Jessie Robertson reviews the seventh episode of The Flash season 6…
Tonight was a bottle episode, meaning not much outwardly takes place, it’s all internal and it was a home run. I had not seen many previews for this week; only showing that Barry was going to have to deal with that pesky villain of the season Rosso (He finally proclaimed himself Bloodwork at episode’s end). So, as the episode revealed itself, words like intense and shocking came to mind.
With Ralph being taken out of commission by Ramsey at last week’s episode ending and this week’s beginning, the only solution Team Flash could come up with was to have Barry give him a transfusion and hope his speed healing passed itself into Ralph. It worked. But, as Barry started experiencing what could only at first be described as fever dreams, we see a tiny sliver of cells work it’s way into Barry’s arm through the transfusion tube. At this point, Barry is in a mental battle with himself. Ramsey is there, of course, and I believe these scenes are his best so far. He’s the easy talking guiding light; telling you the truth (mostly) about what he’s offering and all it’s benefits, with none of it’s drawbacks.
The whole series of scenes Barry witnesses and lives feel steeped in horror from Baby Nora in her crib to Team Flash eating the bloody lasagna- it really, really works. This is one of the most convincing dream sequences I’ve ever seen- and I mean that in a way where you believe the hero could actually go with the villain in this scenario. Nora Allen appears to Barry as well; but in the form of the Speed Force, once again, in a great bit of history from the show. As Barry fights between his destiny and keeping true to the legacy of The Flash (and ultimately, his death to stop Crisis) from being Ramsey’s monster who can live on and save anyone else from death. It truly is a struggle of the mind and heart and Barry’s sobbing confession that he truly doesn’t want to die, selfishly, he wants to live is played by Grant Gustin with heartfelt emotion.
In another great callback, Cisco uses a vial of Velocity X, which gave Zoom (from season 3) his powers and it jolts Barry back to life, fighting off Ramsey’s blood. Or so we think. In probably the best twist ending in The Flash’s history, Iris immediately realizes this is not her Barry- oh no, Ramsey actually succeeded in convincing Barry to give into him as he’s now his evil puppet. With Crisis looming, this story feels too big to shoehorn in but I’m so, so glad it’s been split into two parts and it feels like this could be Ramsey’s swan song next week. I don’t want to gloss over everything else that happened this week but there wasn’t much: Iris did everything she could not to confront the point that she needs to fulfill her future obligation and write the Crisis article we’ve been seeing since season 1 and Nash uncovers Novu’s lair complete with a litany of symbols, yay!
8.5/10– A maddening crisis conscience in a dream sleep dominates this week’s episode in grand and creepy fashion with real existential and honest emotions swirling around in- a great, great episode.
Jessie Robertson
