The Flash: S02E09: "Running To Stand Still"

In A Nutshell

After the OTT comic book like feast from the crossover episode last time around, we're back to pure Flash story this week. Phew. Things kick off with Zoom chasing down Wells in Star Labs, capturing him and wishing him a Merry Christmas. Is this a flashback? Dream? Trick? Turns out it did actually happen, which is surprisingly that no alarm went off when all this happened. Zoom is giving Wells an ultimatum, and keeps turning up during the episode for an answer, which at the every end Wells gives.

Before all that, we have the sub-plot beneath a Christmas theme episode, with Joe's Ex's Son that he never knew about. Iris caves in under the pressures, confides in Barry and they both confront Joe to spill the beans. We're spared seeing his boring wife, but Joe does later say it all went tremendously well having a conversation with her about his son. that's surprising somewhat, but at least we don't have too much screen-time of this.

The main story this week is that Weather Wizard Martin breaks out Snart and Trickster from jail in order to get the three of them to take out Flash. Snart lets Barry know what's going on, before then playing no further part in the episode. Guess this is lining up the other spin-off show ... anyhow, Patty gets all worked up, as it's Martin that shot her dad many years ago. She's off on a crusade it seems of revenge, which no matter how many pet talks she has, and angry expressions she shows, we all know how this is going to go down, right? Sure enough, after the Trickster cleverly and a little amusingly plants bombs into presents that he gives out to kids as Santa, he and Martin think they have Flash at their mercy. After taking quite a pounding from Martin, it looks like it's mince pie time for Barry, but alas, Wells and cue use some techno-babble science to draw all the presents together into a vortex. At least I think that's what they did. Who knows. It worked anyway. Primed with this knowledge, Flash defeats Martin and Trickster in seconds. That's normally the end of it, but Patty shows up and snares Flash with some device to stop him moving whilst she goes to take revenge on Martin. Of course Barry talks her down. No one here believed she'd do it anyway. Quite how Barry couldn't have done something to blow her away from doing anything I don''t know. And where did that device come from anyway?

Things all end up with the Christmas theme of course, with everyone meeting at Joe's place for smiles and presents etc. Wally, Joe's unknown son, and is invited in rather awkwardly as you'd expect but lovingly.

The ending is between Zoom and Wells, with Wells reluctantly agreeing to help Zoom steal Flash's speed. He's already worked out what Zoom is up to, in that he wants Barry's speed. Is Zoom really Wells once again, trying to get back to the future?

What I liked

Snart; he's a likeable rouge isn't he?

Trickster; fiendishly fun villain.

Weather Wizard; actually carried some threat about this time around.

Zoom/Wells; an alliance is struck. This isn't the same Wells as in our Earth, but he's going to be acting much like his former version to help Zoom. Uncanny.

Jay/Caitlin; cute romance. Can't help but smile at those two.

What I didn't Like

Gideon; just saying.

Where's Wally; Joe's unknown son turns up at end. We don't get to see much of the dialogue between Joe and his Ex, thankfully. It's all emotional stuff that we see, which is good, but I'm wondering where this storyline is actually taking us.

There's little actual action once again between Barry and his foes.

Huh?

I don't know where Patty got that device from, but there were still a 101 things Barry could have done to stop Patty other than talking.

"Give me all your presents" ... best line in episode.

The Trickster is crazy but played very well. Him wearing the Santa suit was classic plot telling.

And Finally

A Christmas episode where the season of goodwill actually took more of a back-seat than normal for these themed episodes. As much as I like the actor, Weather Wizard doesn't usually carried much weight in terms of presence, but this time around he was better. Trickster is just class, and Snart is just too likeable to dislike. The sub-plots were fillers for the main plot of course, but they didn't diminish our concentration away. They kept up their end of the storyline quite well. Perhaps not enough mystery and intrigue created as normal this season by events, but nevertheless a solid and enjoyable episode.

Rating: 6/10 (DECENT)

The Flash: S02E08: “Legends of Today”

 

In A Nutshell

Things start off quite darkly as we see some captain bring a stowaway off his ship to turn over to police, only for them to be thanked by way of multiple assassinations via knives in super quick fashion. Someone is on a hunt. Vandal Savage apparently, as we learn. Super start to episode.
Cisco is on a date with the coffee shop lady, Kendra Saunders, which they are having, um, at the shop it seems. Seconds later, Savage arrives determined to kill Kendra. Cisco secretly manages to summon Barry via his mobile, upon which Flash arrives just in time to stop a fatal attack. Savage just leaves the scene for some reason.
Barry is convinced this Savage guy isn’t a metahuman but some sort of magical person and that this needs Arrow’s help. Quite why he’s taken this view I don’t know. Roll on some very convenient and cheesy crossover segment as Barry arrives in the nick of time to save Arrow from Damien Dark. Some rather childish crossover chit-chat follows between Team Arrow and Team Flash (Cisco is with Kendra and Barry) in typical comic book fashion. This is followed by drinks together where Cisco states to Barry that he must not tell Kendra about his vibe powers, and also that he vibed her dressed up as a bird weeks ago. Savage bursts in through a window, as you do, throws knives everywhere, to which Barry gets rid of them before taking a blow himself. Thea arrows Savage fatally, whom falls out window but is nowhere to be seen when they take a look. No mentioned of Barry’s injury, which one must assume was superficial. Cisco then decides to completely blurt out about his vibe power and everything to everyone, including Kendra who by now has had to absorb Cisco being pals with The Flash, Arrow/Oliver Queen and a super mad knife wielding mad man in the space of what can be only half a day! Quite how she’s even managing to behave like a normal human being after all this takes some believing, but then Malcom Merlin and his ninja’s just waltz into Team Arrow HQ, where he tells them that Savage is donkey years old and can’t be stopped. Very useful information. And why the heck did he bother to turn up to say that?
Meanwhile, in Central City, Patty sees Doctor Wells getting into a car. Next time we return to the city she’s in Star Labs, and shoots Wells, thinking he had a weapon. How she get in that lab? People just walk in and out of places these days, and it’s not one bit amusing but highly frustrating and baffling to accept! Anyhow, Wells was working with Caitlin to create a super speed serum to make Barry even faster. Wells had called Jay back from Earth 2, which comes across as taking a bus ride to jump between worlds, who freaks out about the serum and Well’s involvement and pops back to Earth 2. He’s back again though after Wells is shot. Quite how they are summoning him across worlds is not explained at all! Contrary to everything he’s said before, he takes the serum, and uses the speed to speed phase into Wells and retrieve the bullet that was killing him. Later on, Wells thanks Jay, who still isn’t happy. All that Jay changing mind stuff was just far too quick to really believe, but not as bad as Cisco earlier!
Outside with Kendra, Cisco witnesses a birdman swoop in and take her. Birdman explains to Kendra that he’s her lover, that she has been reborn and needs to emerge and remember who she is. With Arrow and Flash in pursuit, he has an awesome but quick battle with them and is eventually defeated. Who thought a birdman could be so cool? Not me, that’s for sure. Anyhow, he tells Team Arrow/Flash/Merlyn that Savage is after him and Kendra and always kills them, before they are reborn again. We then have birdman trying to help Kendra emerge and remember her former life by jumping off a building. Doesn’t work first time and needs Barry to save her. Meanwhile, Merlyn tells them Savage is after an old weapon, which they figure out is back in a church in Central City. Barry and Oliver battle Savage who has got the weapon, which is like a staff, and have a little battle. Just as I was thinking that staff wasn’t that powerful, Savage senses Kendra has “emerged”. Indeed, she’s got focused after chat with Cisco, and jumps off a building and … you guessed it, sprouts wings. Savage uses staff to blow up church, but Barry saves Oliver. Now that’s more like it for a staff weapon!
Later, Barry and Oliver are having a coffee, for whatever reason giving the stakes are high, and Oliver sees an old flame.
Apparently, that’s a cliff-hanger.

