TV Review: The Flash – Season 1 Episode 3 “Things You Can’t Outrun”

Last Updated on October 5, 2021

EPISODE 3: “Things You Can’t Outrun”

SYNOPSIS: Barry and co. face a new villain with a poisonous super power, while Joe meets with Henry Allen to discuss his innocence.

RECAP (Beware of spoilers!):

Congratulations to everyone at THE FLASH for receiving a well-deserved, full season order (23 episodes) from The CW! Obviously we aren’t the only ones who see the entertainment in Barry Allen’s origin story. Especially after another strong episode tonight, it’s easy to see why!

One of my few criticisms about THE FLASH, is that the villainous characters are a bit lacking. Neither the “Weather Wizard” nor “Multiplex” were much of a match for Barry. Before tonight, the main obstacles Barry had to overcome were in his own mind, not at the hands of his opponents. In fact, to beat the bad guy, all Barry needed was a decent pep talk and then he was ready to go. In tonight’s episode, however, that changed… slightly. While we still have a “villain of the week” format, there was no pep talk and Kyle Nimbus (aka “The Mist”) gave Barry a little more of a fight.

Before he was The Mist, Nimbus was a hit man for the Darbinian crime family. However, after members of the family ratted him out to police, Nimbus was convicted of murder and given the death penalty. Luckily for him, as he was getting a lethal injection, Nimbus was affected by the particle accelerator explosion, giving him the ability to transform into poisonous gas. Of course, like any good hit man, Nimbus pulls a Danny McGrath from BILLY MADISON and creates a “kill list”. Too bad none of the targets called to apologize.

Nimbus’ first targets are members of the Darbinian crime family, who he poisons while they are meeting in their local restaurant hangout. Because the glass of the building is bullet proof and Nimbus jammed the door, the men are unable to escape. While investigating the crime scene, Barry and the S.T.A.R. labs crew begin to suspect a meta-human may be involved in the murder, especially after a tissue sample from one of the victims shows another set of DNA in his lungs. However, it isn’t until Nimbus murders his next victim, the judge who sentenced him to death, that Barry encounters the villain face-to-face.

Although he is unable to save the judge, Barry finds Nimbus before he flees the scene. However, the fight doesn’t go well. Nimbus quickly turns into The Mist, making it impossible for Barry to land any punches. Helpless, Barry is poisoned by the gas, but is able to get back to S.T.A.R. labs for help. Before Barry heals, the team extracts some of the gas from his lungs, which they use to get more information on the perpetrator. Through police records, the team realizes Nimbus’ next target is the detective that investigated his case, Joe.

At that same moment, Joe is visiting Barry’s father, Henry, at the Iron Heights Penitentiary. Joe wanted Henry to know that he believes in his innocence and will work with Barry to ensure his exoneration. During the conversation, however, Nimbus arrives and poisons Joe. Thankfully, Barry shows up just in time to inject Joe with an antidote. Of course, Caitlin only made enough of the antidote for one use, so Barry is left to fight Nimbus with no medical aid. Due to the inherent instability of gas, the team discovers that in order to beat Nimbus, all Barry has to do is exhaust him. Since Nimbus can only stay in his gaseous state for a short period of time, Barry is able to knock him out when he turns back into his human form. Although this is another easy end to a villain, it is a step in the right direction for THE FLASH. At least now, Barry is no longer fighting against his insecurities but is actually battling more difficult opponents.

One of my favorite aspects of THE FLASH is that it presents realistic issues a superhero would face in today’s society. In tonight’s episode, Barry’s encounter with The Mist establishes two important issues. The first, and simpler problem is: How do you imprison meta-humans? The first two villains Barry faced died, so now that a super-villain is alive, what do you do with him/her? Obviously, you can’t keep people with super powers in a prison with regular prisoners. Not only could they harm the “normals”, depending on their super power, they could easily escape. After all, prisons are made with humans in mind. Dr. Wells and co. decide cavities in the remnants of the particle accelerator will be perfect containment cells (think CABIN IN THE WOODS). The magnetism in the complex will keep the superhuman criminals inside and help contain their powers. We last see Nimbus turning into gas, pointlessly trying to escape his pod. Will the magnetism be able to hold these “bad guys” forever? Doubt it.

The second problem is much more difficult and will certainly be an underlying conflict Barry has to reconcile throughout the entire show: superhero guilt. Barry feels guilty that he wasn’t able to save the judge in time. But as Joe says, not even the fastest man in the world will be able to save everyone. “For every person you help, there is someone you can’t help.” It is also inevitable that Barry will make mistakes while performing his heroic deeds. How will he deal with that? These are the types of impossible situations that Barry will continue to battle on a day-to-day basis; it will never get easier. 

This discussion of guilt, and the consequences that go hand-in-hand with being a superhero, are also a bit of foreshadowing. Will Barry have to choose between saving loved ones, like Oliver had to do in ARROW? After all, he already has to deal with guilt about not using his powers to get his father out of prison. Barry could easily zoom in and rescue his dad, but then what? Now that Joe has reopened his mother’s murder case, Barry makes a difficult choice. He will not use his powers to free his father, but will get his father exonerated the old-fashioned way, through the justice system. 

Flashbacks finally reveal a little more about what happened at S.T.A.R. labs when the particle accelerator exploded. Although Cisco warned Dr. Wells about an impending storm, the team decides to go forward with the mission. When the machine malfunctions, Caitlin’s fiancé Ronnie (Robbie Amell), the structural engineer of the accelerator, and Cisco volunteer to activate an emergency shutoff. Ronnie chooses to go into the accelerator to pull the valve, but makes Cisco promise to shut the blast door if he isn’t back in two minutes; the blast door is there to protect everyone in the building from being killed in case of an explosion. As we already know, Ronnie doesn’t make it back in time and Cisco is forced to shut the door. When the particle accelerator explodes, Ronnie is “killed” (or probably turned into a meta-human), but not before saying goodbye to Caitlin via walkie-talkie.

For me, the low point of the episode (and series so far) is the saga between Iris and Eddie. Does anyone care that Joe finally revealed he knows the two are dating? More importantly, does anyone care about this relationship? It seems the show is building this up, just so we will have an episode centered around Eddie dying. Will choosing to let him die be the first hard choice Barry has to make as The Flash? Hopefully the writers have more up their sleeves with this couple, but so far I’m not buying it.

STINGER: Apparently every episode is going to end with Dr. Wells. Tonight is a flashback to when the particle accelerator exploded. Wells looks forelornly at THE FLASH suit. Is this more evidence pointing towards the theory that he is a grown-up Barry Allen? Wells then goes into his secret room and via CCTV watches Barry get struck by lightning, thus turning him into The Flash. It looks like Wells planned this all along; the particle accelerator was supposed to blow up in order to give Barry his super powers.

DC UNIVERSE EASTER EGGS: Caitlin says Ronnie referred to her as “Ice” and he was “Fire”. In the comics, she becomes the villainous “Killer Frost” and Ronnie becomes “Firestorm”.

COOL ALTERNATE USE OF “THE FLASH” POWERS: Barry uses his super speed to conceal his face from his father while giving Joe the antidote.

FAVORITE QUOTE: “For every person you help, there is someone you can’t help.” This quote will definitely reverberate throughout the entire series, and is a concept Barry will have to try to come to terms with.

FINAL VERDICT: