Flash Facts – “Invincible”
Come on, Flash… Keep up.
After the absolutely stellar season finale of SHIELD, I wasn’t expecting much from The Flash but even so… this was boring. For the penultimate the stakes should really be higher.
The episode opens on the Earth-2 metas running rampant in Central City and while some of the powers seem familiar, some don’t quite match. There’s an ice-wielder in Cold’s parka, a green fire wielder that reminds me of Beatriz DaCosta except it’s a male and then there’s a pair of Hawks of undefined identity. Not that it matters because Barry takes care of a couple dozen before the episode really begins. So much for that threat.
Barry’s post-Speedforce optimism is really getting on everyone’s tits and I really can’t blame them. It’s one thing to have fun Barry but this is just insufferable. Always banging on about “The Speedforce is with us”. I wish someone would have turned around, probably Harry, and screamed “That’s not how the Speedforce works!”
The actual villain of the week (and highlight, personally) is Black Siren, aka Laurel Lance. Since Laurel has been recently killed in Arrow, it’s great to see Katie Cassidy return under better writers and look DAMN FINE while beating Barry’s ass.
Cisco and Caitlin (who is suffering hardcore PTSD since her ‘escape’ from Zoom) dress as their Earth-2 counterparts as they try to trick Black Siren. Naturally the plan fails to distract her for long but Cisco buys a little more time by using his offensive vibe blast for the first time.
It’s not until the end of the episode that anything important happens. Throughout the episode, Cisco has been vibing dead birds at his feet and the full picture is Earth-2 being torn asunder by some kind of cosmic phenomenon!
But no time to dwell on that because Zoom is back! And he killed Henry! Oh nooooooo… Not the beloved character we’ve seen in EVERY EPISODE and who has provided invaluable assistance to Barry! Oh wait, that’s someone else. I love how emotional Grant can get but even he can’t sell me on this having a big emotional; impact. But hey, Wally knows Barry’s secret now! Everyone’s in on it! (Dr McGee already knew it too)
This episode was super-dull. The finale is next week and it still feels like mid-season stakes. I think it’s mostly because Zoom has been characterised as your standard evil villain and a speed force addict. The beauty of Thawne was that he genuinely felt like a threat and a mastermind who was several steps ahead. Zoom just isn’t a threat anymore and the show is weaker for it. Come back next week and hope that The Race of His Life delivers something awesome.