“Invincible” is episode twenty-two of season two of The Flash.
In the previous episode, “The Runaway Dinosaur”, Barry had returned from being inside the Speed Force, with his powers back. At CCPD, Jay had told Caitlin that she had a decision to make. Jay was going to go and speak to his friends. Caitlin could choose to stay or go; it was up to her. If she left, she would be treated no differently to the others next time he saw her. Then Jay went to speak to his ‘friends’ as Zoom – an entire army of metas.
This episode opens with fires all over Central City. Meta-humans of all types are attacking the police, and the police seem to be coming off a definite second best. Joe and Captain Singh are behind a cruiser when Singh is hit by green light from one of the metas, knocking him back. Joe gets Singh into a cruiser, and the driver starts reversing away, but another cruiser passes behind them and then explodes. Metas have surrounded Joe’s cruiser – then Barry appears and whisks them all away.
Iris is typing an article about what some are calling the Metapocalypse, the day Central City was overrun by meta-humans. That these may be dark times but they should not forget their own strength, that they have the power to fight back. They are not alone. Wally appears to have made up his mind about something and Zoom is standing on a building watching Barry put out all the fires.
At S.T.A.R. Labs Barry is talking to Iris, saying he used to take down one meta at a time and now it’s a hundred. Iris replies that Barry doesn’t seem to be overwhelmed and Barry replies it’s because he knows he can do this. Then Cisco rushes up to them and says they have to come see this. Caitlin is back and Henry is examining her. Looks like she choose to leave Jay. Henry says that Caitlin is suffering from shock, dehydrated and undernourished, but otherwise okay.
When asked how she got away, Caitlin says that Zoom let her go. She thought it was a trap and Zoom told her that Barry was dead. Caitlin says that Zoom is going to overrun Central City but Barry says that he isn’t. Caitlin replies that they don’t know what Zoom is capable of. Barry says that he was inside the Speed Force, and the universe is with them, not Zoom. How can they possibly loose when the universe is on their side?
As Barry leaves with Caitlin, explaining to her what happened, Cisco starts and says he has to say it, Barry is a little too overconfident. He’s not the only one who thinks so either; Iris, Henry and Wells all agree. Wells says that someone needs to talk to Barry, before him letting his guard down gets him hurt, or worse. Jesse points out that Barry did bring her out of her coma.
At Mercury Labs, Dr McGee is congratulating someone on a discovery they have made, saying that it’s exactly why she founded the company. Outside, a woman in a long black coat is walking up to the building. The woman screams and the building’s windows shatter, followed by the actual concrete, and McGee tells her staff to evacuate.
Barry is with Caitlin, who has gone to sleep, when Cisco enters. Barry says that Zoom has really taken it out of Caitlin; Cisco responds that he hasn’t exactly used kid gloves on the rest of them. Barry tells Cisco they can take Zoom down, because the universe is with them. Cisco starts responding to that when he vibes and sees a dead bird. Barry asks Cisco if he vibed, and he says yes – he saw a dead bird. Which is not hugely helpful. Then the meta-human alert goes off, saying Mercury Labs is under attack.
At Mercury Labs, most of the staff is out but Dr McGee falls through a hole in the floor. Barry manages to save her and takes her outside – and she says thank you, Mr Allen. When Barry asks how, Tina says she isn’t stupid. The woman who caused this walks away, saying ‘Boom’ as she does – and she looks like Laurel Lance.
Barry takes Dr McGee back to S.T.A.R. Labs and asks how she knew who he was. She replies that she’s a scientist, it’s her job to be observant, and Barry always seemed a little too well informed on certain matters. She says she doesn’t know one person – Henry – and the two introduce themselves. It looks like they like what they see (the two playing the roles previously worked together on the 1990s version of The Flash, he as Barry Allen and she as the same character).
