- "I spent last year so afraid of losing everyone I loved in Crisis, I never thought I'd have to face that fear again. Psych showed me... People I love, dead. Fuerza had killed them. We've taken on the impossible, so many times. Something about these new threats feels different. Bigger. And for the first time since Crisis... I'm so... I'm scared."
"Sometimes, when I'm scared I ask myself, 'What would The Flash do?' Seriously. Barry, you run through fear, every time you save this city. Honey, you just gotta find some of that courage for yourself." - —Barry Allen and Cecile Horton
"Fear Me" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of The Flash, and the one-hundred-thirty-eighth episode overall. It aired on March 30, 2021.
Synopsis
| When a powerful new villain, Psych, channels and amplifies everyone’s fears in order to wreak havoc on Central City, Barry realizes, with Cecile’s help, that he must face his own worst fear in order to beat this new threat. Meanwhile, Joe is surprised when Kristen Kramer from the Governor's Municipal Logistics Commission drops into CCPD for a visit. Iris warns her father to dig deeper on why Kristen is actually there. Caitlin and Frost argue about how to live their lives.[src] |
Plot
Barry sits in the Cortex as he re-watches footage of his fight against the strong villain he fought the night before attempting to find a way to keep track of her using a geothermic isotopic graph that'll detect her when she reappears. Iris tells Barry he should rest as he has been trying to find Fuerza all night but refuses, stating not with Ralph gone and Frost still recovering from her battle against Mirror Monarch.
Cisco interrupts Barry and Iris when he shares a surprise for them and when both Frost and Caitlin stand side by side revealing their separation, Barry and Iris gaze baffled and shocked. Frost tells Cisco she knew the duo would freak and Cisco hands her money implying a bet was made earlier.
At the West House, Cecile is following up on a case when she hears sounds coming from nearby. She looks around but nothing comes of it and returns to her work. All of a sudden an undertone breath whispers her name and a candle that sits on the dinner table blows out. Cecile takes another look around tense of what'll she find and the voice returns again whispering her name once more. All of a sudden a figure appears near the entrance of the home scaring Cecile but retracks and asks the being what they wanted. They respond simply by stating it was her time to return home and begin to near themselves to her. The phantasm disappears only to jump scare Cecile causing her to scream when her mind is overwhelmed and her palms suddenly begin to bleed. Joe finds her and asks her what was wrong, that he had heard her screaming. Cecile proceeds to tell him in a panic that there was someone in the house but Joe downplays this informing her nobody else is in the home but them. Cecile defers this stating the encounter felt too real to be a nightmare and notices that her palms are no longer bleeding. Joe informs that nightmare’s can’t get to her and she relaxes.
At S.T.A.R. Labs in the lounge, Frost and Caitlin attempt explain to Barry and Iris about their separation stating when Frost went up against Mirror Monarch she was blasted with her gun that had since left them with agonizing headaches. Caitlin explains that the gun had a mirror chip that most likely forced Frost’s genes to replicate creating a whole separate persona. Barry questions if they still are able to overhear one another's thoughts. Frost in glee responds they no longer could and Caitlin jumps in promising to find a way to get them back into one. Frost changing the subject reminds of the villain they still have yet to catch and Cisco coins the name Fuerza, Spanish for Strength. Iris fills them in that Barry found a way to track her. The alarm goes off and Cisco informs that there is an isotopic signature detection in STAR Labs. Suddenly lightning of colors sparks in the middle of the lounge and a person is seen floating above, as they fall Barry breaks their fall and it is revealed to be none other than the Speed Force as Nora asking for their help.
"Nora" rests in the Med-Bay while the team questions her presence and that Barry's speed has yet to be affected. Iris wonders as to why the Speed Force needs their assistance and Caitlin although not sure how to respond states she needs a way to monitor their vitals and Barry races to put his speed gauge on them and informs that it’s in the state of red. Caitlin believes that “Nora” may have put themselves in an induced coma to recover and they'll be able to question them when they wake up. Barry gazing the monitors points out there are isotopes all over "Nora" and Cisco believes there might be a chance that Fuerza was responsible for "Nora's" current state. Barry declares they will bring a great fight against her and that he will not permit the Speed Force to die a second time.
