Time is fluid on The Flash. In “Resurrection,” Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Barry (Grant Gustin) are at odds about how to stop the Black Flame’s killing spree and Iris’s (Candice Patton) condition gets worse on The Flash
Last week, Iris’s time sickness got worse and she accidentally made Tinya’s (Mika Abdalla) mother disappear. And Caitlin received a visit from the Black Flame.
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Caitlin and Ronnie (Robbie Amell) met when he got hurt on the job and Dr. Wells (Tom Cavanagh) sent him to the med bay. There wasn’t a lot of flirting to begin with but there was an attraction. As we all know, Caitlin and Ronnie fell in love and got engaged. (Caitlin tried to propose to him, but he was a step ahead of her.) And then Ronnie died in the particle accelerator explosion. Or so we thought. Ronnie returned from the dead once before and fused with Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber) to become Firestorm.
Ronnie didn’t live much longer afterward. On their wedding day, he sacrificed himself to help the Flash save Central City. Caitlin had a hard time getting over Ronnie, but recently started dating again. And now the Black Flame is giving her clues that it is in fact Ronnie Raymond.
SPLITTING HEADACHE
Iris is shocked about making Tinya’s mom disappear. Tinya is upset and yells at Iris, demanding to know what happened to her mother. Sue (Natalie Dreyfuss) tries to take control of the situation by calling Barry, but Iris starts having painful headaches. It’s so bad that Sue’s phone disappears when she tries to call Barry. Sue tells Tinya to leave because it’s too dangerous. Iris passes out and Sue sits with her.
Team Flash continues their search for the connection between the victims of the Black Flame. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) came up with two possible victims, all of them recently experienced the loss of a loved one. Chester (Brandon McKnight) finished encoding the fusion sphere with Frost (Panabaker) and Dr. Tannhauser’s (Susan Walters) cryo-kinetic RNA signatures to trap the flame. They just need to know what the connection of the victims is so they can use that to lure the flame into the trap.
Caitlin joins the team meeting and says the flame wants her. She says the flame paid her a visit. She also looks at the photos of the victims and recognizes all of them. Caitlin either knew the victims or encountered them in her daily life. Caitlin informs the team that she believes the Black Flame was looking for her because … the Black Flame is Ronnie. And he wants her to save him.
RESURRECTION
Caitlin explains that when Ronnie died in the singularity event, his energy was changed into pure thermodynamic energy. She also believes he is not in control of the flame and that’s why it kills people. It feeds on people’s grief because that is the last thing that Ronnie felt when he died. Caitlin has a solution though. She wants to reconfigure the quantum splicer to make Ronnie human again.
Barry reminds her that the splicer needs two people to work and they can ask anyone to take that risk. Chester says they can use one of Eva McCulloch’s R-CEM chips to duplicate Ronnie’s cells and coalesce another body for him. Everyone but Barry seems excited about saving Ronnie for Caitlin.
Barry voices his concerns to Caitlin. He’s worried that the flame is manipulating Caitlin so it can get the splicer. Caitlin is convinced the flame is Ronnie and will do anything to save him. She forgot one thing. Her current boyfriend Marcus (Andres Soto). Caitlin meets Marcus at Jitters to tell him about who she works with and what they are currently working on. She says they have to stop seeing each other for Marcus’ safety. Marcus knows when he’s being dumped though.
IF IT WERE IRIS …
Frost finds Barry in the speed lab checking on the fusion sphere. He tells Frost that he’s worried. Why is Ronnie back, seven years after he died? He says it all feels too good to be true. He’s surprised that Frost isn’t trying to reason with Caitlin. She says if it was Iris and she had to do something dangerous to cure her time sickness, Barry would have her back. Frost is doing the same for Caitlin.
Chester broadcasts while he works on the splicer. Allegra (Kayla Compton) is worried that someone could be taking notes on how to build one of their own so they too can raise the dead. Chester often shares his science to help make the world a better place. Allegra says not everyone is as good as Chester.
Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) hears the Black Flame talking to her, causing her to have a headache. Barry finds her and she thinks it is Ronnie. And Ronnie wants to die. They tell Caitlin but she refuses to believe that Ronnie wants to die. Barry warns her against trying to resurrect the past because it’s too dangerous. She gets angry thinking the team is turning on her. She has helped Barry and Iris on countless occasions and now they won’t help her. So she will save Ronnie by herself.
DISAPPEARING ACT
Sue was able to get Iris back to the hotel. When she wakes up, she says she didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Sue says she’s getting worse and they need to get her home. Tinya shows up and Iris’ headaches start up again. Sue says she is taking Iris home. Tinya walks up to Iris, puts her hands on Iris’ arms and makes her disappear. She tells Sue not to try to find her again.
Cecile confidently tells the rest of the team about her encounter and how Ronnie said he wants to die. Barry says they are going to help by trapping the flame in the fusion sphere. Then they will remove the oxidizing elements to put out the flame. Frost asks them to try to use the quantum splicer, but Chester says a participant has to be willing to use the splicer or be torn to bits. Cecile is certain that Ronnie only wants to be at peace. Barry offers to tell Caitlin what they plan to do, but Frost insists on breaking the bad news.
Frost tells Caitlin about the plan and says she’s worried about Caitlin. She knows how much pain she was in when Ronnie died. She watched Caitlin pull away from everyone who loves her then and now. Frost gives Caitlin the quantum splicer. She says she will always have her back. But Caitlin has to promise to never shut herself off from her. Now they have to find Ronnie before Barry and the other do. Caitlin knows exactly where he will show up.
PIEDMONT STATE PARK
Piedmont State Park is the place where Caitlin and Ronnie got engaged after getting trapped in the snow. Now a group of campers are there and they encounter the Black Flame. Team Flash gets an alert and quickly moves to the mountain to save the campers.
Flash brought the fusion sphere with him. He starts the process of trapping the Black Flame. Frost and Caitlin show up and freeze the sphere. Caitlin walks up to the Flame and speaks to Ronnie. She says they promised to spend the rest of their lives together and she’s keeping that promise. The flame transforms into a smokey person. Caitlin puts the splicer on it and Ronnie appears. He faints in Caitlin’s arms while Frost and Barry look on in amazement.
They take Ronnie back to STAR Labs where he can heal. Everyone is glad they have a happy ending and there is no sign of the Black Flame anywhere. Barry apologizes for doubting Caitlin. Cecile apologizes too for being wrong about what Ronnie was feeling.
STORMY NIGHT
Barry goes home and tries to call Iris. He’s worried because he keeps getting her voice mail. Sue shows up at the door and says Iris is missing. Barry starts to panic, unable to hear Sue’s explanation.
Back at the lab, Caitlin goes to check on Ronnie and he’s not in the med bay. She finds him in the lounge and hears a strange voice talking to her. Ronnie hears the voice too and says it came from him. He says he feels stronger because of the splicer. He knew Caitlin would help him and give him exactly what he needed. Caitlin tells Ronnie that he’s scaring her. That’s because it’s not Ronnie.
The being explains that Ronnie sacrificed himself to the storm in the singularity. When he did, he gave his life to its power. And his death gave this being life. Ronnie says he’s something beyond death. He turns on the splicer and transforms into a devilish, looking being that burns like the Black Flame. He calls himself Death Storm.
RELATED: Catch up on all of The Flash recaps here
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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