The Flash 2x12 Recap: "Fast Lane"

Fast Lane.
While Wells and Barry are trying to figure out a way to close the breaches, a new metahuman, Tar Pit, is in town. Iris also finds out about Wally's drag racing hobby and puts herself in danger after he refuses to stop. Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Wally West loves anything that has to do with speed, and that's why he loves drag racing. And that's also why we'll see him eventually become a speedster himself. Iris isn't happy that he's still drag racing, though, and she doesn't think Joe's allowing Wally to get to know the dad she knows.

Since Barry is newly single, he's got time on his hands, and he's going to spend that time searching for a way to close the breaches with Wells. And while they were working together, Wells freaked out on him because Barry was talking too much about the old Wells being his mentor and how much this one reminds him of the old one. He later apologizes to him for snapping at him, but he says that he is always a father first. When the day comes that he'll face Zoom and Zoom gives him a choice of his daughter or Barry, he will always choose his daughter. Barry has more faith in him than he has in himself, but then again, we've seen Barry shouldn't trust him at all.

Using the old Wells' papers on breaches, Barry and Wells create the device and go to test it on one, and they're successful. So now, they know it can be done, and to Barry, that brings them one step closer to Zoom and getting Wells' daughter back.

While Barry and Wells are doing that, Iris is actually going to Wally's drag racing events and taking pictures. She's doing so to write an article about the negative aspects of street races and she wants Joe to stop them; to be Wally's parent. Joe doesn't want Wally to reject them and he wants him around. After he gains his trust, he can do something.

The problem comes when Iris goes to speak to the man who runs the races and tells him to stop the races, threatening to publish the article and tell the CCPD if he doesn't. And he threatens her back, but she has the entire conversation recorded. Wally finds out and thinks she has a death wish, but this prompts a good conversation between the two of them, because Wally has people who care about him and he may act like a badass, but he wasn't raised one. He tells her that if she shows up there again, he won't be able to protect her.

Tar Pit's out for revenge, and the first person he attacks is the man who threw him into the tar to begin with. Basically, a group of guys put him in the tar at the same time the Particle Accelerator exploded, which is what gave him his powers.

Using Cisco's new app, they get word of another attack and The Flash goes to save one of the other men responsible for what happened to Tar Pit. He's successful, and takes Stanley, who was attacked, with him to ask him some questions, but he doesn't get anything out of him. Meanwhile, the device Wells secretly put under The Flash emblem on Barry's suit is put to use and Wells is able to generate some of Barry's speed force to none of the team's knowledge. Cisco does notice that he wasn't running as fast as normal, though. And also, Zoom's not happy with the little amount of Barry's speed force he was given. He wants all of it.

Cisco commits multiple felonies to get all of the information about the men and Tar Pit, but at this point, they need to find out who these men are. One of them is actually the same man that Iris went to talk that runs the drag races, so her and Joe go to see him. Tar Pit's already there, and he's messing with both drivers, one of whom is Wally, so Iris calls for The Flash's help. He gets there in time and saves Wally, but is unable to stop a piece of glass from hitting Iris in the shoulder. The device Wells put on his suit is starting to take a more noticeable effect. Luckily, she's okay and it only pierced her shoulder, but she still has to stay in the hospital.

Wally goes to visit her and after he gives her flowers, he speaks to Joe outside. Wally thinks Joe's mad at him, and yes, he's mad at him for being reckless, but he's more mad at himself for making it seem like he was his friend rather than his dad. Joe also tells him that he has to realize that he has people who care about him a lot, he's not alone. And while he needs to go see Barry, Wally stays with Iris in the hospital. And Wally opens up to Iris while he's there. That rush of speed he feels reminds him of his mom, and that's why he doesn't want to let it go.

Barry notices that he felt differently in the suit and he wasn't fast enough to protect Iris. Caitlin notices that his speed is 2% slower than usual, so he's not wrong in feeling the way he does. And while Wells is sitting in the room and they're discussing this, he tells them what he did. Everything, both stealing his speed and giving it to Zoom. And Barry's pissed, but Joe actually seems more pissed, punching him, and then throwing him into a cell to prevent himself from killing him.

Using Stanley as bate, Joe and Barry lure Tar Pit to an area and using the device Cisco created, cause the Tar to break down and defeat him. Not the hardest metahuman to defeat after Cisco gave them the right tool.

Speaking of Barry saying this Wells reminds him of the old one, he's reminded him of both the good and bad now. Wells wants Barry to send him back to Earth Two and says that his daughter is his own battle to fight, not Barry's. The thing is, Barry understands why Wells did it. He could've taken Barry's speed and saved his daughter's life, but he told him, and he didn't. So now, he can't ignore the other world that exists and all the people in it. He wants to help Wells save his daughter, but he needs to whole Team on board, and they agree. And to Wells surprise, Barry lets him go and tells him they're ready to help.

Next week, we're getting to see Killer Frost and Deathstorm in action from Earth-Two, which I'm very excited about. We're also seeing Earth-Two Barry Allen, with his fancy suit and glasses. It seems like we'll finally be seeing more of it, which should be interesting. Overall, very good episode tonight. Lots of development with Wally and also a bit of a surprising reaction to Wells' reveal. We'll see how things continue next week.

Other things worth mentioning:
⚡With some of Cisco's hacking skills, they find out who Tar Pit actually is. And after he finds him, he asks who the best hacker in the world is, to which Barry and Caitlin respond "Felicity Smoak." Well... they're not wrong.