At CCPD, Joe and Iris are in the Captain’s Office and Iris questions her father asking what he knows about a robbery that took place at CC Mercantile. Joe fills her in but Iris contradicts his statement that what he has on file is not entirely true and the guard in question has a different story of what really happened at the robbery that he had a horrifying vision and Iris wants to help tell his side of the story and reinstate his job. Joe informs that the robbery took place at 11:09 pm around the same time Cecile had her vision. They both then begin to grow concerned. Interrupted, Kristen Kramer walks in and introduces herself to Joe and Iris and that she is with the Governor's Commission. Joe tells her he wasn’t expecting her till later in the day but Kramer responds with a liking of having a head start on things. Kramer comments to Iris that she read about her time in the Mirrorverse stating it must have been terrifying but Iris answers she’s been through worse leaving Kramer dazzled. Before leaving she tells Joe they could chat more the following day at lunch. Iris begins to grow suspicious of Kramer.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Frost walks in on Cisco working on the Firestorm Matrix. Frost questions this and Cisco responds that this will help rejoin both her and Caitlin into one. Cisco also states all they have to do is leave the Matrix to charge and he can get reinstate the duo. Frost tells him it isn’t all bad being separate and just before Cisco responds she quickly gives her deception to Caitlin saying it would benefit her if the two stayed apart. Cisco leaves behind the Matrix to charge leaving Frost alone with it.
Seated behind the glass of the Med-Bay, Barry once again is re-watching the footage from his fight with Fuerza, as Cecile walks in he goes to hide the footage. Cecile is left astonished seeing the Speed Force in physical form, Iris telling her about their arrival in a conversation earlier. Cecile begins to have aching headaches and believes it is the result of having her earlier vision and her expanding powers. Barry receives an alert and worries about leaving Cecile and the Speed Force. Cecile sincere that he should go.
The Flash arrives to find two Crow officials yelling for him to take out the monster that threatens them that turns out to be vision in which he is unable to see. Baffled he turns for answers but the officials run before he could question them. The person responsible shows up at the scene and Flash attempts to apprehend them using meta-cuffs in which end up not working confirming this newfound villain is not a Meta. Flash begins underestimating the powers of them and taunts them and such before the villian breaks out of the cuffs and Flash starts enduring a vision of his own.
Flash is then transported to the speed lab. A familiar sound comes and slams Flash leaving him on the ground in his wake. He gets up to find the Reverse-Flash telling him he is unstoppable. Flash tells him he isn’t afraid of him, the vision isn’t real and can’t be hurt. Reverse-Flash attacks him, slamming him across the room. Flash gets up only for Savitar to come behind him and stab him through the chest. He falls to the ground and back in the real world, blood appears and gasps in shock. Cisco calls for him but is unable to respond.
In the Med-Bay, Barry removes a patch off his now healed chest confirming the attack was real. Cisco questions, Barry telling him he was hallucinating that of Thawne and Savitar wanting to kill him. Barry describes the vision almost as a nightmare, the sentence being finished by Cecile. He realizes the vision he had was similar to her’s. Cisco remains confused how hallucinations can make one physically hurt and Caitlin projects that their new problem uses great power and even tricked Barry’s own mind into hurting itself. Cecile wonders if one were to die in a hallucination would they die in real life and Cisco confirms this. Barry tells the team there were traces of isotopes on who attacked him like those of Fuerza and can be tracked. Cisco comes up with the name Psych stating they are a "Psych Psychopath". Barry asks Cisco if the dampers used to fight against Grodd were still available and follows up that it could be used to prevent another mind attack. Before leaving the Med-Bay, Cecile stops Barry telling him how it must've been terrifying to be in his own nightmare. He tells her he’s fine and there was nothing to worry about.
Back at the Captain’s office, Iris shares a file with her Dad and he looks through it. As he does so, Iris explains she believes Kramer is lying about the reason being sent to CCPD. She continues stating her file has been severely modified and pleads to Joe to look into her.
In the lounge Frost looks through photos of water rafting and asks Cisco if Caitlin knows how to swim. Caitlin barges in beyond upset accusing Frost of sabotaging the Firestorm Matrix by making it seem like an accident. Frost admits she did damage the device and Caitlin questions her intentions. Frost responds that she doesn’t want to fuse as one again and when asked why she is unable to come up with an answer. Caitlin then leaves flustered.
