Post — Aaron Ngo

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

I thought this episode was the turning point. We got a lot of information about Nora West-Allen, and how she is trying to change the future with Eobard Thawne’s help. Yes, she is trying to stop Cicada to save her father from his fate (presumably), and is convinced that keeping her parents in the dark is a good idea. Having Nora speak to Gideon at the beginning and the end of the episode worked. I think everything else going on: the development of the metahuman cure, Ralph and Cisco, Iris’s random plan to expand her blog into a business, and Caitlin’s weirdness with Killer Frost, were all annoying distractions to the best part of the season: Tom Cavanagh playing the Reverse Flash again and manipulating Nora.

I do commend the writers for improving Ralph’s character and having him help Cisco with his love life. He even smiles so proud when Cisco bonds with the cute bartender.

Exploring Nora’s memories was filled with tension. Barry and Iris were in awe of the future, and how The Flash has become so famous. It was all getting to Barry’s head, and rightfully so. Then we get to Young Nora and Future Iris being cold to each other. Crafting Iris West-Allen into a mother and a reporter again worked out great for the character. Candice Patton is delivering not only her best performances since the first season, but delivering them somewhat consistently.

Cicada doesn’t feel like the main villain anymore. After the Reverse Flash reveal, he just doesn’t have the vibe anymore. He barely had it to begin with, but now it’s totally extinguished. Although Grace having the dark matter shards inside her head is an unexpected development, which also prevents Team Flash from saving her again.

Hopefully, future episodes focus more on Nora West-Allen and get the tension going on for this second half of the season. Iris West-Allen started a newspaper business from a small blog. I don’t think the world works that way, but then again, I don’t live in the Arrowverse. She even got the business going two years earlier, changing the future. This could be a good / bad thing, considering that means Crisis on Infinite Earths can move closer too.

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