What I liked

Birdman! Awesome!
Savage; what an awesome knife wilding bad guy! This guy I hope hangs around but somewhat doubt it.
Some neat but quick battles between Birdman, Savage versus Flash/Arrow.

 

What I didn’t Like

That’s a cliff-hanger? That was as weak as a highly milky coffee that one could get from that cafe they were in.
Cisco is adamant that Kendra shouldn’t know about his powers. Minutes later he tells all.
Jay is adamant he won’t take the serum. Later he’s using it to save Wells, who he doesn’t like.
Jay pops between Earths like it’s a hop skip and jump.
How are they summoning Jay across worlds?
Kendra is about as charismatic and believable as … well … as someone sprouting wings. She’s just so bland. And, it takes even more believing that she absorbs all the crazy stuff so well.
Malcolm Merlyn; twice just appears in Team Arrow HQ to give sentances of information. Just pointless really.
 

Huh?

People just seem to waltz in and out of Star Lab. This week, Patty marches in …

What next? Mr & Mr Dressing Gowns? …

I would never have thought it, but a “hawkman” was absolutely awesome in this episode …

 

And Finally

I don’t like crossovers at all but this one just about worked. Far too much going on though, and far too many comic comedy crossover moments that only serve to make both Team Arrow and Team Flash look less impressive and intelligent than they come across in their own shows. The amazing fighting abilities of birdman and Savage though I really enjoyed and helped me get over the numerous convenient and cheese fest moments.

 

Rating: 6/10 (DECENT)

The Flash: S02E07: "Gorilla Warfare"

The Flash

S02E07: "Gorilla Warfare"

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Decent)

In A Nutshell

Barry spends the majority of the episode still recovering from Zoom's humiliating and physically bruising attack, which they refer to as being a week ago. His dad is called into action to return from his fishing expedition (that's what he said he's been up to) to help inspire Barry to forget what had happened to him and come back stronger.

Largely, this episode is all Barry recuperating, but also about Grod, who turns up after mind controlling and murdering various chemists for drugs that aid intelligence. He has Caitlin mind-controlled out of the lab to aide him, which she's sympathetically agreeing to do. Dr Wells 2.0, suits up as Reverse-Flash to try and fool Grod, which works to help him get Caitlin to safety, and temporary subdue Grod with an injection of something or whatever. The next attempt to see to Grod involves a renewed and fully fit Barry to tempt Grod across town (which apparently mostly goes unnoticed by residents and also doesn't hurt anyone, amazingly) to one of the inter-world portals that Dr Wells 2.0 knows leads to somewhere on Earth 2.0 where Grod will be happy, as essentially he's lonely. With relative ease, that's what happens. There's really not a lot to this episode.

The next notable plot development this week comes from yet more vibing by Cisco, this time on his date from the cafe. Seems he vibes seeing her as some sort of super-hero angel ...

What I liked

Reverse-Flash; they even included the rotating sound-effect that we used to hear accompanying reverse-flash, even though this Dr Wells has no speed ability. Cool!

Grod battles with Flash; they were very brief but dramatic.

Some good and heart to heart to heart prep talks with Barry and his likeable Dad.

What I Didn't Like

Cisco's powers: Is there no end to them appearing each week? This is going to become a very convenient power if this keeps happening. Plus, why doesn't he tell anyone now what he vibed?

I'll mention this every week, but, umm, Gideon?

Are we going to have a "Planet of the Apes" Grod-style episode on Earth 2 in the future? Hmm, not sure any of us need that.

Huh?

Future Planet of the Grods coming up?

Got weird when they played a fav song of mine by Peter Gabriel called "In Your Eyes" during this scene.

Why is Caitlin wearing her pyjamas?

And Finally

As Grod episodes go, this was the best one so far, although that's not saying much. Grod seemed a lot more interesting this time, and also got slightly more action time. Barry's pep talks with his dad were heart-warming and also added gravity to the devastating attack on Barry by Zoom last week.

Rating: 6 out of 10

The Flash: S02E06: "Enter Zoom"

The Flash

S02E06: "Enter Zoom"

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Decent)

In A Nutshell

This didn't start off very well with a Dr Light/Flash battle showing us Flash being defeated, before the "72 Hours Earlier" caption appeared. Sigh. I really don't like flashbacks at start of episodes ...

