There are shocks aplenty in this installment, which sees the show nicely racing towards its finale…
Combining a Cisco-centric storyline, the growing threat of big bad Zoom and ending on a whopping great big cliffhanger, this was a corker of an episode, right at a time when the show needed one.
Everyone loves Cisco, so any episode that has a sizeable amount from him is a good thing. He’s on fire with the one-liners this week (“how do you know about the Harry Potter convention?”), as well as reaching a turning point in the, ahem, ruptured relationship with his brother. Yes, Dante’s double arrived here as a lackey for Zoom. He wasn’t the best metahuman-of-the-week, but at least his death had some sort of emotional impact.
Meanwhile, Zoom is still caught in two minds over his affection for Caitlin, holding back on the destruction because she asks him not to. The character has still come unstuck somewhere along the line but he does get a very effective moment here, when he mows down a squad of CCPD officers. More of scary, deadly Zoom please.
OK, let’s get to that ending. After failing to save those cops, Barry goes ahead with Harry’s plan to restart the particle accelerator – and it doesn’t exactly go well. In fact, he sort of dies. Well, of course, he isn’t actually, but the cliffhanger still worked as the drama lies in seeing how he will return and how his friends and family react to his absence in the interim.
Thanks to ‘Rupture’, the series is now once again zooming at full speed ahead.
Speed Thoughts:
- It was nice to see Barry’s three father figures all together and arguing over what is best for him in their own ways.
- Iris’ recent realisation of her feelings for Barry has felt quite sudden, but the scene where she admitted it to him worked surprisingly well.
- Jesse to Wally: “I’m sure there’s something out there that will satisfy your need for speed and helping people.” Three guesses what superpower he’s going to get now that he’s been hit by the particle accelerator wave.
Extra! Extra!
Based on a seemingly throwaway line in this episode, here’s a new theory about who the Man in the Iron Mask in Zoom’s lair could be. Highlight the following paragraph if you’re interested.
“When talking to Barry in his cabin, Henry mentions that Garrick was his mother’s maiden name. Put this with the fact that the Man in the Iron Mask sent Barry and Jesse a coded message of ‘Jay’, it looks likely that Zoom’s prisoner is the Earth-2 version of Henry Allen – who is actually the real Jay Garrick, the Flash of that Earth.“
Rating:
Fandom Factory 