FLASHBACK: Fallout (s01e14)

It’s time to see what happens when the Firestorm is no more… wait, did I just type “time”? TIME TRAVEL! Here’s your all-new installment of Flashback showcasing the easter eggs and tidbits you may have missed in this week’s episode of The Flash!

After the nuclear explosion separates Ronnie and Dr. Stein, Barry and the team believe both men are safe. Barry gets some important information about time travel.

TIME TRAVEL

I could write pages and pages regarding time travel in fiction, but I’ll spare you my obsession with the ability to travel to the past and future at will. We know the Cosmic Treadmill is coming, but the big thing to take away from Barry’s discussion with Dr. Stein is that alternate timelines are a possibility. Dr. Stein believes Barry will get a second chance to save his mother, but for comic book fans, we know what happens when Barry tries to change the past.

FAMILIAR FACES

There were a number of familiar faces popping up in this week’s episode:

General Wade Eiling

Clancy Brown returns this week to reprise his role as General Wade Eiling.  Eiling first appeared in Captain Atom #1 (March 1987) and later he became the Hulk-esque monster, “The General” in the pages of JLA.

One thing that is clearly apparent after this week’s episode is that Barry should never unmask anywhere in public. If Eiling knows who The Flash is, and providing he isn’t dead after his encounter with Grodd, then our hero is going to have even more troubles going forward.

I still think the best character development of Eiling happened in the Justice League animated series, where he constantly played the military foil for Superman as a member of Project Cadmus.

Porcupine Man

General Eiling has a number of ways to take down the metahumans in the Arrow Universe, and the kinetic energy spikes used against Barry Allen, sure do make him look like a porcupine.

Flash temporarily lost his powers during the Dominators invasion in 1989, and when they came racing back, Wally West found himself naked and covered in porcupine-like spines, in Swainsville, New Mexico. This story arc (Flash #26 – 28) featured Tina McGee, Mason Trollbridge, the first meeting between LInda Park and Wally West, and one of the more interesting misunderstood villains turned heroes, Chunk.

Not god… Grodd

Some thought the writing on the wall a couple of weeks ago was Grundy (it wasn’t), and this week we get another glimpse of Gorilla Grodd. General Eiling mentioned the last time he used a cattle prod on a gorilla. Interestingly, the Grodd incident is what caused General Eiling and Dr. Wells to have their falling out. More on Grodd when he appears on the show in a few weeks.

It would be interesting if Grodd ended up turning the tables on Eiling by experimenting on him, and turning him into the General monster from the Justice League animated series. The All-Star Team-Up episode is still on the list for this season (I’m still hoping it is the introduction of Mirror Master), but giving us some Eiling closure this season might be for the best.

Firestorm Flip-Flop

As mentioned last week, Firestorm in the Arrow Universe originally had Dr. Stein controlling Ronnie’s body, but this week, it looks like the creators corrected any worries and fears from fans as Ronnie appeared to be fully in control of himself, with Dr. Martin Stein becoming the floating head giving advice.

The quantum splicer now become the “official costume” worn by Firestorm in this episode.

Good job, CW!

META REFERENCES ABOUND

This week there were a lot of references to things that exist in our world, and several that were self referential:

Back to the Future and Terminator are both movies involving time travel. Back to the Future was released in 1985, while the Terminator landed in theaters in 1984.  In 1984, Flash 329 – 331 featured a dimensional story involving Gorilla Grodd, followed by a large arc where the Pied Piper used his technology to turn the public against the Flash. The biggest event in the Flash in 1984 and 1985 was the Trial of the Flash story arc (Flash 340-349) where Flash went on trial for killing Professor Zoom. 1985 also featured the final issue of volume 1 of the series, which ended with Flash #350.

Firestorm #20-22 featured Firestorm and Killer Frost going up against one another.

Ross and Rachel – Wow, even these young kids remember watching Friends…

Then there were a couple of really interesting comments made by Cisco and Barry this week:

• The Mist fight occurred “like week three,” according to Cisco. No Cisco, the fight with the Mist occurred exactly in week three (Season 1, Episode 3)
• “Just another Tuesday for us” – Yup, this show airs on Tuesday, the same night and time we record the Major Spoilers Podcast, which is why this article always appears late on Wednesday.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION

Coast City

Home of the Silver Age Green Lantern, Hal Jordan called Coast City his home for decades until it was destroyed by Mongul in the 1990 Death and Rebirth of Superman event. Hal couldn’t take the grief and became the villain Parallax before he changed his ways, made The Ultimate Sacrifice, turned into The Spectre, and then later returned to life in Green Lantern: Rebirth (by Geoff Johns).

Coast City is located in California, and for a long time was thought to be an analog for San Diego or Los Angeles. In 1990 the Atlas of the DC Universe put Coast City in northern California between San Francisco and Star City, but in recent years, Coast City has been referenced as being 20 miles from Edwards Air Force Base, which which would put it around the Lancaster, CA region. This makes a lot more since, since Coast City’s biggest employer is Ferris Aircraft.

Coast City was created by John Broome and Gil Kane, and first appeared in Showcase #22 (Sept-Oct. 1959).

Pittsburgh

When Ronnie Raymond graduated from high school, he went to Pittsburgh to attend college – the same college that had recently hired Dr. Martin Stein as a professor.

Pittsburgh is the second largest city in Pennsylvania and was settled in 1717. The city was founded by George Washington and General John Forbes.

Midway City

If you are a fan of Hawkman or Hawkgirl, or even the Doom Patrol, then Midway City is on your radar. It was originally thought that Midway City was located around the Chicago, Illinois area, but in 1977 it was placed firmly in Michigan, near Sault Ste. Marie.

Secret Military Base #27

Though there is nothing special about Secret Military Base #27, it was noted that the facility was built in 1961. Why is that date important?

 IT’S CALLED A SECRET IDENTITY FOR A REASON!

Geez Barry, could you keep your mask on. As of this episode, here is a rundown of everyone who knows that Barry Allen is The Flash

• Dr. Harrison Wells
• Dr. Caitlin Snow
• Dr. Cisco Ramon
• Detective Joe West
• Ronnie Raymond
• Dr. Martin Stein
• Mrs. Clarissa Stein
• Hartley Rathaway (Pied Piper)
• Felicity Smoak
• General Wade Eiling
• Oliver Queen (Green Arrow)
• John Diggle
• Bette Sans Souci (deceased)
• Mr. Henry Allen (assumed)

Before the end of the season, I expect this list to grow. When Wally West became the Flash, he revealed his secret identity and was a very public and well known hero in Central City.