A new kind of blank slate…
What They Say:
Who Is Harrison Wells? – Joe and Cisco go to Starling City where they ask Captain Lance for help with their investigation into Dr. Wells; the Black Canary asks Cisco for a favor; Barry is is faced with a foe who can transform himself into anyone he touches.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The Flash has done well with its villains this season for the most part, particularly when it comes to Captain Cold, Heatwave and a few others – without even including the Reverse-Flash, and last week didn’t build on that even though it should have with our bee controlling girl. But her role was useful in that it’s put a bug in Ray’s ear that will have him changing his course as the Atom in the future, which was one of those ideal kind of seeding elements to the two franchise. It’s interesting to see how well these two shows are mingling, in fact, after that first crossover early in the season went so well. You can tell that both parties were enthused by it and have decided a little more blending is a good thing. While it can be frustrating for those that don’t watch Arrow, as some in my household don’t, they’ve handled it well and I’ve filled them in on it with some of the nuance. But after several appearances so far, they’re figuring it out pretty easily as well.
With the cold open here, we get some good stuff with Barry getting faster and faster and using his skills for good – going to Coast City to get pizza. That gives us another city mentioned within the universe and also another nod to Ferris Airlines, which is just tantalizing with the possibilities. With the group having come together now that Barry has brought Caitlin and Cisco into things, the investigation is getting further underway. Caitlin’s not exactly believing it yet and is just feeling frustrated by how easily everyone is going along with it and that adds a little tension. The setup here is solid though as Cisco and Joe are going to Starling City to investigate some of what happened years ago with the death of Tess Morgan, which has Caitlin covering at STAR Labs and Eddie covering for Joe at CCPD. And Barry doing his Barry thing.
While this investigation is getting underway, a different one is elsewhere as a new metahuman (named Everyman in the comics) is on the scene that can shapeshift or create an illusion to take on the appearance of someone else. He’s using it to commit crimes of course, which includes stealing jewelry and trying to sell it as his own. That gets him caught initially as the stolen goods are easily tracked in the reputable jewelry dealers and that has Eddie going after him. What’s amusing is that Eddie calls in to Barry for some Flash help as the guy is going to make a run for it and since they believe it’s a metahuman, that adds to the fun in seeing them work together in their own way. Of course, Barry getting to see how this guys powers work is certainly unsettling as he’s easily lost amid the crowd with some creative quick changes.
What’s good to see is that Barry and Eddie work the investigation well in trying to track down who they think it is after some data collation done at STAR Labs to reveal that it’s a man named Hannibal Bates. That leads to the house he lived in with his grandmother, though he hasn’t been seen in a year. It’s almost a given that the grandmother is actually him, so it’s not a surprise when it plays out, but it’s a lot of fun watching the way that Barry and Eddie have to go after him as he changes into another form and escapes. But not just any escape, an escape that has him taking on Eddie’s appearance and shooting two cops straight out when they arrive on the scene to help. An incriminating moment for Eddie since it’s filmed and not one that’s easily explained away for oh so many reasons
This gets Iris to change her tune a bit after freezing Eddie out for awhile, but since he’s being held at the moment, he’s not exactly accessible. Barry’s trying to figure out how to explain all this and I do love that Captain Singh at least is aware that weird things are going on in town and he’s convinced that Eddie is innocent, which Barry is backing him up on. But the video is hard to disprove. Barry goes too far in trying to save Eddie from things going really badly, but it’s great to see Eddie really get through to him that this situation is not the same as when he was a kid with his dad. He also makes the smart reminder that Barry’s a scientist and can actively work to get him out, which really hits the right tone. That he says that he’s the Flash as well as the last piece doesn’t hurt, but the emphasis is on the science and being an adult here in a position of power with the police. Of course, Barry kind of ends up in a child-state not long after that as Bates ends up knocking on Barry’s door as Eddie and tricking him with who he is, which doesn’t speak well for Barry. With Bates now able to take on Barry’s appearance, that’s a potential game changer depending on the extent of his powers.
