This episode, folks, did not fuck around. Spoilers are forthcoming. Strap in.
1. The universe keeps expanding
This episode had a number of really fun, juicy teasers that keeps the universe of the show (and the CW’s superverse in general) expanding – and deepening – at a gloriously breakneck pace. We see Barry run to Coast City, proudly proclaiming to be the home of Ferris Air, to pick up some pizza. Everything about this was awesome – it was goofy in the most Silver Age way possible, it nods to a number of really important pieces of the Green Lantern mythos, and it kept the show light, especially in a very heavy episode.
Having Cisco perfect the Canary Cry/Sonic Scream was a really nice bit of crossover fun, and keeping Cisco as the voice of the fan, totally without cynicism, is incredibly important. To have him soup up Sara’s busted tech for a picture of himself with Black Canary – replete with shitty lighting and a perfectly dorky expression – was perfect.
For this show, and the CW superverse in general, to work over an extended period of time, there needs to be a concentrated effort to keep the shows intertwined, but to let people pick the shows they want to watch, without making everything so convoluted that it loses the folks on crossover episodes. Of all of them thus far, this one had the lowest stakes, but it also worked the best of any of them so far.
2. Lance + West, Fathers and Cops
As I’ve been saying over in the Arrow recaps, having Quentin Lance as the co-big bad of this season – without being a villain – is pretty brilliant. That said, it was nice to see him acting logically and kindly tonight, not simply out of spite, like he has been for the past few months. For those that never watch Arrow, Lance is the father of both the deceased – Sara – and current – Laurel – Black Canaries, as well as a captain in the Starling City police department. And while my logic alarm was going off like crazy at Lance allowing a visiting police department to excavate a corpse and then take it with them without filing a report, it was nice to see Quentin act out of love for Laurel, as opposed to revenge for Sara.
Seeing those two dads, both tough cops who can be soft on their daughters, was very nice. It was also nice to see Harrison Wells acknowledge Joe’s deceased wife, a topic that has been, more or less, ignored on the show thus far. The faux friendship between Wells and West was one of my favorite aspects of the first half of the season. Plus, we have to believe that Wells’ love for his wife was one of the few elements of the ‘real’ Wells that transferred over (something the showrunners, I believer, have confirmed). So, this might be the only honest moment we’ve seen from Wells this week, and it is nice to see that there is still some semblance of humanity inside of Wells.
3. Cisco on the radio
“I’ve been working with radio waves lately” – oh, man!
Cisco becoming Vibe is something the show hasn’t begun to really dive into yet, and is something I can’t see them going forward with, in earnest, until next season. Good! This is a plot that needn’t be rushed – the show has enough going on right now, and Cisco is already beloved. Let this lay in the weeds until next year – it will pay off.
4. The most confident the show has been in a metahuman
This is the first time on the show that the metahuman threat seemed almost insurmountable – and that’s a good thing. Sure, the show’s superscience is a bit of a skeleton key that gets them out almost any pickle they get themselves in, but it also creates so many fun scenarios that I almost don’t care. Seeing WaBarry try to put the moves on Caitlin was great, and seeing him put together the pieces in his head made for one of the best bits of acting Grant Gustin has done, and Gustin has done some amazing stuff this season.
Continued belowThe show can’t do too much of this, as you can’t let your hero look like he’s getting his ass kicked all the time, but allowing there to be a spectrum of threats on the show makes a ton of sense. Shape shifting is such a fun trope that it is often done poorly, if only because the creative team wants to have fun and not think about the ramifications. This episode wasn’t totally devoid of that – Barry should have known that Eddie wasn’t exactly Eddie – he knows a shapeshifter took Eddie’s body, and he just left him in police custody. C’mon, dude.
But I think that is important, too – Barry’s heart needs to be more of an asset than his speed, and the show never forgets that. It also reminds us that Barry has been the Flash for an incredibly short period of time, and doesn’t quite think like Ollie Queen, or even Harrison Wells, does yet.
5. No more secrets
I suppose Caitlin could still be on the side of Wells, but after seeing what she has seen, the cards are all on the table: Barry + co. know all the broad strokes, even if the details are a little hazy still. They know that the ‘real’ Wells is dead, they know that WaWells is the Reverse Flash, they know that he comes from the future, and they know that he has been lying about everything.
At this point, almost no one is left in the dark completely – everyone not named Iris knows Barry is the Flash, everyone in the CCPD knows the Flash is real, and he’s on their side, some people think that Wells is evil, and some think he is pure evil. I’ve expressed concern in the past about just how transparent the entire show is with things like secret identities and longterm plotting. But, now that we are in this exact space, I’m all in. Feel free to buy billboard space in Central City revealing Barry’s identity – if it allows the show to keep doing all the fun, crazy shit they’ve been doing, I am fine with it.
Let me know who y’all would shapeshift into in the comments!