Turns out that Barry thinks he's convinced Dr Light to help him against Zoom, but nope, she ends up escaping her cell by a combination of powers much more interesting than throwing light about. She hacked into the network via fibre optic cables and also made herself invisible. Impressive ...

That's also the last we see of Earth 2's Dr Light this week as Barry comes up with a way to help out our own Linda (who is still freaking out over everything, naturally). He reckons Zoom can't tell difference between the Lindas so he has her dress up as Dr Light and practice throwing light about from contraptions Cisco created. It's a little amusing but all just feels like it's staged for failure. Indeed it is, as after they plan to have fake Dr Light defeats Flash and then signal to Zoom that Flash is dead, but nothing happens. Zoom doesn't show. I wouldn't have either, as their fight was so clearly staged acting that it couldn't have fooled a pidgeon, let alone a super bad guy.

A tad later, whilst Linda and Iris are leaving work, Zoom zips by, nicks Linda and then taunts Flash to confront him. After saving Linda, Flash and Zoom battle, which leads to Flash being bloodied and battered like a cod at your chip shop. Dr Wells tries to shoot Zoom with his anti-speed but Zoom sees him, even though he wasn't looking (remember that) and stabs Flash with it. He then parades Flash to the police and media as defeated. Returning to Star Labs he proceeds to taunt everyone before going to kill Flash but Cisco shoots him with the anti-speed dart. Yes, he didn't see that coming! Huh? Zoom flees and a recovering Barry gives us the cliffhanger by saying he can't feel his legs.

What I liked

Zoom; nice to see more of him and have a speed master's battle.

Nice to see Flash all beaten up. Just shows it's not all easy being a superhero.

No Firestorm. No Eddie Ex-Wife. Woohoo!

Earth 2 scenes were cool showing Dr Wells and Daughter, with her kidnapping by Zoom. Nice orange/yellow tinge to everything like they did in Fringe to show it's another world. The subtle differences are fascinating.

What I Didn't Like

Zoom comes across as nothing more than a monster, which is good in many ways, but without any backstory or real rational, he lacks what the reverse-flash had.

Doctor Light/Linda; she's pretty dull still and her learning to be a superhero thing was just plain dumb.

Cisco's powers; convenient. And him trying to use them on Dr Wells, and eventually doing so, is just a stupid routine and cheesy, especially as we'd all worked out why Dr Wells was there long before Cisco's vibe and Earth 2 flashbacks.

Zoom saw Dr Wells fire dart at him, even though he wasn't looking, but didn't see Cisco shoot at him?

I'll mention this every week, but, umm, Gideon?

Huh?

Enter Zoom. A bad ass monster, but one who likes to have his top zip done up.

And Finally

Not the confrontation with Zoom I'd hoped for, although it was good to see that Zoom is no push over, and super, super fast. He has zero character though, compared to Reverse Flash. A rambling monster is all he comes across as. Still reckon he's a crazy Earth 2 Barry, but we'll see.

Overall, this episode seemed to be a slightly flawed attempt at everything, failing in many ways to really be as good as it could have been. Saved from being a 5/10 from the Earth 2 beautiful scenery and the Zoom battle.

Rating: 6 out of 10

The Flash S02E05: "The darkness and the light"

The Flash

S02E05: "The darkness and the light"

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Decent)

In A Nutshell

I'm instantly reminded of Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer with this week's episode title!

Anyhow, back to the show ...

Now this is more like it. Much more Earth 2, especially in the form of a Doctor Wells overload. We see him at the start in a flashback on Earth 2, where he gives a speech about ridding the world of metahumans and Zoom. The fact he has a spat with Jay/Flash in this scene, and also says "hi" to his daughter, means that you know that is all very relevant. Indeed, after (quite easily it seems) convincing Barry he's not like our Doctor Wells, Harrison Wells 2.0 spends the episode helping everyone capture the latest metahuman to be sent by Zoom, Dr Light. Basically, she controls very bright light. The clue is there in the name I guess. I know light is fast, but as Flash is as quick or not quicker than light, I don't quite get how he's out maneuvered by her on at least 3 occasions here. Just speed up to her and knock her on the head! It should be that simple! Eventually he pretty much does that, after some rather cool multiple flash mirages, even though it seemed very unnecessary to do in order to defeat her.

Before that conclusion, we discover that she's Earth 2's version of Barry's Ex, Linda. Yes, her from the newspaper business that I said just showed up last week. Told ya she was appearing for a reason. Her Earth 2 counterpart tries to kill her but ridiculously fails, taking out the editor by "accident" before Iris shoots her helmet off to reveal her identity to our Linda. Poor Linda is confused quite how it's possible, whereas I was just wondering why Iris aimed for the head? Oh well.

Along the way there was a really funny scene with a temporarily blind Barry on a date with Patty. That lady is so sexy. I've got to stay impartial! Argh. But it was funny and cute, especially with Cisco helping Barry via in-ear audio. Quite how blind he really was is hard to fathom. Seems to be rather selective but nevertheless it was amusing.

Seems quite clear that Cisco was right, that Dr Wells version 2 is an ass. He manages to annoy everyone, especially Jay who he has a fist fight with. Seems they don't like each other! Jay in the end decides to leave. I assume he's going back via the portal? Where does that come out on Earth 2 then?

As expected from the opening of the show, Dr Well's reasons for being on our earth are to rescue his daughter who has been captured by Zoom. I'm sure there are more secrets though behind him than all that.

Seeing Zoom close up at the end makes it look like he's got a suit very similar to our Flash. Is he an evil Barry?

What I liked

Barry and Patty's date; very funny.

Dr Wells 2.0; obnoxious but still captivating.

Jay/Caitlin Romance; think we all saw that coming.

No Firestorm. No Eddie Ex-Wife. Woohoo!

Earth 2 scenes.

What I Didn't Like

Can't help but think that Barry overcomplicated what was needed to take down Dr Light.

And, Doctor Light was really quite boring.

Cisco's powers. Is he seeing only the past? It all feels like a "convenient" power for plotlines to me.

I'll mention this every week, but, umm, Gideon?

Huh?



Helmet is very sturdy to take a bullet, but bounces off easily.

Multiple Flash! Now why's he not just do this every week?

