REVIEW: THE FLASH - SEASON 6, EP. 7: "The Last Temptation of Barry Allen: Part 1"
Barry Allen has endured A LOT in his life before becoming The Flash. Since he has become The Fastest Man Alive, he's battled criminals of every sort, aliens, and alternate versions of his friends. And while he has endured an immense amount of trauma, he's always risen above it. Always found a way to fight back, and be the hero we all know him to be.
But this is a battle for his heart and soul...a battle to save himself, if he can, from the impending Crisis. This is Barry Allen battling his own personal demons, and whether or not he succumbs to temptation.
This episode starts off rockin', as we see Ramsey and Ralph duking it out as they fall from Ralph's office. Both land on the ground, fairly unharmed, and continue to battle. Ramsey then injects a bit of himself into Ralph, hurting him, but Ralph recovers enough to fight him off, and Ramsey takes off. Frost and Cisco were monitoring the situation, and breach over to see that Ralph is in bad shape. They get him back to the lab, and call Barry. Barry arrives, and Frost is unable to help...she has no medical experience. She gets Caitlin to return, and Caitlin says that Ralph needs a blood transfusion, and that Barry's supercharged blood may help. So Barry agrees and they manage to save Ralph. Ralph is stable, but needs time to heal, and for his safety, they're shipping him off to an ARGUS secret location to do so.
Barry and Iris talk about the situation, and Barry wonders whether or not he's prepped the team enough to go on without him. Crisis is in two days (we get an actual timeline here), and he wants to make absolutely sure the team is set. Iris says that they have done all they can, and that Barry should just go home and rest.
Barry goes home to recover from the blood transfusion, and ends up falling asleep. He then wakes up to discover that Ramsey has arrived in his home, knowing that Barry is The Flash. He also knows about the upcoming Crisis, and Barry's eventual fate. Barry tries to attack him, but Ramsey is intangible like a ghost. Ramsey wonders what role he plays in Barry's demise, and Barry says none. Barry then looks out the window to see the antimatter claim the planet. Barry wakes up, and we see that he was having a nightmare, but it felt real to him.
We then turn to Allegra, who strolls into the Gazette office, talking to herself as she wonders WHY everyone has kept her out of the loop. While sitting at Iris' desk, she accidently brushes up against Iris' laptop, and it comes out of sleep mode. Allegra then sees the front page of the Gazette that Iris is working on---The article to Flash's disappearance that she has not written yet. Just then, Iris and Camilla walk in with information for Allegra that she might want to be on: pictures of her cousin Esperanza involved in the caper Ralph and Barry busted up last episode. They're going to get to the bottom of this crime ring, and possibly help Esperanza. Allegra asks if this is really what Iris should be working on, and Iris is adamant---they're on the case.
While on their stakeout, they approach one of the men involved in the crime ring, and it turns out he works for a company called Malestrom Couriers (interesting name), and that he's a delivery man for these eccentric rich people. He had no idea what he was delivering, he was just doing his job. They feel like they got nowhere with him, but Iris is still not sure he's being honest. Allegra again presses Iris about anything else they should be working on, and Iris is insistent that they're going to crack THIS case.
Cisco and Frost give Barry a sleep monitor, to not only help him rest, but monitor his REM sleep. He goes home, quickly scans the apartment for Ramsey, and goes to pour himself some water, only to come into contact with his mother Nora---but he realizes it's the Speed Force. The Force tells him that he is in danger. It turns out that in the process of giving Ralph a transplant, the bits of Ramsey's blood was transferred into Barry's bloodstream. Ramsey is now in Barry's system. We see that Barry had come home, had gotten some water, but ends up collapsing on the floor. Barry right now is fighting for his life, as the Speed Force tells him Ramsey is trying to take over his body to use him for his own means.
