Team Flash has a case of bad luck in an episode that actually suggests the show is set for a winning streak…
My past two reviews have focussed on my mixed feelings to The Flash‘s newfound light-hearted, comedic tone. Thankfully, with this third episode I felt the tone was a lot more assured which made for a much more enjoyable installment over all. It wasn’t a particularly standout episode but I had a good time with it.
Most of all, it was nice to have Tom Cavanagh back on board as Harry. It would have been fun to get to know another alt-Wells but it’s probably a good idea to halt that trope before it gets old and stick with the Harrison we love the best. Elsewhere, Barry and Iris thinking their wedding is cursed made for a likeable if disposable B-plot.
Though it was mostly self-contained, then, we did get some new info about the bigger plot at work here. The opening narration from The Thinker which introduced villain-of-the-week Becky Sharpe/Hazard was a welcome change-up to the format and later on we learned that Becky and last week’s Killg%re were caught in a dark matter explosion caused by Barry returning from the Speed Force. Apparently, this half of the season is going to be about catching the other ten new metahumans out there. It’s a very back-to-basics approach to the season-long story arc which, though it may lack ambition, fits with the “let’s go back to season one” mentality of this run.
The biggest talking point this week, though, was the ending which brought not one, but two major revelations. You don’t have to be The Thinker to see that Wally West has been feeling out of place on The Flash of late and the show finally did something about this week: it wrote him out! Yup, after being dumped (more on that below), Wally decides he needs to figure out his place in the world and is leaving Central City. Though this was poorly-done – couldn’t they have seeded Wally’s worries in previous episodes? – I think this is sadly for the best. Not that Wally should disappear for good, though. How about moving him over to the upcoming Titans series?
Secondly, just as Joe is losing one kid he is about to gain another because his girlfriend Cecile is pregnant. The look on Joe’s face at this point was hilarious but I’m not quite where the show is going with this. Could it be a way to introduce a version of the the Tornado Twins or possibly Bart Allen? Whatever, I’m interested to see where the story is headed next now that it has calmed down after season four’s initial (speed) bump.
Speed Thoughts:
- Oh, yeah, and Jessie Quick has probably left too. This really feels like a response to the criticism of all the speedsters on the show last season. Let’s hope that we’ll still see Jay Garrick from time to time!
- I did enjoy this one but there were a couple of moments that left me scratching my head. So the particle accelerator exploded again. Did that not have any other effect apart from negating Becky’s “quantum field”? Also, the West house has an old leaky ceiling apparently. Which is odd, considering King Shark ripped the roof right off the building in season two.
Rating:
Fandom Factory 