Rewind and Repeat: Barry Calls Joe His Dad, The Flash “Fastest Man Alive” 

The end of tonight’s episode got me right in the chest area. For most of the episode, we see Barry now, and in flashbacks, rebelling against Joe as a father-figure. Young Barry knows his father didn’t kill his mother, but no one will listen to him — including the man who’s raising him while Henry Allen sits in jail. And even though Barry keeps telling Joe he isn’t his father, that’s not true. He’s the guy who took Barry in and raised him, helped him become the man he is today. Even though it doesn’t seem like Barry’s listening to Joe’s advice or opinions, he takes every single thing Joe says to heart. So when Joe tells Barry he’s in over his head, Barry decides his extracurricular activities are a mistake.

But just because Barry doesn’t think he can be of any help doesn’t mean that’s true. When Wells tells Joe just how much of an effect his words have on Barry, he realizes he was wrong about this. So he encourages Barry to go back to saving people and is there when Barry has doubts. Later in the lab, Joe tells Barry he should’ve believed what he said about Henry. We knows that part of what motivates Barry to “run around” helping people is that he feels like he can’t help his dad. Joe tells him he can and that he’s going to help too. Together they’re going to find out who or what killed Barry’s mother that night and then they’ll get Henry out of prison.

We can see just how much it affects Barry. Even though he’s said that Joe’s not his father, that’s not true.

Joe:”I know I’m not you’re father.”
Barry: “You’re right. You’re not. You’re just the man who kept me fed and in clothes, who sat beside my bed at night because I was afraid of the dark, helped me with my homework. You taught me how to drive and shave. You dropped me off at college. Sounds a lot like a dad to me.”

And Joe’s reaction really says it all. He’s so emotional. You can see just how much Barry’s words affect both of them. I totally teared up. And then I had to rewind and re-watch that scene immediately.

The Rest of the Story

Iris needs Barry’s help for a journalism assignment. Barry promised to explain the boring science stuff during a lecture given by William Sadler‘s Simon Stagg. While there, a masked man appears and relieves everyone of their jewelry. When a security guard intervenes, Barry saves him and goes after the men. But he faints before he can catch up.

When Barry finally admits what’s been going on to the team, Cisco and Wells are concerned and Caitlin is mad. The team determines that every time Barry uses his super speed his blood sugar drops — in essence, he’s not eating enough for the amount of energy he’s expending. So in order to keep his speed up and also keep consciousness, Barry has to start eating a whole lot more.

The also team discovers that Danton Black can replicate himself and they think he’s after Stagg for stealing his research. But that’s only part of the story. He really wants Stagg dead because Black was close to growing his wife a heart — a heart she needed to live – when Stagg took his research. Barry can only do so much against the onlaught of clones. But with the encouragement of the team and Joe, he’s able to isolate the prime and stop all of them. But Black wants to die and thwarts Barry’s attempt to save him.

Iris has to abandon Stagg as her assignment for her journalism class. Instead, she decides to start doing some research on the red streak. Since Barry made Joe a promise not to tell Iris about his new ability, he’s a little worried about her interest. And Iris definitely knows something’s going on with Barry. They grew up together. She knows him well enough to guess he’s keeping secrets.

Speaking of secrets, can we talk about Wells? He continues to pique my interest in a major way. When he goes to visit Stagg, I had no idea what his end game was. Since “The Flash” saved him from Danton Black, Stagg wants to discover his identity and control him. But Wells can’t have that. He assures Stagg it isn’t personal as he stabs and kills him. Wells tells Stagg it’s his duty to keep The Flash safe. We know Wells can see the future and by murdering Stagg, I guess Wells thinks he’s doing his job. It’s all very interesting. I kind of love that Wells thinks he’s doing the right thing. I really hope we see a slow, but inevitable slide into villainy for this character.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.