The Flash has a knack for being able to give us a much slower, more deliberate episode just as engrossing as one with action throughout. “The Runaway Dinosaur,†was one of the more emotional episodes of the series. It certainly hits you in the gut a few times, but it provides a fantastic jumping off moment heading forward.
This episode revolves around Barry getting back from the place where he was blasted after the particle accelerator appeared to blow him to pieces. The aftermath of his disappearance is clearly visible amongst those back at Earth-1 as well as where Barry currently is, trapped within the Speedforce.
The tension is thick back on Earth-1 because this was mainly Wells’ idea. And he was so adamant that nothing would go wrong. Add in the fact that Jesse still hasn’t woken up from getting blasted by the particle accelerator, and you have a group that is in disarray. This is still not even counting the fact that Zoom currently has limitless power since Barry doesn’t have his speed and is nowhere to be found.
This episode is a tour de force of emotions, but there is a key scene that is quite hilarious. Since Wally was blasted by the particle accelerator, Joe wanted to see if he was affected the same way that Barry was, so he tries to slyly question him about it. This doesn’t work, so he does the next best thing. He drops his coffee cup, and they all watch it crash into the ground. I honestly did think Wally was going to snatch it right before it hit the ground as Barry once did, but he is either keeping a huge secret, or he wasn’t affected in the same way.
As for Barry’s scenes, they mainly took place in the Speedforce. The Speedforce in a physical form is interesting because it manifests itself as people close to him in his actual life. They become Joe, Iris and most notably, his mother Nora. They explain that the only way he is able to leave, is if he can catch the menace that is running around the Speedforce. We learn that the man who is running around the Speedforce is actually himself, or to be more accurate, the manifestation of his inability to let go of his mother’s death. Once he is able to let that go, through some very precious flashback scenes of his mother reading the book “The Runaway Dinosaur†to him, he is finally able to put to rest the emotional baggage that was dragging him down.
These scenes are some of the best in the series to date. I absolutely loved that they slowed this episode way down to convey the intense emotions that he has been carrying throughout the show. Cisco vibes and tries to pull Barry back, and he walks away showing the absolute need for Barry to finally put Nora to rest.
The scene where Iris and Barry are at Nora’s gravesite is also one that solidifies the end point, or starting point if you will, of Barry’s freedom to not carrying the burden of Nora’s death on his shoulders any longer. During the scene, Iris mentions that she didn’t actually like the book The Runaway Dinosaur because her mother wasn’t anything like the one in the book because she was never there for Iris. Barry then says that her voice will always bring him home. To much the chagrin to the non Iris and Barry shippers, it appears this may be the point where they give their relationship another try.
There was a villain this week, but the Zombified Girder took a major back seat to the speedforce storyline. It was a somewhat goofy storyline, but easy to pass up since the main storyline was so engaging. Also, by the end, Jesse does finally wake up with the help of Barry. His static charge pulls her out of her coma, but it is unclear if she is also a speedster after the particle accelerator blast.
