A nuclear explosion without radiation buildup? Thanks to the quantum splicer, Barry and Caitlin won’t have to worry about their hair and teeth falling out and, more importantly—or just as importantly—Ronnie and Professor Stein have been separated and reside in their own bodies. Both are able to make their homecomings and it appears they’ll be able to get back to the lives they had prior to becoming the Firestorm matrix. The end.

If only it were that easy…

Ronnie and Stein make it through the explosion no worse for wear

The two men do return to their significant others, ready to begin life anew while Barry’s filled in on Joe and Cisco’s little experiment into the past. Young Mr. Allen is floored by his apparent time travel and though the group tosses around theories, even Wells is limited to his understanding of the mechanics. For a bit more on the subject, Barry pays a visit to Professor Stein who, despite a curious craving for pizza, breaks down the basics. “I believe space-time is free flowing highway that intersects the physical world. We live in the moments between the on and the off ramps.” There will come a time where Barry’s speed becomes so great that it smashes a hole through the space-time continuum. Instead of being excited at the prospect, Barry can only see one thing: his failure to save his mother.

Their conversation is interrupted when Stein feels Ronnie’s fear and panic. General Eiling has tracked Ronnie down and is ready to bring him in when Barry arrives, taking down all of Eiling’s men but leaves the general standing for some odd reason. The mistake turns him to a human pin cushion when Eiling showcases a new toy; a micro-fragment grenade whose pieces are attracted to kinetic energy. Lucky for the two men, Caitlin arrives in time to get them both out of dodge and back to the lab. Stein arrives on his own accord and tells the gathering “I don’t think Mr. Raymond and I are as distinctive as we had hoped.” Further tests reveal their brainwaves are in complete sync, a fact that suggests their Firestorm matrix partnership is far from over.

To keep them off the radar, Barry invites Caitlin and Ronnie to stay with him and Joe. When Iris stops by for a Tuesday night dinner, the troop cooks up some lame excuses and, coupled with Ronnie’s familiar face, peaks the reporter’s attention, especially after Mason Bridge’s assertion that the Particle Accelerator explosion may not have been an accident.

Stein and Ronnie have found a balance on coexistence within the Firestorm matrix

Wells tries playing a bit of damage control with Eiling but is thrown off when the General reveals his knowledge of Barry’s true identity. Caught in a precarious position, Wells sells Stein out to the General (in a scene directly following Barry staunch support of him having nothing to do with his mother’s murder) and tells the others Eiling burst in and captured the good professor. They need to find the professor as Eiling will be doing all he can to discover a means to weaponized the Firestorm matrix. In a fit of inspiration, they use Ronnie’s connection with the professor to lead Ronnie and Barry to Stein’s location. They nab the professor moments before Eiling pulls the trigger (after discovering the secrets to the matrix lie inside Stein. Before the trio’s able to catch their breath, Barry catches a missile that explodes with a phosphorus foam, designed to burn through him. His only recourse is to create a vacuum (it can’t burn without oxygen) while Stein and Ronnie must become Firestorm. Wells talks them through seconds before the Army cohort descends on them. “Accept the change. Accept the balance. Accept each other.” They merge and take out the entire platoon…only to get hit with an Ion grenade courtesy of Eiling. Before he can eliminate the temporarily powerless Firestorm, Barry races in and KO’s the General.

With the General temporarily out of the picture, Ronnie and Stein are headed to Pittsburgh to find out more about the Firestorm matrix. Before he leaves, Stein speaks to Barry about losing his mother. “I believe in second chances,” he says. “You’ll get yours. In time.”

Epilogue

General Eiling’s on base, licking his wounds when he’s abducted by the Man in Yellow, aka Professor Harrison Wells. Eiling needs to go but Wells won’t be the one to eliminate the General. That pleasure falls upon another creature, one whose thoughts crash into Eiling’s head. The last thing General Eiling hears apart from his own screams are “Not God…Grodd.”

In Time

The Firestorm teasers finally paid off this week as we were given a peak into the potential destructive power of the matrix as Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein slowly work out how to make their union a synergistic relationship. The effects were top notch—I daresay the Firestorm effects worked better than the Flash’s own powers—and the story, despite a couple of insane moments of ineptitude (leaving the General untouched twice? Really, guys?) was strong and opens up a slew of potential plotlines ranging from Iris investigating STAR labs to the meta-beast Grodd skulking in the shadows. We’ve passed season one’s halfway point and ‘The Flash’continues to receive high marks in my eyes, using the lessons learned from ‘Arrow’’s freshman campaign to make a production that, for lack of a better term, hit the ground running on all cylinders. There have been a few dramatic elements added that don’t always hit the mark but, for the most part, ‘The Flash’ has stayed strong throughout the first fourteen episodes. Now, the biggest question still remains: how long before Barry and the others discover Professor Wells’s dual identity? When it does happen (and happen it will), there is no telling how large the fallout will be across Barry’s relationships and the future of all those involved.