‘The Flash’ Recap: S2E21 “The Runaway Dinosaur”

This week’s episode of The Flash can be considered one of its absolute best. “The Runaway Dinosaur” wasn’t your typical “villain of the week” outing, nor was it heavy on Zoom development, but it was monumental for our hero.

This week picked up right where the last episode left off, with our team in shock, our hero missing, and emotions running high. The team has realized Barry is gone, but when they check to see if everyone is ok, they find that Wally and Jesse have been knocked unconscious due to the blast that claimed Barry. As Iris calls to get Henry’s help with them, Cisco touches Barry’s costume and vibes that he is still alive.

Consumed by the speed force, Barry is now trapped within it. Within the speed force, Barry wakes up in his childhood bedroom to the sound of a sonic boom.As he explores his home, he finds Joe downstairs, and discovers that this entire world is a fabrication of the speed force. The power that granted him he speed needs to teach the hero a lesson. As Barry explores this world, he is faced with familiar faces, and told that he needs to not only catch a mysterious shadow that is running at speeds he can no longer reach, but also come to terms with the loss of his mother.

Back in the real world, our heroes discover that Girder has awoken as a zombie due to the shock-wave caused by the blast, and while the team is busy trying to discover why Jesse wont wake up as easily as Wally did, they now have a crazed Meta-Human on the run trying to hunt down Iris.

Back within the speed force, Barry is confronted with a projection of his mother, where they share a beautiful heart to heart moment that he has never been able to experience. He comes to terms with the loss he had experienced, and once he does, the shadow appears before him and reveals itself to be a personification of The Flash, and merges with him… granting him his powers.

With the help of Cisco, Iris acts like an anchor to pull Barry back into the world just in time to save them from Girder. Shortly after Barry saves the day, he shares a heart to heart with Irisat his mothers grave. The episode closes with Zoom, now having completely taken over the CCPD headquarters, has amassed an army of Meta-Humans from Earth-2 and he plans on striking the city and take over the world.

Now that you have read our quick recap, you can check out our top 5 moments from the episode.

Barry’s Walkabout with the Speed Force

From the moment Barry speaks with the fake Joe, fans knew that this episode would be different. The Speed Force is talking to Barry. As he exclaims in the episode, its like speaking to gravity itself. As the episode progressed he ran into more familiar faces, and it became extremely clear that the speed force was trying to help Barry become stronger. As Green Arrow said on the first episode of The Flash, the lightning chose Barry, and now it was trying to make sure Barry knew and saw what it did when it chose to make him The Flash.

Cisco vs The Walking Dead

Cisco’s entire plot-line in this weeks episode was a blast. Cisco is typically known for his humor and pop-culture references, but running into a zombie seemed to bring all of that into overdrive. Referencing both The Walking Dead and iZombie, Cisco’s moments added a tremendous about of levity to this weeks emotional roller coaster, not to mention that they were some of the absolute funniest moments that this character has had in the show. Full of snarky sarcasm with a dash of absolute terror, Cisco become one of the top highlights of the episode.

The Runaway Dinosaur

From the opening moments in the episode and the slow pan to the book, it was made very clear that fans were going to see something that would break their hearts. Nearing the end of his walkabout within the Speed Force, Barry finally encounters a projection of his mother. At first our hero is combative towards her, but quickly he becomes a little boy again when he feels the love and affection that the Speed Force version of his mother provides. The two sit down and as she begins to read Barry his favorite childhood book, she is beautifully interrupted when Barry begins to recite the book from memory while giving her one of the most heartfelt, loving, and affectionate looks that this character has ever produced. Its hard not to cry watching our hero have a touching moment with the person he has wished for his entire life to have one with.

The Flash Returns!

It wouldn’t be The Flash if we didn’t see our titular hero return to form, and return to form he did. Bursting out of the speed force, the Flash immediately saves the day from the zombie-Girder and makes the entire battle look easy. The quick nature of the fight showed a renewed sense of purpose within our hero, and that alone with make all the difference in the coming battle with Zoom.

New Speedsters in Central City?

One of the biggest questions this season has been regarding the possibility of Jesse and Wally gaining their eventual speed, and this episode even had the characters asking it. Finding both characters unconscious, and Jesse showing the exact symptoms that Barry did when he was in his coma, it was hard not to realize that they may already have their powers. From the scene where Joe drops his mug in order to test Wally, to the visual transference of the speed force from Barry to Jesse that awoke her from her coma, this seemed to be all that the fans needed to see to quickly realize that this season’s final battle against Zoom will have Barry gaining a little help.

This week we got The Flash and a touch of Kevin Smith, and it was perfect. The Runaway Dinosaur marks one of the first times that I nearly teared up watching this show. This week brought a level of emotion that went above and beyond any expectations. The scene between Barry and his mother was heartfelt, heartbreaking, and absolutely beautiful. This is why The Flash is one of the best, if not the absolute best, comic book show on TV. Admittedly I have been critical of this show in the past, but this episode stands as a firm testament to how great it can be, and you wont get moments like these on Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, or any of the other comic book TV shows out there.

Taylor Landine

Taylor Landine

Taylor Landine is a Veteran to online entertainment journalism who has been covering television and movies since 2005. Follow him on twitter via @taylorlandine