Originally published February 4, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
Jessie Robertson reviews the twelfth episode of The Flash…
This week’s episode was a fun episode, the villain plotline reflecting back Barry and Caitlin’s feelings of being alone, pining for someone who will never be available, just as Shawna Baez pines for her criminal boyfriend who will never change his stripes. She has the power to disappear and reappear in a different location, as long as she can see it first. This makes for some interesting fights with the Flash and while it was refreshing for him not to be seriously threatened by the sheer power or deviousness of a villain, it left much to be desired in her characterization. I thought she was being framed as a woman who only wanted to use her powers to save the man she loves, but nope; this chick has a long record of breaking & entering, getting in bar fights and being a general nuisance to everyday society. So, for me, sympathy is out the window on her plight.
We also see Dr. Wells and Joe take a back seat, largely for the first time this season, to give more focus on Cisco and Caitlin, more importantly Caitlin and Barry’s friendship, which is blossoming into a really nice chemistry. Their night out was cute in all the right ways and at a quick glance, you’d actually think they’d make a nice couple; I mean, after all, the guy peeked! (Well, Caitlin did say he deserved a peek for all the heroics he’s performed). I’m confident that’s not the direction for these characters, even though Caitlin did give Barry a look at the end of the episode. No, Ronnie and Iris still loom too large on this show. The thing that stuck out to me more about those characters is that it’s going to be really hard to change them into their respective meta-powered counterparts whenever that time comes in the future (hopefully far from now) as they’ve become the heart and charm of the crew, both playfully innocent humans who have the will of heroes themselves, even if they aren’t wearing a special suit. I know, it’s needless to think about such forward plot points but you forget; this show moves along at the speed of sound sometimes, so it’s not all that unlikely.
Speaking of moving quickly, the crux of this week’s review is to look at two very important characters in the Flash universe that were directly shown and introduced tonight. Barry meets Linda Park at the karaoke bar tonight and set up a first date(which gives Iris a twinge of jealousy) and she looks to be an ongoing appearing character. In the comic universe, Linda Park is still a reporter, but instead she becomes the girlfriend of Wally West, Barry’s successor as the Flash and ends up marrying him. So, it’s a nice switch up of having her date Barry. Plus, she could be a potential ally to Iris in the news world, so I’m very interested to see how she’s used. (sidenote: Linda Park has actually already appeared in this universe, but on Arrow. She was about 10 years older and still a news reporter.) And then we have Grodd!
If you remember, in the pilot, when Barry was touring STAR Labs, a broken animal cage was shown, with the name plate Grodd on it. Well, in the teaser scene, two city workers stumbled upon him in the sewers of Central City and it did not go well for them. Grodd, in comic lore, is one of the Flash’s greatest enemies; a super-smart ape who can speak and control people through his mind. So, think Caesar from the new Planet of the Apes series but with the super powers of Professor X from X-Men; I know, that was a whole lot of nerd thrown at you, but then again, I suspect you know those references if you’re reading a Flash TV show review, so RESPECT. I’m not a fan of pulling the Grodd card this early, we’re only in episode 12. If it’s fan service, it was done extremely well but to actually pull off Grodd was always going to be a tough task and I think showing him now, then letting him go away for a while is a strange concept. It looks as if he’s progressing a bit slower, just now writing his name, but if the end result is even halfway believable, it’s going to be amazing.
Overall, good episode with tons of new things dangled in front of us, but a little early on the Grodd showing for my taste and I didn’t care about the villain of the week at all this time.
Other Notes:
– I love the quick heroic scenes on this show; it full develops that the Flash is a beloved figure in Central City and it gives contrast to the way the Arrow operates in his.
– “How can you speak in 6 languages and sound like a dick in every one of them?” Another Cisco Burn! And a Cisco fight scene with Rathaway! Loved all of that stuff. Piper has escaped; wonder if he’ll run into some Rogue-ish compatriots here soon?
– Oh, Julius. If only you knew you had beat up the Flash’s dad. Tsk tsk. By the way, the 80’s are over dude.
– Great father-son moment at the end. Again, felt rushed honestly; I mean we haven’t seen Barry’s dad in weeks and he’s just there with the knowledge of who his son is. Still, that’s the kind of mushy stuff all parents think towards their kids. Even Central City’s criminals (wrongly accused mind you) are nice people. Any vacancies? How’s the school system?
Jessie Robertson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqtW2LRPtQY&list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E&feature=player_embedded
