- "Oliver died for more than this Earth's survival. Oliver laid down his life so the people he loved could live theirs. That includes you. Life's a marathon, not a sprint, Barry. Slow down and enjoy it."
- —John Diggle to Barry Allen
"Marathon" is the tenth and midseason premiere episode of the sixth season of The Flash, and the one-hundred-twenty-fourth episode overall. It aired on February 4, 2020.
Synopsis[]
After The Citizen prints an explosive story, Iris's life is threatened. Refusing to hide from those that are attacking her, Iris sets out to expose a dangerous organization. Meanwhile, Barry must face the consequences of the Crisis and fulfill Oliver Queen's wish for him.[src] |
Plot[]
Iris meets a man, Gene Huskk, who had recently worked at McCulloch Technologies for a considerable length of time, only for a shady organization to infiltrate the company and steal a prototype gun.. Iris requests him to go on the record secretly, and he concurs. He at that point discloses to her that the organization is called Black Hole. As he's disclosing to Iris this, a professional killer murders somebody with the model weapon, and gets her next objective - Iris.
Barry shows up home with Diggle close by. Diggle tells Barry and Iris that as a feature of Oliver's will and testament, Barry gets the mask that he previously gave Oliver years prior. Barry examines it and discovers a peculiar smear imprint, and questions if it's a mystery message from Oliver. He enrolls a hesitant Diggle in helping make sense of what it could be. Barry discovers dregs on the mask which coordinate Mirakuru and Lian Yu's dirt. Barry recommends that Oliver needs him to locate the remaining Mirakuru before it falls into the wrong hands.
They travel to Lian Yu and discover no Mirakuru, which Barry gets annoyed about, imagining that he's bombing Oliver. Diggle proposes that the dregs was from Oliver carrying his suit to battle Slade Wilson years back, and that there isn't a crucial arrangement with, and that Barry ought to appreciate the new world that Oliver kicked the bucket for.
Iris and the remainder of the staff at the Citizen think of a course of events for Black Hole's association. Cecile, who is currently the paper's lawful counselor, questions if it's the correct activity. Iris composes a proper gathering with McCulloch's CEO, Joseph Carver, yet doesn't anticipate that he will give an official remark. Iris meets with Carver, who has assumed control over the organization without Eva McCulloch, his significant other. Iris stands up to Carver about the firearm, and he takes her to a mystery part of the office. Carver contends that Gene was distrustful and made up bogus data about Black Hole. Iris chooses to run the story as is at any rate.
Iris distributes the article, and is quickly sued by McCulloch for slander. Cecile distinguishes that something isn't right - similarly as the professional killer discharges the firearm through the Citizen office. Iris chooses to find Gene and ensure he's sheltered, and tells the rest of the staff to escape. Iris discovers Gene, however he is quickly killed by the weapon. Iris snatches Gene's trusted USB drive and drives away.
Iris goes to Star Labs and makes sense of who the professional killer is - Kimiyo Hoshi, another rendition of Dr. Light who disappeared years back. Joe goes up against Iris about looking into the story, and contends that overcoming Black Hole won't occur without any forethought. Kamila, Joe, and Frost choose to arrange a snare for Doctor Light, which winds up being a holographic projection. In the mean time, the real Iris goes up against Carver, and blames him for being the pioneer of Black Hole. Carver doesn't deny it, however blames Iris for not knowing the entire story. Iris reveals that she's set up a dead man's switch, which will distribute every last bit of her data in the event that anybody is killed. Dr. Light nearly kills Frost, yet is stopped by Carver before she can do it.
Cisco worries about the destiny of the post-"Crisis" Earth-Prime, and inquires to Killer Frost on the off chance that it was actually something worth being thankful for. He reveals that he's made a binder of the metahumans and criminals that despite everything exist on Earth-Prime.
Cisco later watches a holocube message from Harry, and reveals to Caitlin that he feels regretful about not having utilized his forces to help forestall Crisis. Caitlin recommends that he utilizes his abilities to help index the new post-"Crisis" dangers, regardless of whether that implies him leaving Central City. Cisco reveals to Nash that he's leaving to investigate Earth-Prime, and requests that he keep an eye on everything in his absence. Cisco tells Nash about his actual motives, and contends that he was narrow minded in how he treated Nash post-"Crisis". As Cisco leaves, Nash snaps a picture out of his pack, revealing him and a doppelganger of Allegra on an experience together.
Barry and Iris talk about how their feelings have fared post-"Crisis", and the two of them concur that they should back off.
