As Zoom begins a reign of terror in Central City, Barry is forced to undergo an experiment that attempts to recreate the night he got his powers. But is it worth the risk and what if it won't work?
Tropes:
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Iris essentially confesses her feelings to Barry when he's contemplating the risk of recreating his Superhero Origin.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: With Zoom back on Earth-1, he takes over the CCPD, turning it into his new lair. Any police resistance would have resulted in many casualties had it not been for Caitlin.
- Antagonist Title: The episode is called after Rupture, the Monster of the Week.
- Ask a Stupid Question...:Harry: Ramon, you have the wand?
Cisco: The one I made for Mark Mardon?
Harry: No, the one you built for the Harry Potter convention. Yes, of course, the one for Mardon!
Cisco: ...how did you know about the Harry Potter convention? - Bad Boss: Zoom once again, as he kills Rupture for failing to kill the police officers.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The episode ends with Zoom successfully conquering Central City and Barry disappearing after an attempt to reclaim his powers, apparently dying.
- Big "NO!": Zoom gives out one when he sees that Team Flash is trying to give Barry his powers back.
- Caitlin delivers one when begging Zoom to leave the CCPD alone.
Caitlin: Jay no!?!
Zoom: My name is Zoom!
(Zoom rushes out, Caitlin looks on TV and sees he is standing outside Jitters)
Caitlin: (horrified) Oh my God. NO!!! - Bittersweet Ending: Zoom successfully conquers Central City, Caitlin is still captured, and Barry seemingly dies. One the bright side, Cisco and Dante officially mended their relationship, and both Wally and Jesse may become speedsters in the near future.
- Body Horror: Barry disintegrating is very painful.
- Brought Down to Normal: Barry giving up his powers finally comes back to haunt him when Zoom kills a bunch of policemen and there's nothing he can do to stop it.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Henry comes back to Central City for good this time.
- Dante also makes his first appearance after Cisco had a vibe.
- Cap. Singh returns after a long absence.
- Call-Back: This episode made plenty of references to Season 1's events from the Ramon brothers getting kidnapped to Barry confessing his feelings to Iris (And Iris' own that was negated). Most importantly, the reenactment of the Particle Accelerator explosion, not to mention how attempting something on that scale lead to a black-hole above the city and 52 portals that opened Earth-1 to Zoom and his forces as Barry, Iris, and Cisco state.
- Continuity Nod: Iris was concerned about Barry taking a huge risk just like when he went to Earth-2 after breaking up with Patty.
- Contrived Coincidence: Henry is mildly surprised that Jay's last name was Garrick since that was his mom's maiden name.
- Covers Always Lie: The episode poster shows Barry in full Flash get-up when he's attached to the device in the Particle Accelerator. In the episode itself, the mask is hooded-out.
- Crucified Hero Shot: Barry is positioned this way when attached to the device that will supposedly give him his powers back.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Of course we know he's coming back, but Barry screams as he disintegrates in the face of the dark matter wave.
- Cruel Mercy: Instead of killing them after they tried to recreate Barry's powers, Zoom lets Team Flash live, knowing that they killed him.
- Crushing the Populace: Zoom is starting a new empire in Central City by killing its protectors in public view, a first step in the same plan he used to conquer Earth 2.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Zoom kills the entire SWAT team that apprehended Rupture in about 10 seconds. The first 9 seconds of which was him arriving and telling the camera man to make sure he caught it all.
- Darkest Hour: Zoom has conquered Central City by scaring the police and letting them know there is no Flash around to save them. And when Team Flash tries to give Barry his powers back it seemingly kills him instead.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title refers to both the Villain of the Week and what happened to Barry at the end of the episode.
- The Dreaded: The Flash is this to many metahumans. Wells reveals a list of the metahumans on his world, and there are hundreds if not thousands. Earth 1 should have far more because the Earth 2 particle accelerator explosion was contained unlike Earth 1's. However, the vast majority of the metahumans are in hiding out of fear of the Flash.
- Also, even to Zoom at some extent, giving his Big "NO!" upon seeing Barry attempting to regain his powers and his rushing off to try to stop him.
- Evil Is Petty: Zoom kills all those policemen despite Caitlin's protests simply because she called him a monster a few episodes ago.
- And out of spite for her warning Team Flash about Rupture.
- In an even more petty example, when he runs to Star Labs to try to stop Barry from regaining his speed, only to see him seemingly dead, he mocks Team Flash's (apparently) failed attempt to give Barry his powers back.
