THE FLASH 7.1

 

RECAP - THE FLASH  7.1:  "All's Well That Ends Wells"  

Welcome back to Central City!  When we last visited, The Fastest Man Alive had come out of the CRISIS, only to be faced with a brand new version of the Mirror Master.  If he only knew how bad things would get, as his beloved Iris was lost inside the Mirrorverse, trapped with seemingly NO chance to escape....as well as Chief Singh and Kamilla. Cisco was traversing the new world, cataloguing the new threats, Frost and Caitlin suffered an injury that's caused their powers to go bad, and Ralph Dibny was trying to save Sue Dearbon from the Black Hole Gang and Eva McCulloch's husband, William Carver.  Carver is now dead, thanks to Eva, but Sue is on the hook for it.  So, now we join Team Flash at a critical juncture---as they try to get their friends back, and stop Eva from making Central City her own funhouse of mirrors...

This season premiere gave us a couple of big shockers, as well as some new surprises.  We start this season picking up where we left off---with Team Flash working on getting Barry his speed back, as well as trying to find a way to rescue Iris, Singh, and Kamilla out of the Mirrorverse.  Barry's speed has been ebbing away, and he's now relegated to going to some kind of chamber build for him to keep him stable and preserve what little speed he has left---which is about 1% at the beginning of the show.  Chester is on monitor duty, what with Caitlin/Frost still being treated for her injury by her mother, and Cisco is off somewhere, Atlantis, I believe, trying to find a way to save his friends on his end, and Ralph & Sue are off the grid, due to Sue being accused of killing Carver.  Chester gets an alert that Eva is on the move, looking to destroy more of Black Hole's technology.  Barry is awakened, and he's off (I do like the new speed force mask that just automatically comes over his face), and he's off, chasing her all over the city.  He catches up to her, and she tries to tell him that they're on the same side, but Flash isn't buying it, and if she was on HIS side, she'd give him Iris back.  He attacks, and she dodges, knowing his speed is waning.  She knocks him out, and she's off to go destroy the latest shipment of Black Hole tech being moved by the original Mirror Master, Sam Scudder, and his partner, Rosa Dillon.  Eva kills Scudder, and informs Dillon that she created him, and that he was her first creation.  Eva destroys the tech, and is off.  

Dillon was captured, and Cecile and Joe and discussing the recent happenings (and thus catching US up on what's going on).  With Black Hole's tech still all over the place, Joe needs to find out where the next shipment will be.  Cecile takes on this one, as she has a discussion with Dillion about where the shipment is.  Dillon says that SHE was actually the brains, and Scudder just did her bidding.  She then demonstrates to Cecile her powers, by saying that Cecile holds back on hers, and Dillon says she can control people, cause vertigo, and manipulate them like a top (hence her name).  She also reveals that she's been working with Eva all along, and that Eva has given her vision.  However, we get a brand new surprise when Cecile returns later, and tells Dillon that she HAS been afraid to open up her empath powers, because she was afraid of becoming Dillon...but then she realized that she can focus it and turn it on her...which she does.  Cecile causes panic in Dillon, and she coughs up Eva's plan to destroy the latest Black Hole tech:  a bomb attached to a plane coming in through Central City tonight.  She warns Joe about Eva's plan. 

Our primary focus this week was on Nash Wells---who has been housing the Council of Wells in his head.  As the team is trying to work on the Speed Force Generator, the Council comes to the conclusion that their energy channeled through Nash as the focal point, can help power the generator, and help Flash get his powers back.  Nash, however, is NOT happy about it.  So, he's mulling over all the research he can trying to find another way, when Allegra meets up with him.  He figures that if he has Allegra channel HER powers into him, then he can draw the Wells energy out of HIM, and into the generator....all without dying.  So, they make the attempt, but Allega can't control the energy, and Barry saves her from the backlash, but the Wells energy ends up inside Barry.  Now, all the past Wells are inside his head, and we see Barry manifest each of them.  But Barry ends up passing out, and the team realizes that only his powers is keeping him alive.  If his powers fail, Barry will die from the energy of the Wells.  Nash ends up admitting that he did what he did because he isn't ready to die, which--once again--makes him look awful in the eyes of Allegra.  

