THE FLASH 8.15

RECAP - THE FLASH  8.15:  "Into the Still Force"  

Iris has disappeared...and it's now a race against (still) time itself for the Flash and his team to help her before time completely fractures, and she'll be gone forever.  So the Fastest Man Alive this episode had to take a journey with Dion--the essence of the Still Force itself---into his realm to find his wife.  And we find out a few things on this journey that makes his job a tad more difficult.  But this is how it is when it comes to The Flash, and we expect some twists and turns along the way.  

With Iris having disappeared after talking to Taylor about her wanting to find out more about those who help Flash in his war on crime, and bring them to light---Iris tries to push it off, not wanting the team to be exposed, went about working on another story before she fizzled out of her office last episode as she was working on another story.  As Barry arrives at her office, we see she was working on a story about Fast Track Labs and their sudden emergence.  He tries to call her, but her phone is there in the office.  He races back to STAR Labs to meet up with Cecile and the rest of the team to inform them what happens.  Cecile's been avoiding a current client of hers for some reason, so she's eager to help in the search for Iris---but as she, Chester, and the team realize---they can't locate Iris anywhere on the planet.  Cecile also mentions that Dion hasn't been able to be located, and Tinya Wazzo's mother had disappeared due to Iris' illness.  Barry races out to try and find Tinya to see if she can help him find Iris, but because of her missing mother, she can give a damn less if Iris dies, and she does her Phantom Girl thing and is gone.  Dion then suddenly appears, and says to Barry that Iris is trapped in the Still Force, and she's getting sicker.  He needs the isotopic sensor Iris used to find Tinya, and that would help them find Iris, but they have to hurry, the clock is ticking.

Back at STAR Labs, Barry runs through the plan to go into the Still Force with Dion, but Joe wonders if this is a solid plan or not.  He's very wary about Dion, as his cop gut instincts tell him something is off---but Barry is convinced that this is the only way to get Iris back...so he's doing it. Meanwhile, Chester is called into Captain Kramer's office as a special consult on a case involving some weird technology that appeared at an apartment complex.  They retrieved the device that was used, and Chester recognizes the specs of the device is something HE would've built.  Knowing that he's shared his technology to the world through is blog...he's instantly guilty that people could've died because his designs were used for evil purposes.  He shuts down his blog in remorse.  

Barry and Dion enter the still force, which is in a severe state of flux, as past, present, and future keep smashing together in fragments.  Iris can be detected, but when they try to locate her signature.  Barry sees everything from newspaper articles about Godspeed and Zoom destroying Central City, to seeing an argument between Allegra and Taylor argue about Taylor wanting to expose Allegra for her involvement with Team Flash, to finding Tinya's mother.  But Barry can't save them.  When they do reach the energy signature, Dion absorbs it, and then bails on Flash, and sends him crashing into another part of the Still Force...trapping him there indefinitely.  

In 2049, we see Nora trying to write an article for her paper, when she hears Dion's voice saying that Flash is in trouble.  Nora is then sucked into the Still Force as well.  She and her father reunite, and she tells him that she ended up taking her mother's path in becoming a reporter, and hopes that her dad isn't disappointed in her---he couldn't be prouder.  But they end up trying to put their minds to work in figuring out a way to get OUT of the Still Force.  They both realize that Barry could hear Nora before she appeared, and remembered Iris' hairbrush that disappeared after they left for dinner that one night.  By using that and focusing on the Still Force energy he still has inside him, Barry reaches out from it to connect with Joe.  He tells him they're trapped, but Barry can't stay connected long.  The connection disappears, but Barry and Nora head to the park, determined to escape the Still Force.  As they reach the park where Barry and Dion first popped in at, they try to run to escape, but are blown back by a wall of Still Force energy.  But knowing that the past, present, and future are fracturing here all at once, they have Nora focus on their escape from in the future, and they managed to break through and get back to Earth.  They fill Joe and Cecile in on the events that transpired in the Still Force, and conclude that the other forces are probably infected as well, but since Barry and still FEEL Iris, he knows she'll be okay.  Nora races off back to 2049, and they work on another way to get Iris home.  

