This week, Flash and the STAR crew are dealing with a “Monster.” It’s a good episode for the “nothing is as it seems” theme. We learn a few secrets about various characters, and get a few surprises along the way. Of the various hero shows currently airing, I think Flash is remaining my favorite, not counting the Netflix shows which are in a class by themselves.
This week’s Flash begins with a bit of a flashback (no pun intended for once). We see more events the night of the infamous particle accelerator explosion at STAR Labs. Interestingly I didn’t realize that Captain Cold/Leonard Snart had his trademark gun back then. In fact, I’m pretty sure I remember Cisco invented it after Barry got his powers as a way to stop him if he had to. So I guess this is somehow a ripple from Flashpoint, although that seems a bit thin since these events happened so long before Barry started time traveling.
The Flash has changed the intro again, which was a good switch. He doesn’t sound like he’s frantic to the point of breaking like he did in the first episode, but that’s understandable. Barry hasn’t fixed everything, but he’s at least realizing he can’t. I’m so glad Jay spoke with him about that as part of the ongoing series of “CW heroes get told to get their act together” by their nearest and dearest. This week’s episode is titled “Magenta.”
Flash’s second episode is “Paradox,” as Barry continues to find differences between what he remembers and the changes and ripples he’s caused by traveling in time. They do a good job of this even with the new voice over. Instead of the heroic narration, Barry sounds like he’s not very far from a nervous breakdown, which was both entertaining and gave a feel for how bad things are for the Fastest Man Alive.
The Flash ends Season Two with, “The Race of His Life.” There are a lot of surprises and twists, and they manage to keep curveballs coming right up until the very last scene. I didn’t see the end of this one coming, and a few other things along the way surprised me as well.
Flash’s season is almost done, and there’s a lot going on in “Invincible.” Zoom has unleashed his horde of evil metas on Central City, and the police are hopelessly outgunned. The group shot doesn’t allow us to pick who most of them are (I’m not quite geeky/obsessive enough to go back and watch it on frame by frame), but two of them appear to be versions of Hawkman and Hawkgirl at least.
The Flash gets a bit surreal this week, but then, with the title of “The Runaway Dinosaur,” it wasn’t going to be one of their more normal episodes. The STAR team is trying to figure out what happened when Barry suddenly disappeared when they get another surprise. After Jessie and Wally don’t answer the intercom, Wells and the Wests find Wally and Jessie on the floor of the hallway. Wally comes around, but Jessie is out cold and initially even her heart seems to have stopped. Henry, after he’s shaken off the shock of Barry’s vanishing, agrees to use his medical training to check her out. Cisco uses his powers to figure out Barry is still alive, but trapped in some weird energy vortex.
The STAR crew is trying desperately to cover for Barry losing his powers in “Rupture.” Cisco has come up with a pretty clever toy to let the Flash seem like he’s back in action throughout the city. It’s a little rough on Barry, but since he already feels so guilty about giving up his powers, he’s not complaining. Wells is his usual cheerful and supportive self, dismissing their efforts as “Hoodlums and Holograms,” and trying to convince everyone to try his plan- recreating the accident that gave Barry his powers in the first place.
At the end of “Versus Zoom,” Barry made the really bad choice of giving his powers to Zoom in order to save Wally’s life. Now, he is “Back to Normal.” They do a contrast of Barry’s morning routine, when he had his powers and now. He’s clearly missing his powers. I don’t know what he expected to happen when he made that deal with Zoom.
“Versus Zoom” is the most recent episode of Flash, and things are getting ugly. The beginning is an interesting comparison of histories. Barry’s past is recounted, with the death of his mother, being taken in by the Wests, and the love and support he got. Over on Earth 2, a young Hunter Zolomon sees his father return from war, kill his mother, and is dumped into an orphanage, clutching what will later become a very familiar helmet. Vaguely similar beginnings that go down very different paths.
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