The Flash season 2, episode 11, “The Reverse Flash Returns,” aired tonight and featured the beginnings and endings of chapters of the characters’ lives.
In the A-plot, Eobard Thawne arrived from the future; however, this Thawne had not come to the past yet. He was, in fact, trying to figure out which time his nemesis The Flash was from. So, while Barry and co. have all the memories of and still-healing wounds from everything Thawne had done, Thawne doesn’t. In fact, this is Thawne’s origin story. This is how he learns about the S.T.A.R. Labs team and Harrison Wells, which will make Earth-1 Harrison Wells his body-snatching target in the future.
Barry will never be able to completely let go of The Reverse Flash; he shaped Barry into the man he’s become through everything that he did, from killing Barry’s mother to causing the particle accelerator to explode and becoming his “mentor” under the guise of Harrison Wells. Having to help the man return to his proper time in order to keep Cisco from phasing out of the current timeline is almost more than Barry can handle.
Almost.
At the end of the day, Barry’s loved ones are the most important to him. While we knew this already, this story reiterated that. Grant Gustin has a lot to work with this episode, and him nearly beating Thawne to death and later confronting the man while he was kept in a cell in the particle accelerator to find out the origin of their Thawne were powerful.
On the other hand, Barry saw a door close in this episode as well: His time with Patty. Unlike the plotline with Thawne, the way Barry’s relationship with Patty is wrapped up is more frustrating than emotional. Shantel VanSanten and Gustin do great work with the material they are given; however, the material itself is where the issue lay.
After being gung-ho about telling Patty that he’s The Flash in the previous episode, only to be persuaded by antiquated comic book logic that doesn’t actually make sense, he refuses to be swayed from that path in this episode.
Patty, in wrapping up her affairs at CCPD, realizes that Barry is The Flash. She tells him that if he admits it, she’ll stay. And he can’t tell her. One day, a comic book series will acknowledge that keeping the hero’s identity secret from his loved ones doesn’t actually keep them safer; their ignorance is actually more dangerous than anything.
But apparently this is not the time for that. Which is unfortunate, since there was significant backlash toward how Iris’ story was handled last season. There were unfortunate echoes of that story with Patty’s. So, while Barry may have given Patty unspoken confirmation of his identity on her way out of town, it was far less than she deserved.
Meanwhile, a door closes in the West family as Francine is on her deathbed. Iris, in an incredibly well-acted scene by Candice Patton, finally grants her mother forgiveness for her absence in her life. She only wishes that her mother had returned sooner, as she would have forgiven her then, too. This gives both Iris and Francine a measure of peace.
But there is a beginning for the family as well, as Iris, in another beautiful scene between Patton and Keiynan Lonsdale, convinces Wally to visit his mother before her death. Wally has been angry with her for keeping the secret of Joe and Iris. Iris, however, knows all too well what it’s like not to be able to tell someone how much you love them before they leave; she’s still grieving Eddie (which has mostly been off-screen, unfortunately. For a character that was a series regular last season, Eddie hasn’t gotten much mention this season) and doesn’t want Wally to feel the same.
Wally reaches out to Iris later and asks her to come to the hospital with him, bringing the family together for the first time in Francine’s last days. In the last episode, Wally made peace with Joe and now he’s making peace with Iris. When Francine does pass, he’s going to need them more than ever, so it’s good they’re building bonds now.
On one final note, Jay Garrick’s Earth-1 doppelganger goes by the name Hunter Zolomon. Does that name sound familiar? In the DC Comics, he goes by the name Zoom.
Watch a promo for the next episode