Zoom has Dr Well's daughter in a cell and with handcuffs on. Surely only one of those is needed? Is she a metahuman?

And Finally

Much improved without any firestorm or Eddie's Ex this episode. Dr Wells 2.0 is rude but brilliant as ever. His interaction with everyone is just writing genius. Although Dr Light, even with the Linda thing, wasn't that interesting or as dangerous as I think we were supposed to believe, everything else that happened this week was ten times more interesting than the last two episodes.

Rating: 6 out of 10

The Flash S02E04: "The fury of Firestorm"

The Flash

S02E04: "The fury of Firestorm"

Rating: 5 out of 10 (OK)

In A Nutshell

The title sent a chill down my spine, for this was indeed the story of firestorm part 2. We'd seen all this in season one and it wasn't that interesting last time for me. Given we started with a flashback to a young American football wannabe getting zapped by the explosion from star lab 2 years ago, you knew that even when they'd said that the Professor needed another donor to save his life, and they offered two possibilities, it was obvious who the right one would be. So, it wasn't much surprise that the footballer ended up joining with the Professor after some early reluctance, and the other possibility, a scientist, turned out to be obnoxious, have anger issues and also not afraid to start using the firestorm powers he'd inadvertently had switched on. There was nothing complex here (aside from the science perhaps) and it was all pretty daft how anyone would sign up for such a life, even with the superhero powers. At least at the end, both firestorm peeps leave to go off and meet one of the professor's pals who can help them more. Seems awfully familiar ...

Aside from this, we had more on the dullness that is Joe's Ex-wife, although now we find out she's dying and has months to live. Iris does meet her before hearing this but tells her where to go, before being a little nicer later on, but still telling her where to go after finding out something that Joe doesn't know, which is that the ex has a son. It's a little twist on things, but I'm still not interested much in what feels like a storyline forced on us.

What's more fun is Patty, Joe's assistant cop, and Barry's flirting, which is amusing and cute.

However, things really jump up a level once again in the last few minutes, when Dr Wells saves Barry/Flash from a mutant sharkman (yup, you heard me) after he was checking out Patty in a café. She had tried to shoot the shark in comical fashion before Wells shoots the sharkman and reveals himself to Barry. Not sure why he did that, but I'd reckon it's all a ploy.

What I liked

Sharkman; ridiculous, but also awesome.

Barry/Patty; too cute to not progress surely?

Dr Wells sneaking about on Earth 1, and his reveal at the end.

What I Didn't Like

Firestorm; we've done all this before! And the CGI was quite rubbish on the firestorm wannabe.

Joe, ex-wife, and Iris; it's a serious distraction from all the interesting stuff. Although this week, firestorm was the other stuff. Sigh.

I'll mention this every week, but, umm, Gideon?

We want Zoom, Jay and Earth 2!

What's with everyone continually hiding things from each other based on what they think is best for them? Even Joe is at it again, hiding Doctor Wells discovery from Barry before he reveals himself at the end anyway.

Huh?



CGI disaster sadly for this guy. Every time he did anything it just looked wrong.

I'm back. And I'm glad!

"Hello. My name's Bruce"

And Finally

We've see this all before, although at least there's hope that firestorm might go away for a while this time. The Joe ex-wife story continues along like an unwanted cousin visiting at Christmas time, whereas the interesting stuff simmers in the background.

Rating: 5 out of 10

The Flash S02E03: "Family of Rogues"

The Flash

S02E03: "Family of Rogues"

Rating: 5 out of 10 (OK)

In A Nutshell

Sadly, I just didn't enjoy much of this week's episode. It didn't help that it featured two of Flash's storyline I've never really cared for; primarily firestorm, and also Captain Cold.

In a rather miss-able episode, that feels much like filler, we have Captain Cold's sister turn up asking for help, and the gang having to work out how to save her head from exploding (due to a bomb) thanks to what her dad had done to her. It's all rather simple plot work, and one that feels like it's keeping us from the real action regarding Earth 2. Needless to say, Cisco and the gang do save her, and thus brother Snart ends up in jail as he took revenge on his abusive dad.

That all aside, we had to deal with more of the dull Joe and his ex-wife storyline, with the classic "I'll tell Iris, but no I'll chicken out" before he does tell her. Why we need this storyline, I don't know. Feels like it's all been done before with Barry and his dad etc.

Speaking of rehashed storylines, it's firestorm again. After the Professor frequently states "he's ok" through the episode, you know where that's heading, and thus right at the end he "flames up" but in a blue flame instead of usual old-school orange one. He then collapses again. Sigh. I really didn't like any of the firestorm stuff last season.

But ... right at the end, we see the highlight of the episode; Doctor Wells stepping through the portal they'd just made in the lab to Earth 2. How they made the portal was quite silly and quickly done, but, who cares, Earth 2 and Wells is where the action is!

What I liked

Captain Cold at least is interesting, as a person, but little else. I do however like stage presence, which he oozes, even though he's really all about his ice gun.

Lisa Snart and Cisco was a little cute, as was Barry and and the new lady assisting Joe in the metahuman's taskforce.

Anything with Earth 2's Jay in, and the last few seconds with Dr Wells.

What I Didn't Like

Captain Cold's Dad storyline. Pretty dull and simple really.

Joe, ex-wife, and Iris storyline seems out of place and forced upon us.

Firestorm. Won't that storyline just go away please?

Don't quite get how after they figured out that Captain Cold's dad had the head bomb controller and was using his son, that they didn't just knock him out until they got the bomb out of Lisa Snart?

I'll mention this every week, but, umm, Gideon?

Huh?



Oh, look, it's Barry's Ex. Now that's a brief appearance for a background charector. She's got to feature more heavily this season you'd think.

BEST. BIT. OF. EPISODE.

zzzzzzz, firestorm.

And Finally

A classic filler episode full of a rather simple storyline that you could easily forget all about. More firestorm? Do we need that or Joe's ex-wife as B-stories? The life of customers in that coffee shop would be more interesting.

