The Flash: The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 1 | 6 x07 (the CW)

In this episode of The Flash, we pick up with a very infected looking Ramsey fighting Ralph as they crash out of the window of Ralph’s office. The fight heats up with some verbal exchanges back and forth, and then Ralph realizes that Ramsey has implanted him with his blood. Bloodwork then retracts his blood and leaves Ralph laying on the ground seizing up.  

Frost arrives through a portal and takes Ralph back to Star Labs to be treated, but she is unable to work under pressure in medical situations so Cailtin comes out and suggests that Barry give Ralph a blood transfusion to give him temporary speed healing. 

The transfusion is successful, but Barry ended up infected by Ramsey’s blood and is now in danger. When Barry goes home, Ramsey arrives in his dream and reveals Barry’s secret identity. Caitlin calls it a nightmare, but it’s actually Ramsey aka Bloodwork trying to take over Barry’s being via infection. 

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Barry goes back home and passes out on the floor because the infection is progressing which leaves him in a fever state and battling between good and evil, the speed force and blood work for the rest of the episode in his mind.

Now, I could be totally off base here, but where is Iris? Why doesn’t she check on Barry? I’m pretty sure they could have saved him faster if she came home, called or even texted him, but she was busy. 

Side Mission: 

Iris and the rest of “Team Citizen”are trying to save Ultraviolet aka Esperanza, Allegra’s cousin. Allegra is mad because Iris didn’t tell her Barry is the Flash, but I don’t see how she could be mad because she’s not even a part of Team Flash, she’s apart of Iris’s group. So Allegra’s feelings are lost on me.

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They go on a stakeout to find this man involved in Esperanza’s capture and transfer to Meister (the crime boss trying to sell that weapon of mass destruction last week). Turns out the man is just an upscale delivery driver. 

As the episode progresses, Allegra confronts Iris about Barry and tells Iris that she needs to write the farewell article for The Flash or she’ll never forgive herself. 

Later in the episode, the upscale delivery man gets murdered in the parking lot that they confronted him in earlier. And “Team Citizen decides that they’ll have to follow this issue on their own.

“Life Blood” 

Barry continues to fight for his life after the speed force, in the form of his mother, tells him that Ramsey’s goal is to take over his body and bend him to his will. 

Barry goes through a tone of horrifying hallucinations. He sees his future with Iris and baby Nora, but when he goes to pick up Nora he can’t. He walks into a room with gravestones of a lot of his deceased loved once, including himself. And there is a moment where Joe, Ralph, Iris, and Reverse-Flash blame him for everything that’s gone wrong. 

Ramsey then shows Barry a future where he can survive the pending crisis and help revive people. The speed force tries to comfort Barry and it works for a moment, but once Barry finds out that Ramsey is telling the truth, he becomes conflicted, his fever spikes, and he lashes out at the speed force.

Here’s the thing, we know from episode four, There Will be Blood, that when Ramsey uses his blood on people, it turns them into zombies, so why would that change just because it’s the flash doing it? I guess Barry didn’t remember that part.

Barry’s health monitor spikes and Cisco and Frost portal to him and bring him to Star Labs (something that Iris could have done if she called him at least once today!) Cisco ends up stabbing him with Velocity in the real world, while he is fighting between the speed force and bloodwork in his head.

Eventually, Iris does sit down to write the Flash article when she finds out that Barry is in critical condition and races to his side. By the time she reaches him, he’s awake and talking. He claims he was able to overcome, but that can’t be true because we don’t see it happen. 

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Iris realizes that he is not Barry, and the Bloodwork infection appears to have won. Barry speeds past Iris, Frost, and Cisco to Ramsey and kneels at his feet. 

Away from the action, Nash Wells finally blows through the monitor’s wall to find another door with all the infinite earth symbols on it. At this point, the crisis is 36 hours away. 

This was the best episode of the season since episode one. Grant Gustin did an amazing job with his acting this week. I’m invested in what is going to happen with his character and how the crisis will pan out. Plus with one episode left, how will Team Flash save the Flash from his bloodwork state as Negative Flash and get rid of Ramsey before the “real” crisis hits?