The Flash Recap: The Nuclear Man – Joe’s Discovery and Barry’s Date

The Nuclear Man

This week’s episode of The Flash, “The Nuclear Man,” digs deeper into the mysteries of the meta-humans and their origins while Joe’s investigation reveals a startling secret. Plus, the episode still manages to have its share of cute moments when Barry clumsily (and adorably) continues to woo Linda.

Barry’s Date

The montage that opens the episode features a nervous Barry trying on different outfits for his first date with the intrepid reporter, Linda Park. His speed comes in handy for this as he tries on numerous ensembles. He finally asks Joe for help in finding the perfect outfit, though after awhile Joe (now annoyed) tells him if he changes one more time he’ll shoot him. (Have I mentioned how much I love their relationship?) Barry takes Linda out to dinner where the pair shares a nice meal. Linda introduces him to her favorite tacos, and in-between, Barry manages to stop two crimes from happening without Linda knowing. At the end of the night, Linda plants a kiss on Barry to determine if she wants a second date: she does. Date number two happens the next night, though not before Cisco expresses concern for Barry about his medical condition. Caitlin and Cisco advise Barry to… well, take it slow.

Fast-forward to later in the episode things get complicated, as they were bound to. Barry leaves Linda during their second “date,” which progressed beyond nothing other than making out in a state of undress on the couch, to help Caitlin and Wells. Then, thinking she could get advice from Barry’s BFF Iris, Linda asks her what the deal is with Barry. Iris tells Linda to give Barry time because he loved someone else who didn’t return his feelings. This leads to Linda finding out that Barry had feelings for Iris that weren’t returned. Naturally, this causes tension between the would-be couple. Barry confronts Iris about telling Linda of his feelings for Iris. He tells her he no longer has feelings for her. Barry then wins Linda over on the idea of a third date with a pepper of all things, as Iris looks on. For now, all seems right in Barry’s love life.

F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M

Ronnie Redmond and Professor Martin Stein are back. It would seem a trek down memory lane reveals Stein (in Ronnie’s body) has visited his wife Clarissa. The S.T.A.R Labs gang questions her about her husband whom she had assumed was missing these many months. Their investigation confirms that Ronnie is the host body and Stein the dominant personality. (Sidenote: Robbie Amell does a crazy good job of imitating Victor Garber’s Stein; the speech, mannerisms, everything in his interpretation was impressive.) This means that while Stein feels some small parts of Ronnie, Caitlin confronting him doesn’t mean anything. Ronnie is too far gone for that.

When Barry sees the photo of Stein he remembers meeting him. It was on the train the day of the particle accelerator explosion. On his way to view the demonstration, the professor had his F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M device with him and when the explosion rocked the city, the device broke loose from its case allowing Ronnie and Stein to merge.

This inspires Caitlin and Wells to stake out Clarissa’s house hoping that Stein will return to his home. He does and Barry tries to subdue him to no avail. The next day, along with Clarissa, the gang finds Stein hiding out under a bridge. With Clarissa’s help, they bring him back to the labs for testing. There, Wells believes that unless they kill him, there is no option. Stein is posed to go nuclear. Determined not to lose him again, Caitlin begs the professor to keep working for the two-hour timetable they have left – hoping against hope she won’t have to lose Ronnie again.

Joe and Cisco’s Investigation

Separate from the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M investigation at S.T.A.R. Labs, Joe enlists Cisco’s help in searching Barry’s old house. A divorcée is currently living there and she seems to take a shine to Joe, which allows the pair access to her home. Cisco sweeps the house with his gadget and comes up empty with any new evidence, that is until he discovers a mirror in the same place as it was during the murder. Creating a 3-D image projector (of a sort), he captures the images off the glass and recreates the scene. This leads them to a blood spatter now hidden behind new wallpaper. Certain that Wells is the culprit, Joe asks Cisco to run the rare type against Wells DNA. Cisco of course stands up for his boss, certain that Wells had nothing to do with Nora’s death. He runs the sample anyway and the results do return. He calls Joe to give him the bad news: the sample matches Barry. Not as an eleven-year-old, but as an adult.

Separating Ronnie and Stein

Two hours pass and Wells finds a potential way to save Ronnie and Stein. (Much to Cisco’s relief who couldn’t believe his boss was a murderer.) He adapts a device that should be able to separate the two. Barry just has to get it to the now gone Stein (he left after hearing the hopeless diagnosis). However, Caitlin insists on coming along. As the two of them make it to the barren desert, they find Stein just about to shoot himself. Fortunately, Caitlin stops him and asks him to try the device. “He has nothing to lose,” she says. She gets a kiss from him and he then straps the device to his chest. It would appear it doesn’t work as he begins to denigrate into a ball of flames. Barry forcefully gets Caitlin out of range and the last image we glimpse is Caitlin crying as she watches her fiancé die all over again.

As the explosion rocks the desert, the military’s surveillance picks it up and its leader demands that F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M be brought to him.

Wow. Last night’s episode was quite impressive I thought. There was a big secret revealed, and of course I adored the counterbalance of Barry trying to date someone who isn’t Iris. What’d you think of this episode? How do you think this new information regarding Barry’s mother will play out? Do you like Linda? And who else thinks Iris was a wee bit jealous? Sound off below.

Photos: CW

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