Flash carries Caitlin out of the nuclear explosion and are caught in
the wave just as it dissipates. Cisco is surprised to discover that the
Geiger counter built into Barry's suit shows no radiation. Flash and
Caitlin go back to the blast crater and find Ronnie and Martin,
separated. They wake up and Ronnie kisses Caitlin, while Martin asks for
a change of clothing. They return to S.T.A.R. Labs and Cisco greets
Ronnie. He apologizes for locking Ronnie in the accelerator on the night
of the explosion, but Ronnie assures him that it's okay. Caitlin thanks
Harrison for keeping his promise to separate the two men, and Harrison
takes Martin to get new clothing.
Eiling sends his men to
investigate the blast crater. Sergeant Bates finds two man-shaped blast
impacts and Eiling realizes that Firestorm has separated.
At
the lab, Caitlin checks Ronnie and confirms that he's fine. Cisco,
Harrison, and Martin come in and Harrison confirms that the two men can
no longer generate nuclear energy. Caitlin notes that they're both
running a temperature, while Ronnie complains that Martin was the one
controlling his body. Martin goes home to see his wife Clarissa, and
Ronnie and Caitlin order out for pizza. Barry goes with Martin and
Clarissa kisses her husband and then thanks Barry.
Later, Barry
goes back to the police station and finds Joe watching a newscast about
the nuclear explosion. Barry confirms that they're all fry, and Joe
takes Barry to the old Allen home. He shows Barry the 3d images that
Cisco captured from the mirror, and they watch as the two speedsters
fight around Nora. Joe tells Barry that they found blood confirming that
Barry was there as an adult, which means that Flash traveled back in
time to stop Reverse-Flash from killing Nora.
Joe and Barry go
to S.T.A.R. Labs and tell the scientists what they have discovered.
Harrison concedes that it's possible that Flash could have traveled back
in time, but warns that they have no idea if it's possible to change
the past or create it. Cisco suggests that they talk to an expert.
At Picture News,
Mason brings Iris a Danish and finds her studying a blueprint of
S.T.A.R. Labs on his computer. She wonders why the reporter is looking
into Harrison, and the veteran reporter suggests that the nuclear
explosion wasn't an accident as the authorities claim. He asks her to
check with her friends and find out what's going on inside of S.T.A.R.
Labs.
That night, Barry visits Martin and Clarissa tells him
that Martin has been acting strangely. He asked for pizza even though he
doesn't like pizza. Barry makes a superspeed delivery and then asks
Martin about his paper on time travel. Martin explains to travel back in
time using superspeed, and is surprised when Barry tells him that he
may already have done so. Barry realizes that means that he will try to
travel back to save Nora... and fail.
At Jitters, Caitlin tells
Ronnie what she's been doing since he disappeared. He suggests that
they leave Central City and get a fresh start, but Caitlin says that she
has a new life working with Barry and helping people. Ronnie doesn't
want S.T.A.R. Labs to take up any more of either of their lives, just as
soldiers open fire with tranquilizer darts from outside. They hit a
barista as Caitlin and Ronnie duck behind a table, and Ronnie tells
Caitlin to get out and he'll follow her.
At home, Martin waves and tells Barry and Clarissa that he feels weak and terrified.
The soldiers toss in a smoke grenade and Ronnie escapes in the
confusion. However, more soldiers are waiting for him outside and order
him to surrender.
Martin is able to sense where Ronnie is, and tells Barry that the engineer is at Jitters.
Eiling approaches Ronnie and says that he wants Firestorm. Flash
arrives and takes out the soldiers in a second, but Eiling tosses a
micro-fragment grenade. The shrapnel homes in on Flash' kinetic energy,
embedding themselves in his body. Eiling is satisfied with capturing
both metahumans, but Caitlin pulls up in a van, distracting the general.
Ronnie punches Eiling and then helps Flash into the van. As they drive
away, Eiling tells his men that they're at war.
When they get
back to S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin removes the fragments from Barry before
he heals with them inside his body. They realize that Eiling was the
soldier that Jason described to Caitlin, and she confirms that Ronnie
and Martin's brain stems are in sync. Barry tells Martin that he can get
Clarissa out of Central City, but they want Martin to stay so they can
run more experiments. He agrees, and Ronnie says that it's not the
S.T.A.R. Labs that he knew a year ago. Barry warns him that it's no
longer the world that he knew.
The next day, Barry takes Ronnie
to stay with him at Joe's house. Caitlin comes with them and they
arrive just as Iris comes in to make dinner. Caitlin claims that there's
a gas link at her apartment and Barry says that Ronnie is Caitlin's
cousin Sam. Studying Ronnie, Iris thinks that he looks familiar.
Harrison visits Eiling, who says that he saw Barry remove his mask when
he comforted the dying Plastique. The scientist admits that he doesn't
know how the Firestorm matrix works, but Eiling assures him that he
knows who the two men are that merged to create Firestorm. The general
wants to use them as a weapon, and tells Harrison to come see him again
when he comes to the right decision about working with him.
Joe
finds Barry looking at a photo of Nora and worries that he may have
given him another burden on top of everything else that he has. Barry
figures that it's both of their burdens, and asks Joe how he knew the
blood belonged to him. Joe admits that Cisco compared the test results
against everyone at S.T.A.R. Labs, and Barry realizes that he suspects
Harrison. He insists that Harrison wasn't involved with Nora's murder
and Joe hesitantly agrees.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Harrison pours
Martin a drink. Harrison talks about how his life's work fell apart when
the accelerator exploded, but congratulates Martin on achieving his
life's work. Martin says that he realized he should be the best husband
to his wife, but then passes out from the drugged drink.
