The Flash season 3 episode 16 review: A Barry / Iris shocker; Jay Garrick’s sacrifice

Entering The Flash season 3 episode 16, we were reminded of one thing: We were entering the Speed Force. It’s a place where things operate under their own heartbeat, and the entity has its own priorities. Tonight, one of them was to make Wally West and Barry Allen’s life a living hell.

Specifically, one of the things that we learned about the Speed Force tonight is that they really don’t like the idea of Barry messing with the timeline. They felt he didn’t fulfill his end of the bargain, and as a result of that, we saw tonight them do everything that they could to keep him from getting to Wally, who was trapped there while Savitar was out roaming free once more on Earth-1.

Probably the biggest surprise we saw within the Speed Force was several happy returns, whether it be Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett) or Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell). These were nice little cameos, but without a doubt the one that was the most exciting was seeing Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp) once more. As it turns out, the world of The Flash continues to be rather cruel to characters played by Shipp. First, Henry Allen was in jail. Then, he was killed by Zoom. There was a little bit of joy that came out of the Earth-3 version of him being Jay Garrick, but tonight, he opted to allow himself to stay in the Speed Force so that Wally could be free, and they could take on Savitar. He entered the Speed Force after being recruited by Cisco, specifically with the knowledge that he would be staying there.

In the end, Barry and Wally were able to make it back, albeit with a heavy heart.

Jesse Quick goes solo

Is it a little crazy that Jesse was able to temporarily subdue a god like Savitar with less than a year’s worth of speedster training? Maybe, but we’re not going to start questioning a show about super-speed in terms of believability. With H.R.’s help, she was able to at least stop him for the time being … but not before a warning made her realize that Savitar could have plans for her in the future.

The episode tonight ended with her heading over to Earth-3, largely for the purpose of trying to figure out what her own future plans are. Plus, with Jay gone, that Earth needs a new hero.

Barry, Iris deal with proposal aftermath

After the proposal-that-ended-quickly, the two had a chance to talk things over at the end of the episode. She made it clear that she wanted to be married, but they also have to figure out the right way in which to do it. He admitted that he proposed in that instance mostly because he wanted to change the future, not because the timing was right in his mind.

Then … he broke up with her? What was that about?! This came out of nowhere, and honesty, the show has to justify that beyond Barry being afraid of the future and putting her in danger (again).

Overall, the best episode in weeks

There was a lot of pretty irrelevant stuff on The Flash over the past few weeks, but this story brought the excellent return of the Speed Force and many emotional moments aplenty. If you love this show, and we assume that you do, there was a ton to love here … other than the Barry / Iris breakup. That was no bueno. Grade: B+.

Prepare for The Flash season 3 episode 17

Want to know when the show is returning? Well, just head over here right now to get some further news regarding what’s coming up. (Photo: The CW.)

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