While Barry is in a battle for his life, back at the Gazette, Allegra finally confronts Iris about the fact that she knows Barry is the Flash, and Nash told her. She also wonders WHY Iris hasn't written the story yet. Iris says she's not ready to. Allegra recounts her life as a youth, and how she wanted to be a reporter by reading Iris' blogs about The Streak. It gave her a purpose in life. Iris was her inspiration. Iris is a little surprised, and we can tell the weight of writing that article is heavy upon her.
Barry's nightmare takes him to the Time Vault, where Ramsey continues to tempt and taunt him about how those around him have died, and what has it gotten him. He shows him the story of how he dies, and says it doesn't have to happen. Barry continues to resist, but now the scene shifts to a graveyard in STAR Labs, with the names of all those Barry has lost in his life. Ramsey again tortures him about the losses in his life, but says that if he joins with him...gives himself to Ramsey, no one else has to die...that he can save lives. To add onto the torture, Barry sees a door, and goes through, where he sees a nursery. There, in the crib, is baby Nora. But he can't hold her, because she is just another ghost image. It's eating at Barry, and we can see him breaking down emotionally. He desperately wants to hold Nora, but Ramsey again propositions him with being able to live forever, and save himself from the Crisis if he just joins with him. All the heartache and darkness Barry now sees is because it's his own mind, his own decisions, his own emotions...the fear, the failure, the loss...is because he holds onto them, and refuses to let go. Ramsey offers him his lifeblood...and shows him an image of what he can do with Ramsey's power---showing a scene of a woman in a car accident, nearly dead, and Barry racing over, and using Ramsey's power to save her. And she recovers. Barry then sees a scene where he is at home, with Iris and baby Nora, holding her and seeing the serenity of his life. All he has to do is choose life, Ramsey replies to him. We then flash to Barry in his bed, feverish and sick, while the Speed Force urges him to fight Ramsey off. He's getting worse.
We go back to Iris, Allegra, and Camilla, as they come upon a crime scene, where the man from Malestrom Couriers has been killed by having him burned to death in his car. Allegra finds a clue, and says that it's giving off serious UV rays...indicating that her cousin was involved. The three decide that, no matter how dangerous the situation becomes, they're going to get this story.
Back with the Speed Force trying desperately to console Barry, to get him to fight off Ramsey's temptation. Barry tells the Force that he's been so driven by his past, that he hasn't really faced the future. He doesn't want to to die, he wants to live. The Speed Force says that facing adversity...even death...is what makes Barry a hero. Makes him the man that he is. But Ramsey is there to turn the screws to Barry more, saying that the Speed Force is lying, that it doesn't care about Barry. The Force replies back that it does, but Barry will have none of it. He yells at the Speed Force that it has done NOTHING for him when he needed it the most, that all it has done...all his powers have done, have caused nothing but heartache and pain. Meanwhile, Cisco and Frost see that Barry's heart rate and other body levels have increased, and he's getting worse. They get Barry to the lab, and try to get him stable, but Frost is traumatized and cannot do anything to help---she has no idea what to do and figuratively freezes up. Cisco races to Caitlin's lab, where she has some Velocity X stored. Cisco nabs it, races to Barry, and injects him with it. The Velocity X jolts Barry's body, and he gets charged up, even in his nightmare.
Barry continues to berate the Speed Force, asking what it has sacrificed for HIM. When is it the Speed Force's time to suffer. The Speed Force tries to plead with Barry, but he vibrates his hand and plunges it into the Force's body, wounding it. Ramsey then sticks the Speed Force to the wall, capturing it as he continues to work on Barry. It's then that Barry's body reacts to the Velocity X, thus breaking the Speed Force free. It pleads to Barry that if he accepts Ramsey's offer, he will lose himself, he will lose everything. His friends, his love for Iris, his very soul and who and what he is. Ramsey refuses to give up, and uses his powers to pull at Barry. At the same time, the Speed Force is doing the same to try and save him. As the tug of war increases, Barry feels his body tearing apart, and he screams. Everything goes black. Barry finally wakes up...seemingly okay from the nightmare.
