On his own, Ralph isn’t that compelling. The PI superhero is bit that’s been done many times and this version did little to set itself apart from what came before. Similarly, the brash, jerk-y antihero is such a cliché that nine times out of ten you could guess the punchline of Ralph’s joke before he said it. That being said, it was entertaining to see Barry interact with someone so openly resentful of him. THE FLASH has a bad habit of making every character dote on Barry, and, as charming as he is, it’s hard to have sustainable drama to fuel a series when no one can stay mad at the lead character. Characters like Julian or Harry have previously tried to fill this void, but these conflicts never seemed to last more than an episode or two. While Ralph’s jibes were often childish, you did get that sense that he and Barry had a fundamental moral disagreement about what it meant to help people, and as a result, Barry grappled with some interesting questions about what it means for him to operate outside of the law.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’ll be long before Ralph jumps on the “everybody loves Barry” train given the episode’s ending. It seems like an odd choice to give Barry a new protégé only a week after putting Wally on a bus; there seems to be little chance that either Barry the character or the writers have learned from the mistakes made during his previous mentoring after a single episode. The one advantage Ralph has is that his powers work very differently from Barry’s, so there’s no risk of him being pigeonholed as the “slower” speedster. Whether this means we’ll ever get to see him do more than flop around and give himself abs is another matter entirely.
The other main storyline this week was the Cisco vs. Breacher match, which seemed like a particularly odd plot to mesh with Elongated Man’s debut. There was no thematic or practical connection between the subplot and the rest of the episode beyond the fact that they both involved guest stars. Danny Trejo has spent most of his career playing the most grizzled and hardened of people, and it’s doubtful anyone else could have really sold such a one-dimensional character. The writers seemed intent on making sure they squeezed in every tired “dad who hates his daughter’s girlfriend” stereotype they possibly could. It felt especially ridiculous that someone as independent as Cynthia would suddenly be okay with the men in her life treating her like a prize they can fight over. Thankfully the matter was put to rest by the end of the episode, but it seems like an awful shame to have wasted such a big name on an empty role.
Most shows become stagnant around the Season 4 mark because they don’t bother introducing new members to the cast. However in the case of THE FLASH, it might be better for the show to get its house in order before it adds on anyone else. Finding an episode where every member of Team Flash actually has something to contribute is becoming increasingly rare, which a little worrisome. Ultimately, guest roles can’t bring anything fresh to the table if all they’re given is done-to- death plot lines and bland characters. And until the show figures out how to balance its main cast, it looks like we’ll be having the same type of sad conversation with guest stars to come.
Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer
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