“Paradox” is episode two of season three of The Flash.
In the previous episode, “Flashpoint”, Barry eventually did what Eobard Thawne said he would do – release the Reverse-Flash and allow him to go back and kill Nora Allen again. Afterwards, Thawne said that everything was back to normal. For him. Certainly giving the impression that not everything was for Barry. Barry’s parents are both dead – again – but something is up with Iris. Joe did not react so well when Barry said her name, putting it down to losing his father, and Wally confirmed that something was wrong. Just not what, other than that Joe and Iris don’t talk. “Flashpoint” is based on the DC Comics crossover arc of the same name, which had massive changes to the timeline. Barry was repeatedly warned that messing with the past would not be the brightest idea he has ever had. Looks like this was right.
This episode opens with Barry confessing that he made a big mistake, that he couldn’t take it anymore and made a new life and started over but only made things worse. Barry is speeding to Star City and arrives in front of Felicity Smoak. Who has – well, had now – big piles of paperwork in front of her. Now she has lots of loose sheets of paper all over the floor. She’s not terribly happy.
Barry continues, saying he reset everything and put everything back the way they were but some things aren’t the same anymore. Felicity tells Barry to slow down and take a breath, because he’s talking too fast. Barry says he screwed up and this time he doesn’t know if he can fix it. After Barry has explained, Felicity recaps and asks if this happens every time Barry travels through time. He says no, not like this. Then qualifies that by adding he doesn’t actually know. Felicity asks Barry to run, no walk, her through what has changed.
Barry explains that there is a problem with Iris and Joe but, before he could work this out, he had to deal with someone. A thief on a motorbike wielding a machine pistol who had robbed a jewellery store. Then when Barry arrived at S.T.A.R. Labs he realised that more had changed. Barry suggests that Cisco come up with a name for the person he just caught; he’s the master at it and he does it all the time. Cisco, who seems very subdued, says he doesn’t know, and suggests ‘Thief.’ Because he robs stuff. The says he has to go to the gym. Barry asks Caitlin if Cisco is working out now and she replies that sometimes his jokes aren’t very funny.
With most everyone else having left, Iris says she has to get back to the paper. So Joe says that he will go instead. Barry wants them to talk about the problem, as that might help. What Barry really means is that would help him know just what is going on. Iris says that it’s what Joe did, not her, that’s the problem. So, that didn’t work. As Joe and Wally leave, Barry checks that Wally is still taking engineering classes. He is. Iris asks Barry what’s wrong, and he tells her nothing. He just doesn’t fully understand why she’s upset. Iris wants to talk about them and Barry tells Felicity that he’s kissed Iris twice now and each time erased it from existence. Felicity comments that she hates it when that happens.
Barry continues narrating. He is at the precinct with Joe who mentions that Captain Singh needs a report. Barry says that Singh is back – he never went anywhere. Joe thinks Barry is acting odd. He has no idea. Joe says that Iris is upset with him because Joe didn’t tell Iris that her mother was alive. Barry says that Iris forgave Joe, then corrects it to will forgive Joe, because that obviously hasn’t happened either. Joe tells Barry he is not helping.
They arrive at Barry’s lab and Joe says that they found another husk this morning. And hands it to Julian Albert, who has a nameplate on his desk saying Meta-Human CSI Specialist (he looks evil, but then he is played by Tom Felton who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, so he may not be). They have been finding skin husks all over the city and think it’s attached to metas in some way. This is the fourth. Barry is now sharing his lab with someone. He’s trying to figure out just what has happened without revealing what has happened. That’s probably not going to work. Julian does not like Barry, and doesn’t like sharing a lab with him. Which he has done for over a year and will be doing for longer.
Barry then heads to the gym Cisco went to. Which is actually a grief support meeting. Because Cisco’s brother Dante is dead. Barry asks Felicity what if there’s more. She asks if anything there has changed. He says no, then that he doesn’t know. So borrows Felicity’s computer to check. Barry says that everything looks okay – then asks who the young boy is with Digg. Felicity asks if Diggle didn’t have a child – he did. Baby Sarah. Now he has Baby John. Barry says he has screwed up everyone’s life. She suggests that he tell them, but Barry replies he doesn’t know how to fix it. Felicity tells him he will figure it out. Not because he’s the Flash, but because he’s Barry Allen. So he should go and fix this. Now. Right now? YES!
At the end of the previous episode, a man woke up in bed hearing a voice. The man was Edward Claris, who was the Rival, another speedster, in the alternate timeline. The word ‘ALCHEMY’ was scratched on his mirror as he watched. Now Claris is on a bus, and he hears the voice again. and ‘ALCHEMY’ is scratched on a window. Claris arrives at a place where there are figures in hooded robes in a circle. One stands up; this one at least is wearing a mask and his voice sounds – wrong. The figure tells Claris that he is Alchemy. Claris replies that he has been having visions of another life and wants Alchemy to make them stop. Alchemy asks if he doesn’t want them to come true instead. So that Claris can be fast again. Have speed again. And Claris says yes. Alchemy tells Claris that he will once again have power and no man will be his rival.
Joe and Barry arrive beside the water where Julian already is. Joe says to Julian that he thought Barry could help on this one. Julian replies that he doesn’t need any help, especially from Barry. Barry asks what they have – as he hasn’t seen them before and it looks like a thin piece of skin like a human body – and Julian tells him that it is another epidermal husk, a fully intact human pelt comprised of nothing but the stratum corneum. Barry asks if Julian has any theories; he says yes – it’s the same thing as the other four. When Julian figures it out, he will enlighten Barry. Barry asks in an aside to Joe how he worked with this guy for the past year. Apparently Barry says it all the time. Julian won’t let Barry take a sample, so Barry uses his speed to get one.
Barry takes the sample back to the lab. Caitlin also tells him that a few months ago Dante was killed by a drunk driver. So Barry wants to know why Cisco is so mad at him. He wants Caitlin to bring Cisco to dinner at Joe’s, so they can fix this. Barry is going to get Joe and Iris there too. Which he does by using his speed to have two conversations at the same time to convince each that the other wants to share something.
Dinner is… very, very quiet. Barry suggests they go away as a group for a few days. This does not prove a popular idea. Cisco says he told Caitlin it would be an epic fail. He does reveal why he’s so mad at Barry – because Barry won’t go back in time and save Dante. Then all their phone go off with a meta-human alert. A speedster has been spotted. Guess who. Claris – the Rival – is back, and he tells the Flash that he know he changed the timeline. That before the only speedsters were Claris and the smart mouthed Kid Flash. Claris says that all his life he felt something was missing. Now he knows why.
Things are still going badly and Barry decides to fix them again. Only to meet the Earth-3 Flash. In “The Race of His Life” Zoom had revealed that the man in the iron mask was another speedster, the Flash, the real Jay Garrick. Zoom stole his identity, and even his colour scheme. When the mask came off, the man underneath was Henry Allen’s doppelgänger. Jay wants to have a word with Barry about time travel, having made similar mistakes himself. The essence of this boils down to: Travelling in time to change the past equals bad.
The Rival may be back, but he doesn’t seem like the true threat. That looks as if it’s going to be Alchemy, whoever, or whatever, he is.