGH. I HATE YOU SO MUCH.

He tries to contact Raven but it turns out the Mount Weather control room has interrupted his frequency. They send people into the Toxic Waste Room - I mean, Acid Fog Vat Room - and they start shooting at Bellamy.

I start hyperventilating. Again.

Bellamy escapes down an air vent, because he rigged up an Oxygen tank with his soddering gun and it EXPLODES. WELL PLAYED, SIR. I'M SO PROUD OF YOU. (Also this is quite hilarious considering Raven specifically told him not to blow anything up. You got your wish, son.)

Cage tries to trigger the acid fog, but to no avail - the entire room was blown up. No fog, sir, no fog

HA.

He gets mad, because he's a baby.

Cage: WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?

Lieutenant: NOTHING, SIR.

Cage: NOOoooOOOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOOOO.

 

In the Woods

 

The Grounder army heads toward Mount Weather and Clarke tells Octavia she wants her with the rear guard. Octavia tells her that she takes orders from Indra, and Indra tells Octavia she's staying up front. Octavia tells Indra about the missile thing, but it turns out Indra already knew.

Indra tells Octavia they'll win this war because Lexa is ruthless. Octavia says, 'that's wrong,' and Indra replies simply, 'it's war.'

BATTLE CRY, and fade.

 

QUESTIONS

1. WHERE. IS. THE. MUTANT. THINGY.

2. Are we ever going to see Emori again?

3. Where on earth is Lincoln?

4. Why didn't Broses and Murphy and the others just dive into all that water? Hasn't it been ages since they've had a drink? And they've been walking through a burning desert? Eh? Eh???

5. THERE ARE ONLY TWO EPISODES LEFT. THEY'RE BEING MARKETED AS A TWO-PARTER.

HELP.

 

 

 

For Barry Allen, romance is a slow aspect of his life. He sees his life as "romance-less" and a losing battle every where he turns. He may be fast, but he doesn't seem to be able to catch-up on his love life. Or so it appears.

But when fangirls take a deeper look into Barry Allen's "romance-less" life, we discover... it maybe not be as slow as we thought. 

Since Barry Allen was first introduced into the CW world via Arrow, he was stealing hearts with a quick glance of his cute grin and dashing looks. Immediately, he snatched the attention of one Felicity Smoak, and I think it had to do with more than just his science-y side. 

Since then, Barry Allen not only has the opportunity to star in his own show, The Flash, but in addition, he's had plenty of romance opportunities, some that just might still work out. I'm going to highlight four opportunities Barry has to speed up his love life. 

Felicity Smoak

Felicity was Barry's first opportunity for romance and while I think the time has passed for anything more to blossom between them, let's take a look at what made Felicity and Barry click at the start.

Strengths: They're both smart, so they can understand each other's language. Felicity already knows how to deal with superheroes and knows Barry's secret from the start. He doesn't have anything to hide and she can help him as he saves Central City. Plus they look so darn cute together.

Weaknesses: Oliver Queen. Felicity's maybe, sort of, kind of in love with Oliver. Hung up on him. As is Barry for Iris West (more on her later). Felicity lives in a different city (and show), which would make things tricky for their relationship. And last, they've already come to agreement to just be friends and nothing more (despite sharing a kiss and all those lingering glances).

While I adore Felicity and think she would make Barry happy, I don't think the show writers will move in that direction. But if anything (else) happens to Oliver Queen with Romance beyond Felicity, I would want nothing more than for Barry and Felicity to find a way to work. But until then, let their friendship live. 

Caitlin Snow

Caitlin is Barry's scientist friend at S.T.A.R. Labs. While there haven't been too many indications of a romance blossoming between them, I--along with many other fangirls--can't help but notice there's hints of a possibility. Here's a few things that might make their relationship work, or not.

Strengths: Both are smart and involved in the field of sciences. Like Felicity, Caitlin speaks Barry's language. Again, Caitlin knows his secret and knows how to deal with a meta-human, especially in the act of cleaning up his wounds. She's currently single (ouch). And Caitlin can see beyond Barry's abilities. She sees him as a person of worth with or without his super-speed. 

Weaknesses: Ronnie. Caitlin's (ex?) fiance may not be so-dead as it seems (sort of spoilers?). His re-appearance remains to be unseen. A relationship within the work place might not be such a good idea and only provide more opportunities for tension. 

Caitlin and Barry would probably be cute together. They both had lost someone important to them and were heavily influenced by the accident at S.T.A.R. Labs. They can certainly relate to each other, and they already care for each other. Whether their relationship stays platonic or becomes something more is still up in the air. But anything could happen. This is only season one after all.

Linda Park

We haven't had a lot of Linda Park yet, and definitely not enough to clearly know whether this relationship will pan out. However, we have to admit that this is the first relationship Barry's had in a while and it actually might be working... for now. 

Linda Park is a journalist Barry met and has gone on one and half-ish dates with? She also gave him a second chance when deserted her because duties of being The Flash. 

Strengths: She makes Barry smile and also eat really hot peppers, which ends up being kind of funny. He won't give up on her even though it didn't seem it would work right away.

Weaknesses: She's moving Barry along waaayyy too fast. Plus there's something about her that strikes my fangirl heart as: not good. Whether she'll have other motives for dating Barry or not, I'm not confident this relationship works. It's too early for a superhero to meet his "happily ever after" and "first" girlfriends don't usually end up panning out. 

An interesting fact though, in the comics Linda Park was a journalist and actually married Wally West, another version of the Flash and Barry Allen's nephew. Since the writers have clearly already switched around a few things, it isn't certain how close to the comics they will keep the story line. So in reality: anything could happen. 

Iris West

Iris is Barry's long-time best friend and foster sister (ish?). They've known each other forever and Barry has been in love with her for just as long. She's smart, she's pretty, and she definitely loves Barry. But the question comes down to: in what way?

Strengths: They already know each other well. There's not a whole lot to hide (well, except that he's the red and yellow streak running around saving Central City). Iris probably knows Barry better than he knows himself. In addition, he makes her happy and she makes him happy. And, she's a fan of the Flash. 

Weaknesses: Eddie. Iris is currently dating someone else (and now Barry is dating someone else). From what we know of (aka see the mid-season finale), Iris doesn't share the same feelings as Barry. However, the latest episode kind of makes one wonder whether that's accurate or not. She seems to be moving back and forth between her feelings, which isn't a good sign either. 

In the comics, Barry and Iris do get married. They have a few kids and grandkids (the Flash family is big). However, it's highly unlikely we'll see all of that pan out. At least not in "real" time, but with the introduction of time-travel in the show: anything could happen (aren't you tired of hearing that?)

If the writers stay true to the Barry/Iris arc, it probably won't be for some time that we see them get together. Just think how long it took for Clark and Lois to get together on Smallville: six seasons worth!! Six! Come on, CW, we can't wait that long!

The Flash show is early on. It's season one, and I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities for Barry to find his one true love. His life is far from "romance-less." 

Who do you think Barry  should end up with? Do you think the writers will stick to the comic book path?