EPISODE 12: "Untouchable"
SYNOPSIS: Barry and the team at S.T.A.R. Labs work together to bring down Clive Yorkin, a criminal meta-human who is methodically killing people by causing them to decompose at an accelerated rate. Joe becomes his next target but it’s Iris who is caught in the crossfire. The Flash mentors Kid Flash and begins to elevate the newer speedster’s training to another level.
REVIEW: There was a certain charm to the first season of The Flash that made it the fan favorite darling it was back in 2014. Since then, the series has begun to tread water a bit and shown some holes in an otherwise tight ship, but tonight's hour of the series may have found the missing formula that could bring the show back to prominence once more. Tonight's episode was another wasted villian of the week story that seemed to be created just to further multiple character story arcs in service to the big finale where Iris West is doomed to die at the hands of Savitar. However, within the multitudes of subplots, the dynamic that came forward that could rescue this show was the new mentor relationship between Barry Allen and Wally West.
Through the first two seasons of the series, Barry Allen learned how to be The Flash thanks to two evil speedsters. Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne helped Barry further his abilities in service of his own master plan while Zoom had his own motivations to assist Barry. In the end, both villains met their fates at the hands of their student. Barry learned a lot about his abilities and the Speed Force but still makes rookie mistakes (ahem, Flashpoint). At the same time, Wally has no such mentor to help him learn the ways of a speedster. H.R. tried to serve as a teacher but Season 1 Wells he is certainly not. So, when this episode opened with a footrace between veteran Barry and cocksure Wally, it set up what will become the key duo this series needs. Last week, Barry asked Wally to save Iris from Savitar and this week we see why.
The villain this week is a meta awakened by Alchemy who was imprisoned back in Flashpoint and now wants revenge on the cops who put him away. His ability is a powerful one that allows him to disintegrate anything with a single touch, making him a tough opponent for the Flashes. It also becomes personal when he targets Joe West and, in turn, Iris. This also affords the team an opportunity to finally come clean with Joe about Barry's visit to the future and air all of the secrets once and for all. This means the team is also doubling down on changing the future to save Iris, something that requires Wally to learn new skills like phasing through solid objects. Wally struggles with the concept and Barry has trouble figuring out how to help his young mentee. All the while, the meta comes after Iris and infects her with his power which requires Caitlyn to user her Killer Frost abilities to freeze Iris' arm to slow the spread.
Caitlyn struggles with letting her dark side take over but is talked down by Julian. Now becoming a true member of the team, Julian feels weak for creating these metas while he was Alchemy but Caitlyn in turn thanks him for his help in calming her down. By episode's end, Caitly asks Julian out for a drink. Could these two become an item? That remains to be seen but it would bode well for Tom Felton's future on the show. He has been a nice addition this season and I would like to see him stay on. In other subplots, Cisco uses his vibe skills to reach Flashpoint to find clues as to who is being targeted in the attacks. While this serves as a nice callback to Cisco's focus last week, it begs the question as to why they haven't tried to return to Flashpoint for more details in the prior dozen episodes. It seems like it could have been useful for solving all sorts of crimes had they done that earlier. But, I won't argue that this is another ridiculous element to an already inconsistent season.
With the final victim discovered to be a P.I., Joe meets her on a train to warn her. When the tracks are disintegrated, Barry uses his powers to phase the entire train through the rubble, an amazing if inexpicable use of his abilities. Worn out, Barry defers to Wally to stop the meta by phasing into his body and using Wally's blood to neutralize the power. It works and gives Barry a chance to echo Wells' trademark line by saying "Run, Wally, Run". It is a great moment and one that cements Barry's role as teacher to Wally which will hopefully lead to a stronger focus for the two heroes in the rest of the season. The team, happy and back to normal are focused on finding a way to stop Savitar's prophecy and the episode seems poised to end with a smile. Until, that is, the stinger scene which shows Wally practicing his phase skills when Jesse Quick comes through a breach to warn her friends that her father has been taken captive by Grodd in Gorilla City.
While I will restrain my geek tendancies at the prospect of the team facing off Grodd in an Earth-2 jungle battleground for a full hour, let me focus on this week's episode. Once again, it was an uneven hour and a waste of another villian just to advance the plot, but it did give us the Barry/Wally dynamic duo which is working way better than I could have imagined. With their two personalities vastly different, Barry now no longer looks like the brash young speedster compared to Wally. But, making Barry the mentor also puts a flawed human in a role to teach someone which will create it's own tension and drama for the rest of the season. I am still not too hot on the whole Savitar prophecy as the storyline from here on out, but the new roles for our primary speedsters is more than ample enough to support this and future seasons. I just hope the writers use it wisely and don't abandon it after just a week or two.
EPISODE GRADE:
NEXT ON THE FLASH: "Attack on Gorilla City" airs February 21st – When Jesse Quick informs the team that her father has been abducted, Barry, Caitlin, Cisco and Julian voyage to Earth-2 on a rescue mission to save Harry from Gorilla City. As they trek through the forest, Barry and the team are immediately captured and brought to Grodd. Grodd tells them he needs their help to stop Solovar, the leader of Gorilla City, as Solovar wants to invade Earth-1. Meanwhile, back on Earth-1, Jesse and Kid Flash hit the streets to stop a metahuman that can control gravity, with H.R. and Joe guiding them from S.T.A.R Labs.