“Rupture” is episode twenty of season two of The Flash.
The episode opens with the police chasing a car and Cisco is coordinating with Barry. The car being chased gets away from the cops, but the Flash is still apparently after them. Only he isn’t. Barry is still at S.T.A.R. Labs and is running on a treadmill. Then Cisco notices a tunnel is coming up and tells them that the satellite can’t project in there. Iris asks Cisco if he’s only just thought of that and he replies that he never thought they could outrun the Flash. Barry tells Iris he wants to do the lightning toss and Cisco points out that won’t work as it is only a hologram. However, Barry actually means to blind the criminals. Cisco mutters to himself about hoping that thousands of hours gaming will pay off and says ‘Leeroy!’ but never finishes with the ‘Jenkins.’ The holographic Flash running in circles around the car blinds the criminals and the police catch them.
At the lab, Iris says she never thought it would work. Cisco replies that if they can do Tupac rapping at a concert, they can definitely do the Flash in Central City. Then Wells enters and tells them it isn’t going to last. It’s not going to be long before people realise that the Flash never says anything, never touches anything and never goes indoors. Iris tells Wells is the best idea they have.
Wells has a better idea. In the previous episode, “Back to Normal”, Wells told Barry that he was going to get Barry’s speed back. With another particle accelerator explosion. Others do not think this is a great idea. Cisco says that the first time they created lots of meta-humans and the last time they rebuilt the particle accelerator they blew a hole in the universe and created something like 50 portals to Wells’ Earth. Which is how Zoom and his henchmen (henchpeople?) got through in the first place.
Wells says that he knows how to contain the explosion this time. As yet, they don’t believe he can contain a dark matter explosion that radiated across Central City and, when Wells tried to contain the explosion on his Earth, it didn’t work. Wells tells them he has the data from this Earth’s Wells (well, Eobard Thawne really) he knows what chemicals need to be in Barry’s body and he knows how to get the lightning to bond with the dark matter. That their subterfuge is not going to last. It is not going to save Snow. The only way they will be ready when Zoom returns is for Barry to get his speed back.
Barry goes to see his dad. In a car. Henry Allen is staying at a cabin (which, it turns out, is actually the same cabin as used by Jack O’Neill in Stargate SG-1). Henry asks his son how come a speedster needs to use a car. Barry explains how, in “Versus Zoom”, he gave up his speed to save Wally, as he couldn’t let Wally die.
Barry continues with the explanation, saying that Jay took Zoom. Then has to explain that Jay Garrick is Zoom. Henry questions the name Garrick, as it was his mother’s maiden name (in the 90s version of The Flash, John Wesley Shipp, who plays Henry Allen, played Barry Allen, the Flash). Henry says that he’s proud of the man Barry has become, and asks if he really needs his powers to be that person. Barry replies that, every time something good happens, it is taken away, and his father suggests it’s time they do something about that.
At the lab, Cisco is looking at Wells’ design and comments that it looks like the vacuum. Jesse asks what he means and Cisco replies that they obviously don’t have Fringe on Earth-Two (or perhaps Jesse simply hadn’t seen the show). Wells says that the device is how Barry is going to get his speed back. When Wells calls Cisco Ramon, Cisco asks him to stop calling him that. Then has a vibe of his brother Dante and says he has to go.
Barry and Henry arrive and Henry says he’s back for good. Barry hasn’t told Joe yet, he wants to do it in person. Wally is at the CCPD with Joe. Wally says to his father that, since the Flash saved him, he is not sure whether designing cars is what he was meant to do. His father says that there may be something else out there but, until then, stick with engineering. Then Zoom turns up with Caitlin. In the previous episode when Caitlin had told Jay she wanted to return home, Jay decided that he wanted to dominate another world. In fact, he wanted to dominate them all. Caitlin begs Zoom not to hurt the police and let them go. He does, but tells them that they need to inform everyone that the city is now his, and anyone who disobeys will meet their end. So Singh has his men leave the precinct.
Wells tells the others that Zoom did this as a show of power. The first thing Zoom did on his Earth was slaughtered policemen then recruited meta-humans to help. The police are currently outside the precinct and Wells says they got away only because Zoom wanted them to get away. That they saw what Zoom did on Wells’ Earth and he will do the exact same thing here.
In the precinct, which is now empty apart from Caitlin and Zoom, Jay tells Caitlin that nobody can stop him now. Which is just tempting fate. He then adds, not anymore. Caitlin asks if Zoom is going to kill everyone. He replies not quite everyone – he’s planning on keeping Caitlin alive because he doesn’t want to be alone any more. Jay tells her that Caitlin may think she isn’t like him, but he can see the darkness inside her, just like it was in Killer Frost.
Cisco meets his brother Dante in a bar; the latter asks what’s wrong as Cisco only appears when there is something wrong. Dante asks if he is going to be kidnapped by Snart and his pyro friend again, as happened in “Rogue Time”, and Cisco points out that they were both kidnapped. Dante replies that Cisco wasn’t the one who nearly had his hand frozen off. That they haven’t been close since they were kids, and that’s not going to change.
Wally and Jesse are being put in the time vault by Joe to keep them safe. When they ask how long they are going to be there, Joe tells them until someone lets them out. Joe locks the two in then goes to find Wells. Dr Wells tells Joe that they need to convince Barry that regaining his powers is the only way to stop Zoom, the only way to save the people of Central City, as they need the Flash. Henry joins in the argument as well, then Joe sees that Barry has overheard the argument. Barry tells them that he knows they all care about him, in their own way, but it is his decision.
Cisco’s meeting with his brother didn’t go so well, so he leaves. Cisco follows and asks for a lift home. Then a bolt of red light hits a nearby motorbike, which explodes. A masked figure with a glowing scythe tells Cisco, who he calls Vibe, that he has a beef with him. Cisco has killed his brother and now will die. To which Cisco makes a comment about him Princess Briding him. He also doesn’t know who the figure’s brother was. And is told it was reverb. The new meta, Rupture, is Dante, Reverb’s brother (evidently Zoom brought Rupture with him but neglected to mention that it was actually Zoom who killed Reverb in “Welcome to Earth-2”.
Barry wants to see if they can deal with things without using the particle accelerator, because he isn’t convinced that no-one else will be harmed. Things do not work out well and more decisions are made. Which also do not work out well and will probably have completely unforeseen consequences.