Whoa the hiatus slipped by me! Time to get caught up.
Revenge of the Rogues
Recap: 2 normal dudes get impossible guns that should destroy all life on earth. Thankfully with the Flash, science is optional.
Muggle Musings: Continuity! Returning villains! All in all, a decent enough episode, I would label this one as the “baseline” for ranking of an average episode for this series.
The best part of it though was the scene between Joe and Harrison. I don’t know how conscious the writing was for that, but it ended up being a great examination and metaphor for the titanic struggles between two forces over the hero’s soul, one representing the angel on the shoulder, the other the devil. It hits that sweet spot of subtlety I say writers should aim for where there is a meaning to the scene, a viewer can pick up on it (even if only subconsciously) but it doesn’t beat you over the head with its obviousness screaming “DO YOU GET IT YET?!??!”
It was also nice to see a solution to the villain of the week this time that wasn’t just “I need to run even faster!” Good to see them mixing it up.
I’m not sure how well his moving back in with Joe will work out but it’s interesting and I commend them for having the guts to try that. I’ll be interested in seeing where this is going.
Metahuman Musings: Well I’m not big on the “rogues group” of Flash villains so I was just ‘meh’ on Captain Cold and Heatwave, but of course the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. stuff was awesome! I thought the actor playing Jason did a fantastic job and I wouldn’t mind seeing him with a “team” working with match-head like Cisco, Caitlin, and Wells work with Flash.
Also nice that they’re involving a plot around it, some deeper conspiracy that they have to investigate. The show’s been needing a plot hook it can run with other than “Barry is so speshul omg!” Even setting aside my fandom, I find this just a bit more interesting than the ongoing “who is Wells” question. Also we have confirmation that FS WILL have transmutation powers. Yay!
The Sound and the Fury
Recap: Look we’re going to rip off the Dark Knight right now so we can get it out of the way and everyone can stop bothering us.
Muggle Musings: Lots of little things of note in this episode…
- Yeah yeah, “villain wanted to be caught”, I’ll give it props this time as how and why are made very clear to the viewer.
- Well we have official confirmation that Wells has SOME kind of super speed, though if it keeps “failing” one has to wonder how in the world he was able to fight and BEAT the Flash at their last confrontation.
- Iris got a job… meh. There was an editorial comment on mellenials that was shoe-horned in. blegh.
- Clever plot by the villain at the end. You might not be able to outrun or outfight the hero, but you can still outthink him.
- More with firestorm giving us further glimpses of the plot outside Barry. *cheer*
So I’d rank this slightly above the previous episode on the strength of the actors (especially Piper, I liked that his being gay wasn’t the be all and end all of his character nor being deaf, there was more to him).
I almost started to care about Iris too, so there’s something to be said for that. Her becoming a reporter (even though that is comic sourced) here makes the parallels between Barry in this TV ‘verse and Superman in general even more obvious.
Metahuman Musings: Some little shout outs and source nods in this one. Of course it’s funny because comic fans “know” that Caitlin should become Killer Frost and Cisco should become Vibe so every time something happens related along those lines (like the cold gun just missing Caitlin last episode, sound waves hitting Cisco this one) a lot of us keep holding our breath to find out if this time, THIS time comic book science will happen and that person will gain their “true form” so to speak.
Also we have mention and confirmation of THE SPEED FORCE! So the show is definitely not getting too snooty for its roots. š
Crazy for You
Recap: Flash finally faces someone even faster than him!
Muggle Musings: Well it’s hard to complain about this episode when Caitlin looked so good in it.
Oh right there’s a plot here! 2 actually. Cisco gets his own while Barry & Caitlin have a night out. Their moment was adorable. Not as adorable as Barry/Felicity, but adorable nonetheless.
Cisco meanwhile got to step out of the shadow of his coworkers and shine on his own, revealing thathe really can be crafty as well as brilliant and has more layers to his character than just being a jokester. I have to admit that between him and Julio, the Flash when he’s on TV has a knack for having “comic relief” friends that aren’t a pain to endure.
The rest of it was pretty good, giving Barry a nice challenge of someone faster than him but not like a redo of evil Flash. Though with her and (formerly) Hartley down there, I keep wondering what Flash & Co are doing about food and sewage for their prisoners. Not that I need to know, but it’s kind of funny to think about.
Of course the advancement of the Firestorm plot was good too. I am kind of wondering how Hartley knew about it, though.
Finally, you know what? I’ll admit it, I shed a few manly tears in the scene between Barry and his dad. John and Grant have great chemistry as a father/son duo and make it really believable. Excellent, excellent job guys.
Metahuman Musings:
GRODD GRODD GRODD GRODD. GRODD GRODD GROOD. grodd GRODD grodd.