At the house, Ronnie wavers for a moment. Caitlin goes to him and Ronnie assures her that he's fine.
Eiling and his men enter Harrison's lab and the general tells him that Martin has the secret to Firestorm.
At Picture News,
Mason confirms that Iris knows Caitlin. The reporter tells her that
there was a reported attack at Jitters involving Caitlin and the U.S.
Army, but the Army is denying any involvement. Iris is surprised that
Caitlin didn't say anything to her when they met earlier. After Mason
leaves, Iris brings up a photo of the Burning Man and, freeze-framing
it, confirms that he's Ronnie.
When the others return to
S.T.A.R. Labs, Harrison claims that Eiling broke in and abducted Martin
while Harrison was out. They connect Ronnie to a brain and monitor and
he tells them that he's feeling cold.
Eiling locks Martin up in
a refrigerated basement room, and Martin insists that his research
wasn't intended as a weapon. He vows to die rather than let Eiling use
him as a weapon, and the general says that he will die. However, Eiling
will choose when Martin dies, and tells his assistant to hit Martin with
a cattle prod.
Ronnie convulses and Harrison realizes that his
connection to Martin is getting stronger. After he recovers, Ronnie
takes a glass of water, breaks it, and starts cutting his arm.
After a few moments, Eiling stops the torture and tells Martin to think
over what will happen next. Once the general leaves, Martin feels a pain
on his arm.
Ronnie cuts the word "Where" onto his arm using the broken glass.
The word "where" appears on Martin's arm in blood, and he starts tapping out Morse code on the tray.
Ronnie relates what Martin is tapping, and they translate it. They
realize that it's the base number where Eiling is holding Martin, and
Ronnie insists on going with them. Caitlin worries what will happen if
the two men grow close again, but Ronnie points out that his condition
could get considerably worse if Martin dies. However, he accepts that
Caitlin will always risk her life to help people. Cisco gives him the
quantum splicer that they used to split the two men apart earlier, and
says that it might let Ronnie maintain control of Firestorm if he and
Martin do merge. Caitlin kisses Ronnie and tells him to come back, and
Ronnie and Barry leave together.
Flash runs Ronnie to the
military base, and Harrison warns them that the Firestorm matrix wants
to be whole. However, he tells Ronnie that if he merges with Martin
again then they may not be able to separate them a second time.
A scientist tells Eiling that they have successfully isolated the
Firestorm matrix, and Eiling draws his gun to eliminate Martin. Ronnie
senses what he's doing, and Flash runs in and whisks Martin away in the
blink of an eye. A solider arrives in a Jeep and opens fire on them with
a bazooka. Flash catches the shell but it explodes on contact, covering
him with a phosphorous-like substance. Harrison warns that it can't be
extinguished normally, and tells him to run as fast as he can to create a
vacuum. As Flash runs in a circle, Martin and Ronnie run off. More
soldiers arrive and open fire, and Ronnie tells Martin that they need to
merge. Caitlin advises against it, but Harrison tells the two men to
accept the merger rather than fight it. Ronnie tells Caitlin that he'll
always love her, and then dons the quantum splicer. Martin and Ronnie
join hands and they merge into Firestorm... with Ronnie in control.
Firestorm blasts the soldier's vehicles with nuclear fire and then
soars into the air to attack them. He then confronts Eiling and says
that it ends now. Unimpressed, Eling throws an ion grenade at Firestorm,
disrupting the Firestorm matrix and stunning them. As he draws his gun,
Flash arrives and knocks him out. The hero then tells Firestorm that
it's time to go home, and the two of them head back to S.T.A.R. Labs.
Later, Barry heals from his burns and Martin and Ronnie--communicating
mentally--agree to separate. After a moment of concentration, they split
up and Caitlin runs to hug Ronnie. She realizes that they have to go on
the run now that Eiling knows who they both are, and says that she
understands.
The next day, Martin goes with Ronnie, Caitlin,
and Barry to say goodbye to Clarissa. Ronnie tells Caitlin that they're
going to Pittsburgh to consult with one of Martin's colleagues. As they
couple kisses, Martin tells Barry that he will get his second chance one
day. He then merges with Firestorm, and the combined entity tells
Caitlin and Clarissa that they love them before flying off.
That night at Jitters, Caitlin tells Cisco that this time she isn't
heartbroken about losing Ronnie. As she tells her friend that she's
happy with the life that she has, Iris comes over and asks where Ronnie
is. Caitlin awkwardly says that her "cousin" has gone home. Later, Iris
meets with Iris and tells him that the Burning Man used to work at
S.T.A.R. Labs, and agrees to find out more about the place.
Barry has Joe meet him at the Allen house. As he reviews the images, he
tells his foster father that knowing that he's lost gives him an
advantage. Barry can learn from his mistakes and win when he goes back
in time to save his mother.
Eileen is drinking in his office
when Reverse Flash speeds in, grabs him, and takes him to a sewer
tunnel. When Eiling wonders who he is, the villain removes his mask and
reveals that he's Harrison. Harrison tells the general that he protects
his own, as something growls in the shadows. Eiling telepathically hears
a voice in his head and realizes who--or what--is in the shadows. A
giant gorilla emerges from the shadows, grabs Eiling, and drags him
away.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 23, 2019