- Foregone Conclusion: Barry's apparent death would carry a lot more tension had the corresponding season of Arrow not featured Barry, safe and sound and in full possession of his powers, in a near-future Flash Forward scene.
- Foreshadowing: Wally lamenting how he feels like he's meant to help people, and then later being caught in the dark matter blast, suggesting he might be getting his own speed soon.
- For Want Of A Nail: Rupture and Reverb had the close relationship that Cisco and Dante from Earth-1 never had. It takes Zoom killing Rupture for Cisco and Dante to fully repair their relationship.
- Freak Lab Accident: Harry tries to replicate the one from the pilot on a much smaller scale in order for Barry to get his powers back, it doesn't work as planned and both Jesse and Wally get caught up in the dark matter blast, suggesting they might gets powers too.
- Freudian Trio: Perfectly filed by Barry's father figures regarding their respective stands over Barry repeating the accident that got him his Super-Speed.
- Harry, the most desperate for Barry to undergo the procedure, which is his idea to begin with (Superego).
- Joe, has his reservations regarding Barry undergoing the procedure, but at the same time considers the plan's necessity to stop Zoom (Ego).
- Henry, completely against the whole plan out of concern for his son (Id).
- Gone Horribly Wrong: The experiment to give Barry his powers back ends up seemingly destroying him and leaving nothing but a burned suit behind.
- Happy Ending Override: It seemed that Cisco and Dante had grown closer after the events of "Rogue Time", but this episode shows that it didn't stick.
- The Heart: While the three are apprehensive of his dangerous procedure, when Harry mentions it might be the only way they can save Caitlin, has Barry, Cisco and Iris begin to seriously consider it as an option.
- Likewise, Joe is reluctant to leave Caitlin behind at CCPD with Zoom, but she urges him to evacuate with Wally and the others.
- History Repeats:
- Enforced with the reenactment of Barry's Superhero Origin.
- Zoom kills dozens of police officers to take over Central City, just like what he did on his Earth.
- Cisco and Dante got attacked by the sibling of a villain Team Flash faced.
- Hologram Projection Imperfection: The Flash hologram would be a perfect facsimile of Barry if it didn't flicker intermittently.
- Hope Crusher: Zoom continues being one by delivering a speech to Central City live on television, telling them that the Flash patrolling the streets is nothing but a hologram.
- I Can See My House from Here: Or apartment, in Cisco's case.
- Ignored Expert: Harry tries to convince Barry to go through the experiment to get his powers back, by detailing what Zoom will do now that he's here. It takes Zoom killing some policemen to convince Barry to try.
- Internal Reveal:
- Cisco tells Dante that he has powers and about Earth-2.
- Zoom lets the whole city know that the Flash is gone.
- Henry finds out from Barry everything that's happened in his absence.
- It's All My Fault: At first, Barry was content not getting his powers back to avoid the risk of more Metahumans. But one of the officers killed by Zoom had a son, the same age Barry was when his mother died. He feels that if he hadn't given up his powers, that boy wouldn't have lost a father, and this is all he needs to retry the accident.
- Kick the Dog: Before Zoom kills Rupture, he tells him that he is a disappointment just like his brother. He also kills all of the police (save for Joe and Singh) and a cameraman, then picks up the camera to speak to Central City to tell them the Flash for the past few days was a hologram. He's looking directly at Barry when he tells them to abandon hope.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Barry has lost his powers, and Cisco uses videogame controllers to drive a Flash hologram around the city. Psyching himself up to send the hologram against the episode's Big Bad, he cuts loose with a big "LEEEEEEROOOOOOYYY —" before the show cuts away to another scene.
- Little "No": Caitlin when Zoom goes to kill the police at Jitters.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- Nobody bothers to tell Wally and Jesse that they're recreating the experiment that gave Barry his powers. Otherwise they might have stayed in the Time Vault and not been caught in the dark matter blast. Speaking of which, Jesse is at least aware that Barry is The Flash. Wally still doesn't know as of this episode.
- Rupture does not know that it was Zoom who killed his brother, until Zoom tells him himself right before he kills him.
- Manipulative Bastard: Zoom, the killer of Reverb, tells Rupture that Cisco did it in order to get him to kill Vibe for him.
