Last Tuesday night was the winter premiere of The Flash and for a premiere, it was a bit disappointing. So much so, I held back writing about it because the ending with the Reverse Flash appearing out of nowhere made me pause till this Tuesday night’s episode to see how it will all unfold. The problem with last week’s show was that it focused way too much on the love story between Barry and Detective Patty Spivot. Not that I’m against Barry being happy or that Patty isn’t worth fighting for but everything felt very forced and with a lackluster baddie in the Turtle, the episode was an overall disappointment. True to form though Tuesday night’s family centric episode was a homerun. Warning, spoilers ahead…
This was an origin story for the Reverse Flash, Eobard Thawne. It became a much deeper look into this super villain that we didn’t get to see earlier. The true threat to Barry and the others is from Earth-2’s Harrison Wells. He would do anything to save his daughter which is admirable but dealing with the devil that is Zoom could end up being costly on so many levels. IN the meantime before we get there, Wells and Barry need to deal with Reverse Flash and a dying Cisco.
Cisco is affected by a shift in the time line and the only way he can be saved is for Barry to send the recently captured Thawne back to his time line. This is something that Barry is understandably reluctant to do. Wells weighs in on the possibilities of keeping Thawne here and how much is really at stake beyond just Cisco’s life. In the end, Barry does what he always does and that is the right thing, the selfless act and sends Thawne back or in his case forward in time but not before a stern warning between the two adversaries that they are destined to cross paths again. In letting Thawne go, Cisco is saved.
A couple of side notes to this episode was what appears to be Patty’s farewell (at least for now) from Central City and Barry. She did however figure out albeit too late that Barry was indeed The Flash. Her discovery didn’t change anything for their relationship. Barry is content in “protecting” her from Zoom. So once again, he chooses the selfless act and lets her go.
Lastly, the evolving story of the West family began to take its first turn towards being a real family. As Wally and Iris’s mother nears death, their relationship as siblings starts to grow. Lots of tears and feelings of forgiveness for all the time that had been lost over the years, gave way to what could be the early stages of what will become of Wally’s destiny.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
