Post — Aaron Ngo

Major spoilers are included in this episode review. Read with Caution!

Tonight’s episode of The Flash was a step in the right direction. My faith in Barry Allen and friends have been restored. My love for Iris West-Allen has been restored! That’s the best part about the episode. The show has figured out that Iris works best as a reporter like Lois Lane. That’s the strongest part of her character, even more so than her love for Barry.

Even the opening was solid. Barry and Nora told Team Flash about the aftermath of The Crisis Newspaper that shows him going missing. He never comes back and misses Nora’s life! This is depressing, but they were able to get past it. That’s mostly due to Iris telling them that they’ll deal with it when it comes.

However, Iris is struggling internal. She understands why Nora is attached to Barry now, but it still hurts her that her own daughter is so cold to her. After talking with her father Joe though, she learns to keep busy and to wait until Nora comes to her. This means she is doing reporter things like interviewing Captain Singh and the officers who got attacked by Cicada.

Candice Patton’s scenes are filled with hurt whenever she sees Nora and Barry together. There is more to the future story though, as Nora cringed when Iris addressed the family as “Team West-Allen”. When Nora finally reveals the true reason for the distance, it’s going to hurt everyone in the room.

Yes! Iris West-Allen is a great character again! I’m invested. Keep it up, Candice!

Barry and Nora’s dynamic is easy-going but also strenuous for the father. He is trying to teach his daughter how to become a better speedster, but she would rather jump into learning the big things rather than master the small steps. This is all because she is trying to impress him… the father she loves and idolizes.

Joe and Cecil have a small subplot when it comes to her powers and their child. It also ties in nicely to the overarching story of Nora and parenting. Cecil is losing her telepathic powers, making her believe that she’ll be an awful parent. However, Joe’s advice to Barry convinced her that being perfect is not the goal when it comes to being a good mom.

This is too nice! It doesn’t feel like too much either.

Caitlin, Cisco, and Ralph are doing things on the side, helping Cisco get over his breakup with Gypsy by doing things on Ralph’s list. This is a cute dynamic between the three of them that I’m really enjoying. Then we learn that Caitlin was partially using this distraction to avoid the potential truth that her father may not want to see her.

I also enjoyed Danielle Panabaker’s performance this week too. Looking forward to see how that plays out.

The ladies of The Flash are bringing it this season! You too, Jessica Kennedy Parker!

Now back to the review:

The friendship between Cisco and Caitlin is precious. I love them so much. Adding Ralph into the mix enhances that love so much.

Villain of the week: Block (Vanessa). Cisco was not in the best state of mind coming up with that name. She can create blocks out of thin air. I wasn’t too invested in this meta because Cicada made his presence known to Team Flash.

Cicada stabs Block and proceeds to neutralize the rest of Team Flash’s powers. He beats the crap out of powerless Ralph, Cisco, and Barry. I think they should’ve learned how to fight in case situations like this occurred. Just a thought, guys!

Before Cicada could finish Barry off, Nora speeds back into the scene and calls out for her dad. This stops Cicada from killing The Flash. However, it also proves that this villain is deadlier than any other before him. He had no dialogue and made only a distinct breathing noise, but he was a scary dude.

This was a strong episode. I am praising Iris’ story in the episode more than I should. She blew it out of the waters. The season has to keep this up with Iris because it’s so good. It feels like she’s season one Iris again… the best version of her.

Do y’all agree? Or am I just crazy? The Arrowverse is rocking it!

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