The Flash season 2 premieres on October 6, but first we have a refresher of what happened in the action-packed first season.
The freshman season of The Flash explored the after effects of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion and introduced metahumans. The CW’s newest superhero series expanded the world that began with Arrow‘s Starling City to include the The Flash‘s Central City, a world that has only since expanded further with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Vixen.
The Flash season 1 centered around the consequences of time travel, and we travel back to hit the high points of the season as a refresher.
The Flash: Barry Allen
We were first introduced to Barry Allen in Arrow season 2 when he came to Starling City to investigate a robbery conducted by a Mirakuru-enhanced thief. In the process, he and Felicity became close and eventually was brought in on Oliver’s secret identity as the Arrow. After his return to Central City, the particle accelerator malfunctioned. Barry was struck by lightning and thrown into a shelf of chemicals. After a nine-month coma, Barry would wake up in S.T.A.R. Labs with super speed.
The Flash season 1 very much focused on Barry’s family dynamics. We learned about his mother’s murder when he was 11 and his father’s false conviction for the crime. Afterward, Barry was taken in by the West family, and his dynamics in the present day with both Henry Allen and Joe West brought some tear-jerking moments. We were also introduced to Iris West, his childhood best friend who he fell in love with while they were growing up.
The S.T.A.R. Labs Team
The theme of family continued with Barry’s found family in the group at S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry, as The Flash, was the face of a team trying to find those affected by the particle accelerator explosion. Behind the scenes, Harrison Wells, Caitlin Snow, and Cisco Ramon helped Barry fight rogue metahumans intent on causing trouble for innocent people. As Barry learned about his powers, the group at S.T.A.R. Labs became a second family.
The Reverse Flash
That the S.T.A.R. Labs team was family made the sting of Harrison Wells’ betrayal all the more painful.
Well, sort of. We learned that the murderer of Barry’s mother, the Reverse Flash, was actually Eobard Thawne, Barry’s nemesis from the future who traveled back through time with the intent of killing Barry as a child. Future Barry protected his younger self, but his mother still died. When Eobard realized he was trapped in the past, he murdered the real Harrison Wells and took over his form.
But when Eddie Thawne, Joe’s partner and Iris’ boyfriend, learned he was Eobard’s ancestor and Eobard was prepared to kill everyone, Eddie shot himself, sacrificing his own life to erase Eobard Thawne from existence.
‘Arrow’ crossovers
With Arrow and The Flash taking place in the same world, we saw a number of crossovers on both shows. Felicity cultivated a friendship with the group at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco and Ray Palmer hit it off immediately, Cisco fanboyed over Laurel as the Black Canary, and Oliver and Barry developed something of a mentor/mentee superhero relationship.
On a more general level, Arrow also saw its first metahuman in Starling City toward the end of season 3, showing that the worlds are indeed connected. Additionally, Oliver, Barry, Cisco, and Felicity appeared in the animated Vixen series.
The Singularity
In the Flash season 1 finale, Barry traveled back through time to save his mother from being murdered, though his future self warned him away from doing so, and he was forced to let the death play out.
After returning to his own time, S.T.A.R. Labs thought they shut the time travel wormhole down. However, a singularity opened up over Central City. With the fate of the world resting on his shoulders, Barry raced toward the singularity in an effort to close it — and the season ended.
Bonus: The Rogues
We would be remiss if we didn’t include some discussion of Barry’s growing rogues gallery. Season 1 saw the rise of Leonard Snart, aka Captain Cold; Mick Rory, aka Heat Wave; and Lisa Snart, aka Golden Glider. Leonard Snart knows The Flash’s identity but has promised never to share it in a gentleman’s agreement with Barry.
Snart also helped free the metahumans that were being held under S.T.A.R. Labs, meaning there are some metahumans we could see again in future seasons. Notably, Captain Cold and Heat Wave will be regulars on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
The Flash season 2 premieres Tuesday, October 6 at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.
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