‘The Flash’: 7 “This House is Bitchin’” Theories

During the season four premiere of The Flash, Barry returned from the Speed Force, but he wasn’t quite himself. Not only was he speaking total gibberish, but he was scrawling a strange cypher on every surface he could. When Cisco tried to translate the cypher all he came up with was “This House is Bitchin’” and the catchphrase of the season was born.

In addition to being a funny quip the show keeps tossing in almost as a punchline, fans are still trying to figure out what, if anything the phrase really means. With “this house is bitchin’” not exactly being something that Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin) is inclined to say — it’s more Cisco’s territory — fans have come up with all kinds of ideas about what it might mean. From the phrase being a hint at a season ending cliffhanger to meaning literally nothing at all, fans have covered a lot of ideas about what the phrase might mean. While we wait for The Flash to come back next week, we’ve collected seven theories about what the phrase might mean.

Mistranslation

The first theory about Barry’s interesting phrase is that it’s simply a mistranslation. As no one is exactly certain as to what language the symbols Barry was writing in are — though there are some that think it could be a variation of Interlac, the universal language we’ve seen on Supergirl — it is entirely possible that Cisco’s program wasn’t able to accurately translate them. This idea is given a bit more credence when you consider that the symbols might be from the future. The Mystery Girl that many think is either Dawn Allen or Jenni Ognats from the future was seen writing in the same language after encountering Cisco and Ralph in Jitters. If it is a future language, Cisco’s program just may not be advanced enough to translate it.

A code within a code

While Barry’s symbol cypher itself seems to be a code — hence the phrase “this house is bitchin’” being hidden in it — some fans think that the phrase itself is a code, perhaps one that is the key to defeating The Thinker. With The Thinker seeming to know Team Flash’s every move and the idea that Barry existed both outside of time and experienced all time while trapped in the Speed Force, if Barry did experience the future or multiple variations of it, he may have encoded a plan for how to stop the villain in those symbols, hoping that Cisco and the team. Maybe the instructions on how to use the Cerebral Inhibitor to stop DeVoe is hidden in the phrase? 

DeVoe’s Lab

One of the things audiences has seen a few times over the course is The Thinker and The Mechanic’s lab-slash-lair hidden somewhere in their home. While we don’t necessarily see a lot of projects in progress, the space does have a cool futuristic feel, like something out of a sci-fi movie. It strikes us as something that Cisco might organically say to describe the space. Maybe that’s really all it is. Cisco declares the DeVoe house “bitchin’” and Barry, while stuck in the Speed Force somewhere in time heard it and all those symbols are just Barry writing in a very weird Speed Force diary of sorts.

Bootstrap Paradox

The idea of the phrase being a reference to DeVoe’s lab is close to another theory we’ve seen: bootstrap paradox.

In that theory the phrase ended up becoming a thing because it was a thing in the future because it became a thing in the past. Confusing? Think of it this way: Barry referenced future events when he emerged from the Speed Force so we know that he saw some form of the future. It’s possible then that “this house is bitchin’” is one of the things he recalled from the future and thus wrote it down. This leads to Cisco translating it and the phrase turning into Team Flash’s running joke which Speed Force Trapped Barry would then see in the future and the cycle starts again. Bootstrap paradox.

Bart Allen

While “this house is bitchin’” doesn’t sound like something that Barry would say himself, there is one DC Comics speedster that it does sound like — Bart Allen. Many fans are theorizing that the phrase ends up not being something that Barry or anyone on Team Flash says, but is in fact a reference to the arrival of Impulse, the teenage sidekick of the Flash in comics. Bart showing up for the season finale is something that many fans have considered, especially if the Mystery Girl ends up being Jenni Ognats. You see, in comics Bart Allen is the Barry’s grandson, the son Barry’s son Don Allen and Meloni Thawne — yes, as in that Thawne family. Bart is Jenni’s cousin and is very talkative and uses slang. Bart showing up at Joe’s house saying that it’s bitchin’? That would be oh so very crash.

Don Allen

Another possibility, if Bart Allen isn’t the person who utters the line, is Don Allen. This particular theory works roughly the same way as the idea of Bart showing up for the season finale, but is tied more to the idea that the Mystery Girl is really Dawn Allen. While the idea of Don uttering the line doesn’t really shed any light on why the pair would be in the 21st century, it would be entertaining to see on the show. Maybe he learned it from Cisco as part of the bootstrap paradox.

It means nothing

While the other theories are entertaining and fairly complex, there are many fans who simply think the phrase will end up to mean nothing. While this isn’t likely considering that the show is going all the way back to the first season and picking up references dropped there this season (Barry in a prison jumpsuit much?) the idea that we’ve all been trying to figure out a throwaway phrase this whole season is kind of funny. If the show has been trolling fans this whole time with a mystery phrase that literally means nothing, it would be both frustrating and amusing all at once. And that’s kind of bitchin’ itself.

The Flash airs on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT. New episodes resume on February 27th.