Iris starts to presume that Black Hole had something to do with Eva McCulloch's vanishing. She goes to McCulloch's facility, and finds her way to Eva's old office. She explores the room, before getting pulled inside a nearby mirror by a pair of hands.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash
- Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen
- Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow/Frost
- Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon
- Hartley Sawyer (credit only)
- Danielle Nicolet as Defense Attorney Cecile Horton
- Tom Cavanagh as Dr. Nash Wells and Dr. Harry Wells
- Jesse L. Martin as Captain Joe West
Special guest star[]
Guest starring[]
- Victoria Park as Kamilla Hwang
- Kayla Compton as Allegra Garcia and Maya (photo)
- Eric Nenninger as Joseph Carver
- Emmie Nagata as Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi/Dr. Light
- William MacDonald as Gene Huskk
Co-starring[]
- Tess Atkins as Natalie
- Eduard Witzke as Sterling Brooks
- Andrew J. Hampton as Maurice
- Gary Starkell as Riggs Wellington
- Emmett Lee Stang as Mystery Man
- Arran Henn as CatCo Reporter
- Sonia Beeksma as KPJT Reporter
- Jarryd Baine as Channel 52 News Reporter
Trivia[]
- This episode takes place before the events of "Fadeout".
- This is the first episode of The Flash that is set on Earth-Prime. The series was originally set on Earth-1 for 5 seasons and the first 9 episodes of Season 6 before the original multiverse was destroyed in the Crisis at the end in Template:Ro of the crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths which is a episode of The Flash.
- This episode introduced a new title card which contains a montage of different characters, similar to the one DC's Legends of Tomorrow debuted the same day.
- Recurring robber Sterling Brooks returns in the cold open of this episode.
- However, unlike the past 2 seasons, he was defeated by The Flash instead of Elongated Man.
- Barry brought his equipment from the crime lab to John since he would not like Barry to speed him there.
- This references the events in "Legends of Today", "Invasion!", "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4", "Think Fast" and "Elseworlds, Part 1" where he vomits after Barry speeds him to different locations.
- A later part of that scene also references this as John takes and swallows a ludicrous amount of motion sickness pills when Barry is about to speed him to Lian Yu.
- The box Barry thought it would contain Mirakuru is identical to the one appearing in "The Scientist".
- Cisco made a drawing of a new world map which shows important locations on Earth including:
- United States: Star City, National City, Gotham City, Central City, Metropolis, Freeland, Happy Harbor.
- Central America: San Monte, Santa Prisca
- South America: Corto Maltese
- Europe: Markovia, Kasnia
- Asia: Qurac, Nanda Parbat, Tokyo
- Africa: Zambesi, Tinasha, Gorilla City
- Pacific Ocean: Kooey Kooey Island, Dinosaur Island, Lian Yu
- The Arctic: Fortress of Solitude
- Cisco revealed his 52nd draft of a diagram labelled "Post Crisis Timeline" which recaps important events and heroes' debuts on Earth-Prime, including:
- 2000: The murder of Nora Allen.
- 2003: Kara's pod lands on Earth.
- 2005: J'onn J'onzz becomes Hank Henshaw.
- 2007: The Queen's Gambit sinks.
- 2008: Slade Wilson is injected by Mirakuru.
- 2009: Hong Kong is hit by the Alpha-Omega virus, Black Lightning retires from vigilantism.
- 2011: Damien Darhk gains magic.
- 2012: The Hood debuts in Starling City.
- 2013: The Undertaking occurs.
- 2014: The particle accelerator explodes. Slade invades Starling City with his Mirakuru army. Barry wakes up from his coma and becomes The Flash. John Diggle, Jr. and Sara Diggle are born.
- 2015: Bruce Wayne leaves Gotham City. Supergirl debuts in National City. Rip Hunter recruits the Legends.
- 2016: Flash and Supergirl team up. Zoom and his army invade Central City, perhaps created by the singularity instead of originating from an Earth-2. The Ray debuts. The Dominators invade Central City.
- 2017: Barry and Iris's wedding, which is interrupted by time traveling Nazi clones.
- 2018: Batwoman debuts. Black Lightning returns. Thunder debuts. President Marsdin is exposed as an alien.
- 2019: The Crisis begins.
- 2020: The heroes return and defeat the Anti-Monitor.
- The diagram is the 52nd draft, referencing The New 52 in DC comics.
- Cisco also made a "Who's Who" binder of villains on Earth-Prime, including:
- In a deleted scene, a photograph of Kara Danvers with Iris West-Allen can be seen, as Iris reveals that Kara is helping her, as a reporter, against Black Hole.[1]
Goofs[]
- When Dr. Light throws a plate at Joe, Jesse L. Martin's stunt double can clearly be seen.
- Barry calls the Mirakuru Serum, Anthony Ivo's serum: yet he didn’t invent it, the Japanese did during World War II, he went to Lian Yu to find it not create it.