The Flash Season 3, Episode 10 Recap: “Borrowing Problems From The Future”

By Tim Adams | Jan 25, 2017

In the mid-season premiere of The Flash, Barry Allen must weigh how to handle the revelation that Savitar will murder the love of his life, Iris West, while dealing with a new criminal by the name of Plunder.

The Flash is back! When we last left the Scarlet Speedster, Barry Allen and Iris West were crashing together in a new apartment. Life was sweet if you ignore the fact that the God of Speed Savitar may kill Iris in the future. That was the big cliffhanger at the midway point of Season 3. As we return to the world of The Flash in “Borrowing Problems From The Future,” we see that Iris’s death is front and center for Barry.

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Our hero is having trouble sleeping at night. He’s haunted by bad dreams circling around what he saw when he dashed to the future. Barry hasn’t confided in Iris just yet, but you know it’s only a matter of time. Before Iris asks too many questions, Barry races off to put out a building fire with the help of Wally West making his debut as Kid Flash. Wally is relegated to shadowing Barry for now, so he can learn everything the veteran knows about being a speedster.

It seems H.R Wells has been busy since the break. He’s behind turning S.T.A.R. Labs into a public museum. The idea is to charge for admission and hopefully get some extra income in their pockets. Back at the Central City Police Department, Wally overhears some officers debating the relevance of Kid Flash. This all makes Wally feel a wee bit inadequate.

Remember Julian Albert, a.k.a. Dr. Alchemy? He’s still around and Caitlin Snow turns to him for help removing her powers. The wristbands that Cisco Ramon made for her aren’t working well enough. Julian initially declines, still haunted over the evil deeds he pulled as Dr. Alchemy.

After a commercial break he changes his mind. As this is going on, we are introduced to our Villain of the Week, Plunder. He has a Nick Fury / Punisher look going for him. Besides that, the only other thing we know about him is he’s tied to Barry’s trip to the future. Plunder was seen in a news break for a few seconds right before Savitar appeared with Iris.

Barry decides to pick H.R.’s brain regarding the future being fixed or ever-changing. H.R. makes himself useful by giving some good examples of both sides of the argument. Barry comes away with the dialogue deciding he will try and change the future by letting Plunder escape.

The news bulletin in the future said Plunder was apprehended by The Flash earlier in the year, which would be around the time of our present. The plan almost works except for Kid Flash stepping in to defeat Plunder. This ticks off Barry royally, and he threatens to never let Wally shadow him again if he can’t follow orders.

Image Courtesy of The CW

It’s time for the grand opening of the S.T.A.R. Labs Museum! H.R. is pumped and dressed for the occasion, but unfortunately, no one shows up. Bummer. Barry takes this opportunity to come clean to Iris about the future and Savitar. She takes it better than I would, I’ll give her that. This was one of the more intense scenes I can remember watching on The Flash. They decide as a couple that they can’t fight this alone and need to tell the rest of #TeamFlash.

May 23, 2017 is the date that they need to alter. Four months to save Iris. Even though everyone knows the truth, Iris doesn’t want her father, Joe West, to know. He’d stop at nothing to hunt down Savitar. They must figure out what events need to be changed between now and May 23rd. Wally comes back in to say that Plunder has escaped.

Cisco has an idea, and it involves using his Vibe powers to vibe Barry back to the future. The two take the trip and come across the same news bulletin from earlier. They read the headlines out loud so #TeamFlash can jot them down. This way they know what events to look out for and change. It also becomes a clever way to highlight plot points for the remainder of the season.

Some of the highlights are the S.T.A.R. Labs Museum closing, a gorilla attack across Central City, and Killer Frost still at large. Before they leave, Barry notices H.R. on a rooftop pointing a rifle at Savitar. H.R. wasn’t there the last time Barry experienced this event, so that shows the future has already been altered.

Barry apologizes to Wally for yelling at him earlier. Together they can defeat Plunder, and they do. Except this time, Barry lets Wally do the honors to change the future again. Bystanders even chant Kid Flash’s name. Since no one showed up to the museum’s opening, #TeamFlash tries a Round Two while offering half-priced tickets to schools.

Barry and Iris are stronger than ever with the truth out in the opening. They throw a housewarming party for their new apartment and have the group over to celebrate. Julian shows up to accept an earlier invitation by Caitlin to join #TeamFlash. He likes the idea of having a new team since Savitar killed his old one. The guy’s gotta work on his social skills.

Before we hit the end credits, we see a mysterious woman jump out of a portal on the hunt for H.R. Wells.

Next: NEXT: Catch up with a recap of 'The Present'

Highlight

I’m glad to see Kid Flash as a full-time speedster going forward. The Flash’s world keeps growing and growing with supporting characters that can hold their own. Plus, add in the added drama of whether Killer Frost will overtake Caitlin’s personality and turn her evil.

Also, I love the tease of events to come, like the return of Gorilla Grodd.

Closing Thought

It’s great to have The Flash back on Tuesday nights. The best of the Arrowverse collection of shows on The CW reclaims its rightful place as must-see TV week after week.