User Reviews

Second week of The Flash being back on our screens and it has produced another great episode in my books. No, in the scheme of things this wasn't a massive episode, however if viewed as an episode itself,, it ticked all the boxes it needed to.

There were two main story arcs of this episode. The first one I want to concentrate on is Barry in prison. While on the surface, this plot line is a little slow, in a show that has 23 episodes, I'm liking that they taking their time with Barry in prison. The prison scenes gave me very much a Prison Break vibe and I really enjoyed that. My hope is that they continue to build Barry in prison and his friendship with Dave because when Barry leaves, I want him to take away something that he didn't have before he went in.

The second part of the episode was with Ralph and his decision if he really wants to put his life on the line as a superhero. I thought they did a great job building off his carefree nature and showing that if it doesn't hurt him then he is happy to put his body on the line. Many of these superhero shows are filled with superheroes what are willing to give it 100% so it's good to see the contrast of this by having a hero who doesn't really want to commit completely. I also though the Trickster and Prank were great villains to bring back this episode. I always like when we get returning characters on these shows, especially in the villain category.

Looking a bit to the future, I glad they have started turn more of a focus to the girl who was at Barry and Iris' wedding and the writing Barry had at the start of the season. From everything I've seen, many believe she is from the future and after how they wrote her dialog at the end of this episode, I think that might be the case. Either way I'm interested to learn more about this new character and to see if she will be around for a while or just until the end of the season.

Overall, a really great episode of The Flash. It was overall a more quiet one and in many ways had some filler qualities from it, however it was enjoyable to watch and that is what I want from this sorts of episodes that are sitting between major episodes.

9/10

+ The environmentally health conscious hostage-taker was surprising and fun. He reminds me of Eobard Thawne saving the polar bears and solving global warming.

+ Ralph took a bomb blast and saved everyone.

• I can't remember the last time Barry saved someone...

Hmmm: IHP has really chic prison garb, like Hugo Boss chic. And the prisoners have impossibly pristine shoes.

• Barry: I'm tired of feeling useless.

Me: when was the last time Barry was useful?

+ Ralph volunteering Caitlin for sidekick and wallet duty.

I literally laughed out loud at Barry doing weights. I don't think that was the show's intent though.

+ Beeboo! And what a better homage to the viking god of war than to be destroyed by acid and weaponized only to be destroyed by KF.

+ The sheer cheese that was Trickster and Prank, and Ralph v. Trickster.

+ Props to Sawyer for being able to wear the longjohns and still hold his head high. Very happy Ralph finally got a proper (though standard DCCW) outfit.

• Iris: I thought I was going to die last year. But I didn't let that stop me.

Me: stopped her from what??? Which sums up this ep's shoehorned/back-seat driver Iris in action. Cisco/Caitlin/HR, heck even Ralph, were dancing circles around her lack of expertise, power, relevance in every scene.

Ralph finally getting a proper outfit, Barry pep talk (weird that I liked it), Cisco/Caitlin/HR/Ralph doing their thing, Joe doing his job, Barry standing on his own without Iris or the team (ok, he had Big Sir as backup): score 8

Really enjoyed this episode, far more than I thought I would. Normally episodes twelve and eleven are more or less filler. Although this episode had no Thinker parts in it it was still a great continuation of both Barry's trial/prison story and Ralph's progression as a superhero.

Sounds wrong when I say that I enjoy seeing Barry in prison but it is actually giving us a different setting for the character. We never got to see Barry inside the speed force prison so this will have to serve as a substitute for that. Also it is more interesting when a potential story isn't over and done with in a single episode. The use of slow motion is always cool when it is done right and here it was definitely done right. We rarely get slow mo scenes in the show so I'll cherish the ones we do get.

I believe it is better to have villains return rather than introduce one-off villains. In this case it was Trickster Junior who returned and they also introduced (or re-introduced if you watched the old Flash TV show) Prank. In my opinion Mark Hamill's Trickster is superior but nevertheless they were really entertaining as villains this episode. The tricks were good and I really liked the props they had, especially the use of Beebo from Legends. I spotted a Penguin easter egg when I noticed toy penguins in Prank's lair.

The hero of the episode's title is of course Ralph, now known as the Elongated Man (EM for short). Ralph assumed Barry's role of protector of Central City. I really enjoy Ralph as a superhero because he's not as serious as Barry has become which worked well with the Trickster as the villain. The CGI for his stretchy heroics are great and perhaps even more interesting and impressive than some of Barry's running scenes. The new suit looks great!

