The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 1

"My name Is Iris West-Allen and I once met a young man, a superhero who I called the Streak. The world has come to know him as the Fastest Man Alive, the Scarlet Speedster, the Flash. But no matter what title you choose for him, he'll always be remembered as the protector of our amazing city and it's citizens, as a beacon of hope for us all, and as the man who sacrificed himself again and again so we could live. Today we say goodbye to him. Today we say goodbye to him, not because he was taken but because he gave himself willingly. And in the end, that's what makes him deserving of the greatest title of all. Hero."

—Iris West-Allen on the Flash's death

"The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 1"
Information
Season 6 » Episode 7
Episode number	121 of 184
Original airdate	November 26, 2019
Written by	Jonathan Butler Gabriel Garza
Directed by	Chad Lowe
Guest stars
Sendhil Ramamurthy as Dr. Ramsey Rosso/Bloodwork Michelle Harrison as Nora Allen Victoria Park as Kamilla Hwang Kayla Compton as Allegra Garcia
Chronology
Preceded by	"License to Elongate"
Followed by	"The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 2"

"The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 1" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of The Flash, and the one-hundred-twenty-first episode overall. It aired on November 26, 2019. It will act as the first half of a two-part episode.

Synopsis

As Barry Allen stands on the threshold of his impending death in Crisis, his convictions are tested when the monstrous Dr. Ramsey Rosso infects the Flash with a mysterious, hallucinogenic contagion. Meanwhile, reporter Iris West-Allen uncovers a vast conspiracy.

Trivia

• This episode is the first time Ramsey is called "Bloodwork".
• The title is a reference to the film The Last Temptation of Christ.
• This episode can be compared to the DC's Legends of Tomorrow episode "Egg MacGuffin" in that in both episodes, an antagonist possesses the male lead while he is saving a teammate. In the latter, Ray Palmer allows himself to be possessed by Neron in order to stop him from killing Nate Heywood, while in this episode, Ramsey infects Barry while he is donating blood to Ralph.
• Iris starts to write a version of the article covering Flash's disappearance in the Crisis of 2019 seen since "Pilot".
  • As of this scene, Iris is the show's third character to have a "My name is" monologue after Barry and Nora West-Allen.
• When Barry is infected by Ramsey, his appearance and lightning color are based on that of the Negative Flash from the comics, wherein Barry in the comics was similarly infected but rather by Thawne with the Negative Speed Force.
• Allegra mentions that there are 2 days until Crisis, implying that this episode takes place on December 8, 2019. This may be a reference to the fact that this episode is also 2 episodes before Crisis on Infinite Earths.
• This is the first episode of The Flash that is not a part of a crossover to end with "To Be Continued".
• This is the second official first half of a two-part episode of a television series in the Arrowverse, after the DC's Legends of Tomorrow episode "Pilot, Part 1"
• At one point in his coma, Barry finds himself walking among the gravestones of everyone he failed to save and stops before his own grave. This is a reference to Ebenezer Scrooge in the famous novella A Christmas Carol.
  • Coincidentally, Barry made his second Arrowverse appearance in the Arrow episode "Three Ghosts".