The Flash reaches his breaking point in Seeing Red

On the latest episode of The Flash, Barry Allen almost broke the rule he vowed never to break. Find out how in our recap of Season 5, Episode 11 below.

On The Flash Season 5, Episode 11, Cicada (Chris Klein) returns to once again eradicate the metahuman element from Central City. He’s made it his goal to eliminate them and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

To keep his mission alive, Cicada targets all of the criminal metahumans on CCPD’s database. Barry, Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy), and Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker) intervened during one of his attacks but he proved too strong yet again.

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At one point, Cicada gets a hold of Nora. He picks her up and lands a crushing blow to Nora’s back, paralyzing her in the process. Once Barry realizes what’s transpired, he becomes filled with rage.

Now, Barry doesn’t make it obvious but he’s on a warpath after the incident. No one seems to notice and Barry reaches a point of no return. Lucky for him, Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) pulls him back from the brink.

Cecile uses her meta abilities to sense the anger building under Barry’s strong demeanor, warning him of what that rage will do to him—emphasizing what’s become of Cicada after he allowed similar emotions to consume him.

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With the inner conflict within Barry is at its peak, he has a major decision to make, one that will have lasting consequences. He wants to make sure that Cicada never hurts his daughter again but the only way he can guarantee her safety is to end Cicada’s life. But to do so, Barry would have to break the one rule he promised he never would.

Over the progression of five seasons of The Flash, Barry Allen has defeated various villains without killing any of them. Even Eobard Thawne (Tom Kavanagh) evaded Barry’s wrath—despite killing his mother. And all these shows of mercy were for Barry to avoid becoming just like them—the way Savitar did. Killing Cicada would set Barry down the same path—one consumed with anger and hate.

The good news is that with help from both Cecile and Nora, Barry makes the correct decision, sparing Cicada’s life in the end. They don’t apprehend the villain but at least Team Flash gives Cicada yet another loss to think about. Let’s just hope it discouraged him enough to stay away because Barry might not give Cicada a second chance the next time.

What did you think of Barry almost giving into darkness? How will Barry deal with Cicada? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Flash airs Tuesdays on The CW.