What The Flash is going on? The Speed Force is alive. There are two new metas that can absorb lighting. And somehow their presence is causing Barry/The Flash (Grant Gustin) a lot of pain. Now this…
In “The One with the Nineties,” Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Chester (Brandon McKnight), also known as Chesco, accidentally get stuck in the 90’s while Iris (Candice Patton) helps Nora/The Speed Force (Michelle Harrison) tries to understand Barry Allen a little better.
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LATE NIGHT JITTERS
A Jitters barista calls her friend after her shift and encounters a gladiator, a submarine and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Meanwhile, Barry is still in the cryo-chamber, healing from an attack from an unknown assailant. Nora watches over him, giving him as much power as she can to help him heal faster. She still doesn’t remember everything about the forces that attacked her. She knows they are like her, but not why they are trying to kill her.
Chester P. Runk returns to the lab and is in total awe of the Speed Force. But there’s no time for fanboys … Team Flash needs to find out who these new metas are and where they came from. Cisco and Chester are working on an isotope detection system. Chester built a device that will amplify the satellite detectors. They will know when either Fuerza or Psyche is coming, but not which one they will be facing. The plan is to build more amplifiers and set them around the city. They have everything they need in the STAR Labs van, so Chesco can build them as they go along.
Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) goes home for the night and finds Frost (Panabaker) decorating the place with her trash artwork. Caity has her own art to hang up now that they are roommates. When she asks for Frost’s opinion, the cold one adds trash to the painting. This frustrates Caitlin. This is going to take some getting used to.
UNDER THE DOME
ChesCo sets up the first amplifier near the next town, Masonville. The town just happens to be where Chester grew up until he was in high school. They turn the amplifier on, but it loses power quickly. But there is a strange green energy wave approaching. The wave goes over Cisco and Chester, but they are okay. Until they realize their cell phones and the STAR Labs van are gone. Chester freaks out a little and runs into a force field. Cisco realizes they’ve just been “under the domed.”
Nora is worried about Barry and doesn’t understand how Iris is so calm. Iris says Barry will be find tomorrow and back in his BBB … Barry’s Blanket Burrito. Iris takes Nora on a trip of their own.
Cisco and Chester walk through Masonville and realize they are not in Kansas anymore. There’s a Blockbuster video, Space Jam is the top movie and Chester says he saw a coffee shop that was closed when he was in high school. They are in the past…1998 to be exact. It’s a little exciting, but they do need to find a way home.
THE ONE WITH THE NINETIES
Cisco checks the amplifier and finds signs of an isotopic surge when the energy wave hits. He is also reading temporal energy. So this means there is another new force, with the same isotopic signature as the new metas, that can control time. Chester says they need to get home to warn the team, but Cisco wants to know what they’re up against. Cisco wants to find a way to fix the amplifiers so it can track the new metas. The only problem is the sensor they need doesn’t exist yet. Chester has an idea of how to create one.
They go dumpster diving. Chester finds what he needs to upgrade the amplifier. The amplifier leads them to the local high school. Cisco is ready to go in, but first, they have to blend in. Cue cool 90s rap song and ChesCo walking in the picture looking like DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. The color scheme on those clothes are crazy!
The funky fresh duo interview random students in the school about the future to try and find an isotopic reading. They come up with nothing but some dope rhymes and a Seattle fresh angsty outlook on life. While interviewing the jocks, they come across the towel boy and the readings are off the chart. This kid thinks ChesCo is wack, but they assure him that they are students like him. You know, kids who just like The Matrix … in 1998 … but that film didn’t come out until the next year. Bingo! They got their guy, except the kid starts freaking out. He says it knows he broke free and it will start over again. The green energy wave appears again and resets the whole day.
GROUNDHOG DAY
This time ChesCo wakes up in the street, but it’s earlier that morning. Cisco looks at Chester and doesn’t remember anything. Cisco gets scared because he doesn’t know where he is or this stranger is. Chester asks how old Cisco is. Cisco thinks he’s seven and runs away from the stranger.
Chester catches up to Cisco and tries to help him remember that he’s not seven and he’s stuck in the past. Only the mention of Game of Thrones and The Rains of Castamere brings Cisco back to his reality. They realize they are in a time loop. Chester didn’t get whammied because he was holding the amplifier when the green energy wave hit. They have to fix the amplifier before the day resets again. Cisco picks up a newspaper and wants to know what’s so special about December 4, 1998. Chester reacts weirdly to that date, but plays it off like he knows of a better place to find the parts they need to fix the amplifier.
Iris shows Nora a blanket that Barry’s had since he was little. It’s his security blanket that his mom made for him. Iris admits that Barry doesn’t talk about his mom a lot. He doesn’t want to remember the night she died. The violence of it all stays with him and there’s nothing Iris can do to take it away. Nora listens intently, saddened by what she’s hearing. Iris puts away the teacups and Nora speeds away.
