The Flash 6x7 : The Last Temptation Of Barry Allen, Pt 1 review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it. 

This season's mid season finale of The Flash is a two parter and it begins with this episode. Beginning where last week's ended with Ramsey and Ralph falling from a building. A fight breaks out between the two. Ramsey infects Ralph with his blood but Ralph seems unaffected at first. He even manages to get the upper hand on Ramsey for a moment but when he takes the blood cells back out of Ralph our hero collapses onto the ground leaving Ramsey to escape. Killer Frost arrives seconds later and takes Ralph back to Star Labs where it looks like he won't even make it as his body contorts and goes into shock. Cisco urges Frost to help but she reverts back to Caitlin who suggest to Barry that his speed healing can help save Ralph. Barry agrees and fazes some of his blood via injection which does help Ralph. Everything seems completely fine for both Barry and Ralph who is set to make a full recovery as he is sent to an ARGUS facility to get 100%. The next time we see Barry is back at his apartment and things begin to take a turn for the worse as he sees Ramsey behind him. Not only does Ramsey some how know that Barry is The Flash he also knows of the impending Crisis and how Barry's demise is almost upon us. Surprised by his non inclusion in the Crisis Ramsey shows Barry just what will happen as a wave of Anti-Matter hits the entire City. Barry unable to control his emotions wakes up in a rush of sweat and an absolute idea of just what the heck is going on??

What follows on from this moment is not only the best episode of The Flash this season but my favorite of any show this season so far as it treads the line between reality and non reality perfectly. Nora Allen shows up as a manifestation of the Speed Force for the first time since the end of season 3 if I remember correctly. She informs Barry that when he gave Ralph some of his blood to help save him, some of Ramsey's blood went undetected into Barry's blood storm which has led to him becoming almost fully infected. She tells Barry that it is up to him now to stop Ramsey from fully gaining control and bending Barry to his will. So just where is Barry though?? he's actually in his apartment but on the floor out cold as his mind runs rampant. Following on from this Barry walks into a room where all the rest of Team Flash is waiting. They're all having dinner and are acting strangely. Barry notices this and is proven correctly as Ramsey walks into the room carrying a bowl of homemade lasagna. He tells Barry that he is only here to share a meal with friends as he cuts into the lasagna. His blood flows out of it as everyone is then seen eating his blood complete with black mouths, black teeth and an overall sense of dread from Barry as he sees his friends becoming one with Ramsey. Barry leaves the area and returns to his old room which is all in his mind of course. Nora is waiting for him there and she reassures him that he must resist and forget his doubts. 

The episode draws to a close with Barry's anguish and frustration only getting worse as he learns that Ramsey hasn't actually been lying at all. He has been telling the truth about how his blood can help Barry not only save people from death but also help in the impending Crisis. His intentions against Ramsey become slowly and slowly more passive as he becomes more and more convinced that The Speed force has been lying to him all along. Not only have they been using him for their own gain but also they have practically taken everything he has ever loved away from him. This includes people from the past like Nora and Martin Stein and people that will more than likely be taken from him in the Crisis. It looks like he is about to side with Ramsey but Nora pulls him in closer to the speed force side. The image that follows is absolutely brilliant however as half of Barry's body is covered in Ramsey's blood while the other is covered in lightning from the speed force. On the outside in Star Labs Cisco and Caitlin rush to wake Barry up as like Ralph earlier his body is beginning to contort and shake. Cisco rushes to a vault that inside lays Velocity X a speed drug that he ends up injecting Barry with leading to him coming out of his dream like state and back into the land of the living. At first things seem all good. Barry seems okay and it looks like it's another win for Team Flash. But things soon take a turn for the worst as when Iris arrives and starts asking what happened Barry keeps shutting her down to the point of purely ignoring her. He walks over by his suit as on the other side Iris tells Caitlin and Cisco that it is no Barry. And she is right as when Cisco confronts him he turns around revealing Ramsey's bloodwork has fully taken control. The last thing we see before the episode ends is Flash running to a location to meet Ramsey who has fully become Bloodwork now as he himself pronounces so. Barry's lighting also changes to a sort of black / grey which was a nice touch. The Negative Flash is born so to speak. So as you can probably tell there was a LOT going on in this episode. Between Barry's struggle with Ramsey all the way to Iris struggling to deal with the thought of having to write about Barry going missing during Crisis which they say is happening in 2 days which was interesting. All in all though this episode was perfectly balanced hitting the sweet spot on a number of different themes. It's hands down the best Flash episode this season and with a 'To be continued' at the end I personally cannot wait for next week to see how Barry overcomes Bloodwork. 

★★★★★