Jessie Robertson reviews the eighteenth episode of The Flash season 3…
I Love that Cisco now has an outfit and goes into battle, only for the off-chance he’ll quote a fantasy movie while fighting
FINALLY! Abra Kadabra makes his first appearance on The Flash. He’s a major villain in the Flash universe and leaving him out of play for this long was starting to become questionable. But, he played perfectly into the scenario they are working on, holding the key to valuable information to the future, putting Barry in a bind as to whether he turns him over to Gypsy or squeezes him for information on Iris’ death. Kadabra, once caught by the half-speedster, half-vibe team, gives up the promise of as Joe says “the best lead we’ve had yet,”: Savitar’s true identity. Now, a lot of people have joined the group of being tired of speedsters as the main villains on The Flash; but, I would say I’m more, and specifically in this case, tired of the “hidden identity” of these main villains. With Thawne, what a great twist how that all played out in season one. Zoom’s was pretty surprising in Season 2 and we can live with that. Now, Arrow just did the same thing but it worked really well because the character was someone we knew, but not someone betraying Oliver that turned his world upside down. Now, the key to beating Savitar is to learn his identity. We get it. Does every villain have to be someone close to Barry? At this point, I’m still not high on the Savitar train and while individual episodes (like tonight) still suck me in, I’ve not been that excited about this villain.
Abra pulls off some amazing feats tonight and while his “gimmick” is that he’s a magician; he really is just so far in the future (64th century to be exact) , the tech is just so advanced it would seem that way. He sticks it to the crew tonight in a couple of really good special effects scenes. One of tonight’s standouts, who we haven’t said in a while, was Joe West. This sliver of hope shows up in the form of a futuristic villain, who could hold the key to saving Iris and the one character who’s willing to risk it all is Joe. He tries to bargain with Kadabra, which of course, doesn’t work out , because, well it’d be a short episode if it did. And then , as the episode closes, we get one of those classic Joe West moments where his eyes get glassy and he talks low and slow and works up the crowds at home. (My eyes got wet, but nowhere near Logan-tears.)
The storyline that wasn’t working for me (at first) was Julian’s pity party he threw against Caitlin. With Barry’s overwrought, heavy-handed breakup with Iris the same week, Julian’s “truth crusade” against Caitlin, a person fighting to stay good, was pretty self-centered, especially coming from Julian, who was just a villain he couldn’t control himself weeks ago. These two have had some sweet moments together, but if you can’t classify things in a much less broad category than what he did, with the lives they lead, you’re not made for this line of work. Caitlin’s line when patching Julian up was also the damn cheesiest I’ve heard in a while: ” I was so focused on not hurting you as Killer Frost, I forgot I could hurt you as Caitlin Snow.” Then he half looks back and grumbles. Painful stuff. On the other hand, anytime Cisco is stepping lighter around the office is a delight even if Gypsy was in no mood for a romantic to and fro this week. She was there for business. I like Gypsy, as a character. Yes, she has the same powers as Cisco, but she brings a great look, a tough attitude and a lot of chances for some cool storytelling.
As we inch ever closer to that fateful night when Iris meets her demise (way past the July double date viewing of “Hamilton“) , more and more pieces are put in place. None as finite as tonight’s post-show ending scene which was one of the more thrilling of this half of the season. We get a true, character moment between Cisco and Caitlin, which I love, and haven’t seen as much of this year, then HR’s return after apparently being on a two day bender with some woman, when out of nowhere, Caitlin flatlines and starts convulsing. Julian comes in and they try to save her life but to no avail. Dialogue is still going, as low, crying music plays. Caitlin has just died. Unbelievable. Then, the sounds comes back as Julian rips away her snowflake necklace and is damned not going to see her die if she could live. This was a decision that wasn’t his to make but it’s been made. And Frost’s return was epic! She lets out a cold blast unlike any we’ve seen yet.
9/10- A great villain, a great ending and no Savitar, what more could a guy want in an episode?
Other Notes:
– Was anyone else totally creeped out by how Barry came around that corner saying ” I know how to save her”?
– Kadabra was mentioning Barry’s greatest foes tonight from the future: “Thawne, Zoom, Devoe…” Devoe? We haven’t met a Devoe, have we? A quick Google search brings up Clifford Devoe, The Thinker….next season’s villain?
– HR was sorely missed this week. That was no more evident when he showed up and freaked out over lime jello.
Jessie Robertson
Originally published March 29, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
