For nine seasons, The Flash has always believed in what’s possible, but now he must rely on his faith to believe in the impossible. In “A New World, Part Four,” Barry (Grant Gustin) and his friends are once again tasked with saving the timeline. But Eddie (Rick Cosnett) brings in a more challenging offense that could be too strong for Team Flash. And while the timeline is starting to crumble, Iris (Candice Patton) is in labor.
The Negative Speed Force chose its new avatar in Eddie Thawne. Eddie was brought back to life in 2049 where he accepted the job and vowed to kill the Flash for stealing his life. He believes Iris should have been his wife and Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) should be his daughter. Now he’s there to take it all back.
The Negative Speed Force gave Eddie the speed he needed to keep up with the Flash. He used that speed to assemble his own team. Zoom (Teddy Sears), Godspeed (Karan Oberoi), Savitar and of course, Eobard Thawne, aka Reverse Flash (Tom Cavanagh) appear in the Negative Speed Force, ready for battle. And to make things worse, the timeline is fractured, threatening everyone’s existence.
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Barry returns to 2023 and runs directly to Iris. He informs her that the Negative Speed Force chose a new avatar. That’s when Eddie, aka Cobalt Blue shows up to tell them that he’s taking back his life. And in the process, destroying Barry’s legacy and the speed force. Doing so will give Eddie the power to create a new timeline where he’s the hero and the Negative Speed Force rules. Iris tells Barry to run and the two speed force avatars race away.
The Flash runs through Central City with Cobalt Blue right beside him. They stop at the docks and Cobalt Blue attacks. Nora, aka XS arrives just in time to save her father. The Team, Khione (Danielle Panabaker), Cecile, aka Virtue (Danielle Nicolet), Allegra (Kayla Compton), and Mark,aka Chillblaine (Jon Cor) stand with the Flash. That’s when Eddie reveals his team.
The two sides race off to face each other. Virtue takes on Godspeed. Despite being a god, Virtue easily gets in his head and knocks him out. Zoom runs into Captain Kramer (Carmen Moore) and the CCPD on one side of a tunnel and Khione and Mark on the other. He tries to hit Khione and Mark with his speed, but Khione absorbs it and throws it right back.
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Reverse Flash shows up at STAR Labs and scares Chester (Brandon McKnight). Like something straight out of Return of the Jedi, Reverse Flash electrocutes Chester while telling him how he’s going to kill the Flash. He hits Chester unconscious. Allegra shows up and blasts Reverse Flash with a tiny Ultraviolet ray. She sees Chester on the ground and runs to him.
The Flash — “A New World, Part Four” — Image Number: FLA913e_0106r — Pictured (L – R): Teddy Sears as Zoom, Karan Oberoi as Godspeed and Tom Cavanagh as Reverse Flash — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Reverse Flash keeps talking about his plans for team Flash. He taunts Allegra saying the face of her mentor, Nash Wells will kill her too. Allegra tells him to shut up and blast him with a bigger ultraviolet ray. It’s like an atomic bomb and it knocks out Reverse Flash. Allegra cries at Chester’s side, afraid that he might be dead. Chester wakes up and Allegra is so happy. He sits up and he kisses him … the longest scene of the whole episode.
XS faces off with Savitar. He tries to stab her in the back, but XS was ready for him. She phases, causing the blade to miss her completely. XS tears off the end of Savitar’s blade, runs behind him and stabs him in the back.
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That just leaves Flash and Cobalt Blue. They stop at Jitters, where Cobalt Blue holds three hostages. He will let them go if Flash surrenders and lets Cobalt Blue kill him. The OG Flash, Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp) appears and absorbs Cobalt Blue’s speed. But he’s not ready to give up. Cobalt Blue reaches out and absorbs the speed from Reverse Flash, Savitar, Zoom and Godspeed. Flash tries to reason with Cobalt Blue but he’s too far gone. Cobalt Blue disappears. Jay and Flash assume he’s going to the source to get more power. If Eddie consumes more speed, he will overload and die.
Barry and Jay return to STAR labs. Jay says the only way to stop Eddie is to let him destroy himself, but Barry won’t let that happen. He says Eddie is a hero and he won’t let him die again. He wants to go to the negative speed force to save him. Khione can get him there, but she’s certain that saving Eddie won’t change anything. They can’t destroy the negative speed force or there won’t be any balance.
Khione says the cycle of violence and death will continue if the Flash can’t coexist with the negative speed force. He wants a better world for his family but he’s frustrated because he doesn’t know what to do. Barry says he tried coexisting with the negative speed force and it didn’t work. Coexisting is impossible. Khione tells him to start believing in the impossible. It’s the only way to create a better world.
