The Flash recap: Nora makes a decision about her relationship with Thawne

Welcome back to The Flash! Before we dive into tonight’s episode, I feel like we should talk about the title. How in the world did it take The Flash five seasons to make a pun on The Fast and the Furious? It seems so obvious! Look, this episode title definitely isn’t as clever as the ones DC’s Legends of Tomorrow throws out every week, but it’s still pretty fun.

That being said, though, the episode’s title is actually kind of misleading because the Flash/Barry Allen is barely involved in the story of tonight’s episode; he spends most of the hour stuck in the pipeline for reasons we’ll get to shortly. Instead, “The Flash & The Furious” is a very Nora-centric episode that picks up on the tantalizing twist at the end of the 100th episode and explores how learning that Thawne killed her grandmother affects her relationship with both her evil coach and how she operates as a superhero.

We begin in 2049 with Nora confronting Thawne about murdering her namesake. Not only is she pissed off about what he did, but she’s also not too pleased that he lied about it. The most interesting part of their chat, though, is how Thawne comes across. Thanks to the show’s make-up and costuming team, he looks beaten down and worn out, and Tom Cavanagh captures that feeling in his performance, too, especially in his voice. He’s also desperate, which isn’t something we’re used to seeing on Thawne either. This version of Thawne appears to regret the evil deeds he’s done and is desperate to make sure his self-centeredness isn’t his lasting legacy. His hope is that Nora will help him do that, but at this point, she doesn’t want anything more to do with him because she doesn’t believe he can change. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the exchange also ends up affecting how she approaches this week’s metahuman case.

Back in 2019, it’s time to deal with the meta-tech case of the week (For the record: Meta-tech still feels kind of silly and a bridge too far, but we have to go with it). When Silver Ghost, a.k.a. Raya, steals a car using a meta-tech key fob that allows her to control technology or something, the Flash and XS speed off to do their thing. This should be a simple crime to foil; however, the presence of meta-tech complicates things. Barry attempts to phase through the car, but the dark matter sends him flying and his body gets filled with so much unstable dark matter that he’s unable to stop vibrating and phasing. Seeing no other option, the team throws him in a power dampening cell in the pipeline, which is where he stays for the entire episode because it’s going to take about 24 hours for the unstable dark energy to leave his system. I suspect Grant Gustin was sidelined for this episode because he was busy shooting “Elseworlds.”

Having the Flash stuck in the pipeline would be a bad development on most days, but it’s a particularly inconvenient now because Barry was supposed to testify in Weather Witch’s case, which Cecile is prosecuting on her first day back in court. Thankfully, Central City has two CSIs, and Nora steps to testify. But Nora didn’t come to play, and once she takes the stand, she goes after Weather Witch in the hopes that the judge would throw the proverbial book at her. After what happened with Thawne, Nora has lost faith in people’s ability to change or feel remorse. Her crusade to put Weather Witch away goes against Cecile’s plan: Cecile decided to pursue a lighter sentence because she kept feeling waves of remorse from Joss during her opening statement. But after Nora’s outburst in court, Joss stands up and admits her guilt because she wants to pay for what she did.

Next: The search for a cure

The guilt-ridden Joss accepts her sentence; however, Silver Ghost attacks her prison transport and kidnaps her because she wants her help breaking into A.R.G.U.S. Apparently, the lightning created by Weather Witch’s staff is enough to disrupt the overreaching governmental organization’s security system. Intent on turning her life around, Joss refuses to help and turns herself into XS on the condition that she lets her prove that she didn’t willingly escape from prison. But XS, cold as ever, simply drops Joss off back at the police station because she doesn’t believe Joss that she wasn’t involved in Silver Ghost’s attack.

Right after that, Iris, who got her hands on Silver Ghost’s old military file from before she was dishonorably discharged, reveals that Joss and Silver Ghost didn’t actually know each other. This knowledge forces Nora to reconsider how hard she was on Joss, and she turns to her father for advice. To her surprise, Barry says it’s important for them to always have faith in people and to give second chances because if they don’t no one will. He even admits that he holds out some hope that Thawne can change sometime in the future. This idea of hope is a big part of what makes Barry and the Flash a superhero.

Of course, Silver Ghost breaks Weather Witch out of prison once again, and this time Weather Witch agrees to help Silver Ghost since everyone has lost faith in her. So, the two team up and steal a Wayne Tech-built supercar from A.R.G.U.S. and go for a joy ride. XS and Killer Frost head out to confront them, except this time around, Nora uses her words to win the fight. She apologizes to Joss for being unwilling to give her a second chance and asks Joss to give her one. Nora’s words obviously break through to Joss and she stops the stolen car before it runs XS over. Yay, the day is saved, and as Barry tells Nora at the end of the episode, she now has her own Leonard Snart.

Furthermore, Nora changes her mind again about her relationship with Thawne. She returns to the future and agrees to let Thawne, who only has 51 minutes to live, attempt to earn her trust back. So, the two get to work on whatever it is they’ve been working on.

While all of this was going on, Cisco and Caitlin/Killer Frost were busy butting heads over a metahuman cure. Short story short, Cisco wants one, but Caitlin doesn’t. To be honest, I understand their arguments for and against creating a cure. For Cisco, not being Vibe for the past few months helped him realize he eventually wants a normal life and basically doesn’t want to be the Flash; he wants to come home to his future family every night. Removing his vibe powers would help him achieve that goal. Caitlin, on the other hand, is very concerned about the cure being misused, which is valid. Eventually, Caitlin comes around and agrees to help Cisco make it, but on the condition that they never force someone to take it.

Wall of Weird:

• Still suspicious of Nora, Sherloque does some snooping and discovers that she removed all of her files from Gideon in the Time Vault.
• Ralph didn’t appear in tonight’s episode because he was off visiting his mother.
• The show also offered an explanation for Jesse L. Martin’s absence: After Cicada’s home visit, he took Baby Jenna to visit Wally in order to keep her safe.

Related content:

• The Flash star teases Barry and Ralph’s exciting trip to the criminal underworld
• The Flash boss on SPOILER’s return in the 100th episode
• Superhero Insider: Breaking down this year’s Arrowverse crossover — and that epic tease