I need more Harry, just need more. Even with just 3-4 scenes/moments Cavanagh shines as this character. One of the best things from season two that I highly miss was the Cisco-Harry hate/love friendship.

At the end of the episode the girl who appeared at Barry and Iris' wedding returned talkative as ever. It is revealed that she is connected to the mysterious language that Barry was writing in the season premiere so clearly she will show up again later this season. Question is, who is she? Future relative to Barry, another bus-meta or a speedster who was also trapped in the speed force?

All in all I think this was a great episode that offered a lot of fun with the Elongated Man vs. Trickster n Prank. When is the next bus-meta going to appear? Five of them have yet to appear.

With Barry in jail, Ralph must step up against the Trickster by himself. This was a great origin story for the Elongated Man with great moments like when he got his name! This episode can be cheesy and even somewhat cringe sometimes, but that's part of its charming. This is a cheesy, goofy episode that is not for everyone, you'll either love this episode or you'll hate it. Me personally, I had a blast watching this triumphant story about Ralph and his courage. I loved the entire storyline with Barry in prison, and this was probably the highlight. Great episode, I actually like it a good bit!

7.5/10-Good👍

So, one of the things that this show has done really well, is to take actors and actresses who appeared in the original '90s "The Flash" show and give them new life here: either as their original characters, or as a new character. Mark Hamill is one of the best known times when they have done that, and his character of the Trickster felt completely suitable for a show like this, even though he was incredibly over-the-top. He had a nice episode in the first season, and has even returned in minor roles for the previous two seasons as well. However, in this season, it doesn't seem like we are going to get Mark Hamill back, which is a shame, but also understandable. They had a character they introduced in the first season, and I think he was meant as a replacement if Hamill didn't want to come back, and the fact that he appeared in this episode, made it so much worse than it should have been.

I liked the previous episode, but didn't think it was awesome. One of the things I thought they would do here is have Barry in prison for half of the episode and get him out. Luckily, that wasn't what they did, and he actually ended up being there for the entire episode, which I thought was the right choice. And I loved to see everything that happened inside that prison, because while Barry is a great character, I personally think he has a lot to do on the show. So to see him take a backseat here actually felt very refreshing. I loved the relationships he made in prison, and how those relationships could mean something different is coming, which I can't wait to see.

I also liked the added role that Ralph Dibny had in the episode. He had some very good scenes in the episode, and the added responsibility that he got in the episode felt like a good step forward for the character. He hasn't been an impressive addition to the team this far, but I sense that they are going to put a little bit more on him now that Barry is in jail, and Wally is somewhere doing his own thing. I still have my issues with the character that we will get into further down, but I think they are taking this character in the right direction, and that he could become a very enjoyable part of not only the team, but the show as a whole in the future.

I loved Grant Gustin's performance in this episode, especially one specific scene where he is talking to Dibny who wants to break him out. Gustin has been through so much over the course of the show, and he understands this character, so him giving this speech to Dibny felt very natural and like something Barry would actually say at this point. Now, while we're on the performances, I will say that Hartley Sawyer is very hit-and-miss as this character. He had some nice moments in this episode, but then there were other times where he decided it would be funny to scream like a little girl, and I didn't find that funny. Actually, I think a lot of the humor that Sawyer gets is not delivered well, because he has a particular way of playing this character, which doesn't work with the jokes he is given.

With that said, there are some other things that I didn't like about this episode. I think that Barry's character was very inconsistent throughout the entire episode. There is a scene towards the middle between him and Joe, where Barry seems ready to break out of prison to help them out with the villain problem. However, in the last episode, he specifically said that if he was convicted, he would not run away. Then later in the episode, he seems to go back to ideal and decides not to take Dibny's offer of breaking him out. I don't know why the writers decided to take Barry through this wide variety of different opinions that switched incredibly quickly, but maybe it's just psychological that I haven't understood yet.

And then ... the antagonists. I love the Trickster, but it has to be the real Trickster, who actually has some charisma. I don't want to see his stupid son and useless wife trying to take on that same role, because they are clearly not capable at doing that. Throughout the entire episode, I felt like they were doing a bad Trickster impression, which didn't work for me. I also think their ultimate goal was so stupid, and didn't make any sense if you have seen the episode in Season 1 featuring the Trickster and his son. I had a lot of problems with these characters, and I hope they stay away for good this time.