Hey, do you remember when Zoom coerced Harry into helping him steal The Flash’s powers? It was only 3 episodes ago, functioning as the big cliffhanger in the mid-season finale. However, “Fast Lane” marked the first time we actually saw Harry steal Flash’s speed, but it will probably be the only time because this story line was put to bed by the end of the episode. You could say they…
Bad puns aside, it was both surprising and encouraging to see the writers put everything out in the open this quickly. It’s a shame that what ultimately got them there in “Fast Lane” was a lackluster particle-accelerator-villain-of-the-week, a thug dropped into a tarpit at the time of the accelerator explosion two years ago. Now he’s targeting his would-be killers for revenge, which mostly translates to Barry hunting down a tar-themed villain who himself is hunting down a bunch of (ex)criminals. Then again, there was something refreshing about seeing Team Flash take on a straightforward Earth-1 bad guy with no concerns about time travel or alternate universes.
While that provided the episode its structure, the heart of the story was Harry’s struggles with actually going through with his plan to steal Barry’s powers, and Iris convincing Joe to actually be a father to Wally and discourage his street racing. This translated to an episode that was kind of all over the map, despite the remarkably capable direction from Rachel Talalay (Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, the most recent Doctor Who season finales).
Harry continued to work in secret in his bottled-up crazy corner of STAR Labs until Barry, eager for the distraction while attempting to get over Patty, offered to help. For once, though, Barry’s charms did not result in him earning yet another father figure. Harry tolerates him for a little while before throwing an eraser in his general direction as a preferable option to listening to Barry finish his story about how the Earth 1 Harrison Wells was a mentor to him. They later have an argument in which Harry flat out tells him that his goal is to save his daughter, and at the end of the day he will do anything to pull that off, even if that means betraying Barry. However, as idiotic as it sounded Barry promised that he still believed in him, and the two ended up becoming an effective team, creating a device which can actually permanently close down the wormholes between Earth 1 and Earth 2.
Iris, meanwhile, takes to the over-protective sister routine and continually hounds Wally about his street racing, even going the “undercover reporter” route to gather intel about how exactly the racing operation works. However, she can’t get through to Wally, who at least cops to the fact that his love for racing isn’t about his mom anymore (who apparently died in-between episodes off-screen!). He just has a need for speed, and it’ll probably get him killed someday. Joe is reluctant to back Iris up because he doesn’t want to lose Wally by so quickly stepping in as his dad since that didn’t work out so well for him a couple of weeks ago.
It’s all perfectly in The Flash‘s wheelhouse, ultimately furthering the family drama that is this show’s strong suit. However, in this case it does so in a very Fast & Furious kind of way, somewhat annoyingly so.
In one part of the episode, you have a bland villain out for vengeance. In another, you have a traitor attempting to distance himself from those he’s betraying, and in the last part you have 2 CW Fast, 2 CW Furious. They all collide at a race pitting Wally against Tarpit’s final target. The cars are attacked, sending debris everywhere, including a piece of glass which lands in Iris’ shoulder. Barry was able to save everyone and remove all the debris from the air other than the piece of glass because by that point he was 2% slower than usual. When Team Flash discusses Barry’s suddenly reduced speed at STAR Labs, Harry comes clean, and is instantly attacked by Joe. When they finally hear him out he explains how it was his attempt to steal Barry’s speed which almost cost Iris her life, and he can’t stomach that. However, now that he won’t be able to keep up his agreement with Zoom anymore his daughter’s as good as dead.
Kudos to them for actually wasting no time in going a new direction with this storyline the moment that Harry actually stole any of Barry’s speed (of course Cisco would instantly notice the drop in speed).
In the end, Barry’s goes full-on boy scout and points out that what Harry did is not really different than things they’ve all done for family. They won’t honor his request to simply send him back to Earth 2 and close all the wormholes behind him. No, he’s part of their team now. They’re going to Earth 2 with him to figure out how to save his daughter. You know what that means – hello alternate universe versions of Barry, Iris, Caitlin and Ronnie next week.
Here’s how Twitter weighed in on all of that:
I wish they'd drop this Wally racing storyline…I'm running out of Fast and Furious Flash puns. #theflash
— Channel: Superhero (@Ch_Superhero) February 3, 2016
Cisco should make #TheFlash a profile! pic.twitter.com/CM7JMlWpxA
— The Flash (@CW_TheFlash) February 3, 2016
Illegal street racing? Themes of the power of family? Hmmmm, what is this #TheFlash episode reminding me of… pic.twitter.com/ytLHRqbe6O
— Jonathon Dornbush (@jmdornbush) February 3, 2016
Wait "he just lost his Mom"? Does this mean Francine died off screen WTF. So ugly. I see you show I see you. #TheFlash
— #SayHerName (@JunkieCentric) February 3, 2016
Someone finally doesn't want to Barry's dad. Harry actually did something I like. #TheFlash #Pfflash
— Kerri (@Kerritweetz) February 3, 2016
I love seeing Iris West: Ace Reporter! I hope we see more of her reporter arc! @FLASHtvwriters @GBerlanti @AJKreisberg #TheFlash
— The True Alpha (@iriswestbest) February 3, 2016
Can Barry stop saying "yo"? #TheFlash
— Atomic Geekdom (@AtomicGeekdom) February 3, 2016
Carmina Bruana is Cisco's Metahuman Tinder notification tone… How can any character be more awesome than Cisco? #TheFlash
— Geek Trench (@GeekTrench) February 3, 2016
Cisco referring to him and Barry + Caitlin as #TeamFlash just now was absolutely precious.#TheFlash⚡
— Cammien Ray (@CammienRay) February 3, 2016
Bottled Speed Force, now available on Etsy. #TheFlash
— Fangirl in the City (@ViperVonGhul) February 3, 2016
OK Harry, let's ease down on the "talking out loud to yourself" crazy. #TheFlash #TheFlashPodcast
— The Flash Podcast (@TheFlashPodcast) February 3, 2016
Willing to bet Wally gets injured and Barry gives blood or Wells accidentally gives him the #speedforce he stole from Barry. #theflash
— Madara Uchibruh (@mutantstarr) February 3, 2016
I wonder what Jay Garrick does on his free time. He doesn't have money or a job on Earth 1. #TheFlash
— Chris Lemchi (@TheChrisLemchi) February 3, 2016
"Who's the best hacker in the world, people?" "Felicity Smoak." #TheFlash
— Caitlin Kelly (@purplehrdwonder) February 3, 2016
Of course Cisco noticed that Barry isn’t running as fast as he normally does. #TheFlash
— That ADHD Show (@ThatADHDShow) February 3, 2016
Not particularly impressed with Tar Pit's design. This was 30 years ago! #TNG #TheFlash pic.twitter.com/01YtXcWYKH
— Joshua Davis (@likestrek) February 3, 2016
I like the way they figure out how to solve problems every week on #TheFlash;
"Run faster!"
