The eighth season ofThe Flashhas spent the majority of its time in the dark side of this particular universe. Whether talking about love and loss of one of themain characters inThe Flash, or what appears to be Barry Allen’s mental breakdown, the show has been mostly a downer so far this year. Team Flash spent most of the first three episodes getting figuratively punched in the mouth, even as there’s been less action than normal. Most of the first installment of the season has been about solving the mystery of whether Despero is right and how in the world he could be. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. So far, it’s been interesting to see Barry and the gang not to be able to solve their problems simply by running fast and running far.
However, because this is a superhero show,The Flashis definitely better when Barry is throwing lightning bolts and outrunning the competition. The first three episodes have had quite a bit more “emotional” moments than the show usually allows for and because the writers aren’t quite up to the task, there have been more moments that were outright bad. Other times it’s been outright touching but it’s a delicate tight rope the CW program is currently walking. The good news is that Episode 3 mostly walked that tight rope pretty well.
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The Flash At The End Of His Rope
Most of thisparticular episode ofThe Flashsaw Barry and his team keeping their distance. While Iris and Cecille and the rest were working to figure out where Barry was and why exactly he doesn’t remember Joe dying, Barry was trying to convince Black Lightning to take away his powers by effectively electrocuting him. While the episode was effectively split into two halves, the half with Barry and Jefferson was clearly the better of the two. There was the back and forth between two heroes that may have respect for one another but don’t actually know it each other that well which really added an edge to their interactions. There was also the almost fatherly approach that Jefferson took in dealing with Barry and trying to convince him not to give up his powers, even as he was promising to help him.
There was also a Barry Allen who seemed legitimately concerned that he was about to snap at any minute. While the phrase “with great power comes great responsibility” is usually only tied to Peter Parker and Spider-Man, it’s clear that Barry understands that if he really is losing his mind, then he’s a massive danger to everyone and everything around him.The Flashstar Grant Rustinis really getting to show off his acting chops more than he’s allowed to do in most regular episodes. He does a very good job showing how he’s at wit’s end when it comes to trying to figure out what is going on. In fact, he’s actually given up and is just ready to no longer be the scarlet speedster. The only fighting he does is when Black Lightning starts to show some reticence when it comes to helping him. The way he’s shown the hurt and pain he’s feeling was very good. In contrast to some of the other characters both in this episode and during the season so far.
Despero’s Heel Turn In The Flash
If there is one thing that stood out in the latest episode ofThe Flash, it was how Despero went from a reluctant killer who was doing what he was doing only because he wanted to save the future, to someone who seemed to enjoy inflicting pain on innocent bystanders. To be clear,if this was the Desperothat comic book fans know, then this wouldn’t be all that surprising. He is almost aways an unrepentant villain in those stories. However, at least for now, he’s still seen as someone who is mostly just convinced that The Flash is going to go bad and is waiting to stop him. While he’s fought other members of the team when he had to, he hasn’t really come off as a bad guy, so much as someone who is convinced he’s right and simply won’t let people get his way. That’s why his two big appearances in this episode seem a bit off.
It’s one thing to feel like he has to go through Barry’s friends, it’s another to take over a couple of civilians and have them attack their coworkers with a smirk and a few one-liners. Then there was nearly killing Dillon, who was clearly more than willing to work with him, even offering tohelp him kill The Flash. He also seems to feel immense joy when he’s causing pain and anguish here and that seems rather out of the character of someone who an episode before had seemed like someone who might be on the wrong path, but for the right reasons. There is of course the chance his reason for fighting Barry has been one big ruse, but it doesn’t feel that way. Especially since Despero has given him room to try and prove his innocence every now and then.
The Big Reveal
BecauseThe Flashis actually in the middle of a five-episode event, next week’s installment is going to be starting to wrap up this particular storyline. It certainly set the stage rather expertly at the end of Episode 3. In fact, the big reveal at the end made it so that viewers are almost certainly biting their nails and counting down the hours until Episode 4 airs. It also managed to tie quite a few of the questions that have popped up in these first three episodes. it also left quite a few questions in its wake. That’s a good thing. It means there’s a reason to tune into the next episode next week. And it builds real excitement for what might be coming next. In quite a few ways, the final five minutes might be the best moments of the season so far.
