I was really hoping this episode was going to be a dramatic reenactment of the Kanye West song. It isn’t, but read on anyway.
1. Is the show making a punk rock joke?
Harrison Wells of Earth-19 calls himself H.R. and wears a hat. Is this a reference to the lead singer of the recently Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominated seminal DC punk band, Bad Brains?
Probably not, but they share a name and an affinity for haberdashery.
But let’s dig into H.R. for a second: we now know that H.R. is a bit of a charlatan, having almost no scientific knowledge whatsoever, and lying about most aspects of his life, pre-appearing on Earth-1. We saw him using his little pen recorder in what appeared to be a suspicious way, although that was, more or less, explained away by the revelation that he’s writing a novel. H.R. Wells, science fiction writer. Has a familiar ring to it, no?
But I still don’t know if he’s totally on the up and up. He seems just a little too eager for someone just writing a book. Was the first scene we saw of him narrating into his recorder the red herring for later in the episode, or his true self?
Honestly, I don’t really care, because the character’s obnoxiousness is overtaking all my thoughts right now. I love what Tom Cavanaugh brings to the show and I understand why he needs to play this broad, but I’m pretty over H.R. right now.
2. (Killer) Frost
So, this is the first time we’ve seen Caitlin appear not just to be meta-powered, but to show that her powers are altering her personality. This, I suppose, is the only way to make her evil without it feeling false. Of course, now it feels cheap instead of false, but I suppose that is better.
It did add some depth to the character to see her mother also have cold powers, but hers are in the personality department. It showed why the Caitlin we met in season one (or in the Arrow episode she debuted in) was so jaded and tough. She’s had a rough life, and it hasn’t been made much easier by these new developments.
But Caitlin’s story – along with slightly emo Cisco – is the biggest proof, to me, that the CW crossover this year is going to revert everything back to the old timeline, or at least fix certain aspects of the timeline, to prevent Caitlin’s evil turn but also preserve Wally as Kid Flash.
3. Julian, changing his tune
The Julian character finally got some depth this week, showing a little more than just ‘pissed off co-worker’ for once. Sure, he’s still arrogant, but he had a motivation for his arrogance, and also displayed a strong sense of morality, not just for the criminals he prosecutes, but also for what it means to be good at a job. I feel like I understand him more now, even if I don’t particularly like him all that much.
And sure, his face turn at the end of the episode, admitting he was wrong about the Flash, is the first step in him joining Team Flash later this season, if he survives the alternate timeline business I keep predicting. I don’t really know what he’ll add to the crew aside from a British accent and some smarm that used to come off of Wells, but we’ll see.
I must say, however, how did two CSI guys not realize the monster was a hologram? Maybe I’m smarter than I think, but that seems like a relatively logical idea, and one that I figured out pretty early on. For two smart guys, that was a pretty easy miss.
4. Cisco and Barry as roomies
Even though Cisco is not as fun loving as he used to be, I really enjoy the Barry/Cisco roommate dynamic, and would like to see an episode where, maybe, the power is out and they have to entertain each other by playing cards and charades and shit. I love Barry trying to prod Cisco back into the former timeline version of himself – something I’m not even sure Barry is aware that he’s doing – and Cisco being not really into it.
Continued belowBut, at least Barry doesn’t call him San Fran Cisco like H.R. does. That’s the worst.
5. The real monster is bullying
I know that the show introducing Kaiju into the mix didn’t really make sense, but the whole hologram/being .set up by a picked on kid just felt very after-school special-y. The kid was given no depth, no real motivation (“he wants to feel powerful”), and no chance to redeem himself, something the show loves to do. Hell, he ‘felt powerful,’ but aside from setting off car alarms and blowing up transformers, the monster didn’t do anything. Essentially, he was pulling a Chris Christie Bridgegate situation – just inconveniencing people in the name of revenge.
And, as a resident of New Jersey, I don’t need any more of that shit in my life.