Rating: 5 out of 10

The Flash: S02E02: "Flash of Two Worlds"

The Flash

S02E02: "Flash of Two Worlds"

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Decent)

In A Nutshell

When all is said and done, nothing much of any great action happened this week, hence why I've not been inclined to give a higher rating, although what did happen was nevertheless fascinating.

Jason 'Jay' Garrick, aka Earth 2 Flash, explains more about what's really been going on the last 6 months since that singularity. He explains how he was about to snuff it from his arch nemesis, Zoom, when the singularity opened up and he's been on our earth every since, but without his speed. Barry doesn't trust him, especially given how similar he is to Doctor Wells, with his guidance for Barry and his science background. Most of the episode he's locked up and having experiments conducted on him by Barry's very trusting friends, before a classic heart to heart between Barry and Iris (who has done naff all this season thus far) convinces him to let "Jay" help him defeat the newest metahuman to be put on our Earth via Zoom, a sand monster of sorts. Jay helps Barry learn how to create a lightning bolt to take down the man of sand, and thus turn him into glass. The two team up in a great sequence where Flash 2, minus speed, and Barry combine to rescue a police officer (Newcomer Patty Spivot) used as a prisoner by the sand metahuman and destroy him.

The police officer in question, is Patty Spivot, who after much enthusiastic nagging to Joe, eventually becomes the newest member of his anti-metahuman task force. We find out that Cisco has some sort of psychic ability that he wants the Professor to keep to himself. And we catch a glimpse of Earth 2, and see none other than Doctor Wells in charge of it's star lab!
What I liked

History of Earth 2 Flash was really cool. The other world scenario was great in Fringe TV show, and it's well played in this show too.

The two flashes combine to take down metahuman, although Flash 2 is without powers.

The reveal that Zoom is Doctor Wells, although I sort of figured that one out.

Nice to see that at least someone, Barry, didn't just trust someone who walked into the building.

What I Didn't Like

Not sure how the Patty thing will go. As enthusiastic as she was, she was sort of annoying to put up with.

Not enough action and battle by far. This was pushed to the background to give more time to Flash 2 gradually "getting over" with Barry.

Despite all the two worlds chat, Joe still goes after their earth's version of the meta-human, who of course isn't a meta-human in this world. That was just daft. Especially when the earth 2 version turned up just after they released our earth's version.

Cisco psychic stuff; not sure where this goes because he could just use this "power" all the time and there's no need for anyone to do anything else! It needs to be very limited in it's use.

Professor suddenly collapsing near end. A surprise but so quick it was hard to work out if we should be worried or not?
Huh?

The equations make no sense and neither did what the professor and cisco said in this scene. Not sure we needed to hear any of that.



She's enthusiastic but Patty perhaps she need to learn that most metahumans aren't going to go down via bullets.

Told you he'd be back. Next up on my predictions list; Eddie. He'll turn up this season.

And Finally

This was largely all about learning more about Flash 2, and trusting him, with several other smaller subplots stuck in. It was enjoyable and interesting, but certainly not your typical episode where everything builds up to a climax.

Rating: 6 out of 10

The Flash: S02E01: "Man who saved Central City"

The Flash
S02E01: "Man who saved Central City"
Rating: 6

In A Nutshell

It's not been ages between seasons, but it certainly doesn't feel like just last week that The Flash was last on. Either way, even with my poor memory I could remember what happened roughly last series, so the recap was thankfully brief. After that cliffhanger of a singularity opening above the city, everything this week starts off very quiet and peaceful ... yes, they've skipped along six months (don't recall any caption) but it's made very obvious. Barry is going it alone and doesn't want anyone's help to combat crime. Cisco in working in the police department like some sort of whizzkid janitor. Iris is looking incredibly cheery despite Eddie's demise. I know it's months later but still, we're really skipping over her grief which would have been quite interesting to have lived through on screen.

Through a couple flashbacks we see The Flash and Firestorm stop the singularity, although we end up without Ronnie, as just Professor Stein returns with The Flash. Oh Well. Ronnie will return I'm sure. That guy just keeps coming back and going, and coming back. Sadly though he's rather a dull character outside of the superhero stuff.

So, six months has passed and it's the day before Flash Day, when Flash is getting presented with the key to the city. Barry's not sure he wants to turn up for event, but some prep talk turns him round. Sure as sure, an attack occurs as he's about to get the key thanks to some super strength and semi fast guy. Coincidentally, he looks exactly the same as a person they found dead earlier in the day at a building site, but alas, the body is still in the morgue. Flash comes off second best and, despite a get-together team-up to support Barry after yet more prep talking, he comes off second best once again.

In the interim, Barry receives a USB stick of Dr Well's video msg to Barry. He's already inherited the lab it seems from Dr Wells. He's no intention of viewing the message but when he goes to chat to Caitlin, the USB stick is with him and she convinces him to watch it. In the video Wells admits to killing Barry's mum, and thus Barry's dad is freed. However, his dad is not going to hang around. Just when you thought he might be a series regular, he's off again, choosing to keep his distance in order to help Barry do his job. Sort of makes sense, but then there are other people close to Barry that would be equally as problematic in the heat of the action.

Back to the main story, and they track down the bad guy, named "Atom Smasher" and trick him into following The Flash to a nuclear power plant, where he gets severely radiated to near death. His final words reveal he was put up to it by someone called "Zoom". As everyone gets all chummy at the end and ready to keep up the good fight against crime, an intruder appears and tells them that "their" world is in danger.

What I liked

Things zipped along at just the right pace, although they did sort of move past some of the season one emotional fallout.

Everyone will be glad that Barry's dad is finally released!

The usual enjoyable mix of characters is very good. The Professor as a regular isn't anywhere near as good as Eddie but he's likeable.

What I Didn't Like

Six Months Later: Programmes that skip along time periods never go down very well with me. They sometimes work, and in this episode it was quite nicely played, although it did make things skip by rather non-spectacularly perhaps, but at least there wasn't much to fill in ... aside from that singularity ... which brings me on to ...

... that singularity. We got a flashback to them fixing the singularity, which was solved so quickly, although at a human cost, that it lacked any real gravity of peril. Sure, buildings and people were being ripped up, but we saw this singularity appear so briefly at end of last season, that with it's limited time this episode, it all feels like a "flash in the pan" when we know (if you've seen the trailer for season 2) that the singularity has big consequences for the show.

