What kept this episode from feeling like a rerun, however, was that the characters were in very different roles than they have been in the past. For once, Joe was the one in the dark, not the one hiding things. Barry, after his long string of mentors, finally stepped into the role of teacher himself and boy does it suit him. Taking responsibility for his mistakes has been a key part of Barry’s arc, and in many ways his becoming a mentor shows how much Barry’s grown, as he know holds himself accountable not only for his failings but Wally’s as well. His “teach by example philosophy” lead to what’s probably the show’s best display of Barry’s raw power to date as he phased an entire train full of people to inspire Wally to take a risk.
And between his mastering a phasing and a truly hilarious encounter with a fangirl, the show seems to be taking the time to highlight how well things are going for Wally, business with Iris aside. He’s well on his way to becoming faster than Barry and has quickly become a beloved figure in the city. And because this is a TV show, all of this, of course, means it’s only a matter of time until the other shoe drops. It seems likely that whatever horrible, dramatic thing inevitably happens to Wally will be linked to Savitar’s return, since Kid Flash is being groomed to take him down. Given that Wally got his speed from Savitar in the first place, I’m wondering whether Saviatar might be able to still retain some control over Wally’s abilities-- which would of course make all of his training wonderfully useless and put Team Flash back at square one.
We also got a peek of Killer Frost again this, as Caitlin used her powers to save Iris from a bad guy of the week so forgettable he didn’t even get a Cisco nickname. While any glimpse of Killer Frost would normally be welcome, the moment in this episode fell flat because it line up with what we’ve seen before. This episode behaved as though Caitlin automatically becomes Killer Frost any time she uses her powers. But only a few episodes ago Caitlin was perfectly able to cheer up Cisco by making it snow, seemingly with no ill side-effects.
In the past, Killer Frost has been portrayed as Caitlin simply expressing the feelings she normally bottles up because of how out of control her powers made her feel. It wasn’t a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde type situation where Killer Frost takes over her body, and it felt very odd to see it played that way. Hopefully it was just a quirk of the episode and not a sign of how the show plans to approach the storyline in future. Having Caitlin split with the team because she’s possessed rather than because she decides to betray them is less interesting all around and limits her interactions with Team Flash to repetitive attempts to break the spell. With Thawne and the Rogues off on Legends of Tomorrow she’s one of the two actually interesting villain that remain on the show, and I’ve still got my fingers crossed that she may yet break the chain of speedsters and take over as the show’s main baddie.
And in case you were wondering, the other interesting villain is, naturally, Gorilla Grodd. It’s true that because of the CGI restraints, Grodd has a limited number of appearances, but I really appreciate that the show always tries to go all out whenever they do have him there. It's certainly hard to imagine an adventure bigger or flashier (pun intended) than this Gorilla City escapade the team’s embarking on. To a certain degree a trip to Earth-2 does feel a bit like a distracting side-quest, considering the ever-ticking clock till Savitar returns, but Earth-2 is just so fun that’s hard to hold it against the show, especially now that we can finally have Kid Flash, Jesse Quick, and the Flash all onscreen together.
Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer -- Click to read Kaitlin's posts
Related Posts:
THE FLASH Season 3 Episode 11 Review: Vibe Finally Suits UpTHE FLASH Season 3 Episode 10 Review: You Can't Fight Fate -- Or Can You?
The CW Renews SUPERGIRL, THE FLASH, LEGENDS OF TOMORROW and ARROW For Another Season