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The Flash — “A New World, Part Four” — Image Number: FLA913h_0113r — Pictured (L – R): Grant Gustin as The Flash and John Wesley shipp as Jay Garrick — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Flash goes into the negative speed force and finds Cobalt Blue charging in his loft. He knocks Eddie over to end his connection with the negative speed force. He warns Eddie that the power will overload and kill him. Eddie is more powerful and starts beating up Barry for stealing his life. Eddie reminds Barry that it was him who stopped Thawne. He always wins.
Barry says that Eddie is becoming the person he died trying to stop. The Negative Speed Force says not to listen to Barry, but to kill him instead. Barry keeps talking. He says Eddie is the answer. He has to remain the avatar so they can work together. Thawne gave into hate, but Eddie can fight it. They can create a better world if they work together.
With both sides talking to him at the same time, Eddie becomes confused. He starts remembering things from the past, including how upset Iris was when he died. All Eddie ever wanted to be was her hero. He takes the blue crystal out of his suit and smashes it. Eddie is still the Negative Speed Force avatar. But he’s willing to work with Barry to maintain the balance.
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With the balance restored, it’s time to have a baby. Barry is transported back to the hospital just in time. Meanwhile, the team is back at STAR labs and celebrating their win. Chester is resting and finds out he has powers. Mark did some scans on Chester and found that he has Hawking’s radiation in his blood. He got it when he bonded with the black hole. He has Black Hole powers … a Consciousness-Honed Universally Neutralized Kerr anomaly. A C.H.U.N.K.
The team joins Grandpa Joe (Jesse L. Martin) and 2049 Nora at the hospital to wait for the arrival of Baby Nora. Harrison Wells (Cavanagh) appears and tells Khione that it’s time for her to ascend. She wants to say goodbye to her family first. Wells assures her that she will always carry a piece of those she loves, whenever and wherever she goes.
With a spark of lightning, Nora West-Allen is born. Barry and Iris are elated, especially without any threat present. Joe is the first to visit the newborn. He reflects on how grown up Iris is now. Joe sings a song to his granddaughter, as we see a montage of Iris and Barry through the years.
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The Flash — “A New World, Part Four” — Image Number: FLA913i_0143r — Pictured (L – R): Danielle Nicolet as Cecile Horton , Jon Cor as Mark, Danielle Panabaker as Khione, Kayla Compton as Allegra Garcia, Brandon McKnight as Chester P. Runk and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
It’s time for Khione to say goodbye. She hugs everyone but stops to say the most to Mark. Mark cries too, saying he’s really going to miss her. She tells him that nothing really ever dies. They are all connected. She was born to protect the natural order of things. Khione says her time in her mortal body is done. She tells everyone to keep flourishing and she will always be with them.
Khione stands in the middle of her friends. She closes her eyes and the elements appear; earth, fire, water and wind circle around her. A bright light blinds everyone in the room as the elements rise to the ceiling. When the dust settles, Caitlin is standing where Khione was last seen. Everyone is overwhelmed with emotion. Caitlin is home.
The new parents invite the team and co-workers, including Harrison Wells, to the loft to celebrate Nora’s birth. Adult Nora is there too. That’s so weird. Caitlin’s mom is eager to see her and run some tests on Caitlin to make sure she’s really okay. Barry pulls her aside to apologize for how they left things. Caitlin says he doesn’t need to be sorry. He showed her that she will always carry Frost’s legacy with her.
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Jay and Joan Garrick (Michelle Harrison) are at the party. That still has to be weird for Barry to have friends that are doppelgangers of his parents. It’s also trippy to watch Adult Nora talk baby talk to Baby Nora. She tells them to just wait for Bart’s birth. That’s a really weird time.
Joe addresses the room to welcome them all to his happy day. He also announces that Iris is officially a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. And that’s not all. Joe praises Cecile for her bravery. His pal David Singh (Patrick Sabongui) throws him a ring box and Cecile freaks out. She throws a pillow on the floor so Joe can get on one knee. Joe proposes and she happily accepts.
After the party, Barry picks up Nora to tell her story so she won’t cry. First he tells her to believe in the impossible. Next he says that he decided to share his speed with the world. The lightning chose him. And now he gets to choose who gets the speed. Barry runs to an airfield and throws up a lightning bolt. The bolt breaks off in three directions. He says if they share a piece of themselves, they can break out of cycles of violence and pain to create a new world. One where everyone can coexist. A world where nothing is impossible, as long as you believe in it.
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Thank you to the cast and crew of The Flash for nine amazing seasons! Farewell!
THE FLASH Official Trailer and Teaser Promise Epic Collision of Worlds
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.
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