Whenever I’m feeling down (like last week, when I realized my Girl Scout cookies had gone stale), I just pop in one of my favorite flicks, curl up in my Tardis Snuggie, and escape. No matter what I’m going through, someone’s always got it worst – like Luke finding out his dad is an intergalactic serial killer, Frodo walking barefoot across Middle Earth, and Indy being hunted down by Nazis. My boy Barry has been channeling Eeyore lately after the whole Zoom fiasco, so I thought it was time to reinstate Cinema Cisco and give him some perspective. Movie time, baby!

I hooked up a prototype 4D ultra high-def television in Barry’s recovery room and downloaded Forrest Gump, Million Dollar Baby, and The Theory of Everything – you know, real heartfelt, motivational stuff about people overcoming the odds and showing the world who’s boss. I thought their triumphs would give Barry some hope and lift his spirits (my man Dr. Phil says a broken body can’t heal with a broken spirit!). Turns out that was a bad idea. Just as little Forrest was being fitted with those metal leg braces, Barry asked me to turn it off. Apparently, Cinema Cisco was only making Barry feel worse about his situation. Back to the drawing board!

I stepped outside and hit up Joe. He said that when Barry was feeling low as a kid, they’d just go outside and shoot some hoops. Well, that definitely wasn’t happening, but it gave me an idea. For some reason, STAR Labs never sprung for the ESPN sports package, but I channeled my inner Luther Stickwell (Ethan Hunt would be nowhere without his baller skills) and was able to bounce the Central City Miners vs. Star City Thunder game off a nearby military satellite onto our screen. Toss in a couple pair of replica Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses and it was like we were sitting courtside! I’m sure the US government won’t mind – I mean, it was for a good cause. Ethical hacking at its finest, right? Plus, it did the trick! Barry’s mood lifted as he got sucked into the game and – believe it or not – he actually jumped up in triumph when the Miners scored a last-second free throw and won the game! Dr. Phil is a straight-up genius. Three points for Cisco!

I fetched Professor Stein’s old cane (he hated that thing!) from storage and we got Barry to take a few baby steps across the cortex, me at one end and Caitlin at the other. It was slow going, but I blared the Chariots of Fire theme over the speakers and it totally worked. When he collapsed from exhaustion, there was a definite light in his eyes that reassured me Barry was on the mend. Just goes to show even superheroes need the love and support of their friends, amiright?