But unlike the show’s other time travel escapades, this one really didn’t feel earned. Overall, I found Barry’s logic during the episode to be pretty mystifying; quite apart from jumping after only a few weeks to something as extreme time travel, which opened a giant blackhole and killed some of his friends the last time he tried it, after only a few weeks of trying to solve his problems, Barry immediately changes the timeline without any real compelling reason to so (yes Hartley was a threat, but one Barry already knew would be defeated) despite being warned not to less than five minutes ago. Not to mention the whole episode last season dedicated to how changing timelines was dangerous. It could be that the intention was to show Barry becoming dangerously reckless, but it felt more like he was just plain stupid.
But once you stop trying to make sense of Barry’s internal logic and just roll with it, the episode turns into a gold old-fashioned time travel romp, complete with soul-eating time wraiths. Seeing Tom Cavanagh as Thawne is always a delight, but it was especially enjoyable watching him play the wizened, experienced time traveller to Barry’s naïve newcomer. I was pretty impressed with how well the show was able to replicate scenes from earlier episodes, not only in terms of appearances, but the mood and atmosphere, which were often quite different in the beginning of Season One from how the show is now.
Barry’s trip to the past also allowed for Eddie and his relationship with Iris to finally get some closure. Personally, I always thought Eddie didn’t seem to have much a personality beyond being “nice,” but that actually worked in the episode’s favor, as he fit effortlessly into the rosy, nostalgic tone the show was angling for. It was nice to finally see Iris speak about how Eddie’s death affected her, although it’s a bit mystifying why it took seventeen episodes to get her reaction. But hopefully the fact that she’s beginning to put her loss behind means she opening herself up to the idea of new love — maybe even with a certain Scarlet Speedster.
The Pied Piper also returned this episode, showing us a very different side of his character this time, which ultimately culminated in him becoming a hero once Barry’s changes to the timestream took effect. Hartley was one of THE FLASH's rare sympathetic villains, so it felt believable that if events had unfolded in a slightly different way he could have ended up working with Team Flash instead of being pitted against them — and of course, comic book fans know he’s destined to become Wally West’s best friend and a powerful ally.
Some people might feel like it’s a bit of a cop-out to just do a quick and easy reveal of Hartley being a good guy instead of giving us a slow-burn redemption arc, and while I see where they’re coming from, THE FLASH has never been that good at know what to do with people outside of the main cast (Henry, Linda, and Jesse were all put on a bus to nowhere after they stopped being relevant to the main plot), so I think doing something relatively simple like this was probably for the best. And honestly, playing with time travel is just cool; I like seeing more of the idea that even small changes can end up altering the course of someone’s life come into play.
THE FLASH has been struggling for the past few episodes to regain its footing and get the energy going again. This episode, while perhaps not the most solid plotted story the show’s done, was a step in the right direction by reminding the audience how weird and fun THE FLASH can be when it embraces its sci-fi roots. It’s a little frustrating that the show’s going on yet another hiatus for three weeks right as it was beginning to get back some of its momentum, but since next episode features a long awaited confrontation between Barry and a now unmasked Zoom, there should still be plenty of emotional drama to drive the show forward.
Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer -- Click here to read Kaitlin's posts
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