It's not until next episode that this becomes an issue I expect, but this show is about to go all "Fringe" on us, which is good and bad, but I'm thinking mostly good.

Gideon! Hello? Every has forgotten the super tech AI in the lab! It gets a mention but one would think that AI would be being used all the time to see what's about to happen!

Said it last series and I'll say it again; Odds are we haven't seen the last of Dr Wells or Eddie. Admittedly we saw Wells in the video but I meant in person. Eddie I'm sure as sure will return. Ronnie probably also, although he's VERY boring.

Huh?

Flash Bang Wallop; the singularity was fixed rather quickly.

So, Barry drops the USB Stick beside Caitlin, but didn't he earlier ...

... yes, he dropped it on the desk, discarding it with no interest of ever using it. So why did he have it with him later?

Welcome back Mr Allen! The party soon changes from a welcome home, to a leaving party though.

I come in peace and you're in danger. The cliffhanger.

And Finally

A decent opener that skips over what's happened in the last six months rather quickly. Perhaps that's because there's nothing much of note, but I do think we've missed out on some compelling emotional time with the cast. Although, what's coming up looks like "fun" ...

Rating: 6 out of 10

The Flash: S01E23: "Fast Enough"

Rating: 7

In A Nutshell

I'd left it a week to see this finale and was quite hyped given what I'd heard online and on social media. Sadly, it failed to live up to the promise I thought I was going to get. Things started off on dubious grounds with the decision to go ahead with Dr Wells' plan to create a wormhole so Barry can save his mum and Wells gets to go home (via a time machine that was so ridiculously quickly built, but I'll ignore that). The morale dilemma was littered with questionable decisions with everyone mostly happy to have Barry reset time to save his mum (except his Dad didn't agree). Never mind, Barry cared less about all that it seems. Caitlin married Ronnie in a sub-plot I guess, and Eddie (ecstatic by talk of him being an coincidence that could not be explained) hitched up with Iris, who seemed to lap it up so quickly.

So, Barry went Mach 2 like (which I guess he'll be able to do whenever he wants now?) and created the wormhole with help of an hydrogen atom, and getting directed to the correct point in time. He's at his house at the right time, but sees future Flash suggest to him not to rescue his mum. So, he doesn't. He has a heart to heart with her that was quite touching I admit. Shame he didn't think of trying to help his dad out before he legged it back to Star Lab present time. Here he arrived with a bang and scuppered Dr Wells going home by smashing up his time machine for no reason I can think off other than being angry about his mum. Guess that's a good reason but not very sensible if you think clearly. Anyhow, they have a mini-fight before Eddie shoots himself, thus ultimately killing Dr Wells.

Almost game over you'd think, but no, things with the wormhole go south and it creates a singularity ripping up the city! Certainly many more people have died already due to Barry's daft decision, before Barry goes super fast to try to stop the singularity from growing.

The End. Cliffhanger!

What I liked

Barry made right decision not to save his mum but spend time with her. The only issue though is that no one would be able to fathom out why, other than he saw future Flash suggest not to save her. Very odd he'd do it solely on that, without any real tangible conversation with future Flash.

Great to see Eddie make the sacrifice in a genuine tearful moment. Although this was setup from the beginning and suggested several times during episode, I still couldn't figure out if it would happen as it didn't seem to be necessary until Barry came back and took out Wells.

The conversations Barry and Cisco had with Dr Wells were very good and revealing.

What I Didn't Like

Too many dubious decisions; this ultimately destroyed the episode for me and stopped it getting a higher score and ascending to must-watch levels. The decision to actually go back in time and save his mum was so questionable. I know he's been wanting to do this for a lifetime, but surely it didn't take a genius to realise that was not a good idea? A whole lot of circumstances, people in his life and their own lives would be destroyed by this move. Although his dad advised him not to, he still did it. I'm totally surprised everyone else was willing to give everything up just for Barry!

Why Barry Why? Why did you come back all angry? That he couldn't save his mum? I guess that would charge emotions and that was all Dr Well's fault, but surely he could see that it'll be a whole lot better to let Wells return home and everyone would be reasonably in a safer world? Just daft not to.

We missed any real decent Flash Versus Reverse-Flash battle. A quite few seconds that ended all too quickly in Dr Well's favour but then ultimately ended by Eddie's sacrifice. Disappointing.

A season ending cliffhanger. Why?

Huh?

Odds are we haven't seen the last of Dr Wells or Eddie.

Isn't Iris going to be mad at Barry for coming back, wrecking Dr Well's machine and ultimately leading to Eddie killing himself?

Gideon! Hello? Every has forgotten the super tech AI in the lab!

And Finally

Failed to live up to the promise. Can't get over some of the decision making ultimately. Lack of any serious Flash versus Reverse-Flash was disappointing. Cliffhanger a real downer too. Don't like end of season cliffhangers.

Rating: 7 out of 10

The Flash: S01E22: "Rogue Air"

Rating: 7

In A Nutshell

Realising that Dr Wells has been hiding literally close to home, the gang rescue Eddie from days without food, boredom and probable body odour. He looks highly cheesed off for rest of the episode. Not least when he tells Iris that there's no point getting married whilst Barry is about. 3 is a crowd it seems. Meanwhile, the main focus of the episode is on the Particle Accelerator being activated by Dr Wells and that the metahumans in the cells need to be transported elsewhere or die. So, Barry gets Leonard Snart, Captain Cold, to help out in return for erasing all evidence of his existence from official records. It's a little daft that Barry does this literally by breaking and entering, but he is quite tensed up with Reverse-Flash stuff. Cold's horny sister tags along. Using a massive truck, the metahumans get transported to an airport to be flown to that Island where Oliver Queen hung out for years. They are off to the ARGUS Prison. Given that there seems to be some resemblance of care on the island, this seems better than the cells with no meals or a toilet from what I can tell in the Particle Accelerator. Anyhow, naturally it goes wrong. Captain Cold and sister betray Barry and it results in a little scrap at the airport and the metahumans escaping. The final ten minutes involves a battle between Flash and Reverse-Flash that's over far too quickly and easily. Somehow, Oliver and Firestorm turn up to help bring down Reverse-Flash. It's a neat idea, but I'm no fan of too many superheroes in one show. The fact that the battle is over, and Dr Wells is captured, just makes it even more devoid of genuine peril. Me thinks Dr Wells planned this, I hope.

