Iris discovers a global conspiracy, plus a surprise Arrow crossover in the latest Flash

In its first episode post-Crisis, Team Flash spent a whole lot of time dealing with the fallout of the big crossover and trying to figure out exactly what it means for Earth Prime moving forward. We also got a bit of Arrow action, and a global conspiracy to boot.

Spoilers ahead for “Marathon,” the latest episode of The CW’s Flash, which aired Tuesday, February 4, 2020.

The series might be over, but don’t worry, the heroes fans know and love from Star City are still around and kicking. Fresh off the Arrow series finale last week, David Ramsey’s John Diggle stopped by Central City to catch up with Barry and deliver on Oliver’s final wishes in his will. Turns out Oliver was a bit more sentimental than he liked to show, and leaves his original Green Arrow mask to Barry. As fans will remember, it’s the mask Team Flash actually made for Oliver several years ago (before that, Oliver usually just wore some black grease around his eyes).

Barry finds a bit of Mirakuru residue on the mask and becomes convinced it’s a final warning from Oliver — one last mission from beyond the grave. So Barry and Diggle super-speed all the way across the globe to Lian Yu to investigate (and yeah, Diggle takes plenty of nausea medicine before hand). Turns out there was no final mission and the trip comes up empty. As the Arrowverse transitions into a post-Arrow world, it made for a perfect moment to have Diggle on hand to dispense some of his tried and true wisdom to Barry — after spending so many years having those talks with Oliver. Turns out the residue was simply left from Oliver’s final face off with Slade on Lian Yu a few years ago. No secret mission, no mystery. Just the remnants of a battle long since fought.

The CW

The trip gives Barry some time to process Oliver’s death, and what it means to try and fill the void he leaves behind. Oliver always saw Barry as the hero he could never be, and passing his mask down to him makes it clear he sees Barry as the man to keep fighting his fight to keep the world safe now that he’s gone. And thankfully, he even had Diggle around to help him figure it out. Diggle’s heart to heart with Barry also brings us to the episode’s title: “Marathon.” 

“Life’s a marathon, not a sprint, Barry. Slow down and enjoy it.” -Diggle

All of Team Flash is dealing with the fact that Crisis is over in their own way, and Diggle’s advice helps put into perspective for Barry that the end of the world is over — and they’re still there. So slow down and try to find and enjoy the life Oliver sacrificed himself to give them all.

Iris is grappling with many of the same feelings as she picks up the threads of the investigation she started pre-Crisis into a mysterious group possibly trafficking and weaponizing metahumans. That group gets a name this week — Black Hole — which should be at least vaguely familiar to comic fans. The group showed up a few years ago in the comics as a terrorist organization trying to use the Speed Force for its own personal gains. The small screen version looks to be at least similarly nefarious.

The group is run by Joseph Carver, aka the CEO of McCulloch Technologies, who looks to be a big bad for the back half of the season. He sends a meta-assassin after Iris, and nearly kills her, but Iris makes it clear all her dirt on McCulloch will be released if she (or anyone around her) is killed. So, Carver calls off his killer at the last minute. Iris’ investigation leads her to the shuttered office of Carver’s (presumably dead) wife Eva McCulloch, where she’s grabbed and yanked into a mirror by an unseen person. Comic fans might’ve noted Eva’s name is close to a comic-based Mirror Master, Evan McCulloch. So it seems Earth Prime also has a brand new Mirror Master to deal with.

As for the rest of Team Flash? We get confirmation from Cisco that our old Earth-2 pals Harry and Jessie are apparently dead in the wake of Crisis. Though, Harry is a smart guy, and if anyone could find a way to hide out and survive Crisis it’d be him. But for now, he looks to be dead. So that means the only remaining Harrison Wells in all of reality is Nash. So, at least for now, the gimmick of swapping a new Wells from the multiverse every season is over. As Cisco so harshly points out, we’re “stuck” with the Wells who accidentally started the Crisis and killed billions.

That said, Cisco does invite Nash to join the team by episode’s end, after dealing with his own guilt about giving up his powers pre-Crisis (and despite having his powers restored during the Crisis, it seems Cisco is back to being de-powered now). So Cisco sets off on the road to try and make sense of this post-Crisis world, and will be chronicling the differences in this new reality and trying to sort out what’s changed now. In his absence, Nash looks to be filling in on Team Flash. So, hopefully we’ll have a Wells back in the thick of it moving forward.

Also of note: Allegra’s multiverse doppelganger was apparently Nash’s daughter? Or something? Lots of questions there. Diggle also reiterates he's moving to Metropolis with Lyla, something mentioned in the Arrow finale. Once again, does that mean he'll show up on Superman & Lois? Here's hoping.

Next week: Something is wrong with Iris after getting yanked into mirror land. Also, Amunet Black is back!