THE FLASH Season 6 Episode 2 Review: A Flash of Lightning

It's not often that an episode of The Flash picks up immediately where the last one left off, but bucking tradition sometimes is for the best. In this case, seeing Barry and Iris’s immediate and unfiltered reactions to the Monitor’s proclamation was much more effective than checking in with them the next day would have been. The urgency of the situation is made a little awkward by the fact that Barry's known about the headline predicting his doom for years and has never shown any particular concern about what it meant--oftentimes there was a seemingly unintentional comedic element to the past appearances of the paper, as Barry consistently skipped over news of his death to focus on whether the byline indicated he and Iris were married. 

Even so, the glimpses Barry got of different possible future helped emphasize the stakes are higher than normal. It's interesting how quickly Barry becomes resigned to his fate. In the past, time travel has been a way for him to try and change his destiny; now, Barry's treating it as a warning not to rewrite history. While Bloodwork already has started fading into the background with the emphasis on the crossover, it's easy to see how his obsession with immortality contrasted with Barry’s acceptance of death could serve as a nice prelude before the big event. 

It was also great to see John Wesley Shipp back in action as Jay Garrick. As fun as it is seeing him reprise his 90s incarnation of Barry, Jay’s role as Barry’s superhero mentor is pretty unique in the context of the show, and it was sorely missed last year. Michelle Harrison debuted as Dr. Joan Williams, who fittingly is a doppelgänger for Barry’s mother. Not a lot of time spent was on this, but considering how often versions of Nora have crossed Barry's path, whether through the Speed Force or alternate time lines, it was probably best nor beleaguer the point with another tearful reunion. The Garricks of the comics have been a core part of the Flash’s family of speedsters, and it's exciting to see them get a little more time to show that dynamic onscreen. 

Unfortunately, all of Barry’s allies had that good luck--Killer Frost gets some time in the spotlight, and she spends it all trying to socialize at an art show and develop a creative side. I can appreciate the series trying to keep its lighter, comedic side alive while dealing with heavy topics like the apocalypse or visions of Barry's impending death, but the entire subplot just felt like giant sign of how lost the writers are when it comes to giving Killer Frost something to do. 

Happily, however, Cecile’s character finally seems to have gotten some direction. Her sudden transformation into an empath always felt unnecessary, and it's never really been satisfactorily explained why they became more than the temporary side effect they were introduced as. Having her become an attorney specializing in helping metahumans seems like a great way to actually to actually integrate her abilities into her character rather than just serving a running slapstick gag. 

I particularly liked Cecile finding Allegra, the girl from her case, an internship at Iris’s startup; Central City often feels abnormally small because the main cast rarely interacts with anyone outside of STAR Labs. Historically, this has given Iris the short stick more often than anyone else, because she had a job that wasn't in the lab, meaning she never had anyone to bounce off of in her subplots. (Who cab forgot the sad three person bachelorette party she had?) Using Cecile's new practice and Iris’s paper to build a supporting civilian cast would go a long way towards fixing that, and it would also help make the upcoming doomsday a little more dramatic. After every disaster needs some regular awestruck civilians to go alongside the supers.

Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer