Rupture

As Barry helps fight crime by projecting a hologram of the Flash from STAR Labs to strategically pursue and distract criminals, Harry tries to convince him to allow him to recreate the particle accelerator explosion to give Barry back his speed. As much as Barry wants his speed back, he refuses to put the people of Central City in danger. Meanwhile, Zoom arrives on Earth-1 with Caitlin and takes over the CCPD, promising death to those who do not obey him. Cisco thinks he vibes something about his brother when really it is his Earth-2 doppelganger – a meta-human going by the name of Rupture – who Zoom has recruited to kill Cisco in revenge for Reverb’s death. Caitlin is able to send a warning that Rupture will attack the CCPD – who are organizing themselves at Jitters – and Barry and the team find a way to capture Rupture with the hologram trick. Zoom refuses to accept failure, so he comes in and kills Rupture and all the policemen except Captain Singh and Joe. Barry decides enough is enough and agrees to Harry’s plan to give him back his speed. It seems like a good plan, but something weird happens and Barry appears to disintegrate into a wave of lightening – which washes over Wally and Jesse who have escaped from the safe room they were locked in – and leaving everyone to assume that Barry was killed in the attempt.

Barry and Iris

Since this is a turbulent and uncertain time in Barry’s life with big decisions to make, Iris decides to tell Barry that she wants to explore a possible future with him and that it doesn’t matter to her whether or not he has his speed. Of course, this isn’t the right time to be making any decisions beyond the immediate problem of Zoom and Barry’s speed, so Barry seems confused and awkwardly pleased but doesn’t make any committed gesture. While it would have been devastating in any case, with Iris having made her declaration to Barry and with no going back on her newfound feelings, Iris is obviously inconsolable over Barry’s apparent death.

Zoom and Caitlin

Jay has decided that he doesn’t want to be alone anymore and so intends to keep Caitlin with him always. Caitlin tells him again that she will never be with him. This doesn’t seem to deter him, nor does her betrayal when she warns her friends about Rupture’s impending attack. Jay is, however, hurt by this betrayal – perhaps a bad sign for Caitlin and those she loves.

I wonder what the significance is of Garrick being Henry Allen’s mother’s maiden name? It was just an odd side note, a throwaway observation that Henry made when Barry caught him up on the story, but there has to be more to it if it was even mentioned. Why did Hunter Zolomon take the name Jay Garrick, and what relation might the real Jay Garrick have to Barry’s grandmother? Mysteries abound.

Wally

Ever since Wally was saved by the Flash, his ambitions have turned beyond engineering and toward a desire to help people. Joe notes that whatever Wally’s future holds, he’ll probably find a way to combine his need for speed and his desire to help people. So, that’s a hint at Wally West becoming another Flash someday, as he does in the comics. And based on the closing of the episode, that someday might be sooner than expected as Barry’s lightning waves washes over him and knocks him out – perhaps infusing him with the speed force.

The Ramon’s

Cisco obviously wishes he could have a closer relationship with his brother, but his brother is kind of a jerk and doesn’t take the time to relate to Cisco. Cisco vibes the coming of Rupture and misinterprets it as his brother being in trouble. He tries to reach out and gets a lot of pushback in return. As the episode progresses, Cisco’s brother learns about everything Cisco has been through and about his new powers and learns more about everything Cisco does to help people. After seeing Rupture die, Cisco returns to STAR Labs to embrace his brother, saying that he wants things to change between them and for them to be closer in the future. Cisco’s brother seems to embrace this.

[Photo by Bettina Strauss/The CW]