'The Flash' Season 4: Ten Facts From 'Enter Flashtime'

Barry Allen is drenched in sweat when The Flash Season 4 episode 15, "Enter Flashtime," begins. Just like we saw in the courtroom earlier this season, Barry touches Iris and slows down time to a near halt. He tells her Central City is in danger and he may not be able to save everyone this time. Then, the episode flashes back 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The rest of this article contains major spoilers for the latest episode of The Flash.

the flash season 4
The Flash Season 4 episode 15, "Enter Flashtime." CW

Barry and Cisco are practicing to catch the season-long villain, Clifford DeVoe aka The Thinker, with a breach when Joe calls because Central City police need backup. Jesse Quick coincidentally arrives in Central City to confront her father about leaving Earth-2. They all head to the scene when Joe's emergency alert goes off in STAR Labs. As soon as Barry realizes there's a nuclear bomb about to detonate and destroy Central City, he freezes time and sends Jesse Quick to go retrieve Jay Garrick from Earth-3.

the flash jesse quick
The Flash Season 4 episode 15, "Enter Flashtime." CW

While waiting, Barry brings Cisco into "flashtime" to get an expert opinion on this nuclear bomb. A bunch of nerd jargon ensues...something about a fission engine and isotopes splitting, and "purple means boom." Cisco then tries to breach the bomb into a dead Earth, which does not work. Harry tries to tell Barry to open a portal to the speed force and send it there, but OG speedster Jay Garrick shows up and does not allow it. Killer Frost tries to cool down the bomb to prevent it from exploding, but that doesn't work either. Jesse Quick suggests running back in time, which obviously gets shut down right away (because Flashpoint). All three speedsters--The Flash, Jesse Quick and Jay Garrick--then attempt to throw a lighting bolt in unison at the bomb. That doesn't work because Jay Garrick is too old. He can't even keep in flashtime anymore.

The-Flash flashtime episode 15 recap
The Flash Season 4 episode 15, "Enter Flashtime." CW

About halfway through the hour-long episode and we return to present time. Barry goes to say goodbye to Iris when she proposes a brilliant idea: run back into the speed force and trick it into sending a huge bolt of lightning back out into the bomb (or something like that). It works and the city is saved, though Veronica Dale (Hyrax) is still out there. In the comics, she is a Green Arrow villain and leader of Eden Corps, an eco-terrorist organization. The episode concludes with Jay Garrick rightfully announcing his retirement. Before he goes, he reveals quite the surprise: there's another speedster on Earth 3. He's training HER to take his place.

the flash season 4 episode 15 flashtime recap
The Flash Season 4 episode 15, "Enter Flashtime." CW

Since this episode focused only on speedsters, here are ten facts we learned about Barry Allen, Jesse Quick, Jay Garrick and the speed force.

  • Jesse is nearly as fast as Barry
  • Barry can bring other people, not just Iris, into flashtime. Cisco said he felt he was traveling at superspeed.
  • Flashtime is too fast for Cisco to form a breach. He doesn't have the time necessary to build one.
  • Non-speedsters can't survive flashtime for more than a few minutes.
  • The other speedsters can't bring people into Flashtime. Barry got that power after being trapped in the speed force for so long.
  • The speed force can be lost forever. Detonating a nuclear bomb could destroy it. Every speedster would lose access to their speed instantly.
  • Speedsters sweat and get tired. Barry was able to last the longest in flashtime and can also lend speed now (since flashtime technically allows others to feel travel at superspeed) which means he's probably the most powerful out of all the speedsters we've met/are still alive on the show.
  • Speedsters can get too old. Apparently, "Timelines don't' work like they once did"
  • When the speedsters slow down, real time speeds back up.
  • Jay Garrick announces there's another Flash on Earth-3. That's suspicous becuase the same mysterious young girl we saw at Barry and Iris' wedding appeared only moments after.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.

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Autumn Noel Kelly started as a staff writer for Newsweek in 2015. She covers anything in the comic book world—TV ... Read more

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