‘The Flash’ Gets a New Ability in “The Trial of The Flash”

Last night during the midseason premiere of The Flash, Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin) was convicted of murdering Clifford Devoe/The Thinker (Neil Sandilands). While Barry is innocent of the crime and outing himself as The Flash very well might have seen him acquitted, Barry opted not to say anything, but Iris (Candice Patton) almost did and discovered her husband has a brand-new power in the process.

We previously speculated that the time Barry spent in the Speed Force between last season’s finale and this season’s premiere may have given him new powers and abilities, but last night it was confirmed that yes, Barry does in fact have some new tricks. When Iris burst into the court room to reveal her husband’s secret, heroic identity, Barry leapt up to stop her. No, he didn’t super speed her out of the courtroom. He simply placed his hand on her shoulders and, for both of them, the world seemed to stop except for the conversation they were having. It was something that completely surprised Iris, with her even asking how this was happening. Barry said he didn’t know; this was a completely new ability allowing him to move Iris with him as fast as he did, so fast that no one could hear them or see them speaking.

By holding Iris, Barry was able to extend his speedster abilities to her, at least in terms of moving them both. This is completely different than Barry simply picking someone up and carrying them at his speed. Iris, for that moment, was connected to the Speed Force with him. While there’s not an exact comic book correlation to this interesting power, in comics Barry and other speedsters do have the ability to steal or siphon the motion or momentum from people and objects, enhancing their own speed. Technically, it’s called speed theft, but the power that Barry displayed last night seems to sort of a reverse of that. Barry didn’t steal Iris’ momentum. He gave her his.

As for what other new powers Barry might have brought back from the Speed Force — and we’re betting there are others — it might be a little bit before we get to see them in action. With Barry convicted of murder, quickly sentenced, and sent off to serve his time in Iron Heights in the same cell his father did, he’s not really going to have much of an opportunity to be The Flash. And based on the preview for next week’s episode that’s bad news for Central City. No Flash means villains have an opening to wreak havoc on Central City, but all hope is not lost. Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man (Hartley Sawyer) will have a chance to save the day — a chance that includes him getting a brand-new costume that is a big improvement over the first outfit fans saw the would-be hero in.

“It’s a little hard to get into, but it’s fun to wear actually.” Sawyer said of his first costume last year. “It does not leave much to the imagination, but putting it on is fun and it lends itself to a lot of comedy, a lot of moments there with that.”

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW. “The Elongated Knight Rises” airs January 23rd.