Warning: There's some HUGE spoilers in this review.
In this week's episode of The Flash, the yellow suited speedster, Reverse Flash, is running around killing people. He's looking for something, something that could make him travel faster than the speed of light and back in time.
Caitlin discovers Ronnie is alive is on fire. Cisco doesn't believe her. Antia finds Ronnie and he now goes by the name Firestorm. She has a hard time dealing with what he has become.
Barry comes face to face with Reverse Flash and in order to get more info about why he killed Barry's mother, he has to catch him. Barry ends up fighting Reverse Flash for the first time and gets his butt kicked. Reverse Flash says they've fought before.
Barry goes to see his father and his father explains that reverse flash has taken too much from Barry and their family and he shouldn't let him take any more. Barry goes to Iris and tell him that he loves her.
The crew at STAR labs traps and catches Reverse Flash. Eddie is also there. Joe is there and asks Reverse Flash about Barry's father. Reverse Flash is more interested in Dr Wells. reverse Flash pulls Wells into the containment are and beats him down. There's a standoff and Flash comes to save the day. Reverse Flash beats down Flash again, but Firestorm comes in and saves the day.
Here comes the spoiler part! At the end of the episode,
This was one melodramatic episode, moreso than any other that can come to mind. Normally, I'd bag on something like this, but I thought it really worked out well. There's lots of great, emotional scenes with great dialogue. It can get a bit cheesy at times, but it works in the full context of the show. The scene with Barry talking to his father about Reverse Flash is really a great moment for Barry and marks a change in him. Later on, there's some great, emotional dialogue between Joe and Barry. Again, it can be a bit over-the-top, but it really works in the context of the scenes. The episode can't be all action, right? Good thing there's solid dialogue and emotion driving the show.
There was one scene that kind of did bug me and make me think about The Flash as a whole. There was an exterior shot of Barry running to S.T.A.R. labs and you can see a streak. Wouldn't anyone notice that since the lab is right by a highway?
Ok, there's two parts that really bugged me. Iris is the most clueless woman on the planet. How can she have no idea Barry likes her? I know it's the age old tale of being too blind to see love right in front of you, which is the most over-used romantic trope on the planet, but it's annoying to see it play out, which is a bummer because Iris is such a well-written character. She's a supporting character, not too involved with the Flash, aside from that blog, that actually adds something to the show. She has to go through some tough things in this episode as well, and man, she's one compelling character and the actor that portrays her, Candice Patton has some chops.
Alright, you got me. There's a third part that does sit too well. Reverse Flash beats up Wells. SPOILERS.
What most comic books fans want to know about is how Reverse Flash AKA Zoom fits into all of this. First off, the fight scenes are fantastic. Zoom (I know I called him Reverse Flash a lot, but we're just switching to Zoom now) is a bit brutal with his fighting style, he's vicious and incredibly intimidating. He's easily one of the scariest foes Barry has faced. The fights were a ton of fun to watch, even though it was pretty much Zoom dominating everyone.
What the show did really well was keep fans guessing. SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH! Fans were led to believe that Eddie Thane was Zoom because... well... his name and there seemed to be something off about him. At the same time, there's also Wells, who has no problem walking around in his secret braille room. However, I was so ready to believe it was Thane, and then there was that reveal, which I saw coming to an extent, but it was done so dang well.
Also, Firestorm is here. I know fans are clamoring to know more about him. We get to see him fly and he does save the day, but there's not much else to say. I am excited to see him in future episodes, but his inclusion in this particular episode was a bit overshadowed by everything else.
The mid-season finale of The Flash was pretty awesome. It had all the fun and excitement of the rest of the series, and left fans at a point where they want more. Zoom is one of the most interesting villains to bring in and the connection to Barry makes their rivalry so much more compelling. I can't wait to see the next episode, mainly because Captain Cold returns. Now, where's Mirror Master and Pied Piper at?