As for Chester, he finds out that the tech that was used was only being used to help the people of the apartment complex get better and cleaner running water.  So, Allegra tells him that not everyone is there to steal his designs for evil purposes, and to cut himself some slack.  He agrees, and they take off from his lab to go out.  But....as he kills the lights...someone is downloading everything off his computer.  

We end things with Caitlin still hiding out in her apartment, looking to find a way to bring her sister back.  Mark returns, and agrees to help her, because he misses her too.  

Okay....few things to unpack here.  First and foremost----the fact that Dion's illness seems to have corrupted him to the point he was willing to stab Barry in the back in order to absorb this energy to help revive him.  It's interesting to note that they did mention the other forces, and their lack of communication could mean they're infected as well...and being around Dion means they too could also be corrupted.  So, we are not completely sure if Dion's just been toying with everyone from the outset, or whatever Iris' illness is, it's caused him to be corrupted and betray the very people who created him.  Either way, the Forces sill play a factor in the Scarlet Speedster's life.  

Two:  some of the tiny little (possible) easter eggs we get here, is a newspaper article that says that Godspeed and Zoom destroy Central City---possibly a future that might happen, and that means the return of August Hart, and Hunter Zolomon, whom we haven't seen since Season 2.  Then there's the argument between Taylor and Allegra....where Allegra is defending herself against Taylor.  We KNOW Taylor has had it out for Allegra, and this could be the thing she uses to destroy her life in her petty revenge.  Taylor is ambitious, and just wants the big sensationalist headline---and she wants to expose Team Flash...a story Iris said she'd "think about", but knows that means that her friends, her family, and herself would be exposed, and that would mean BAD things for them.  So, this is a possible future that we may have to see the team deal with, as Taylor's ambitions overtake her better judgement. Three:  we see that in this Post-Crisis reality, THIS version of Nora West-Allen is a reporter---having followed in Iris' footsteps instead of her father Barry's as a CSI.  Some people complain about this, but I can't see why.  It doesn't deter in ANY SINGLE WAY from her ever NOT being like her father.  If anything, this makes Nora a more well-rounded version of her parents.  She's more mature.  The recklessness and Impulse behavior all belong to Bart.  Four:  whomever it is that Cecile is supposed to be defending, apparently it's a meta who has done some VERY bad things to the point she's avoiding them altogether.  Five:  the article Iris was writing about Fast Track Labs.  where Avery Ho works.  It could be a predecessor to her becoming the new heroic speedster down the road.

We also seem to have ANOTHER threat looming on the horizon, as someone has downloaded all of Chester's designs...with, no doubt, some nefarious intentions.  This could be the kind of thing that comes back to bite him back, and not sure if Allegra can pick him up if he feels the guilt trip again.  Finally...there's Caitlin---whose isolated herself from her loved ones in order to desperately try to regain her sister back....even if it means violating a few laws in the process.  Mark has been against this initially because it goes against nature itself...but since he's lost her too, and he's kind of liked the guy he's become because of Frost....he agrees to help Caitlin get her back.  This is NOT going to end well...and I wonder how much fracturing this is going to do between Caitlin and her loved ones to the point she leaves Team Flash.  I keep sensing her departure is coming, and I am wondering if this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.  The ONLY thing that has STILL disappointed me is the lack of Cisco here.  Even for a few episode guest spot, it would help this story MORE, because of ALL the people Caitlin would REALLY listen too---it's not Carla, it's not even Barry---the one person who can truly understand what losing a loved one is like---having lost BOTH parents to murder---but Cisco...her best friend.  If ANYONE can talk her off this ledge...it's her.  This is where I feel a Carlos Valdes appearance would REALLY help this story.  

What did YOU all think of this episode?  As usual, subscribe if you haven't...and leave your opinions, thoughts, and theories below.  

Until next time....keep on running!