What I liked

Flash versus Reverse-Flash. Brief but it's just the best scrap as always. Seeing them zoom about and slow-motion attacking is great.

Captain Cold was very genuine, cool and helped make the episode. We knew it would go pear-shaped but thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

What I Didn't Like

I don't do multiple super heroes. To think that Arrow would be much good against Reverse-Flash is slightly daft anyway. Thankfully it was brief.

Huh?

Still no Gidion this week, although her power source was mentioned.

And Finally

An engaging villain helped maintain the episode with a ludicrous-doomed-for-failure metahuman transportation plan. Reverse-Flash batte too brief to be great, and didn't need nor really want the extra heroes in the mix.

Rating: 7 out of 10

The Flash: S01E21: "Grodd Lives"

Rating: 7

In A Nutshell

I'd vaguely heard of Grodd from my comic book days years ago, although I was still a little, really, he's supposed to scare us when we've hardly heard about him? We've heard bits I suppose over the season, but this episode he takes centre-stage, although this is still much like a build-up feel to much bigger involvement from the ape. Grodd is a mind-controlling intelligent ape but not quite Planet of the Apes level yet. Dr Wells is using General Eiling to distract Flash and Friends by letting Grodd control Eiling to do some robberies. When investigating Grodd down the sewers, Joe gets captured and then it's left to Flash and Co to rescue him and avoid being mind controlled. After putting 2+2 together last week, in a way only a superhero TV show could, Iris confronts the gang at Starling Labs by just walking in on them all. Do they not lock doors or have security? Dr Wells in the meantime has an enjoyable spat with Eddie who he's holding captive as he builds a contraption which is revealed at the end to be a key into Starling Labs. Appears he's been hiding underneath the labs.

What I liked

That was a revealing and amusing chat between Eddie and Dr Wells.

Iris is finally in on things. She obviously didn't enjoy all the secrets and thus has the standard go at everyone, before calming down and loving them up by the end.

Grodd was surprisingly quite an enemy. More than I thought and far from defeated yet as he got away.

What I Didn't Like

General Eiling; love the actor, don't like the character at all. Snarling, grumpy and just a bore.

Huh?

Did no one think about asking Gidion for help? It is after all a super intelligent AI and knows the future!

And Finally

Just delaying us from the final confrontation between the Flash duo but still much more engaging than one would think when it comes to mind-controlling Gorillas.

Rating: 7 out of 10 (Thanks to a serious foe, Iris catching up on everything and banter between Eddie and Dr Wells, this episode was more entertaining than I expected.)

The Flash: S01E20: "The Trap"

Rating: 8

In A Nutshell

Barry, Eddie, Joe, Cisco and Kaitlin all work together in this episode and it blends very nicely. They use some funky (if somewhat quickly glossed over) technology glasses that help Cisco relive the alternative time memories of Dr Wells killing him. Using that information they set a trap for Dr Wells in order to get a confession for killing Barry's mum, but it doesn't go to plan when they find out Dr Wells is one step ahead and had been watching them all along. With Eddie planning to propose to Iris, Reverse-Flash steps in and steals Eddie. Iris, in the process, realises that Barry is The Flash, whilst Eddie finds out that Dr Wells is actually a relative of his!

What I liked

Dr Wells one step ahead. Brilliant reverse of fortunes to find out he'd been watching them for ages.

Barry made Dr Well's AI called Gideon? Wow. Eddie and Iris get married! Nice future reveals that may or may not still happen.

Dr Wells will be about as the main "villain", at least for next few episodes.

Great complexity to Dr Wells character. How he hates Flash, but helps him to get to be the Flash, has watched him for years, and sort of has some kind of love for Cisco and Kaitlin.

Good use of last week's metahuman in tricking them into thinking they were trapping Dr Wells!

What I Didn't Like

Completely unnecessary for us viewers to relive Cisco's dreams of his death, and a ridiculous piece of tech, but still sort of cool.

Huh?

Eddie's going to be doubly miffed that the engagement ring has gone astray now.

Why does Dr Wells so hate the Flash?

And Finally

The dream/glasses aside, this was a great episode. Love the complexity everyone feels with Dr Wells being evil, clever and also kind at times.

Rating: 8 out of 10

The Flash: S01E19: "Who is Harrison Wells?"

Rating: 6

In A Nutshell

Barry and Co deal with a shape shifter metahuman, who leads to Eddie getting framed for murdering two cops. Joe and Cisco head off to Starling City (conveniently) which is where Dr Wells had his car crash and was never the same afterwards ...

What I liked

Kaitlin/Barry interaction, especially with the fake-Barry (shapeshifter) was amusing and fun.

Discovery of Dr Well's hidden room at the end was long overdue ...

I think we'd all like to see Sergeant Lance get on with his daughter again, so I welcomed the time that Joe gave to convincing him to think again about their relationship.

What I Didn't Like

The whole trip to Starling City felt staged and contrived ... and unnecessary, since us viewers already knew exactly what had happened. I'd rather they thought of a better way to do this. Seems the trip was more to get some crossover with the Arrow show, get Cisco to do some tech work for Laurel and for Joe to pep-talk Sergeant Lance. There seemed little point in terms of the Flash show to this trip though.

Everything that happened with the shape-shifter was age-old stuff that we've seen before in these types of powers. Little background to the metahuman was given once again.

Huh?

Well, this seems to be the start of the police finally acknowledging the existence of metahumans.

Plus, nothing like peril to bring a couple back together without any need to discuss what went wrong; aka Eddie and Iris.

And Finally

Sadly, the stereotypical plot for a shape shifter, combined with a highly contrived roadtrip to Starling City, made for underwhelming developments in this episode that even the humour parts from Cisco couldn't repair.

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Felt like we'd seen this all before.)

