'The Flash' Season 6 Episode 2 review: 'A Flash of Lightning' sees Barry Allen's resilience tested after he glimpses his bleak future
This review contains spoilers for 'The Flash' season 6 episode 2: 'A Flash of Lightning'
Let's cut straight to the chase. Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) will die. His death comes as the necessary sacrifice so that billions could be saved. The season opener prophesizes his death and 'A Flash of Lightning' presents Barry a glimpse of his bleak future. Showrunner Eric Wallace, in his Q and A after the screening of the first episode 'Into the Void', had teased what was in store for the Scarlet Speedster and at the end of the second chapter, only one question remains: Will Barry accept his fate?
Recap:
'A Flash of Lightning' tosses all the positive elements right out of the window. The Queen's Flash Gordon theme, the new suit, and Killer Frost's human side are all a thing of the past. Such is the impact that even Bloodwork, the deadliest foe that Flash ever goes up again fades away for those few minutes we see Barry painfully understanding how grim things are in the near future.
Taking over right after The Monitor's announcement, Iris (Candice Patton) refuses to believe the prophecy while Barry decides to head to the future, past the 'Crisis' to see how things look, except he fails miserably and ends up with a nasty anti-matter bruise. Gideon, now the J.A.R.V.I.S. to Barry, advises him to visit Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp) in Earth-3 for taping him up and help heal. The move seems to help as Garrick reveals that he has been detecting anti-matter signatures across the multiverse and that is a sign of impending danger.
Together, the duo decides to use Garrick's Neural Hyper Collider— a device that essentially harnesses neural electricity from the brain of a speedster and transfers it across super luminous particles (Quite simply, it can transfer the consciousness of the human mind across time and space since a human could never breach the anti-matter wall). The iconic Jay Garrick helmet is used as a device that would help Barry channel the tachyons into his brain's frontal cortex and ignite his synaptic pathways for his mind to make the arduous trip. Since we're talking about a lot of science here, a chunk of credit for explaining goes to Joan Garrick, Jay's wife played by Michelle Harrison.
Barry runs into the future to see the 'Crisis' devouring the world. He sees team Flash (Cisco is back as Vibe, but more on that later), Iris and his family disintegrate right before his eyes and as he runs into exploring the various futures, he sees his own sacrifice, with The Monitor's prophecy echoing in his ears. In what is a true nod to the comics, Barry dies the same way he does back in the comics— run himself to disintegration.
Back to the present then. The Garricks manage to pull him out and Barry suffers from what Joan terms "neural entropy"— a state where Barry needs to recover due to the sheer mental exhaustion.
Meanwhile, a meta-human Allegra Garcia (with the ability to control radio waves) remanded in juvie for murder is being investigated by CCPD and DA Cecile Horton (Danielle Nicolet) deduces that the suspect is innocent. It is revealed over the course of the episode that Allegra has a baddie of a sister, Esperanza, who was also subjected to dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion and gained control of the rays coming in from the electromagnetic spectrum. She is hunting down Allegra and Team Flash decides to shield her, except Barry needs to be there to stop it.
A still distraught Barry receives some fatherly advice from Joe (Jesse L. Martin) about sacrifice. Joe reminds Barry that his resilience— a trait he feels the hero is blessed with and a never give up attitude that makes him who he is is will always have to come out. With enough motivation, Barry subdues the meta and vows to continue and fight, while also preparing his team for a world "without The Flash". Elsewhere, Sendhil Ramamurthy's Bloodwork is battling the consequences of his mad experiments.
Review:
'A Flash of Lightning' sets up the 'Crisis'. The threat is imminent and as gut-wrenching as it seems, the fans have to be ready to swallow the tough reality. Barry may not make it out alive. The episode is insightful and in a way helps understand what can be expected from the remainder of the season. Even a meta-human threat doesn't really help as we're pretty sure the audience will still be trying to come to terms with what they have witnessed in the first half.
However, this is Barry and he's no stranger to death. We're pretty sure that the team will run all permutations and combinations to see how Barry can avert the 'Crisis' and not lose his life or that of his loved ones in the process. But until such time comes, this grim tale is here to stay.
'The Flash' airs Tuesdays at 8 pm on The CW.