Barry got to know his work rival, Julian Albert, a little better on The Flash, and while the two are far from being BFFs, they might just be on their way to becoming friends. In "Monster," Barry tried to make an effort to get to know Julian after Julian complained about him to the Chief. So, Barry flattered Julian's work and offered to move out of their shared office if he could shadow him for a day, hoping that the time spent working together might get Julian off his back. And it looks like working together did the trick, with Barry finally learning why Julian hates metahumans so much. Julian Albert is jealous of metas on The Flash , and after he admitted it, he and Barry actually bonded.
Barry and Julian spent most of "Monster" trying to figure out how to stop a huge monster that appeared in Central City. But, in between work, they also talked. In a particularly revealing moment for Julian, he admitted to Barry that he sees the metahumans of Central City as a waste of great power. So many people woke up with these superpowers, and yet they don't use them to help anyone but themselves (hence that prison full of metahuman theives and crime lords).
More than that, though, metahumans make Julian feel powerless. He's jealous and afraid, something that only makes him more on edge in the field. In fact, Julian is so frustrated that he almost killed the teenage boy behind the monster attacks (the monster, it turns out, was a hologram). Luckily, the Flash was there to stop Julian's bullet from actually making contact with the unarmed teenager. And, Julian's interaction with the Flash just might have changed his opinion on metahumans. The episode ended with Julian and Barry going out for a nice after-work drink, and with Julian agreeing to share the lab a bit longer.
For now, it looks like Julian might grow to be a friend to Barry — maybe even an ally. But that's not going to stop fans from speculating on whether or not Julian is actually Doctor Alchemy. In light of Julian's revelation that he's jealous of metas, the theory does make sense. What could be more frustrating than having the power to make others metahumans, but not the power to do anything in the nonmeta world (like, say, run super duper fast)? Julian might have opened up on The Flash, but there's still a lot we don't know about him. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Images: Dean Buscher/The CW; deathsdaleks/tumblr
