Originally published December 2, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
Jessie Robertson reviews the eighth episode of The Flash season 2…
The man who taught Houdini lives again…..
– The Legend of Hawkman (& Girl) brought to life Like Firestorm before him, Hawkgirl and Hawkman’s stories are complicated, intricate tales that take some imagination from the viewer and patience by the writers. By focusing on a character we already know, albeit briefly, they try to personalize it and more importantly, by attaching everyone’s favorite Vibe-r Cisco to this character, it gives us even more incentive to care. B-T-Dubs, Cisco is getting really brave, standing up to Savage and Merlyn all in the same episode. Where this revelation leaves him is sure to give some torment to his light-hearted soul, which ultimately, will make him an even more well- rounded character when these lovers bound by time reunite, possibly in death (oh , never mind, CW showed us the trailer for their new show already! They do have a nasty habit of doing that.) I liked the obligatory hero v. hero battle between Hawkman and our Dynamic Duo, however brief it had to be to shove as much content in as we could. Hawkman seemed to blasé about Kendra’s transformation that it was a bit hard to take it seriously when he was so non-chanlant about her diving off a building, so these are characters that will have to grow on me, in this medium.
– Vandal Savage is here – Besides maybe Deathstroke and perhaps Gorilla Grodd, Savage takes his place amongst the truly destructive evil forces from DC comics stable to be unleashed on the television universe. Savage’s background is so vast and can be taken in so many directions, I kind of balked at his being tied directly to Hawkman/girl’s fates but it does make sense to bring him into the story. I’d love to see some ancient flashbacks on Savage’s early days, but that’s possibly a long shot. So far, he has not fallen into that boring territory Ra’s did when he was put on-screen so much and from what we know of Legends of Tomorrow, Savage will be on quite a lot.
– Meanwhile, in Flash news, we get a relatively quick resolution to Wells revelation of using his own “Velocity 6” formula to help Barry increase his speed to be equipped enough to take on Zoom. It sort of turned into a redeeming moment for Jay Garrick, as him using this formula he swore he’d never take just to save Wells life in an ill-conceived arrest attempt on Patty’s behalf (yes, anyone really can get into Star Labs) that was merely used for dramatic effect. I’m guessing now Joe will have some ‘splainig to do! Also, is Kendra perhaps the character quickest to be clued into pretty every secret identity on the show? At this point, Barry hardly even seemed upset.
9/10- cool intro for 3 new characters and tons of great chemistry between all the principal cast members we’ve grown to love, these combined episodes are some of the best work on both series
Other Notes:
– Strange absences: Iris and Laurel
– One-liners galore this week ranging from the corny Oliver quip “She (felicity) gives me more bruises than Deathstroke” to hilariously accurate Barry “Is that the only way he knows how to come into a room?” referencing Merlyn. Even Darhk, in his 1 fleeting appearance has to give it up for the Magnetic Arrow stating “That was pretty clever. Now kill them.”
– That get-together at Oliver’s….why haven’t we had more scenes like that? Awesome, classic stuff
– Also, one of the longest dangling plot threads ever was brought up again as Oliver may have just given back his son’s Flash action figure to him without realizing it
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=0_9dLZCKOvQ
