| "Infantino Street" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Flash episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 3 Episode 22 | ||
| Directed by | Michael A. Allowitz | ||
| Story by | Andrew Kreisberg | ||
| Teleplay by | Grainne Godfree | ||
| Production code | T27.13122 | ||
| Original air date | April 16, 2017 (2017-04-16) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| The Flashseason 3 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Infantino Street" is the 22nd and penultimate episode of thethird season of the American television seriesThe Flash. Based on theDC Comics characterBarry Allen / Flash, the series followsBarry Allen (Grant Gustin) a crime scene investigator who gains superhuman speed, which he uses to fight criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities. The episode was written by executive producerAndrew Kreisberg andGrainne Godfree, and directed byMichael A. Allowitz. "Infantino Street" features the death ofIris West at the hands ofSavitar, a moment which most of the third season was dedicated to preventing.
"Infantino Street" first aired onThe CW on April 16, 2017, to an audience of 2.48 million viewers. It was met with praise from critics, particularly Iris's death in the episodes closing moments. The ending was undone in the following episode. It guest starsWentworth Miller andAudrey Marie Anderson reprising their role asLeonard Snart andLyla Michaels.
With 24 hours left before Iris dies, Team Flash makes their final preparations:Cisco Ramon andTracy Brand learn that there is only one energy source that can power the "Speed Force Bazooka"; the salvagedDominator battery held byA.R.G.U.S. However, directorLyla Micheals refuses to hand it over because of her mistrust ofBarry Allen due to his abuse of time travel erasing her daughter from time.
Running out of options Barry travels back to 1892 Siberia and recruitsLeonard Snart, when he was travelling with the Legends, to help steal the device from A.R.G.U.S. The robbery goes well and as they make it to the device only to discover it is being protected byKing Shark. Barry prepares to break his "no kill rule", but Snart stops him and uses the cold gun to put him to sleep. They steal the battery, waking King Shark and triggering a lock down in the process. Snart is unable to get out in time, Barry manages to cut King Sharks arm off. Moments later, A.R.G.U.S. arrive and capture Barry and Snart, but Lyla seeing the kindness in Barry's actions allows him to take the device. Snart advises Barry to use the goodness in him to defeat Savitar.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco has a vision about his battle with Killer Frost and leaves to fight her. While Barry goes to return Snart,Joe West hides Iris Earth-2 withHarry Wells, but Savitar tricks H. R. Wells into revealing her location by pretending to be Barry. He travels to Earth-2 and kidnaps her. Both Barry and Savitar travel to Infantino Street and fight, Barry uses the "Speed Force Bazooka" on Savitar, but it fails when Savitar counteracts it with the Philosopher's Stone, which is made out of calcified speed force energy. Savitar then stabs Iris in the back seemingly killing her, before escaping.
"Infantino Street" was written by executive producerAndrew Kreisberg[1] andGrainne Godfree, and directed byMichael A. Allowitz. The story was written by Kreisberg, and the teleplay was written by Godfree.[2] The title of the episode is an homage toSilver Age comic book writerCarmine Infantino. Infantino served as a writer of theThe Flash comic book and a co-creator of the character.[3]
"Infantino Street" features the death of Iris West at the hands ofSavitar, a moment which most ofThe Flash's third season had been centered around preventing.[4][5] The event was undone in the following episode, "Finish Line", where it was revealed that H.R. used technology to impersonate her.[6] During the opening montage of episodeAurora's "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" is played. The song was again heard during the death of Iris.[7] Martin performs "What Does It Take?"[3]
"Infantino Street" starsGrant Gustin as bothBarry Allen / The Flash andSavitar,Candice Patton asIris West,Danielle Panabaker asKiller Frost,Carlos Valdes asCisco Ramon / Vibe,Tom Cavanagh asHarry andH.R. Wells,Jesse L. Martin asJoe West, andKeiynan Lonsdale asWally West / Kid Flash.[2][7]Wentworth Miller guest stars as Leonard Snart.[5]Audrey Marie Anderson andAnne Dudek appear in recurring roles asLyla Michaels andTracy Brand respectively.[8]
"Infantino Street" first aired onThe CW on April 16, 2017.[2] The episode was viewed by a live audience of 2.48 million viewers. It was fourth in its timeslot ahead ofBrooklyn Nine-Nine but lower than episodes ofThe Middle,The Voice, andNCIS. It was the highest viewed episode on The CW that night aboveiZombie. It was eleventh of the night overall.[9] When account for seven-day DVR viewership it was seen by an additional 1.42 million.[10]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 100% of 10 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The Flash speeds out of season three's penultimate episode with an epic climax that could be the most exciting minutes of the series."[11] The ending scene of the episode was praised, although many assumed it would be undone the following episode.[12][13][14] Following the episode's release a popularfan theory was that H.R. was the one who died and not Iris, this ended up being true.[6][15] Writing about the then-upcoming season finaleComicBook.com's Russ Burlingame wrote that "Infantino Street" featured a death "that almost nobody expects to remain in place".[15]
Writing forIGN Jesse Schedeen rated the episode 9.4/10 writing "The Flash delivered a winning blend of humor and character drama as Captain Cold played his part in stopping Savitar."[16] Writing forThe A.V. Club Scott Von Doviak rated the episode a B. He praised the acting between Patton and Martin noting the chemistry between their characters. He also praised Miller's acting, comparing it to the then-recentPrison Break.[3] Writing forScreen Rant, Sarah Moran praised the episode particularly the ending scene. Moran also noted the interactions between Leonard Snart and Barry Allen as a high point of the episode.[12]TV Guide's Noel Kirkpatrick also praised the scene and noted that it was unlikely to be permanent. Kirkpatrick cited various in-universe and production reasons as to why.[13]