This goes in some comical directions when Caitlin shows up and talks about ways to stop Bates, and even comes up with the nickname for him right there. That has them going back to STAR Labs to figure things out and Bates as Barry is doing his best to try and act like Barry but keeps falling short in a lot of ways. What he gets to do though is make a move on Caitlin, which shocks her completely. It doesn’t get to go too far though because of Iris showing up as she’s actually done a little investigative journalism to try and prove Eddie’s innocent and wants to get help from the team here with Barry. But that just has Bates-Barry panicking, and revealing himself, with Wells stopping him just in time. It’s a chaotic amount of events in a short amount of time but it plays well by keeping things moving well and fun, especially just to see Barry acting out of character.
Caitlin’s definitely intent on taking down Everyman after all that happened, and there’s even a little payback towards Barry even though he didn’t do anything when she gets him back on track after being knocked out by Bates. With a vaccine that will slow things down with Bates’ ability, that sets the stage for the fight itself as Barry gets to go after him since he doesn’t have to worry about his powers being duplicated anymore. What makes it a fun fight is that he basically gets to go up against a good portion of the main cast – including himself – and that provides for some good visuals. Especially when Bates takes on the look of the Flash and thinks he’s just as good as him. Which, of course, Barry proves that he isn’t. That leads to a Terminator-like scene with him going through a range of recent acquisitions of identities in a good way.
The Starling City side of the episode has the two meeting up with Captain Lance to get a look at what happened back then, though there’s not a lot of evidence to be had with what was viewed as a cut and ry kind of case. What’s really fun is that they ends up coming across Laurel, and she’s intent on talking to Cisco privately. That has her revealing that they all know who each other is and he’s just delighted that he knows who she is now since he’s been a fan of the Black Canary for awhile. Interestingly, Laurel comes across better here – almost happier – than she does in Arrow. What we get with this though is her trying to get some help in the sonic device department, which is going to nudge Cisco a bit further into being the kind of technology oriented person that a lot of them are going to turn to when necessary. Which isn’t a bad thing since it opens up all sorts of potential storylines.
The investigation leads them out to the scene of the crime and that has Captain Lance coming along, which leads to some fun dialogue between him and Joe. That there’s still some tachyons rolling around there is kind of cute in science-talk form, though it shows how time is moving a little differently here as well. But as it goes on, the discovery of Wells actual body there buried off to the side is disturbing, but it provides all the confirmations that Cisco needs, though they’ll run the actual science of it. It’s definitely a good sequence that uses Lance well, especially since there’s some solid cop to cop kind of talk between them about how Lance can’t call this in.
What’s also welcome is that Joe is able to do a little storyline nudging with Lance about Laurel, which isn’t done in a strong way, but enough to push him back on course a bit. We also get Cisco connecting with Laurel a bit as well, providing her with the device that she needed, essentially upgrading what Sara had before with the new Canary Cry. The two are definitely really fun to watch together, especially with what she gives him in payment for it as there’s just a lot of child-like delight with the picture.
In Summary:
The Flash again does a lot of good stuff here with all its storylines in general, though Iris again continues to be the weak link in things. The blending of characters between Flash and Arrow is an area that I’m sure frustrates some, especially if you’re only watching one of the shows, but it enhances things really well when used smartly like it is here. The storyline here with Everyman is pretty nicely done and it has the fun that you get with these kinds of episodes where it allows some to act outside of the norm and that produces some cute moments to be sure. There’s some small but welcome moments on how the law is going to have to catch up to what’s going on here with the metahumans, but there’s also the nice part where even the DA is looking at the Flash as being a positive overall, an opposite of how things are viewed in Starling City for obvious reasons. Add in a little end of episode sequence with a discovery about what’s hidden in STAR Labs and it’s one of those great little moments that you know other shows would wait seasons to reveal.
Grade: B+
