A face from Wells’ past resurfaces with a real grudge to collect on..
What They Say:
The Sound and the Fury – Dr. Wells’ former protege – who can manipulate sound waves – returns to seek revenge; Iris starts a new job; Joe asks Eddie for a favor – and asks him to keep it a secret.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The Flash certainly went big the last time around as it brought back Captain Cold for some fun and also gave us his partner in crime with Heat Wave, which helps to expand the rogues that are so associated with our title character. There was a lot to like with that segment of it, including the final fight, while also getting some good character material as Barry struggled with trying to improve so he could go up against the Reverse-Flash. For me though, as much as the episode was strong overall, it was the bonding time at the end between Joe and Barry that really resonated as the two men had to figure out their lives a bit more and work together in doing so by having Barry move back in for a bit now that Iris has left, providing a solid change in the character dynamic.
The cold open for this episode gives us a little street action with guys on dirtbikes are looking to get away after a crime and we get some fun in the way that Wells orchestrates things so Barry learns a little strategy in dealing with multiple opponents. Calling them out as the Royal Flush Gang a bit later is great as it brings at least the first blush version information about them that could be interesting if they’re explored more. There’s also an interesting little bit in the way upon his return to STAR Labs that Cisco wants to take a picture of Barry without his mask on and we get Wells suggesting that it’s okay since there may be people in the future that want to know more about who the Flash really was and that it’s not bad to document it all. With the amusement of the whole Flash museum in the future, it’s definitely something that has its fun.
This episode also kicks off with some interesting time with Wells at his very elaborate and expensive home where he’s pretty much living normally, walking and all. His return home doesn’t go well though as there’s an attack on him and his residence with the Pied Piper calling him out for his crimes of the past before destroying a whole lot of the glass in the home. This provides us the access to Wells recent past a little bit as he remembers the events of two years prior with Hartley Rathaway, whose parents we saw in the previous episode being targeted by Captain Cold, and how the two of them worked together at STAR Labs. We also to see Cisco’s first day at STAR LAbs through this, which is amusing since he certainly makes an interesting impression on Hartley, who is definitely very professionally oriented compared to Cisco.
With some good exploration of the past throughout the episode as we learn more about Hartley, it helps to balance things out in the present as Barry works to figure out how Wells’ place was attacked and the science behind it all. While Barry does do the basic due diligence in how that plays out, he doesn’t have to do much to work to find Hartley since they know he’s behind all of this as Hartley attacks the Rathaway headquarters outright. That turns into a pretty fun action sequence all on its own as Barry has to deal with someone that can throw some powerful sound waves that make a physical impact on him, but he’s also gotten smart enough to deal with opponents with some quick thinking in a physical way as well. The real trick to things here though is that Hartley claims to know Wells’ secret, and knows that the Flash is working with him due to his ability to hear the soundwaves.
Hartley’s confidence is interesting to watch as he’s escorted to the containment area beneath STAR Labs as he prods both Cisco and Caitlin, but he’s a bit more honest towards Wells while also putting on a show for Barry through the cameras. Hartley reveals what he went through from the explosion in the past with how it put him in a great deal of pain with implants in his head being the only way to to ease it. Hartley’s time there also forces Wells to reveal a bit about what happened with the accelerator accident in that Hartley told him about a chance of something going wrong, but Wells felt it was an acceptable risk at the time and went ahead. Considering it was likely all designed for the end result there to create the future that he wants to see come to fruition, it’s certainly an interesting bit of potentially false contrition on his part to apologize in his own way to Cisco and, especially, Caitlin, considering all that they’ve lost.
When Hartley uses his means to escape from the cell and cause a fair bit of trouble, it’s definitely problematic since it has Wells panicking over it a bit and revealing some real issues with his speed force connection. Cisco gets taken down a bit hard as well in the explosion, which has Wells taking a bit more ownership of the event since the reason Hartley is there is because of what happened between him and Wells a year ago. This has Wells coming clean about it in a press conference in order to try and take the wind out of Hartley’s sails while exposing himself to a bit more trouble as well. It’s another of those forced moments in some ways, but there’s a bit of “comic booky” fun to it all that can be thrown together at the drop of a hat.
The final act naturally has to come down to a fight with it being between Wells and Hartley, but with Wells using Flash as his operative for it. Hartley certainly goes big with what he does by threatening the dam in the area which has a lot of people at risk just at the dam itself, never mind letting loose with the water itself. We get to see some decent sequences between the two as Barry shows more of what he’s learned, but Hartley has figured out the way to use his sonic attacks against Barry that has him basically shifting at a very high speed that puts him into serious pain. While Barry is suffering like this, it’s a nice change of pace to have Wells be the one to save him with some creative fantasy science and satellite radio. Having Wells save the day is a nice little twist and makes for a good change of pace.
Iris’ storyline in this episode isn’t bad, per se, but it’s got that kind of forced feeling about it as she gets a job at one of the city’s papers based on the fact that the editor in chief there thinks she has a connection to the Flash that will in turn sell papers since she’ll get inside stories. She struggles with this, though she knows that’s why she was hired, because she wants to be more. While the dismissiveness of bloggers is an annoying aspect considering the changes in reporting in the last decade, her youth and lack of overall experience definitely makes it understandable why one of the other reporters there, Mason Bridge (an incarnation of Mason Tollbridge) really has it out for her.
In Summary:
The Flash works a lot of material into this episode that has ties to the previous with the introduction of the Rathaway family and ends here with us getting background not only on Hartley and his time at STAR Labs but also seeing the early days of Cisco there and some cute Caitlin time. Barry has a solid arc here overall as we see more of how his powers are expanding and his skill set growing, but it’s more of an ensemble piece here with a focus on Wells rather than Barry at the forefront. Wells definitely earns that position and while we keep thinking that Hartley may know the secret we want to know more about when it comes to the future, that’s not it. But we get a couple of little teases that certainly help to keep us interesting in what Wells really is all about. And bringing in the first appearance, in a light touch kind of way, with the Royal Flush Gang? All win there if we get something more elaborate down the line.
Grade: A-