ChesCo go to a tech store to find an 876 power converter, but someone just bought the last one. When Chester turns to see who bought it, he freezes up and hides. The man who bought it is his dad.
REVELATIONS
Chester wasn’t very close to his dad. His dad was very smart and invented a lot of things. He traveled a lot and didn’t have much time for Chester. December 4 is an important date because it was the last day Chester saw his father alive. His dad leaves to attend a meeting and gets in a car accident. Cisco thinks this is Chester’s chance to talk to his dad. They still have to get the converter, so Cisco says he will give it a try.
Iris finds Nora at Jitters. She feels bad for appearing like Nora Allen. She thinks she’s hurting Barry and agrees to change her appearance. Iris says if anything it gives him comfort seeing her in this form. She’s not a painful reminder, but a happy one.
Chester visits his father, introducing himself as John Boyega, and asks to buy the converter. Papa Runk (Milton Barnes) says he can’t sell him the converter because he has to throw it away. His son Chester is working on a project and in two days he will need the part. He’s throwing it away so Chester will find it later. By throwing it away, he’s teaching Chester to be resourceful and to see treasure where others see trash.
Papa Runk says everything he does is for his son. Chester is worth any sacrifice he makes. When it comes to his son, Papa Runk doesn’t believe in quitting. He cares about his work because of his son and wants to make him proud. Chester hugs his father, making it weird and says the man is inspiring. But Papa Runk still wont’ give him the converter, but he does help by giving him a substitute.
LOST IN TIME
Chester returns to Cisco and reflects on the time he spent with his dad. He shows Cisco the amplifier. It’s fixed and he built it with his dad. Cisco is happy because now they can disrupt the temporal isotopes and go home.
A jock named Deon Owens (Christian Magby) walks in and reveals himself to be the big bad. He says they don’t belong there and it’s time for them to go. He’s the time god. Apparently he grew up in Masonville and was on track to be a football star in the NFL. He says ChesCo ruined his perfect day. Deon says he was a football star until he got hurt. He grew up to sell used cars. He came back to the past because he has no future. Cisco says his future looks great and uses the amplifier to attack Deon, but Deon erases the future device.
As Deon gets angry, his energy field extends to Central City, sending Frost into the seventies…as a hippie. Joe (Jessie L. Martin) arrives at STAR Labs in a nice 40’s juke suit. Caitlin looks like Tootsie, and Iris walks in with an afro. Nice! An alarm goes off indicating the energy field is spreading. Back at Jitters, the barista runs away from the T-rex, leading it through the city.
RECONCILING THE PAST
Caitlin traces the isotope energy to Masonville. They know that Chester and Cisco were headed there. Caitlin finds temporal energy, but the energy is different from Fuerza and Psyche. This force can alter time. This new force is rewinding time at random and they can’t stop it. They could end up in the stone age.
Deon gets ready to reset his time loop, meaning ChesCo will forget everything. Cisco wants to leave, but Chester doesn’t believe in quitting. He says Deon can make them forget their futures, but there’s no power in the world that will make him forget his own future. Deon’s accident was a fixed point, so he can never change it. Chester suggests that he see the possibilities of a brand new day. Deon hates his future though.
Chester says it’s easy to hold onto the bad stuff. He carried that bad stuff all his life. But he was able to see his dad in a new light and he let go of his pain. Deon can do the same. But not until he quits letting one moment in his past define all the moments of his future. Deon backs down, setting everything back to normal. He says he gets to decide what happens from now on. Not just for him, but for everyone. Deon disappears and sends ChesCo back to the future.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Barry is awake and says he feels fine. There’s been no sign of Deon. Cisco says Deon made no mention of the Speed Force. Caitlin points out that Deon sounds a lot more reasonable than Fuerza and Psyche. But he’s able to control time and that makes him the most powerful force yet. It’s like he’s the opposite of the Speed force. Cisco calls Deon the Still Force, Fuerza is the Strength Force, and Psyche the Sage Force.
Nora asks Cisco how he defeated the Still Force. Cisco gives all the credit to Chester, who’s happy to leave the big bad to the Flash. Cisco and Caitlin leave to meet with Kamilla. Chester gets an invite as well but he has an errand. Cisco says he’s proud of Chester, who just wants to make his Pops proud.
The Speed Force says she’s seeing things clearer now. She plans to stay in the lab to hear when the other forces are coming. Iris insists that she stay at their loft. Barry is a little uncomfortable, but reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Chester sets up a workstation and blue prints of one of his dad’s inventions. He wants to finish what his dad started.
Elsewhere, Frost is knitting when Joe comes in. He tells Kristen Kramer (Carmen Moore), who’s out to capture Killer Frost. Frost says that’s not who she is anymore. Joe knows that and tells Frost to lay low. Frost says she’s finally free to live her own life and no one is taking that away. She tells Kristen Kramer to bring it on.
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News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
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