CCTV footage from Mercury Labs may show what happened. The labs have a crash survival memory unit – Tina calls it a black box for buildings. It’s pointed out that, in the past, when Mercury Labs has been targeted it’s always been for a specific reason. Barry says it was probably Zoom but Dr McGee says there is one more possibility. Back in “The Fury of Firestorm”, she saw Harrison Wells running out of the facility, and wonders if he has anything to do with this. Wells picks that point to enter and says that, a few months ago, yes, but now, no. Barry mentions that there are a few more things Dr McGee needs bringing up to speed on.
In Central City, a man snatches a woman’s purse and runs off, only to be hit by a car. Driven by Wally. Wally gets out and knocks down the purse snatcher, who tells Wally he has picked a bad time to play hero. The purse snatcher is a meta-human, and is getting ready to use his powers on Wally when Joe zaps him from behind.
Joe wants to know what Wally thinks he’s doing. Wally replies that the man had just jacked a bunch of people, and he had to do something. He can’t let guys like that just get away with it. Joe tells Wally that they aren’t just guys – they’re metas. Wally should leave them to the cops and the Flash. Wally says that the Flash can’t be everywhere at once. Wally has to do what he can to help, to show the Flash that he was worth being saved. Joe says that Wally is, but Wally disagrees. He thinks he has a lot to make up for, and he intends to do just that.
Wells walks in on Caitlin running tests on Jesse; Jesse had asked her to do it to see if Jesse’s genetic structure has changed. Jesse’s father wants to know why she wants testing again; Jesse replies that she was hit by the dark matter in “Rupture”, it must have affected her somehow. Wells tells Jesse she isn’t a meta, she’s a young woman with a genius level IQ that they can use in the fight against the new wave of metas.
Barry has got the black box from Mercury Labs, and is heading back out onto the streets. Which he considers to be a piece of cake. So Henry goes and speaks to him. Henry asks Barry if he saw the future when he was in the Speed Force, because he is very optimistic. Barry says he didn’t, but the experience changed him. For the first time he isn’t afraid anymore. Barry’s father tells him he still has to be careful.
Then an alarm goes off and there’s a Flash symbol on the CCPD building. Barry goes there and finds Jay in Barry’s lab, looking at the details of the murder of Barry’s mother. Jay says that he never saw the crime scene photos of his mother’s murder – but he did get a ringside seat whilst Barry was whisked away.
Barry says he doesn’t think Jay called him here just to banter, and they need to finish it. Jay replies that he did. That Barry can run from one meta to the next, but Jay knows him, he knows what’s holding him back. And, which can be seen coming, Jay tells Barry that they are the same. They are the same person except that Barry thinks his anger is dirty, and that he always has to be the hero. Doesn’t Barry find this exhausting? That is why Zoom is going to beat Barry. Barry is about to attack Zoom when another building starts to collapse. Jay tells him that is why he knows he will win, because Barry has to always be the hero and save the people in the building.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry tells the others they need to stop Zoom now, before any more buildings are destroyed. It’s pointed out that Zoom has an army of metas and Wells says they couldn’t stop Zoom on his Earth. Barry says they need to take down Zoom’s army of metas first. He doesn’t want to take weeks to do it either, but do it to all of them at once. Then Barry starts talking about vibrations, and how people from Earth-Two vibrate at a different frequency. He thinks this is how they can take down the Earth-Two metas. Cisco agrees and Wells says he likes the idea.
Joe wants Barry to talk to Wally, as the Flash again, to try and talk him out of what he’s doing. Wally says it isn’t just the Flash’s fight though, it’s all of theirs. Laurel Lance is the Earth-Two version, as the Laurel the others knew is dead. This one is called Black Siren. She’s not very nice (so many of the Earth-Two counterparts are Evil Twins). Caitlin is struggling and seeing Zoom everywhere. She tells Cisco that Zoom took everything from her; her confidence, her trust, her sanity, and she’s afraid all the time. Sounds like Caitlin is suffering from PTSD. Cisco is vibing more dead birds, which he considers unhelpful. Because it is. Then he vibes more of the scene. It looks really bad. Barry’s confidence is also troubling everyone who knows him. Jay is also convinced that Barry is just like him and wants to prove it.