The Flash The Runaway Dinosaur Television 

Five Thoughts on The Flash‘s “The Runaway Dinosaur”

By | May 11th, 2016
Posted in Television | 3 Comments

This episode of The Flash attempts to do something that is often tried, but rarely succeeds. Sadly, it suffers the same fate as those other shows, while doing a few things well.

1. Snoochie Boochies, Kevin Smith!

So, aside from having Jason Mewes bad-act all over a pointless scene, there wasn’t too much Mooby’s residue all over this episode, despite being directed by Silent Bob himself. He didn’t write the script, and so while some of his presence might be felt, there isn’t exactly a wordy exchange about pop culture minutia, either. Smith is not really a visual powerhouse, so there isn’t really all that much to discuss about what he brings to the show, other than the fact that the show decided it wanted to get into the Kevin Smith business. Which, odd though it is, I sort of get.

Kevin Smith has been used by DC in the past – like that unwatchable DC Cinematic Universe special – to try to make lemonade out of DC/WB’s garbage, stinky lemons. He’s a voice that a large swath of geek culture still trusts and/or respects, for whatever reason. But The Flash doesn’t need the Kevin Smith (gut) bump, does it? Regardless, the episode is free of one of Smith’s big tropes – trying way too hard – but features one of his others – actors being broader than they should be.

This is especially pronounced when Barry is ‘in’ the Speed Force, and is talking to the Speed Force while it puts on the masks of various people from Barry’s life. The great actor of the bunch – Jesse L. Martin, aka Joe West – pulls off his scene with aplomb, but everyone else struggles to find that balance between playing their character but also playing the Speed Force. At times, it comes off a little like Brad Pitt as “Mr. Black” in Burn After Reading, all over-squinted eyes and gravely voice.

2. TV execs love these types of episodes

Some shows do the ‘main character is on a different plane of existence’ episodes better than others (Good: The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Leftovers – Bad: LOST, every other show that has ever tried this), and this episode is not a member of the ‘good’ category for the most part. Did we learn anything new about Barry through his jaunt in the Speed Force? No, we didn’t – maybe we got a little clarification on a few things, like his need to let go of his guilt – but nothing revelatory was discussed.

So, the point of this jaunt was…? I know why, on a macro level, losing Barry to the Speed Force is a good plot point, but what about >this actual episode made that worthwhile? Sure, we found out about Barry’s favorite children’s book (more on that later), but other than that? We just got to see Barry be sad a lot. Granted, Grant Gustin is (really) good at grief, and so the episode works as you’re watching it, but I still feel like this is a missed opportunity.

3. A break from Zoom

Aside from the last 90 seconds or so, this episode had very little to do with the overarching Zoom storyline. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as even last week felt a little bit like wheels spinning, but a connection between visiting the source of his powers and stopping a speedster could have been tied together in a much better way.

It seems that the Speed Force is less of an ambiguous presence and something that is actively rooting for Barry, and if that is the case, shouldn’t it be against Zoom? So, shouldn’t it have been all, “Hey, Zoom’s weakness is behind his knees” or something?

4. Zombie Girder

I did not have Girder on my ‘which character is most likely to rise from the dead’ Bingo card, did you? It was a weird choice, set up by a series of super bizarre circumstances. I get that ThaWells would want to dissect a few metahumans, as fucked up as that is, but after he died, no one was like “oh hai, why don’t we get rid of all the METAHUMAN CORPSES in our basement?” This leads to a whole other series of questions – how do you dispose of a dead metahuman? Do you inform their family? Is there a mass metahuman grave out back of S.T.A.R.? Do you just burn them and pretend like nothing happened?

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Regardless, it was an odd choice twice over because, yes, he had a crush on Iris, but why would he ‘wake’ up and instantly want to get his undead dick wet? It was a pretty poor contrivance, and it didn’t really add all that much to the episode, outside of giving the team a time frame to work within.

5. Mother and Child Reunion

Yes, seeing Barry and his mom talk was an emotional moment, and one that felt earned. How much it really ‘did’ for the plot is up for debate, but that’s not the point here. This was the one moment of Barry’s trip through the Speed Force that mattered, as it gave Barry some focus.

More interesting than that, however, was the conversation between Barry and Iris at Nora’s grave at the end of the episode. It did two really important things – it showed us what a Barry/Iris couple could be, which the show sorely needed, and it also reinforced the eternal optimist that Barry is. Iris saw “The Runaway Dinosaur” as a reminder that her mom was never there; Barry saw “The Runaway Dinosaur” as a reminder that his mom loved him and was taken from him. Both lost their moms, and both dealt with them very, very differently.

It is nice to see Iris come into her own a little bit, and especially nice to see her and Barry have something resembling chemistry. I was honestly starting to think we would never see that.

Oh yeah, and Barry can now heal those in comas? And Wally has no speed powers (yet).

So, what did you think? Was this a worthy detour, or with precious few minutes left this season, did you want a story that moved the main plot along more? Let me know in the comments.


//TAGS | The Flash

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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