Flash Facts – “Fallout”
WOW. Just… Wow.
Fallout is the follow-up to last week’s The Nuclear Man and boy does it deliver on it’s title as we see the resolution to Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein’s situation, the return of a prominent dickbag and the hypest stinger since The Man in The Yellow Suit.
Ronnie and Stein separate in the wake of their (not-nuclear) nuclear blast. I have to say that I adore the way that Robbie Amell and Victor Garber play off each other. They start off very antagonistic towards each other but ultimately bond in the truest sense and the resulting bond gives birth to Firestorm. It’s the first true superhero team-up for The Flash (yes, there was Arrow but he doesn’t have powers, unless it’s the power to angst.) and while it’s quite short, I was smiling ear to ear the entire time. I loved it.
Iris is helping her co-worker, Mason Bridge, to find out secrets about STAR Labs. This is padding. Moving on.
Clancy Brown returns as General Wade Eiling and he’s just as delightfully evil as ever. He tries to snag Ronnie in Jitters (tranqing the entire coffee shop to do it) and then nails The Flash with a special shrapnel grenade that looks painful as fuck. He later takes the piss out of Wells’ disability and snags Martin Stein and would have killed both him and Ronnie if not for The Flash. Luckily, this delightful dickbag does get his come-uppance by way of a double cold-cock, one by Ronnie and the other by Barry, as well as something else…
God DAMN IT, Wells! You’re making it real hard to defend you, bro! I’m starting to realise I’m like those Ward apologists for SHIELD but, y’know, fully aware that I’m rooting for a bad guy. It’s quite the paradox for me because a lot of Wells’ actions can be construed as both heroic and villainous. Yes, he’s killed people but to protect others. He’s been seen to want to use his speed to help others, especially Barry. I keep saying I’m not convinced he’s the bad guy but he’s making it real hard for me to keep that stance up. Nice to see Cavanagh in the suit though!
KING GORILLA! Grodd struts his stuff and gladly accepts Wells’ present of Wade Eiling and drags him off, presumably to eat him or wear him like a finger puppet. He does have some dialogue this time and it is quite chilling. “Not God. GRODD.”
Final thoughts are an immensely entertaining episode that introduces a new hero. Between Arrow, The Flash and the upcoming animated mini-series, Vixen, CW is building itself quite the Justice League. When The Flash returns on March 17th, we may finally get a definitive answer to the question that is Harrison Wells so join me then when we are Out of Time.