— FozzieBare (@Fozziebare) February 3, 2016
Loving this episode of #TheFlash . It's nice to take a break from the Earth 2 threats and deal with someone Earth 1 related.
— Shu Rin Saegusa (@Shuichi_Rin) February 3, 2016
The know Zoom wants to steal speed. The know he has Wells' daughter. How are they not watching Wells more closely? #badscience #TheFlash
— Libby D (@libby21) February 3, 2016
Yes, Iris, illegal street race organizers TOTALLY want to talk to reporters. #TheFlash #DatFlash
— Oz Al Ghul (@letsgetfree13) February 3, 2016
"The difference seems negligible. Fast is fast, right?" Barry says, explaining why he has so many problems in his dating life. #TheFlash
— Mari Ness (@mari_ness) February 3, 2016
Good god, Barry. If someone tells you they will definitely betray you – BELIEVE THEM. There's optimism and then there's stupid. #TheFlash
— Libby D (@libby21) February 3, 2016
harry: i'm going to betray you
barry: i'm going to ignore that because i need every older man i meet to be my father figure#TheFlash— raw-me malek (@hawkeyedpeas) February 3, 2016
I swear, 90% of the conflict in this show is just characters lying to other characters. It's like Supernatural times ten. #TheFlash
— Kyoko M. (@misskyokom) February 3, 2016
Coulda been worse Iris…you only got a fraction of what Dr. Octopus' wife got in Spider-Man 2. #theflash
— Channel: Superhero (@Ch_Superhero) February 3, 2016
Iris waited at your bedside for 9 months Barry Allen. You could show up at hers 😒 #TheFlash
— The True Alpha (@iriswestbest) February 3, 2016
Harrison Wells when Caityln said Barrys Speed went down 2% #theflash pic.twitter.com/uEXUgoYlFM
— Dorian (@AgentDorian) February 3, 2016
The Speed Force is like gravity. It exists as a force Barry can tap into. Its not freaking Midiclorians. #TheFlash
— Vile Sith Knight (@douglashufford) February 3, 2016
Joe didn't go for the cuffs, he just straight went to the police brutality. #TheFlash
— Jonathan Stone (@jonathanjstone0) February 3, 2016
Im Team Harry. Sorry not Sorry #TheFlash
— Felipe #TeamBatman (@felipepercha) February 3, 2016
Correction: this episode is swinging randomly between excellent and horrible. Still weird regardless. #TheFlash https://t.co/rX1Zs71aan
— Risha (@rishabree) February 3, 2016
Yup that's tarpit alright #TheFlash pic.twitter.com/T5E7groa9W
— The Dopest Guy (@thedopegeek) February 3, 2016
Joe with all the punches! #TheFlash
— MARSHALL AUSTIN (@Marshallmonkey8) February 3, 2016
Joe is on a punching frenzy now someone better stop him before he roadhouse everyone #TheFlash
— Henderson Cunningham (@i_am_henny) February 3, 2016
Man, imagine Joe in a real life Mike Tyson's Punchout game.. #TheFlash
— RHOgue (@Born2Reign05) February 3, 2016
Barry has a point. Joe & Cisco have done some reckless shit for family. And Cisco hates his family #TheFlash #datflash
— Blerds Online (@BlerdsOnline) February 3, 2016
damn you Barry always finding the good in people BLESS. YOUR. SWEET. HEART. #TheFlash
— ginα. (@dobrevftobrosey) February 3, 2016
Barry, absolutely throwing down with being a Big Damned Hero by showing his sweet, lovely soul. BARRY. Good man. #TheFlash
— Mari Stroud (@MariStroud) February 3, 2016
And people think Superman is a boy scout. I love it! #TheFlash
— JAM84 (@KalEl84) February 3, 2016
I just want to give Barry a big ole hug now #TheFlash the bigger man
— Cindy Oertel (@cdoertel) February 3, 2016
#TheFlash @CW_TheFlash this is why I love this show!!! His humanity is everything and there are those out there who can learn from him!!
— Dee (@heavenzsecret) February 3, 2016