Barry sits in the Time Vault, telling Iris that he stared at the newspaper for so many years. He always felt like if he vanished in the coming crisis, maybe h was still out there somewhere looking for a way to come back to Iris. The Monitor has told them that doesn't happen. Iris doesn't believe what the Monitor said, and says that if the article changed then they can change the future. She asks Barry what they do first, and he suggests that he goes see the Crisis for himself.
Ramseymeets with Gat's partner, Mitch Romero, who shows him a gun and says that it's $5,000 rather than the original price. The doctor grabs for the case, saying that he'll get the rest of the money, and the thug goes for his gun. Ramsey extends a tentacle from his hand into the thug's chest.
Ralph leads Frost and Cisco up the stairs of a building, and Cisco gives Frost a nanite injecting allowing her to look human. He assures her that her hair will let her fit in and leads them into an art gallery. Cisco goes to find the curator while Ralph tells Frost that she's looking at art. Meanwhile, Kamilla thanks Ciscoand they kiss, and she realizes that Cisco brought friends. Meanwhile, Frost says that the "art " is garbage, and Ralph points out that art shows them how they feel. Unimpressed, Frost complains about some photos and Kamilla points out that they're hers. Once Frost and Ralph move on, Kamilla suggests to Cisco that Frost skip her next show.
At the courthouse, Joe walks Cecile through a case on Karla Garcia, who can control radio waves with her metahuman powers. Allegra tried to hijack a car a week ago, and the owner died in the crash. An eyewitness puts Allegra at the scene, and Cecile figures that it's open-and-shut. In the judge's chambers, Cecile says that the state is going to seek the maximum penalty. The DA wants to plead it out, and Cecile scans Allegra's mind. Allegra asks what she's staring at, and Cecile requests bail for Allegra even though she's pleading guilty. Cecile says that they need time to determine if the State wants to pursue a lighter sentence, and asks for metahuman dampeners to be put on Allegra.
At STAR Labs, Barry prepares to time-travel to December 11, 2019: the day after he disappears. He puts on a mobile Gideon unit and promises Iris that he'll come back. Iris opens the pipeline and Barry speeds around the tunnel, breaking the time barrier. A disruption barrier appears in front of him, knocking him back. Barry injures his leg as he falls.
Iris checks the wound and confirms that it isn't healing. Gideon reports that he was exposed to antimatter, keeping him from healing, and says that he can't get past the field without additional assistance. She suggests that he consult with Jay. On Earth-3, Jay confirms that Barry was hit with anti-matter, and wonders why Barry was time-travelling. Barry says that he wants to see if what the Monitor told him, and Jay tells him that for the past year he's been detecting anti-matter signatures across the Multiverse. He warns that all Earths could be in danger, and suggests that Barry's mind might be able to break through the barrier.
Jay shows Barry a neural hyper-collider that will let Barry transfer his consciousness past superluminal particles. Only a speedster in his prime can use it, and Jay says that he has had to postpone his dinner plans. Jay's wife Joan Williams come in, and she's identical to Barry's mother.
Cecile tells Iris And Kamilla about how Allegra got her powers, and explains that her telepathy is telling her that she's innocent. Kamilla points out the evidence against Allegra, but Cecile insists that she's innocent. Ralph arrives and says that Allegra isn't guilty. The burn marks on the victims indicate he was killed before the crash, and Iris figures that they have to find the evidence.
Ralph and Iris visit the eyewitness who identified Allegra as the killer. After Ralph dons his costume, they go in and find Allegra standing over the witness' body. She releases a blast of heat waves at Elongated Man's face, stunning him, and runs. Joe is outside and shoots her with a power-dampening manacle.
Joan wonders if she reminds Barry of anyone from his Earth, and he admits that she looks like someone very special. Jay comes in and says that he needed a neurological expert to deal with his depleting speed. Barry gets into a chair and Joan gives him Jay's helmet modified with the hyper-collider. They activate the hyper-collider and Barry sees a wave of anti-matter sweeping across Central City, consuming everyone in its path... including Frost, Vibe, and Elongated Man. The wave sweeps over Iris, destroying her, and Jay realizes that Barry's mind is experience millions of timelines. In the future, Flash runs into the anti-matter wave and disintegrates, and Joan removes the helmet.
Later, Barry wakes up to find Joan reading poetry. She explains that poetry can simulate collapsed neural pathways, and Barry moans in pain. Joan explains that he's suffering from neural entropy but will recover in a day or two. Barry tells Jay and Joan that he saw billions of deaths, and felt all of their pain and suffering. Now Barry knows that the Monitor is right and he has to die.
At STAR Labs, the team examines the burned Ralph. Cisco confirms that Allegra fired ultraviolet radiation at Ralph. Ralph's face is badly sunburned and Cisco says that anyone else would have died. Frost isn't impressed and leaves, and the others figure that Allegra can control all wavelengths of energy.
At the CCPD station, Joe asks Allegra why she's claiming that she's innocent. She says that she wanted to prove she wasn't the one the witness say, and explains that she's a reporter so wanted to get a story and her freedom. Allegra says that Joe will always consider him a criminal, and Joe says that he knew Allegra when she was in juvie. The metahuman insists that she was trying to clear her name. Cecile comes in and demands the truth, but Allegra figures she doesn't believe in her and asks for her lawyers.
