The plan is set, but is the team ready on The Flash? The answer is no. In “Death Falls,” Team Flash must fight off an emotional attack from Deathstorm to save Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker).

RELATED: The Flash Recap (S08E12): Death Rises

Last week, Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett) showed up in Iris’ (Candice Patton) loft. Why? We don’t know. But he still looks really good for a dead guy. And he still refers to himself as Iris’ fiancee. Meanwhile back at STAR Labs, the team prepares to transform Frost (Panabaker) into Anti-Deathstorm. And Caitlin’s condition gets worse. Frost vows to take care of everything to keep Caity safe. She calls Mark Blaine aka Chillblaine (Jon Cor) for back up.

While they wait, the team gets some visitors. Ronnie (Robbie Amell) aka Deathstorm appears to Frost, Quincy Runk (Milton Barnes) appears to Chester (Brandon McKnight); Esperanza (Alexa Barajas) appears to Allegra (Kayla Compton), and Nora West (Michelle Harrison) shows up for Barry (Grant Gustin). Deathstorm is pulling all kinds of rabbits out of his hat.

The appearance of the dead is not to scare the team, but to make them feel sad. Deathstorm is feeding the grief to Caitlin to complete her transformation. Except for Frost. Deathstorm says she doesn’t have anything to grieve because her grief isn’t real. Her dad didn’t give her real emotions, just copies of feelings. He didn’t give her a consciousness or a soul. Frost can’t feel grief or pain because she’s not a real person. 

Chester and Allegra’s phantoms lock them in Chester’s lab and turn up the heat. Literally, not figuratively. Barry’s phantom, Nora, doesn’t really affect him until she talks about Iris dying. 

As for Iris, Eddie is being very hospitable to Iris and Sue (Natalie Dreyfuss). It’s kind of creepy. Iris distracts Eddie with talk of soup. While he looks for the ingredients, Sue tries to grab her phone to alert Barry. Eddie can see her and overheats the phone so Sue can’t pick it up. Sue and Iris try to run, but Eddie stops them with a burning doorknob. 

Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) is watching over Caitlin. She is being overcome with grief and her body temperature is rising. Cecile says the grief is coming from the team, feeding Caitlin. Mark shows up with a stolen cryo-circuit for Frost. Frost explained to Mark what was going on. He is amused by it.

Nora attempts to blame Barry for her death, but he won’t give in to her. He’s already accepted her death. Nora puts images of the friends who died over time and it overwhelms him. 

Joe saves the day on The Flash.

The Flash — “Death Falls” — Image Number: FLA813a_0126r.jpg — Pictured: Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2022 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Eddie tells Iris that she’s going to die and there’s nothing she can do about it. He tries to turn on Sue, but Sue has no grief. Or at least, she hides it well. She tells Eddie that she was able to hit the panic button before he destroyed her phone. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) shows up to save the day with a cold fusion gun. He blasts Eddie, but Eddie is able to recover quick enough to make Joe and Sue feel the ultimate grief. He showed them the deaths of the people they love. With their grief, Caity’s transformation will be complete. 

Mark helps Frost finish setting up the MAC. She gets in and they activate the augmentation receptors and blast Frost with dimensional particles. Frost screams but she’s okay. She tries her powers and nothing happens. Frost has no powers!

The reaction depends on the MAC being able to put the particles into someone’s consciousness. Deathstorm told Frost that she doesn’t have a consciousness. Frost says her earliest memory was the moment she woke up. When Caitlin was hit by a car, Frost woke up to protect her and then crawled back into Caity’s subconscious. She’s never really had a normal life, just lived through Caitlin. She thinks she will always be a copy of the original. 

Mark says he’s seen enough of her emotions to say she has them. Especially when it comes to Caitlin. She loves her sister and it’s real. And Deathstorm couldn’t find her grief because she buries it so deep. He says grief is a necessary part of life. And Frost is definitely alive. That triggers an idea as to why the reaction didn’t work. But Mark thinks he knows how to complete Frost’s transformation.

The phantoms continue to taunt Team Flash, sending more grief to Caitlin. Caitlin begins to see the stars. Frost sits next to her and tells her how she feels about her other half. Caitlin makes Frost complete. And Frost would be lost without Caitlin. She says she would die if she lost Caity. 

Frost begins to cry seeing what life would be like without Caitlin. Feeling that grief was the missing element in her transformation. She officially becomes Hellfrost. Hellfrost sends out a frosty wave of energy to the team, making the phantoms disappear. Now Hellfrost is ready to face Deathstorm. 

The team reconvenes in the control room. Hellfrost says she needs to face Deathstorm alone. If she needs help, Barry will get her out of there in a flash. Mark puts two and two together, realizing that Barry is the Flash. Mark wants to help too, but there isn’t time for him to prepare. Frost gives him a long kiss to remember her. He says he will be there when she gets back. 

They lure Deathstorm to the lounge. Caitlin is in the lounge when Deathstorm arrives. He’s ready to start their lives together. Caitlin changes to Frost and they start fighting. The fight is taken outside of the lab. Deathstorm gets they first shot, sending Hellfrost to the ground. 

Hellfrost recovers and surprised Deathstorm by removing the quantum splicer from his chest. Next she absorbs all of his energy, making Deathstorm disintegrate from existence. Caitlin wakes up with good news from Cecile. Hellfrost radios in to make sure Caitlin is okay. Then she says she’s not feeling good and she collapses.

After Frost’s vitals crash, Barry rushes to find her and bring her back to the lab. Caitlin is on her feet and works to save Frost. Cecile has to convince Mark to leave the room so Caitlin can work. Barry explains that Frost absorbed Deathstorm’s energy, and that may have been too much for her to handle. 

Caitlin injects Frost with cold fusion. It works. Frost opens her eyes and looks at Caitlin. Caitlin smiles at her and Frost closes her eyes again. Frost flatlines, so Caitlin uses the defibrillator to restart Frost’s heart. It doesn’t work and Frost dies. 

Iris gets an unwanted visitor from her past on The Flash.

The Flash — “Death Falls” — Image Number: FLA813a_0156r.jpg — Pictured: Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2022 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

The rest of the team is in the lounge waiting for good news. Mark talks about all of the plans he and Frost have. He says he just wants to make her smile. That’s when Barry and Caitlin come in to give them the bad news. The team is devastated, especially Mark and Caitlin … and me. 

RIP Frost.

RELATED: Catch up on all of The Flash recaps here

 

 

 

Follow me