The Flash: 7 Best Episodes So Far
2. Fast Enough (Season 1, Episode 23)
Written By: Gabrielle Stanton & Andrew Kreisberg
Directed By: Dermott Downs
While traditional season finales depict a final showdown between the hero and villain, The Flash flipped the script by capturing Thawne in the previous episode, instead focusing on an impossible choice that Barry has to make. Thawne offers to help him travel back in time and save his mother, so long as he lets him return to the future. Thanks to Tom Cavanagh’s brilliant acting, you really understand Thawne’s motivation to simply go home.
Struggling with what to do, Barry gets a touching scene with both Joe and Henry, each one tearfully supporting him and telling him to save the other. Eventually, Barry goes back but is stopped in his tracks by another version of himself inside his childhood home. Against his heart’s desire, Barry stops, and is forced to hear his mother get murdered before he has a final moment with her. The whole scene was moving and cemented Grant Gustin as a formidable actor.
On his return through time, the episode peppers some incredible easter eggs for the future of The Flash but the climax ultimately belongs to Eddie. He sacrifices himself in a surprisingly touching moment to save everyone else and stop Thawne.
And just when everything looked perfect, a black hole opened up in the sky, leaving audiences breathlessly waiting for the next season.