The Flash recap: "Things You Can't Outrun"

Episode 3 of The CW’s The Flash is titled “Things You Can’t Outrun,” and that applies both literally to Barry’s (Grant Gustin) troubles in outrunning a dangerous new metahuman villain, and also figuratively to various characters’ inability to outrun their pasts.

The baddie for this week is Kyle Nimbus (guest star Anthony Carrigan), who has the ability to turn himself into poison gas (and, of course, resolidify himself afterward). Nimbus got this power as a death row inmate the night of the particle accelerator accident — as Nimbus was being put to death by gas, the accident that also created Barry and numerous other metahumans somehow combined Nimbus with the gas itself.

Nimbus decides to use his new power to get even with those who put him in the execution chamber. At the start of the episode, he wipes out the crime family that turned evidence on him. Barry and Joe (Jesse L. Martin) investigate the scene of the murders and determine that gas was used, but Barry notices the unusual fact that not everyone was killed all at once, implying the notion that the gas may have had a mind of its own. That might be a crazy notion in some towns, but Joe and Barry know that other forces are at work in Central City and suspect that a metahuman may be behind the crime.

Barry later confirms this when Nimbus — whom Cisco (Carlos Valdes) has dubbed “The Mist,” in a case of one of his “cool names” sticking the first time — goes after his next victim, the judge who sentenced him to death. Nimbus attacks her in a mall elevator, and when Barry gets wind of the attack, he zips over as The Flash to check things out. It’s too late for the judge, but Barry gets his first look at Nimbus. It’s not a long look, however, as The Mist transforms himself into his titular form, and begins suffocating Barry. Barry races back to S.T.A.R. Labs, where they are able to get a sample of the gas from his lungs (and where his body does its speedy healing thing after being treated with an antidote).

As they try to trace who this metahuman could really be, the group notices something that fans of the series have already been noticing — that these bad guys end up dying after climactic encounters with police and The Flash. They realize that these super-powered villains cannot be contained within a normal prison, so they decide that the defunct particle accelerator within the bowels of S.T.A.R. Labs would be a secure place to hold them. Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker), however, is reluctant to revisit the site that has caused her so much pain recently. It is where her fiance, Ronnie (guest star Robbie Amell), died when the accelerator accident occurred.

We flash back a few times throughout the episode to that fateful night and witness Ronnie’s heroics in redirecting the accelerator’s explosion upward, instead of outward, thus saving the others in the lab. Unfortunately, Ronnie was left sealed within the blast, and was apparently killed (though in the comics he is transformed into the hero Firestorm, so Ronnie will likely be back).

Barry and Caitlin have a bonding experience as he gets to know more about her loss that night. Cisco also feels some guilt, as he was the one who shut the door to the accelerator behind Ronnie (at Ronnie’s insistence), but he and Caitlin end on good terms, as well.

Another character plagued by his past is Joe, who is determined to begin reopening the case of Barry’s father, Henry (guest star John Wesley Shipp). Barry has talked with Joe about using his own superpowers to bust his father out of prison, and while Joe realizes that idea is tempting, he tells Barry it would only lead to a life on the run for them.

But Joe has other issues, as well, as his daughter Iris (Candice Patton), and his partner Eddie (Rick Cosnett), are finding it harder to keep their relationship a secret from him. Also, it turns out that he is next on The Mist’s list.

The gang at S.T.A.R. Labs traces the gas from Barry’s lungs to the type of gas used in executions, and ultimately link the murders to Kyle Nimbus. When they speculate on who he might target next, they look up Nimbus’ arresting officer — Joe. Barry learns that Joe has gone to see Henry at the prison and suspects The Mist will strike there, so he races there as The Flash.

The Mist indeed ends up at the prison as Joe is telling Henry that he now believes he is innocent, and will be reopening his case. Nimbus uses his gaseous form to suffocate Joe before slipping away through an air vent. Barry shows up and gives Joe a shot of the gas antidote Caitlin had whipped up for Barry. While doing so, Barry speeds his face into a blur so his father won’t recognize him, in a cool move.

Barry then pursues The Mist on a deserted highway. Now without the antidote, Barry must do everything he can to avoid the gas. The S.T.A.R. Labs team postulates that if Barry can keep Nimbus chasing him, The Mist will eventually run out of enough energy to keep turning back and forth from his gas form, so Barry keeps running just a few steps ahead of the gas, until Nimbus finally collapses from exhaustion in his solid form.

Later, Joe is recovering in the hospital, and is visited by Barry, who admits that though he had the chance to break his father out while at the prison, he chose not to. Iris and Eddie also visit, intending to tell Joe about their relationship, but Joe admits that he, as a detective, had already figured it out. He’s not pleased, but is willing to let his daughter make her choice.

Near the end, we see how the S.T.A.R. Labs accelerator has been turned into a prison, keeping an angry Mist locked up and pounding away helplessly — in solid and gas form — at his prison door. As Wells (Tom Cavanagh) leaves the area, we end on another mysterious note when it comes to him. It’s another flashback to the night of the accident, from Wells’ point of view. Somehow that night, he was able to witness, via the screen in his secret room, the accident that gave Barry his powers. Wells mentions that he will “see Barry soon” as he watches the accident in the flashback.

So, another tantalizing teaser when it comes to Wells ends another episode of The Flash. With his seemingly omniscient ability to see across locations and even across time, it will be intriguing to find out what Wells is really up to, and the extent of his powers. Is he involved with the man who killed Barry’s mom (or the murderer himself)?

It was also good to see a villain not get killed off, though it might get awfully crowded in that S.T.A.R. Labs basement as more naughty metahumans keep turning up.

NEXT WEEK: Speaking of naughtiness, next week’s episode of The Flash, “Going Rogue,” will introduce a classic Flash villain — Captain Cold (played by Wentworth Miller). Arrow character Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) will crossover in the episode.

FLASH NEWS: The CW announced yesterday that The Flash has been picked up for a full season, after debuting as the network’s most-watched series premiere ever a few weeks back (6.1 million viewers in Live +3 Day Nielsen ratings). That episode was also The CW’s highest-rated series premiere among adults 18-49 in more than five years, since The Vampire Diaries premiered in 2009.

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