A Flash of the Lightning

"Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud? Like a fast-flittering meteor, a fast-flying cloud, a flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, he passes from life to his rest in the grave."

—Joan Williams quoting William Knox

"A Flash of the Lightning"
Information
Season 6 » Episode 2
Episode number	116 of 184
Original airdate	October 15, 2019
Written by	Sam Chalsen Jeff Hersh
Directed by	Chris Peppe
Guest stars
Sendhil Ramamurthy as Ramsey Rosso Michelle Harrison as Joan Williams Victoria Park as Kamilla Hwang Kayla Compton as Allegra Garcia John Wesley Shipp as Jay Garrick
Chronology
Preceded by	"Into the Void"
Followed by	"Dead Man Running"

"A Flash of the Lightning" is the second episode of the sixth season of The Flash, and the one-hundred-sixteenth episode overall. It aired on October 15, 2019.

Synopsis

Faced with the news of his impending death, Barry’s resiliency suffers as he struggles to fight fate. Meanwhile, Cecile’s career as a D.A. conflicts with her identity when she crosses paths with a villainous meta-human.

Trivia

• The episode's title is a reference to a line from the William Knox poem "Mortality", which Joan Williams reads to bring Barry back to consciousness.
  • The episode shares its title with Crisis on Infinite Earths eponymous eighth issue, which featured Barry sacrificing himself to save the multiverse.
• Jay tells Barry that he had spent a year tracking the spread of antimatter throughout the multiverse, showcasing a map of the Earths he had discovered thus far. The map featured annotations from Jay, which ranged from the Earths that have the best vegan food and tequila, to which superheroes call which Earth home. Towards the top of the list, next to Earth-51 (his home Earth in the comics), is the name "Thaddeus Brown." Both Thaddeus and Earth-51 were previously mentioned in "Gone Rogue". In the comics, Thaddeus was the first to hold the mantle of Mister Miracle.
  • Also on his map, Jay predicts that the antimatter wave would next appear on Earth-2. This was seen in the Arrow episode "Starling City", which aired directly after this one.
• This is the first episode to feature Killer Frost but not Caitlin in any capacity, leaving Barry and Iris as the only characters to appear in every episode.
• In the recovery bed, Barry tells Joan that she should have used Lady Gaga to reawaken him. This is a reference to "Pilot", where Caitlin and Cisco played a Lady Gaga song when Barry woke up from his coma.
  • It was also used again before in "The Flash Reborn" when the team needed to awaken Barry after he was brought into S.T.A.R Labs after his time in the Speed Force.
• The man who saved Esperanza was wearing the logo of the Black Hole organization, which in the comics was connected to Godspeed.
• Barry's vision shows Cisco suited up in his Vibe suit again, suggesting that he'll somehow regain his powers.
  • However, since Barry viewed billions of potential futures, it is possible that what Barry saw was one alternate timeline/future where Cisco never gave up his powers.
• Cisco calls Killer Frost a White Walker, referencing Game of Thrones.
• Barry wears the same clothing he wore in "What's Past is Prologue" when he time traveled.
• Cisco asks Killer Frost, "what did you do with your Tuesday?" a breaking the fourth wall joke as the show airs on Tuesday.