- Mass Super-Empowering Event: Everyone is reluctant for Barry to undergo an experiment to get his powers back because the last thing Central City needs is more evil meta-humans running about; not to mention that Central City just recovered from the last Particle Accelerator explosion.
- Morality Pet: Zoom says he won't kill Barry because of Caitlin. However she didn't want him to kill of those policemen either.
- Mythology Gag:
- The experiment to give Barry his powers back is taken right out of Flashpoint, albeit adapted to the show's mythology.
- Barry seemingly dying by disintegration, leaving only a tattered suit behind, is similar to his death in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- The Weather Wizard wand is finally used for its comic purpose.
- Zoom sarcastically calls Wally "old friend". In the comics, Zoom is Wally's Arch-Enemy and Evil Former Friend.
- Henry notes that Garrick was his mother's maiden name. In The Flash (1990), Jay Garrick and the Allens are Related in the Adaptation. For added bonus, Henry's actor headlined that series.
- Barry's apparent disintegration appears to show him changing into yellow lightning, which travels with the dark matter wave and hits Jesse and Wally. One origin story for Barry Allen's Flash was that his death in the Crisis caused him to travel back in time and become the lightning bolt that originally gave him the Speed Force.
- Wally falling victim to History Repeats regarding the Flash's Super Hero Origin: in the comics, it was Tempting Fate on Barry's part, while in the show it was an actual attempt to reenact the Freak Lab Accident.
- Neck Snap: What Zoom does to the police officers.
- The Needs of the Many: Harry uses this logic as why Barry has to try to get his powers back.
- Negated Moment of Awesome:
- A hologram of the Flash and coordinated police teamwork taking out a powerful metahuman is immediately negated by Zoom killing all but 3 people in the blink of an eye.
- The experiment to give Barry his powers is anything but awesome as it seemingly causes him to disappear into nothing!
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Caitlin warns Team Flash of Rupture's attack on Jitters, which allows them to stop it. Unfortunately, this pisses off Zoom, so he decides to kill a group of policemen anyway.
- Oh, Crap!: Plenty.
- Harry has a My God, What Have I Done? look on his face after seeing Barry disintegrate.
- Everyone when Zoom appears at Jitters and follows through on his threat earlier.
- Jesse and Wally while trying to outrun the dark matter blast.
- Cisco and Dante when Rupture begins his Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Zoom gives a Big "NO!" upon seeing Team Flash recreating Barry's Superhero Origin.
- Our Hero Is Dead: Barry is seemingly killed in the new particle accelerator explosion...and that ends the episode.
- Outrun the Fireball: Jesse and Wally try to outrun the dark matter blast. It doesn't work.
- Shout-Out:
- Harry and Cisco did a couple of Harry Potter nods.
- Cisco compares Rupture to Inigo Montoya.
- The device that Barry will have to use to regain his powers looks similar to the one used by Peter Bishop in Fringe.
- When operating the holographic Flash, Cisco begins the wind up for Leeroy Jenkins.
- While arranging for a dramatic lightning strike needed to give Barry back his powers, Cisco lets out a Great Scott.
- Sinister Scythe: Rupture can easily destroy vehicles with a swing of his high tech scythe.
- Superhero Origin: Wally and Jesse's might have begun after they were hit with the dark matter. Recreating Barry's is also the Central Theme of the episode.
- Tempting Fate:Jesse: [to Wally] It's not like we have powers. [She and Wally get hit with the Particle Accelerator explosion at the end of the episode.]
- That Man Is Dead: Zoom officially casts off the identity of Jay Garrick.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Zoom, previously conflicted about being called such by Caitlin, calls himself a monster in this episode and gleefully goes on committing atrocities.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: Zoom has them yet again when talking to Caitlin.
- Wham Episode: Zoom successfully conquers Central City, Barry seemingly dies after trying to recreate his Superhero Origin, and both Wally and Jesse got struck by the dark matter suggesting the start of their own Superhero Origin.
- Wham Shot:
- Barry disintegrating during the recreation of his Superhero Origin.
- Wally and Jesse getting hit by the dark matter.
- You Killed My Father: Rupture goes after Cisco because Zoom told him that Cisco killed Reverb. Cisco even lampshades the Trope Naming film.
- You Said You Would Let Them Go: When Zoom takes over the police station, he threatens to kill everyone until Caitlin asks him not to, so he makes them leave instead. Later, he decides he wants to kill them anyway, which Caitlin is not happy about.