We once more turn to Iris in her office, sitting at her desk, looking over the article that she knows she's going to have to reluctantly write. She then begins to find the words within her, and starts to write the story about the Flash's heroic deed, and what he means to the city he calls home. There is a bit of satisfaction to the story she's constructed, but also with a ton of sadness. She looks at the picture of her and Barry, knowing she's done good. She then gets a text and heads off, wiping away her tears in the process.
We see Nash returning to the tunnel, with a new toy in hand, and finds the sweet spot in the wall to use it. Once he blasts the wall, he sees a metal wall with heiroglyphics on it. Marnu's name on it. Nash is now ready for his encounter with The Monitor.
Barry discusses his nightmare with Cisco and Frost...and thanks them for their help. He feels better, and is ready to go. Cisco and Frost talk, and she says that, for the time being, it's best that Caitlin handles the medical emergencies, and that she's going to take a back seat for a bit. Iris comes in and checks in on Barry...who says he's okay. She wants reassurance, but he quickly cuts her off and says he's perfectly fine, and goes back to work. Iris walks over to Cisco and Caitlin, and says to them that he is NOT Barry. When Cisco get his attention, Barry turns around, but he is taken over by Ramsey, and attacks all three of them, knocking them out before racing off. He then races through the city until he catches up with Ramsey in the flesh. Ramsey has a plan to take over Central City, officially calling himself Bloodwork. Barry, now in his Flash costume, bows down to Ramsey, with an evil, maniacal grin on his face.
Wow! Such an emotionally charged episode! I wasn't sure how much Ramsey was going to really be as a villain on this show this season...but, man! He's really worked himself into the main villain role for now. He certainly knew just HOW to get to Barry, and it was effective: use Ralph to initiate his plan. I'm sure, at first, Ralph would've been a good person to use in his plans...but the blood transfusion Barry gave was a much richer prize for Ramsey...he had a way of tapping the most powerful member of Team Flash---the man himself---and using Barry's own doubts, trauma, and emotional overload he's been going through to manipulate Barry to his side. The real nice touch was using baby Nora---to me, that was the kicker to get Barry over to his side. The thought of losing out on watching Nora grow up has been a HUGE factor in Barry's motivations this season. He lost his daughter once, and doesn't want to again. And using his mother as the face of the Speed Force was another nice touch. His anger at it could also be used as an allegory for the anger he still feels over the loss of his mother, and the Speed Force using his mother as a "body" of sorts, only drives that thought of Nora Allen's death to make Barry upset, instead of being his guide. Barry's emotions have been a roller coaster ride for nearly the last season and a half, and he finally broke---thanks to Ramsey's temptation of immortality, and Barry's unwillingness to die---even though the Monitor has laid out his fate. What happens now will depend on how much the Speed Force can recover, and the team doing their part to save Barry before he becomes the City's biggest villain.
The other story playing out in this episode is Iris. She knows she's about to write the most important, and hardest, story of her life. Her reluctance to actually sit down at the time and write it is her own unwillingness to accept Barry dying, of losing him. Allegra doesn't help when she tries to press Iris about it, until she finally fesses up to Iris that she knows about Barry's secret. Allegra sees Iris in pain, and knows that she needs to spend time with Barry before he dies. She also informs her that Iris was an inspiration to her. Something Iris will need down the road---a new ally. And, with any luck, adding Allegra to the team officially.
Killer Frost I believe is still in a state of denial and fear for not only having to lose the Flash....but fearing her own death. Her literally freezing up in the face of Barry's trauma more than likely set off her own psychological issues with feeling like she hasn't lived her life yet, and facing potential death during this Crisis. She's also NOT knowledgeable with science and medicine much like her counterpart, Caitlin. So...we may end up seeing more Caitlin before we get roaring into Crisis.
Speaking of Crisis---we now know that timewise in the Arrowverse---it's in a couple of days. So, this issue with Bloodwork and Barry is going to have to be resolved quickly.
That's it for this week. You know the drill: Subscribe, comment, and tell the others---I'm here.
Until next time...keep on running.
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