Butterfly Effect | The Flash “Fast Enough” Review

The finale of The Flash, “Fast Enough,” was an absolutely fantastic episode. The events leading up to it set the stage for the showdown we’ve been waiting for. No, it’s not The Flash versus The Reverse Flash, but the battle within Barry himself and the decisions which may change the course of The Flash universe, not only altering the life of one, but that of many. Is Barry willing to potentially give up the way things are right now to save his mother? Will he be able to cope with that fact that his happiness could be the detriment of others? It’s the ultimate dilemma, one that’s dealt with so well, so emotionally in the finale.

After speaking with Wells, Barry learns that he has the ability to bring his m other back. But in doing so, Wells will be sent back to his time, and everything in this timeline will be different. Each character thinks of the dire implications that will be sent in motion if Barry goes back. No one knows the consequences as much as Cisco.

While building the time sphere that would take Wells back to his time, Cisco and Ronnie discovered that the materials they were going to use for the wouldn’t hold. There was only one person to ask, Dr. Wells. The conversation between Cisco and Wells tugs at your heart as Cisco breaks the news that Wells killed him in a different timeline. And for the first time, it looks like Wells cares. The look of sorrow and guilt across his face is present for the briefest of moments, but this is Wells after all. He smugly remarks that he’s not sad for killing him at all; he’s only sad that Cisco has the memory of two different timelines.

This may come as a shock, but my favorite story line in this week’s episode was Eddie’s. Since Eddie is Eobard’s great great great grandfather, Eddie has been left in the worst shape of the group. His future was exposed by Wells, and all hope was lost, until Stein explains that he is the most unique person in the Lab solely due to coincidence. Wells must keep Eddie alive to maintain his own livelihood. He is the only one out of the entire crew that controls his/her destiny. The simple word, coincidence, completely turned Eddie around. He gained confidence in his relationship with Iris and won her back exclaiming, “screw the future.” Eddie finally finds his will to live, gets the girl and becomes the hero in one episode.

On the other side of the coin, we have Ronnie and Caitlin finally reuniting, and this time it’s for good. Ronnie decides that he is staying in Central City and the two get married just outside of STAR Labs, with Dr. Stein officiating. The scene is so touching. It provided that perfect moment that lightened the mood just enough. It was nice seeing the group together and happy, but Barry always had that look of uncertainty on his face and for good reason.

The way they framed Barry in this episode was, arguably, one of the best. His struggles, with what he should do and what he wants to do, are at odds. Complicating the situation is each person’s thoughts and opinions; they each tell him something different. Joe tells him to do it, something seemingly out of character. Later, Joe reveals that he only said that because he knew that’s what Barry wanted. His father, on the other hand, adamantly explains that he shouldn’t go back and mess with the past. He tells Barry that his mother would be proud of him, and that he wouldn’t want him to mess up his future for her. And then there’s Iris. The two grew up together and there’s a chance that him saving his mom would alter the future so much that they may never meet. But Iris is surprisingly level-headed, and simply tells him to stop listening to other people and do what’s in his heart. So all that’s left is to time travel to the time when his mother died.

Barry must run Mach 2 and collide with a hydrogen atom to create a wormhole into the past. But, if he doesn’t reach the speed, he will die. Of course, with the cheerleading from Wells, Barry runs through the wormhole into his past, and we get our first look at the famed speedforce. The visuals are top notch, and on his way to the place of his mother’s death, we get a ton of Easter eggs, perhaps a unique sneak peek into season 2 and some images from the spinoff, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Once Barry arrives to the past, the future Flash that saved young Barry motioned to him not to intervene. Instead, he hid behind the door and waited. While he didn’t save his mother, he was able to talk to her in an insanely emotional moment for the pair. He tells her that he just wanted a second chance to tell her that they are doing okay, and he loves her. It’d be a lie if I said I didn’t fight back a tear or two. Everything about that scene was so surreal. What happens now that Barry didn’t save his mom?

In the present, Wells is preparing to get into the time sphere when Jay Gerrick’s helmet flies through the wormhole and lands next to them. It was a nice Easter Egg as Wells says, “time to go.” But, he isn’t getting off the easy. In the next scene, Barry comes flying through the wormhole and smashes into Wells and the time sphere, thus ensuing in an all out brawl. Wells is getting the upper hand throughout, but Eddie pulls through as the hero of the episode. Eddie steps out and shoots himself in the chest. The most implausible scene has come to life, and because Eddie dies, Eobard begins to dissipate. A life for a life and just when they think things are going to be fine, the wormhole opens up and begins to suck in everything. Barry, still bleeding from his battle with Wells, says that he has to try to stop it. In an epic ending, he sprints across building and jumps up to the wormhole in hopes of reversing its rotation, and the last thing we see is The Flash flying toward us followed by The Flash title screen.