FLASH SPOILER Review: Episode 3×21- “Cause and Effect”

Directed by:        David
McWhirter

So this week’s
episode picks up exactly where we left off last week, Barry vs future Barry and
the producers have realized that after this long the last thing we need is
mystery.  Barry has figured it all out,
Savitar-Barry is a time remnant from the final battle between Barry and Savitar
that was abandoned by everyone since he was an extra Barry.  He traveled back in time and closed the loop
and he’s almost finished with his apotheosis. He needs two things, Iris’ death
and… a secret thing. 

Barry considers
victory by suicide but Savitar reveals something we probably should’ve
suspected: The more you time travel, the less the rules hold.  So Barry settles for kicking Savitar’s ass,
that plan has mixed results and Savitar escapes.  Back at STAR Labs, Barry’s explaining what he
learned and after Cisco reference one of the all-time great Star Trek: Original
Series episode “The Enemy Within” and makes a joke about spin-offs that works
on a couple levels the gang has to try and figure what they can do with a guy
that knows exactly what their strengths weaknesses and plans are going to be
literally the second they think them.

Iris talks
to Barry about seeing his future self so twisted and destroyed (Barry’s been
seeing lots of that lately) Barry admits that he can see where that darkness
comes from and he can even understand it. 
That’s when Cisco shows up with an idea, give Barry brain cancer stop Barry from creating new long term
memories.  Despite the high
possibility of disaster, compounded by their Brain expert Caitlin having done a
heel turn (it’s Monday, my mind’s on wrestling) Barry agrees to this anyway.

Good news!
It worked… Bad news! Not the way they wanted. 
Not only is Barry not making any new memories, he doesn’t have the old
ones.  Thankfully, through the power of
narrative flow he retains language and the like.  Can’t have adult-Baby-Barry, it’s not that
kind of show.

So hijinks
ensue and it’s pretty much what you’ve come to expect out of amnesia
stories.  Barry doesn’t recognize them so
they have to convince him. (Though there’s some cool moments like Wally saying
he’s Barry’s brother and Barry checking his skin color.)  He doesn’t remember he’s the Flash so he
doesn’t realize he has them until a make out session with Iris gets out of hand.  He makes fun of his name (and decides to go
with Bart.  Wakka-wakka!)  He also has to provide some technical testimony
at a parole hearing for Heat Monger and fails which gets him released.

The more
important stuff is first; it turns out that Savitar has lost his memories as
well and that will come into play later. 
Second: Iris spends time with this unburdened Barry and she realizes
that while he still has a lot of the traits she loves about him he’s no longer
carrying all the angst and weight that caused him so much pain.  Iris isn’t too sure they should fix him.

So like I
said, Savitar is mind-wiped too and Caitlin is on the case.  When she shows up at STAR Labs to confront
Team Flash we find out that because Savitar has lost his memories he never went
back in time to start all his plans and as a result Wally doesn’t have his
powers.  So, Caitlin gives them a choice,
they can give Barry (and Savitar) his memories back with her help or they can
run the risk of the city falling to Barry’s enemies.

Team Flash
realizes that the threat of the lesser Flash rogues does not match up to the benefits
of Savitar being out of commission also since Barry and even Joe are becoming
charmed by Tabula Rasa-Barry they essential decide that there’s no real need to
bring his memories back.

That is…
Until Heat Monger starts torching an office building and New-Barry isn’t really
up to the task.  Fortunately for them,
they’ve got some tech that can use Barry’s suit to shock his brain again.  However, since that’s not enough they need
Iris to call on a memory from the night his mother was murdered.  After Joe brought him home, Barry was in
shock but Iris found him crying in the middle of the night and offered comfort.  The power of that memory allowed Barry to
access his memory again and he save the workers with a little bit of help from
Wally since Savitar regained his memories which returned his powers.

Back at STAR
Labs, Caitlin decides that with Barry fixed their truce is over.  When she tries to leave, Julian, Barry and Cisco
tries to convince her to stay but she pretty much tells them that she never
cared for any of them and leaves.  Later,
Barry and Iris talk about the last few days and how his experiences with
Flashpoint were similar for him. 

Say, I just
realized that we haven’t seen much of HR and Tracy.  Well that’s because they’ve been working on
the weapon to take care of Savitar which they have dubbed the Speed Force
Bazooka.  Good news!  It’s finished.  Bad news! They don’t have a power source and
it’s going to take more energy than the output of the sun to fire this
thing.  Whatever will they do?  I don’t know but since we see what appears to
be an ARGUS warehouse holding the alien weapons from the big crossover last
fall I’m guessing they’ll need that and since we see King Shark guarding it, I’m
guessing it won’t be easy to get.

Fun little
episode, sort of a set up for the final fight which is fine.  They also wrapped it up in a nice fun little
amnesia story which is also fine.  There
is some meat to dig into.  First and
foremost is that I think they’ve tipped off how they’ll actually defeat
Savitar.  See, the thing about that Star
Trek episode besides setting up a Star Trek episode plot device (the
transporter doesn’t work when we absolutely need it to work) for decades to
come, is the resolution.  The way the
episode is resolved is that Kirk realizes that his dark and light halves need
each other to make a whole person.  He
wouldn’t be the man he is without them and as a result his light side soothes
his darker half and convinces him to join again.

So, for the
sake of a potential “I called it!” two weeks from now I’m now putting it down
here that because of Flashpoint Barry will be unable to trap Savitar in the
Speed Force and the only way he can defeat him is by essentially reabsorbing
Savitar into himself and healing his spirit. 
It’s even possible that doing this is what repairs the damage done by
Flashpoint heading into next season.

So there you
go, pretty good episode, especially for a primarily filler episode.  Now it’s time to have our heist episode and
wrap this all up in the season finale.

Things We Learned
This Week:

Unanswered Questions: