1. Just when they started keeping villains around…
Last week, I praised the show for not killing off its villain of the week (Girder), and then this episode not only kills this week’s villain (Blackout), but Girder as well. Now, granted, he served a really important purpose in the episode, as he both demonstrated Blackout’s power and Wells’s callousness and lack of empathy to Barry for the first time, but the point remains.
I can only reiterate the same point so many times before it grows tiresome, but it bears repeating: there needs to be enough bad guys to go around. This show is already far stronger than Smallville, and that lasted ten seasons. I’m not saying The Flash will be on when I’m in my 40s, but the show, regardless, needs to stop offing all of its villains – especially because they aren’t really creating new ones for the show. That said…
2. If you have to kill a villain, at least it is a “Flashpoint” creation
I have to give the writers credit here – Blackout is an obscure character to bust out, and they really changed him from his original incarnation (that of a hero), and made him work in this universe. My problem with the character is really more about the villains on the show in general – again, we are treading on Smallville territory, where it seemed like everything weird in that world was because of “the meteor shower.” I know the particle accelerator is the MacGuffin that makes the whole show possible, but it runs the risk of being overused really quickly.
Having the Clock King from Arrow as part of this episode reinforces how limiting having just one villain creation mechanism is. On Arrow, the villains come from everywhere, and that allows for a more diverse batch of baddies. I know that, in this universe, all superpowers, more or less, were caused that one night (or by using mirakuru), but in a show that, from the pilot, teases “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” I doubt that is the end of the discussion vis a vis superpowers.
3. The Crossover is Coming
I know it seems like a pun when I say that this was the darkest episode yet, especially because of the presence of a blackout prominently featured. But this episode, not just because of the Clock King presence, felt the most Arrowish, which is appropriate, since the two shows crossover next week. In addition to the relative darkness, it also had a female quasi-love interest taking her fate into her own hands, a lot of pep talks about believing in yourself, and some questionable acting in the supporting cast. If that’s not an episode of Arrow, I don’t know what is.
4. The Litany
When Wells is confronted by Farooq (Blackout), he rattles off a number of names of those that died the night of the accelerator accident. After listing Farooq’s friends, he rattles off a litany of DC heroes:
Ralph Dibney (Elongated Man)
Al Rothstein (Atom Smasher)
Grant Emerson (Damage)
Will Everett (Amazing Man)
Beatriz de Costa (Fire)
Ronnie Raymond (Firestorm)
Now, we know for sure that Ronnie is showing up in a few weeks, and that he is believed dead. Can these other heroes also be potentially showing up, or are they actually dead? Personally, I could see each of them working in the context of the accelerator accident – let’s just take our time rolling them out, ok producers? But let me say this: as a huge fan of Damage, I think I would cry if he showed up on TV.
5. Ok, Wells has to be the Reverse Flash, right?
Every week, we get to see Wells more annd more for who he is – a cold-hearted bastard and a liar. But his actual connection to the Reverse Flash, aka the yellow-suited blur who killed Nora Allen and who threatened the Wests last week, has been tangential at best. But here, we see him taking a sample of Farooq’s blood, to find out how to “take the Flash’s powers.”
Yup, he’s totally the Reverse Flash.