The Flash S01E18: "All Star Team Up"

Rating: 7

In A Nutshell

Ray Palmer and Felicity pop in on our gang from Starling City (exactly what is the distance between these two cities?) in order to help Ray sort out his Atom suit. This is simply a story writing excuse to merge the shows a little but also to play on Barry's current concerns about Dr Wells and whom he can trust. Our badass of the week is a mad female scientist who spent thousands of someone's well-earned money making robotic bees and then killing off those who had wronged her. There's a brief team-up with Atom and Flash to give us all a quick buzz (pun intended) whilst meanwhile in B-Plot land, Iris has had enough of Eddie acting all weird (no, not the actor's abilities) and threatens to break things off if he doesn't spill his secret.

What I liked

A little bit of Ray helps every show, but certainly not an overdose, and thankfully this was just the right amount of his OTT mannerisms. He certainly fits in better in the undoubtedly more subtle comical land of Flash than Arrow.

The Dr Well's Reverse-Flash plot continues as Cisco and Caitlin join the fold although we learn very little more, except perhaps that by the looks of Dr Wells, he's starting to notice people acting odd.

Eddie is ridiculously daft and just far too likeable!

What I Didn't Like

Cisco reclaiming memories from the alternative universe come timezone that never was a few episodes ago. He now recalls Dr Wells killing him, although I've no idea how all that is possible for him to even remember. They don't make any attempt to explain it. How he remembers it all is also highly staged. He's been having these dreams for weeks apparently but this was the first reference to them.

So, the head of the mercury company turns up near the end of the show to see Barry and apologize to him that she didn't take up the police's offer of protection from the bee villain who was after her? Right ... of course she'd go see him wouldn't she? Highly contrived so that Barry could quiz her about Dr Wells.

Huh?

Admittedly Eddie is still new to The Flash/Barry reveal but surely he and Barry/Joe should have come up with a suitable cover by now rather than leaving him to just look like a rabbit caught between the headlights?

Genius Bees, but an underutilised villain and use of those bees really. Her story was weak and of limited explanation.

Barry can't outrun bees?

And Finally

So, just a good excuse to progress the Barry/Joe/Dr Wells subplot a little bee, I mean bit, by having Felicity convince Barry that Caitlin and Cisco can be trusted. Also, an excuse to make sure Flash viewers know about the Atom, ahead of his spin-off show no doubt.

Rating: 7 out of 10 (Totally ridiculous, but the interaction with Ray/Atom and Felicity just about managed to scrape this episode above average)

The Flash: S01E17: "Tricksters"

In A Nutshell

The trickster is back after almost 20 odd years to reign terror through a deadly combination of comedy and bombs. Eddie and Barry try to figure out Dr Wells' motives in Barry's mum's death whilst trying to focus on the trickster. Meanwhile, flashbacks explain more about that night when Barry's mum was killed and the arrival of the reverse-flash.

What I liked

Mark Hamill was AMAZING as the older original trickster. The "I AM YOUR FATHER" quote was classic and worked well, despite the obvious Star Wars link. Likewise he was absolutely convincing and cunning as the trickster, which is obviously a reference to his Batman villain character, The Joker.

I somewhat felt I knew all Dr Wells' backstory even before all this flashbacking. Maybe I'd read too much Flash comics etc when young? Don't think so. Did he mention his wife's death before? Anyhow, we now know what we suspected, that Dr Wells is Dr Wells, but with someone else inside him ... sort of.

What I Didn't Like

Was the only way to get Eddie to tell Iris porkies about the reporter's disappearance to reveal The Flash as Barry? I'm not sure about that. As much as it's nice to have him in on things, it's very much turning into an annoying situation of everyone being in on it except Iris. I also wonder if this sets things up for Eddie to go out in glory in the finale?

Huh?

I couldn't help but think of Fringe with Dr Wells getting transformed into the other Dr Wells via the contraption. Only thing missing was that it was connected to the chest and not the mouth.

And Finally

Wondering if Dr Wells is likely to defeated in finale but be a background threat in Season 2 whilst Dr Allen, whose Doctor skills we were subtly reminded of in this episode, joins the gang at Star Labs? Seemed to suggest that he was a doctor scientist rather than a medical one.

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Great villain of the week and backstory filler)

The Flash: S01E16: "Rogue Time"

In A Nutshell

Remember last week's episode? Well, forget it, because that either didn't happen or happened considerable quicker than the 45 minutes an episode takes. This week Barry learns the lessons of time travel the hard way, Cisco gets some brotherly love and creates some funky guns in half the time it takes to do your weekly shopping, whilst that reporter who was going to expose Doctor Wells gets bashed about seriously.

What I liked

The subtle humour, and more obvious humorous interactions between the main characters is certainly cute and affectionous, even if, of course, a tad cheesy at times. But this is what I like about the show. It mostly blends seriousness with comical interludes and makes no excuses for it.

Reverse-Flash bashing up the reporter, before ending his life with that shaky hand through the heart finishing move.

What I Didn't Like

Yup, it was a time reset of sorts. I wasn't looking forward to it as I'm not fan of resets but thankfully it soon became apparent that this was going to be an interesting creative play on the reset without all that stupidity you get usually where most events never took place. Things were considerably as interesting as last time round.

The Cisco "I'm leaving as I failed you all" routine was clunky at best, and predictable.

Huh?

Got to hand it to Doctor Wells, he gets to the heart of matters ...

How did Doctor Wells know about the reporter was about to expose him? His time machine I guess? Would he have done the same last time round if not for the reset? Or did Barry really tell him absolutely everything about the previous timeline, including that very brief scene he had with the reporter last time round?

Surely Cisco could have told Mr Freeze that anyone was The Flash? I was sure he'd say it was Doctor Wells, but alas no.

I'm confused over the Mr Freeze and Flash/Barry deal. Why would Mr Freeze agree to that? Think I've lost the plot there.

And Finally

Interesting how that one mysterious disappearance of the reporter was enough to bring Barry around that Doctor Wells might be evil. Seems like a minor incident to me without any real facts to support it but I guess it's the commulation of oddities that have been building up that swung it for him.

Rating: 7 out of 10 (Very Good Pop-Corn Fantasy)