Grant Gustin stars as Barry, and is joined by principal cast members Candice Patton, Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Hartley Sawyer, Danielle Nicolet, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Tom Cavanagh, and Jesse L. Martin.
The episode focuses on the aftermath of Nora West-Allen's partnership with Eobard Thawne being exposed to Team Flash, and flashbacks showing how the two initially met.
Upon further investigation, Nora learns Godspeed is August Heart, a former intern from Mercury Labs, and that he is stealing chemicals to create an everlasting version of Velocity 9, a drug that was previously used by speedsters Zoom and Trajectory to give them more speed.
After realizing Lia was murdered, Iris releases Nora from the cell she was imprisoned in by Barry after her partnership with Thawne was exposed, allowing her to tell her side of the story and give her a second chance.
[3] Main cast members Grant Gustin, Candice Patton,[2] Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Hartley Sawyer, Danielle Nicolet,[4] Jessica Parker Kennedy,[2] Tom Cavanagh,[5] and Jesse L. Martin[4] appear in the episode as Barry Allen / Flash, Iris West, Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, Ralph Dibny, Cecile Horton, Nora West-Allen, Sherloque Wells and Joe West, respectively.
The website's critical consensus reads, "The West-Allen family faces a shocking development in "Godspeed," an episode that reaches new emotional heights under the thoughtful direction of cast member Danielle Panabaker.
He reacted negatively to the onscreen treatment of Godspeed, saying that the episode underused its title character and turned him into a "throwaway, one-off villain", whereas he is much more three-dimensional in the comics.
Despite this criticism, Schedeen enjoyed the main storyline involving Nora, as well as her interactions with Thawne, and felt the episode captured the essence of the show's first season, being "fun and simpl[e]".
[8] Mike Cecchini of Den of Geek too did not like the treatment of Godspeed as a "one-off" villain but said, "This was an excellent hour of The Flash, and one that I really hope is enough to shake the show completely out of the rather safe rut it has been in for much of the season."