The alarm goes off and Flash, Frost, and Mecha-Vibe make their way to the scene at the bank. Flash moves the victims currently hallucinating away and the trio all wearing dampeners. The dampeners end up not working and Psych proceeds to mentally attack Frost first, she hallucinates being cuffed at CCPD and questions why she is there to Joe. He tells her someone turned her in for her crimes and Frost baffled on who could’ve done so. Joe reveals it was of the doing of Caitlin. Cisco is then attacked next but what he saw exactly remains unknown. Flash attempts to throw lightning at Psych only for them to absorb it similar to how Fuerza was able to. They then attack Flash showing him a vision placing him at CCPD and it appears that Cisco, Iris, and Nora lay dead in front of him in rubble.
Returning back to S.T.A.R Labs, Barry is left frustrated they have one more thing to worry about in a growing list. Cisco is unable to stop trembling and Caitlin explains they all suffered acute panic attacks. Caitlin asks for Frost’s whereabouts and Cisco responds she had wanted to be left alone. She then asks what the two of them saw, Cisco fibs stating he saw a vision of Kamilla being in danger and Barry refuses to share what he saw despite Cisco telling him it could contain a clue but Barry denies this. Cisco continues to push but leaves Barry even more distressed on what to do to defeat Psych and leaves.
At the Speed Lab Frost attempts to fix the Firestorm Matrix but is unable to. Caitlin walks in and wants Frost to tell her what she saw. Frost shares she was in CCPD custody for her previous crimes and tells her that she was the one who turned her in. Caitlin contradicts promising her she would never do such a thing. Frost expresses she doesn’t want to live her life in half but to the fullest and being separated gives her that chance. Caitlin understands where she comes from and tells her the reason she was so upset when she sabotaged the Matrix device was because she was afraid of losing her. Caitlin and Frost make up and Caitlin shares she has an extra room in her apartment and Frost could stay with her and she agrees.
In the lounge Cecile has a talk with Barry, he sharing the last year he spent so long afraid of Crisis and tells Cecile what he saw in his vision. Barry feels that these threats are different than what they've encountered before and since Crisis it's the first time since then he's afraid of what might occur. Cecile shares when she grows afraid she ponders what The Flash might do. Once again the alarm goes off and Cisco announces Psych's energy is expanding throughout the City. Barry asks Cecile if she is able to push back Psych's energy back into them like what she did with Top in which she denies stating it would be too much for her. Barry takes her to see DeVoe's chair so that she could use it but Cecile wonders if Barry is thinking correctly. Barry explains this is the only way to defeat Psych and Cecile decides to go through with the plan.
Downtown, Psych continues to spread the fear across the city. Cecile worries what DeVoe’s chair could do to her and Caitlin reassures she’ll probably be fine. As the barrier continues to grow Flash attempts to enter it only to be bounced back and hit with his own vision the same one he had back at the bank. Cisco and Cecile attempt to get through to Barry but it doesn’t work. The difference with this version of Barry’s vision is all three that lay dead rise as zombies each one blaming him for their deaths. Barry attempts to suppress the vision but is unable to but Cisco comes through and he finally is able to suppress it. Barry finally breaks through the barrier and Cecile manages to spread a newfound courage that counteracts that of Psych’s and then they dissipate. The plan works.
At S.T.A.R Labs, the team aren’t able to locate Psych or Fuerza and now the team knows they were right about the duo being connected. Barry shares that when he tried to throw lightning at Psych, they were able to absorb it the same way Fuerza did. Cisco asks if when they absorbed it if the lightning glowed in which Barry nods. Barry thanks Cecile for her help for stopping Psych with her growing powers in which she denies doing all the work but Cisco begs to differ as he believes she can show even the "Martian Manhunter a thing or two". All of sudden a mind piercing attack is targeted at Barry and Iris questions if this is of Psych’s doing in which Barry believes it's something else. Caitlin finds similar readings in Barry as of "Nora". When Barry goes to grab onto the railing sparks start flying. "Nora's" speed gauge begins to spark and Barry asks Caitlin to open the cryo-pod so that he can heal. Iris warns it can place him comatose but Barry contradicts saying it's the only way and puts himself into an induced coma.
Back at CCPD, Joe tells Krammer about the info he uncovered provided by Iris and strictly asks what she was really doing at his precinct. She shares that she wanted to complete what the PD has failed to do in which that is to locate and apprehend Meta's that have gone rouge and reveals one of them is Frost leaving Joe uncertain what to do.
