Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

The Flash has returned with a brand new episode! It was an “okay” episode with a lot of groundwork to cover, but they are taking their sweet time with it. The main two stories we have ongoing are Cicada and Thawne… I kind of hope Cicada gets wrapped up sooner in the season so we can focus on Eobard Thawne’s redemption story. After so many versions of Thawne popping in and out of the Arrowverse, trying to craft him as an anti-hero isn’t all that out there.

This version is the oldest one yet with his guilt weighing on him. He also readdresses his admiration of Barry Allen / The Flash, the same respect that drove him to become the reverse of his idol. However, Nora decides to break off their unspoken deal after learning he killed her grandmother and takes out her issues on the villains this week: Weather Witch and Silver Ghost. Yes, Weather Witch has returned with a brand new conscious.

I think the biggest problem with the episode was trying to make us care about Weather Witch. Last we saw her, she was trying to recklessly kill her father, the Weather Wizard, but gets defeated and sent to prison. Now, she is remorseful—according to Cecile’s powers—and does not want to end up like her father… she thinks she can change for the better. Nora doesn’t buy it but is eventually convinced when she talks to Barry.

Silver Ghost is a largely unremarkable villain. She can control cars and project shields that not even speedsters can phrase through. I appreciated the shield aspect because I was going into the car chase scene thinking like I always do: “Run Barry! You can obviously catch them, but the plot won’t let you!”

Barry mentions how he is always seeing the good in people like Leonard Snart. Mentioning Captain Cold was a nice reminder of how villains can change… Snart died a Legend and a hero. Even Barry believes Eobard Thawne could change one day. This talk motivates Nora to resume her deal with Thawne despite not trusting him anymore.

The subplot of Caitlin and Cisco creating a meta-human cure is refreshing. Cisco had an interesting journey when it came to his powers. He hated having them, grew to accept them, and now if he were given the choice, he’d give them up to have a normal life. Reminds me a lot of X-Men 3 but I’ll deal because it’s better than Caitlin / Killer Frost’s origin story…

Overall, it’s an okay episode. It wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t terrible either. Barry getting taken out of the action was a good way to give Nora the spotlight. I love the reference to Mick’s new novel. I think we should’ve learned more about the Thawne / Nora alliance, but hopefully next week will shed some light on it.

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