While Allegra and Chunk (as she now calls him...FINALLY....his nickname comes out!), work on a way to help Barry, Nash ends up talking to Harry...who occupies Barry's mind at the moment, and he discusses how he worked for Zoom when he first arrived to Team Flash.  He urges Nash to find the hero within.  Things pick up pace for the team, when they get word about the plane carrying the Black Hole tech headed to Central City with a bomb attatched to it.  They then have Allegra once again use her powers to transfer the Wells energy back into Nash, thus bringing Barry back.  Chunk warns them of the plane, and Barry says they need a plan...but it turns out that they need the Flash, as Nash attaches himself to the generator.  Barry doesn't want him risking his life, but Nash says that---for once---he feels pride and honor.  We then get every other Wells giving Barry a farewell....telling him to run.  As Nash slowly dissipates into the generator, Barry takes off.  The generator is full, and the energy strikes Barry....thus giving him his powers back.  Barry then races out as The Flash, and manages to avert disaster by swatting the bomb off the plane, where it explodes harmlessly in the sky.  Flash returns to find that Nash is gone.  The team mourns his loss, and Allegra wishes she had gotten to know him more, but in the end, Chunk says that he made the sacrifice so that Barry could keep moving forward...and to save their friends.  

Our other business this week has to do with Iris, as she is still trapped in the Mirrorverse.  At first, she's imagining having dinner with Barry, but it turns out it's just her imagination.  She then starts seeing past versions of herself, telling her that she's losing her grip on her sanity.  At frist, Iris runs in fear, but then she stops, and focuses.  And then realizes that it's just Eva who is trying to drive her insane.  But Iris says it won't work, and that she's getting close to getting out.  Iris then notices the mirrors fluxuating.  Iris was later on the laptop trying to work when the surface of the screen ripples.  It seems that she's starting to gain control of her realm.  

Not so for Eva, however, who is STILL haunted by her late husband, who won't leave her thoughts.  She comes across a video of the night the Particle Accelerator exploded, and she went into the Mirrorverse---but upon looking at the video in her office.  She realizes that she never went INTO the mirror...she bounce OFF of it.  We see Carver in the video calling for help, as Eva finally realizes that she died.  And that SHE...the current version of Eva....is the mirror duplicate.  

Admittedly, this episode would've had more punch had it happened as originally planned last season....but for what it's worth, it STILL got to me when Nash was sacrificing himself, and we got to see all the other previous Wells give a final farewell to Barry.  Now, I am not sure at this juncture if this is the LAST time we get a Wells character from Tom Cavanaugh, but it was a very heartfelt sendoff to the Wells of the past.  Now...here's ANOTHER thing to think about:  Barry wondered what the team would do WITHOUT a Wells.  What if---and I know this has been bandied about by a few in the community---that everytime we "see" a representation of this new Speed Force....it's Wells instead of Barry's mother, Nora?  It WOULD be a way to keep the Wells legacy alive, and allow Cavanaugh to have continued appearances on the show....even if only part time.  Also....the impact of the loss of Wells would've been BETTER felt if the rest of the team had been there.  Even if that only meant Joe and Cecile.  

Cecile showing a new way to use her powers was awesome!  It shows considerable growth for Cecile and her character, and that's going to be an asset down the road for the team as well.  We also bid farewell to Rosa Dillon's partner in crime, Sam Scudder...the original Mirror Master, as he's wiped off the canvas thanks to Eva.  So...in much like their comics counterparts, the new Mirror Master takes over for the old.  

Iris is closer to getting out, as she managed to work past Eva's mind games, and figure out that he has the power to manipulate reflective surfaces.  Now, we just have to see if she can find Kamilla and Singh, and get out of there.  

All in all, not a bad way to start the season off.  Got some surprises, and some heartfelt moments...but glad they didn't drag out Barry getting his speed back.  Now, the final chapters of THIS particular story are about to be written.  So....did this episode get you back into the flow of the show?  Did it satisfy the long wait?  Subscribe and leave a comment below.

Until next time....Keep on running!