The following contains spoilers for The Flash Season 8, Episode 12, "Death Rises," which aired Wednesday, April 27 on The CW.
The Flash Season 8 has really put Barry Allen through the paces, having the Scarlet Speedster pull out all the stops to protect Central City and remind everyone why he truly is the Fastest Man Alive. From undoing an alternate reality created by the Reverse-Flash to using his powers to quell an entire active volcano brewing under the city, The Flash has had his fair share of epic moments this season. But as Team Flash’s hunt for the murderous Deathstorm escalates, with the fiery serial killer rampaging through the city, even a newly gained power is not enough to close the gap between Barry and the sneering supervillain.
To help give him an edge against the extraterrestrial enemy, Despero, at the start of Season 8, Team Flash’s resident tech expert Chester P. Runk created a set of advanced boots for Barry. These specially designed boots allowed The Flash to absorb raw energy and redirect it, giving Barry the power he needed to defeat Despero as the supervillain attempted to destroy the world. And facing off against Deathstorm, Barry displays a new ability granted by the hi-tech boots only to discover that it still doesn’t quite measure up to taking the serial killer down for good.
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Taking on the form of Ronnie Raymond, Deathstorm is an evil entity from a different dimension that completely loathes organic life. Deathstorm was brought into the Arrowverse when Ronnie sacrificed himself to save the world from a singularity forming above Central City and possesses his own twist on Firestorm’s fusion-based powers. Feeding off feelings of grief, Deathstorm is drawn to Caitlin due to Ronnie’s lingering connection to his wife, and tries to abduct her, with The Flash in hot pursuit.
As Deathstorm takes flight with Caitlin captive, he soars above the Central City skyline. Though Barry has been able to run up the sheer face of a skyscraper before, the villain is out of reach even from the city’s tallest buildings. However, Chester confirms that Barry’s boots are able to absorb and redirect the Speed Force energy that he emits while running. With this in mind, Barry is able to create a brief energy platform with every footfall, effectively running on thin air as he continues the chase.
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The Flash hasn’t demonstrated the ability to run on thin air in the comic books but has displayed a similar power without the aid of fancy new boots before. In 2014’s The Flash #26 (Vol. 4) by Christos N. Gage and Neil Googe, Barry was briefly able to gain traction by lightly running on clouds while pursuing an airplane in mid-flight. This power hasn’t really been explored since, though The Flash has run to the point of breaking escape velocity, temporarily reducing the effects of Earth’s gravity.
Ultimately, Barry’s new footwear-fueled ability fails to turn the tide against Deathstorm, with the villain still managing to escape anyway. Though Caitlin is eventually rescued by Team Flash, Deathstorm still holds aerial superiority and remains on the loose to terrorize Central City for the foreseeable future. Still, it’s nice to know that Barry’s boots still have a few tricks of their own and could give the Scarlet Speedster more than just a fresh look as he stomps the bad guys threatening his city.
To see how Deathstorm is beyond the reach of Barry and his boots, The Flash airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT on The CW.