If there’s one thing that The CW can do continuously without fail, it’s making me cry over Barry Allen and just wanting to wrap him in a blanket and protect him from the evil world.
In this Kevin Smith directed episode, Grant Gustin proves once again that he is Barry Allen. ‘The Runaway Dinosaur’ focuses on Barry being stuck inside the speedforce, while the rest of Team Flash (those who weren’t hit by the particle accelerator rays) dealt with trying to get Barry back and with a zombie Girder. That’s right, Girder has returned in all his zombie glory and pines after Iris yet again.
While stuck in the Speed-Force, Barry finds himself waking up in his old bedroom and finds his favourite book from when he was a child – The Runaway Dinosaur. He’s first greeted by Joe, except it’s really not Joe. The Speed-Force has taken its form as Barry’s loved one and tries to motivate him into getting his speed back. Clearly, this upsets Barry as all he wants to do is get back home to his family so that he can help them. Once again, good guy Barry Allen.
I feel like this entire season has just been showing us how altruistic Barry is. He’s stuck in the speedforce and can finally get his speed back, but he wants to go back home and help his friends even without his speed. Even when the Speed-Force takes shape as Iris, he refuses. Cisco manages to (in a way) transport himself into the Speed-Force and finds Barry, but Barry realizes that he needs to do this. He runs on back to his house, only to be greeted by sweet Nora Allen. We’ve all seen how much Barry loves his mother and regrets letting her die. He undoubtedly hasn’t come to terms with it yet and it’s revealed that he never visited her grave. The two bond and Barry learns that he is who he is because of all the events that had happened, including his mother’s death. Nora starts reading The Runaway Dinosaur to Barry, but Barry ends up reciting the whole thing. Now is where I cry.
The thing is, Grant Gustin is so incredible at what he does. It’s like Barry Allen was written for him. He’s able to magnificently communicate what Barry’s feeling with the viewers, and you immediately empathize with him and grasp the extent of what he’s going through. I’ve noticed a shift in his voice patterns in different scenes – especially in those that require a lot of emotion. The way we see Barry looking at Nora on the show, it looks so real as though Gustin was lovingly looking at his own mother.
This week’s episode also gives us a fearless Iris West, showing us why Barry fell in love with her in the first place. Iris is the one who offers herself up as bait in order to take Girder down and continues to do so even when their plans initially fail. When Henry offers to vibe with Cisco, Iris says that she’d go instead. This season, Iris finally comes to terms with her true feelings for Barry and decides to pursue them, considering the fact that everything seems to be falling apart around them. She is Barry’s home and vice versa. At the end of the day, Barry will always go home to her. And can we just appreciate this gem:
Cisco and Harry continue to have their moments as well, providing laughs in everyone’s time of need and proving to be a good team. The two work on taking Girder down, while also attempting to bring Barry back home. Even though Harry is visibly distraught about an unconscious Jesse, he puts his needs aside and wants to finish the mess he knows he started. Barry eventually gets his speed back, resolving all the issues of the episode which includes waking Jesse up.
Barry reunites with Henry once again but I can’t help but having this aching feeling that Henry’s about to die. The two share a moment and you’d think that Henry would be the one to visit Nora’s grave with Barry, but Iris goes instead. I’m not bitter about that, just not necessarily pleased. Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of Barry and Iris, but there are times where a guy just needs to do things with his father, you get me?
‘The Runaway Dinosaur’ packs a whole lot of emotion but does feel like a filler episode. With only two episodes remaining until the season finale, it bugs me that there is a lot that could happen, which such little time – either Jesse or Wally become a Speedster, a possible death, Caitlin returning to her friends, Zoom being defeated, the reveal of the man in the iron mask and an explanation as to how he fits into everything. You see what I mean?
The episode ends with Zoom preaching to his new army of Metahumans, readying them for battle. Kevin Smith (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) directed this week’s episode and also gave us a little cameo featuring his long time friend, Jay Mewes! I definitely would like to see Smith returning to direct episodes in Season 3, because he did prove to be worthy of doing so.
You can check out the promo for next week’s episode below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUKi7JnVt-w
