The latest episode ofThe Flashmanages to do something that very few episodes that came before it was able to accomplish. Yes, part of that accomplishment is that it was actually a pretty good episode, even if there were still some very hokey parts. But what this episode ofThe Flashmanaged to do was to actually take a show that does indeed have far too many hokey bits and actually offer up what was some pretty good horror.
The Flashhas already done its version of Flashpoint a while back. This particular series of episodes took another big event from the comics and adapted it to a smaller scale. This time around, the theme was supposed to be in line with Darkest Night. In the DC comics universe, this occurred when an entity that was basically living death, decided to attack the Justice League and its friends with those that had fallen before them. However, the DC heroes that had died and came back were twisted and evil and tried their best to take out even more heroes. This episode ofThe Flashwas set up in episode 12but this installment was the big payoff.
RELATED:WB At CinemaCon: Audiences Get Fresh Looks At Elvis, Wonka, And The Flash
The episode begins right where the last one left off, which also means that it begins with the return of Eddie Thawne. Of course, while previous episodesearlier in this season ofThe Flashbrought back the former police detective who was integral to the beginning of the series. Eddie was, as the most dedicated fans of the show can attest rather central to the plots of the early part of the show as he was the fiance of Iris before she ever became Iris West. There was a time when Barry pined for his future wife but always thought he was going to lose her to Eddie, who also happened to be the partner of Joe. Earlier this year, Iris and Barry’s kids went back in time and met him, but this particular version of Thawne is actually none other than the Death Storm version of the man, even though he does act as though he only has Iris’s best interests at heart.
The episode also finally makesIris West more central to the plotafter she was largely just on the periphery of the entire season. She’s spent most of the last five or six episodes being entirely apart from Team Flash as she’s gone off on her own “adventure” with Sue Dearbon and for the most part, that separate adventure has been both bad and pointless. So the fact that this week’s episode actually brought her back into the fold was a nice change of pace. It was also the beginning of the show taking that a turn towards horror and it certainly carried it out pretty well because Eddie seemed like a confused character who just wanted to care for his fiance.
It takes a little bit of time before the true evil of this Death Storm creation really shows what he wants and there are some superb scenes where he just seems more creepy than malignant. The fact that he made a teapot start to whistle simply by holding it was a real stroke of genius forthe writers ofThe Flashafter quite a few missteps along the way. The series has also tried very hard to make people care about the fact that Iris is in danger. Whether it was the time sickness or the meta-human who could phase through things and briefly managed to somehow phase Iris out of existence. The dangers to Iris never really seemed to stick, and the writers seemed to have given up trying to make the audience care last week when she was just … back from wherever the meta-human sent her.
Whilethose episodes ofThe Flashdid a very poor job of making viewers care what happened to Iris and what she was doing, having Death Storm version of Eddie Thawne was just creepy enough to really put some of her skin in the game. The fact that Sue Dearbon was also less of an annoying character and more of someone who was being held captive alongside Iris that much more compelling. Iris of course wasn’t the only place where Death Storm was wreaking havoc as he was also messing with the team at their headquarters.
The show was creepy enough that it even managed to make the other plot lines that have been rather weak all season somewhat interesting. That includes the pairing up of Allegra and Chester that’s been the goal of the writersall season onThe Flash. While the show still desperately wants them to be the “will they or won’t they” couple, apparently, at least the writers stopped making whether or not they get together a little less boring as it put them both in danger together and also put them in danger of losing one another. The show tends to be more than a little heavy-handed when it comes to the moments when people are really putting their hearts up for grabs, but this built-in danger was able to make that a bit more compelling.
That’s not to say thatThe Flashhandled everythingperfectly. It seems as if, in order to move onto the next plot device before the season finally comes to an end, the writers needed to come up with a solve for the big bad that seemed just a little too easy. Of course, just miraculously powering up the show’s heroes isn’t something that’s all that new. It seems as if they do it with Barry Allen every single season. They’ve already done that once this season when he himself was fighting Death Storm. So it’s really not surprising that in order to beat back the villain that was done one more time. And while the writers tend to lean on that trope quite often, it still doesn’t mean that it’s all that good a plot device. But it’s at least an acceptable way to arrive at the story’s conclusion.
MORE:The Flash: 5 Actors That Could Play The Wally West To Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen
