The Flash 7x9 : Timeless review

 

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

This week's episode of The Flash begins where last week's ended as Iris and Barry can not believe what Nora (the speedforce) has just done. She with Barry's unknowingly help killed Alexa who housed the Strength Force. Barry says that he won't help Nora kill the other forces, that is not how he operates. Nora has a big secret to spill before she sets off and that is that she informs Barry and Iris that they created the other forces. The speedforce wasn't the only force born on that night. This leads to a strong connection between Barry, Iris and the forces. A connection that is heavily explored and expanded upon later in the episode. Soon enough Nora goes off on her own to stop the forces and we see her results at the end of the episode. As for Barry he hatches up another plan instead of killing the forces what if he goes back in time and stops them from ever existing in the first place? Iris is heavily against this and tells her husband that she doesn't agree one bit before walking off as later we see her put her own plan into place. 

So it's time travel again eh? so how will Barry get his plan to work without completely destroying the timeline or recreating something like Flashpoint? this is where Timeless Wells comes back into the fold as we see him in Starling City in the year 2000. Spending time with his wife Wells ends up getting whisked and brought back into Team Flash's big plan as he is the key to getting to the night the forces were created and getting back out again. The plan gets further explained by Chester, Cisco and Wells as Barry is tasked with collecting what is deemed force particles from the giant wave of energy that flew above Star Labs when Iris jolted the speedforce back into action. While they're getting to work they get interrupted by none other than the Still Force himself Dion. And it is this scene alone that made the episode for me. The interaction between Barry and Dion while everyone else is frozen in time is haunting yet energetic. It's brilliantly done as Dion seems to have scuppered the team's plan but Chester finds a way around it. With everything now in place Barry and Wells soon are set to go back in time.

The episode draws to a close on the night where the forces were created. But before all that Barry has a heart to heart with Joe that plays strongly into his decision about the forces. Joe compares the forces to kids which is odd at first but as the episode goes on it begins to make more and more sense as this is why Barry and Iris's connection to the forces is so strong. After all they did create them whether that was a good thing or bad. Joe suggests that they give the forces time to develop and become who they're truly meant to be. Barry with this knowledge in mind sets off with Wells. Upon arriving inside of Star Labs in the past we see Wells looking at his older self which was a little mindblowing moment. As in the original episode we saw Wells look into the distance and nod well it turns out he was nodding to himself in a nice little full circle moment. Barry rushes them to the top of Star Labs where with his force particle equipment equipped he collects the particles storing them inside of his chest compartment. While this is all happening Iris, Alegra and Kamila are on the hunt for Nora and end up at the old Allen household. Inside they find Psyche not Nora and what follows is a cool scene exchange as it jumps from Barry seemingly destroying the forces as Iris tries to get through to Psyche naturally. Upon further consideration of his actions Barry has a change of heart as Joe's words ring through. The forces are still being created in this time but in present day they're slowly dying out. That is until Barry restores the force particles into the energy as he looks up into the sky and even sheds a tear as he looks at his and Iris's creation unfold before his eyes. This was a beautiful moment that I wasn't expecting which made it even better. Soon enough we're back in present day as Iris and Barry come together and embrace stating that from now on they will work together to stop or help the forces whatever it may be. They end up using their connection with the forces to bring Alexa back to life as energy surges throughout her body in the med-bay. While back in the speedlab Cisco proclaims to Kamila that he has to leave Central City as throughout this episode he seemed to be struggling with something. This of course is because the actor who plays Cisco will actually be leaving at the end of this season along with Harrison Wells actor Tom Cavanagh. It will be weird to see this show without two pivotal characters next season but for the time being they're still here so let's focus on that. The episode ends as we see Dion being confronted by Nora. At first Dion doesn't seem interested or impressed by Nora but things soon take a turn when Nora brandishes Psyche's masks infront of Dion which seemingly means that she has killed the Sage Force in cold blood. Could Dion be next or will he be saved by Team Flash? whatever is to come I know it'll be interesting for sure. And that was the episode. A big improvement on last week and overall just a really good episode filled with some great moments. With the force story arc now beginning to wind down with 2-3 episodes remaining I hope it can finish up strong. This isn't the best episode of the season but it's pretty close. 

★★★★