Cisco fully suited up as Vibe for the first time this week as he tried to protect HR from Cindy Reynolds, an inter-dimensional bounty hunter. While this version was pretty loose adaptation of her character from the comics, it was still pretty neat to get to see Cisco and Cindy interacting on-screen together since the characters were teammates for a long time in the source material. (Though it must be said, that with all the changes Cindy underwent, it seems pretty unfortunate that her code-name, a derogatory term for Romani people, was still allowed to survive the transition from page to screen.) This particular incarnation of Cindy had her powers are altered to work just like Cisco’s do, which ended up working surprisingly well for the show; initially, I was worried the change would mean we were in store a visually uninteresting repeat of Cisco’s powers.
But as it turned out giving Cisco an adversary who is essentially a more skilled version of himself brought on some of the most creative uses of his powers that we’ve seen so far, as he was forced to step up his game. The ending fight between the two of them where they zapped from one earth to another was one of the best the show’s had, and frankly it showed how monotonous the constant speedster battles have become-- yet another reason the show needs to shake things up with a non-speedster villain.
One slightly troubling loose end from this plot line is that HR seems to trapped on Earth-1 for good now. While HR’s antics are amusing, he’s far and away the weakest of the three Harrison Wells the show has had so far. He doesn’t really offer much beyond comedic relief, which there’s already plenty of on the show. I’d much rather the show stick to the formula of re-introducing a new version of the character every season or bring back a previous incarnation like Harry or Eobard, rather than make HR a permanent fixture on the team. Though it may be the show is planning to kill HR off in the end, considering all the talk of him needing to repay his debt to Cisco, which would make all of this moot.
Iris also got to show off her heroic side this episode by taking on illegal arms dealers, although her reasons for stepping into the ring were a bit more complicated than Cisco’s. Learning about her prophesied death has brought out a reckless, daredevil side of Iris; instead of fixating on preventing her murder, Iris is more focused on leaving behind a reason for her to be remembered after her death, even if it means throwing herself into dangerous situations. It’s an interesting subplot that I hope the show continues to keep playing with going forward.
Barry is counting on the fact that the future can be changed, while in many ways, Iris is relying on the fact she isn’t destined to die for a few more months to keep her alive during her risky exploits. Pitting their different views of the future against one another seems like an easy way to create tension between the otherwise rock-solid couple and increase the stakes going forward. The fact that Iris has Wally more or less on her side even as he and Barry seem to be hitting their stride as a duo could even be hinting at a bigger family rift on the horizon-- potentially even as early as next week, as the ending teaser seems to suggest Iris will be in mortal danger again much sooner than expected.
Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer -- Click to read Kaitlin's posts
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