In the Cortex, Iris asks Caitlin how Barry is holding up in which she replies that she thinks he might be getting better but isn't certain. She informs that although he has stabilized she isn't sure when Barry will be fully healed. Cisco mentions that if the duo decide to attack anytime soon they will be on their own. Unexpectedly, "Nora" wakes from her comatose state and interrupts the conversation stating they were not used to their physical state. "Nora" comments that they can feel how weak Barry and themselves have become. They demand to know what happened to Barry and Iris tells them he was psychically attacked. "Nora" tells them the same psychic who attacked Barry also were the second of their attackers. Although unsure they believe Fuerza and Psych may be their own forces given how they were able to fight the Speed Force and severely injure it.
Cast
Starring
- Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash
- Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen
- Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow and Frost
- Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon/Mecha-Vibe
- Danielle Nicolet as Defense Attorney Cecile Horton
- Kayla Compton (credit only)
- Brandon McKnight (credit only)
- Jesse L. Martin as Captain Joe West
Guest starring
- Michelle Harrison as the Speed Force and Nora Allen
- Carmen Moore as Kristen Kramer
- Ennis Esmer as Psych
Co-starring
- Kaare Anderson as Middle-Aged Man
- Lili Beaudoin as Young Woman
- Nilo Ghajar as Guard
- Nyla Alleyne as Teenager
- Miranda Scotton as Stockbroker #1
- Brett Willis as Stockbroker #2
Uncredited
- Tom Cavanagh as Reverse-Flash (voice; archive audio)
- Andre Tricoteux as Savitar (archive footage)
- Tobin Bell as Savitar (voice; archive audio)
Trivia
- This is the first episode of the series to not feature Kayla Compton (Allegra Garcia) after being promoted to a series regular.
- Caitlin and Frost splitting was due to Frost's healing going into overdrive after Mirror Monarch wounded her.
- When watched frame by frame, its shown Cisco had bet Frost $20 about how Barry and Iris would react to seeing her and Caitlin separated.
- Kramer is in Central City to arrest Frost for her crimes in the third season.
- A list of her charges is made in "Growing Pains".
- Cisco Ramon names the behemoth from the previous episode Fuerza (Spanish for Strength); naming Psych as well, stating that his powers and MO practically named him (a "psychic psychopath inducing psychosomatic symptoms").
- As to why Cisco named Fuerza, Fuerza is that and Cicso quoted it 'Look, She-Hulk was taken, okay?',
- When Psych mentions that he had created a Kaiju, which is Japanese for strange beast, which had been a series of movies, mostly noted 'Godzilla'. as well an animated and anime show, which starred airing Apr 1, 2021.
- Eobard Thawne and Savitar's lines are reused audio from previous episodes. Eobard says "You can't stop me Flash, and you never will," a line from "Rogue Air"; and "Time to repent", something he said to Trevor Shinick in "Legacy". Savitar says, "You lose, Barry", something he would say before he killed Iris in the scene shown several times throughout season 3, first in "The Present".
- The Speed Force implies Fuerza and Psych aren't meta-humans, but instead physical manifestations of the Strength Force and Sage Force. Backing this up is the two give off the same isotopic signature as the Speed Force.
- This would explain why they absorbed Flash's lightning so easily, being Forces themselves.
- Barry mentions a "Godzilla rip off". This episode aired the day before Godzilla vs. Kong was released in theaters and on HBO Max.
- Frost confirms that while she shares Caitlin's memories up until the split, all the medical knowledge stayed with Caitlin and she got to keep her powers; making Caitlin a non- meta again, and leaving Frost unburdened by it.
- When Cisco is working on the Firestorm Matrix to put Caitlin and Frost back together, he says, "That's a Tuesday for you", breaking the fourth wall as The Flash currently airs on Tuesdays.
- The Crows make an appearance as the security van that Psych first attacks. This is a reference to the prominent organization in Batwoman.
- Barry mentions being on painkillers for the back injury Fuerza gave him, likely a special cocktail prepared by Caitlin to compensate for his hypermetabolism (which would be what he used pre-Crisis in "A Flash of the Lightning".
Goofs
- Barry says the Hoverchair gave Devoe his hyper intelligence; which is wrong, as the Thinking Cap did.
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