Outside, Cecile tells Joe that her powers tell her that Allegra is innocent and knows who the killer is. Joe tells her to slow down and she's in trouble for letting Allegra out of jail. She says that Allegra has only been guilty of petty crime in the past, and Joe says that feelings are fallible but facts are. Cecile insists that she's the only one who can prove Allegra innocent, but Joe asks if she wants to be the DA. She realizes that he's feeling that she has to choose between her powers and her job.
Jay and Joan bring Barry to Earth-1, and take him to his apartment. Iris stares at Joan, and finally explains that she looks like Barry's mother. Once they leave, Iris tells Barry that the couple are going to scan for any signs of antimatter and figure out a way to prevent the Crisis. Barry warns that they can't stop what's coming, and says that he saw Iris and the others die. The only timeline where they survived is where he dies. Iris doesn't believe it and insists that they control their destinies, but Barry figures that they both have to accept it. She says that the Barry she knows would find another way to fight and walks away.
Later, Joe visits the loft. Barry says that Iris is at work and explained what happened, and Joe tells him that Cecile has strong feelings about Allegra's case. As Barry looks over Allegra's file, Joe tells him that he's there for him. Barry says that something is coming, and he wonders if he's giving up. Joe talks about how one day he responded to a noise complaint and almost got shot. He thought that he was going to die, and the next morning he was scared to go back out on the streets. Joe went out because of their symbols of the strength that they're charged with: Joe's badge, Flash's symbol. He says that they're duty-bound to make the sacrifice, and that's resilience. Joe knows that Barry has plenty of that.
At STAR Labs, Frost is sketching and listening to her earpods when Cisco comes in. He points out that Chester's powers were running out of control until he responded to the alarms she was supposed to monitor. Cisco looks at Frost's sketches, and Frost says that she's been trying to express herself since Kamilla's show. When Frost says that she stinks, Cisco tells her to express herself with whatever she has. She has to understand that other people are as well. Frost realizes that she is feeling the same thing she made Kamilla feel, and Cisco says that guilt can also show them when they need to make something right.
Cecile visits Allegra at the CCPD interrogation room and the girl says that she sees the entire electromagnetic spectrum and can't stop. She wonders how Cecile can understand how she feels, and Cecile finally admits that she's a metahuman and can't turn it off. Cecile explains that she knows Allegra is innocent, and asks Allegra to tell her anything that can clear her. Allegra finally says that she told her arresting officer and he said she was crazy, and then tells Cecile that her cousin Esperanza was in juvie with her the night of the particle explosion. Esperanza apparently died in the explosion, and had the same tattoo that Allegra does which the witness saw. Cecile calls Ralph and asks if there's a file on Esperanza Garcia. There is, and the file shows that she was in a vegetative state and takes into custody by a redacted organization.
The power goes out in the station and a masked Esperanza tells the officers to bring her Allegra... or burn. When the officers try to fight back, Esperanza burns some of them and attacks others hand-to-hand. Cecile leads Allegra out through the station, and Joe arrives and opens fire on Esperanza.
Ralph and Iris call Barry and tell him what they found, and Barry says that he's going there as Flash.
Cecile leads Allegra down the stairs, but Esperanza intercepts them. Allegra tries to get through to her, and Esperanza says that " Esperanza" died five years ago. Now she is Ultraviolet. Cecile steps between them and says that she won't let Ultraviolet do it. Flash moves them both out of the way, then goes after Ultraviolet. She manages to hit him with UV, blasting him down, and Gideon reports that UV light is eighty times faster than his top speed. Flash remembers what Joe said earlier about sacrifice, gets up, and runs toward Ultraviolet through her UV blasts. He gets close enough to punch her unconscious and then passes out, and Joe tells Cecile to call the medic.
Later at STAR Labs, Ralph tells Barry that Ultraviolet was hired to kill the car owner and then eliminated the witness. Barry notices paintings strung up on the wall, and Frost says that it's her art and an expression of her weird inner life. She paid for them with Caitlin's credit cards, and as they talk Barry considers what he's seen.
At the Allen house, Joe tells Cecile that Jenna is asleep. He says that Cecile stood up for Allegra when no one else would include, and Cecile notes that he charged Ultraviolet to save them. Joe realizes that something is wrong, and Cecile says that she's not doing everything she can to help Central City as a DA. She wants to become a defense attorney for metahumans, and Joe says that it's incredible. Cecile says that she knows where she wants to start.
Allegra comes to The Citizen to tell Iris that she's taking the intern job with Iris.
Jay and Joan tells Barry that they'll keep scanning the multiverse for antimatter from their lab on Earth-3. Iris arrives and the two couples say their farewells. Joan tells Barry that it was a pleasure to meet him, and the couple breach back to their Earth. Barry admits that it's great to have a hope on a not-great day and apologizes for what he said earlier. Iris admits that she was scared as well, but seeing him fight reminded her that no matter what Barry chooses, she knows that he'll never give up. Barry says that he could never choose to leave her, but he's willing to die to save her. He figures that they should prepare the team for the Crisis, and the world for Flash's disappearance.
Ramsey examines Mitch's corpse in the hopes of finding a cure to his condition. He determines that Mitch's blood has coagulated and runs an analysis on the substance responsible. Mitch's corpse animates and attacks Ramsey.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 16, 2019