Okay folks, we’ve been waiting for this moment ever since Barry ran up into that singularity at the end of Season One. So, what do we find? The answer comes after the jump!
WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD
There are a number of ways you can deal with a cliffhanger. You can pick up from the exact moment you left before, you can do a flashback to show “the secret way” you got out of the cliffhanger…or…
You can jump ahead six month and gradually bring us back to some pretty significant revelations that flow from that cliffhanger. That’s the approach they took, and it worked here.
We do get one little swerve…a far-too-happy scene that dissolves into a loner Barry hanging out at a now-empty S.T.A.R. Labs. We go to the traditional intro to the show, with some additional lines about how Barry is now on his own, and “There’s only one thing I can do now…I run.”
Here are the present day realities for some of our folks: Cisco is working with the police on defensive weapons for the metahuman task force. Caitlin works for Mercury Labs and hasn’t spoken with anyone since whatever happened to “the man who saved Central City” occurred. Joe is still with Central City PD and Iris is still a reporter…and Barry has pushed them and everyone else away, blaming himself for the tragic events that accompanied the successful closing of the singularity.
Barry is still working CSI for the CCPD, and at night is secretly trying to rebuild businesses that were damaged during the battle that ended Season One. Iris catches up with Barry, who is finally persuaded to show up for Flash Day. That’s where we see the first battle with Atom Smasher. Atom Smasher is exceptionally strong, can grow gigantic in size, and is seemingly unstoppable – not by Cisco’s latest weapon, and not even by the Flash himself! He appears to be Al Rothstein, who was found dead earlier! How can this be?
We finally go back in time to the singularity, to find out who the “man who saved Central City” really was. Yes, Barry had a big hand to play in the events, but the final push…and sacrifice…belonged to someone else. That is what’s eating at Barry, and it explains his actions since.
Back at Barry’s police lab, an attorney drops off a last video message from Harrison Wells. Wells left S.T.A.R. to Barry, but only on condition that he watch this message. Barry has no intent to see it, and puts it aside…though you know it will reappear before long.
After a second battle with Atom Smasher, where Barry attempts to go it alone and fails, Joe finally convinces Barry to reach out to his old friends. It is when he talks with Caitlin that he finally watches that video message from Harrison Wells…and without revealing more, it is a real game-changer for the series!
Barry reunites with the S.T.A.R. Team and they now have a plan to stop the bad guy, thanks to Caitlin. The battle is predictable (what, you want the Flash to be defeated?), but it ends with the mention of a name…ZOOM!
This brings us to the epilogue, where the team celebrates the results of that video message from Wells, and Professor Stein proposes a toast, using the old Hebrew word “Kadima”, or “Forward”. Great nod here to the basic theme of Manapul and Buccellato’s run on THE FLASH in the New 52. We also cut back to S.T.A.R. and some upgrades…to Barry’s uniform (the white circle is now on the chest), to security…so no one can just drop in anymore, right? Except for…Jay Garrick! His message that “your world is in danger” is where we leave things for this week…in a terrific start to Season Two!
SUMMARY: We could not have asked for more from this Season Two debut. I’m glad for the sake of the storyline that there were (and continue to be) repercussions from the conclusion of Season One. Still, they didn’t leave Barry lost in the mire of his own misery for too long, and the script does an effective job of establishing the new status quo at S.T.A.R. Labs. We had a good first villain for the new season, and a name-drop for the big bad of the season that was handled exceptionally well. There were great nods throughout the episode – some to the Silver Age (and beyond) with the public accolades for The Flash, one to a certain spotlight signal that Cisco “saw in a comic book”, and even a nod to last season when Joe West took over the line, “Run, Barry, Run!” All of that in a script that was still fresh, one that set the stage very well for what should be an exciting Season Two.
What did you think? Leave your comments below!
This was an exciting second season first episode. I love how they leave you salivating for the next episode and hints about what this season has to offer.
The one thing I noticed that was absent(in this episode at least) was the cliffhanger at the end of an episode after “The Flash” appears on the screen. For example, last year they used a minute or two to leave the audience wondering what Harrison Wells was really up to when he went into his secret room at S.T.A.R. Labs and got out of his wheelchair to talk to Gideon.
Regardless, I loved the episode and I am so happy season two is up and running.
It was a great opener. You touched on a lot of the elements I liked, but I also really appreciate the fact that it was Caitlin who convinced Barry to watch the message. Wells meant a lot to her as a mentor, and it makes sense that she would want to see his final message.
I was annoyed during the episode at the way they handled the physics of radiation, but the ending made me forget about it. (Literally. I didn’t think about it at all until half an hour later.) It’s one of those things where suspension of disbelief works better when you go way out with super powers and alternate realities than when you go with something closer to realism.
They managed to do a story without anyone carrying the idiot ball (except maybe Barry), which is something the show has struggled with from time to time.
The one thing that really disappointed me about it was Henry’s decision at the end. Not in terms of the writing, but it’s a disappointing choice on the character’s part, and as much as he couched it in selfless terms, it sounds more like he’s running away.
I was expecting to love this episode after I hear the positive buzz, but it was sort of a let down (especially since I watched the amazing Arrow S04 debut right after.) Mediocre CGI on Atom Smasher, the fact that Team Flash killed the bad guy, the inexplicable decision for Henry to leave, and numerous plot holes. Like, why isn’t Barry using Gideon? Why doesn’t Barry make any effort to disguise his face/voice? Etc. Maybe a 6/10. But I still have high hopes for next week.
I’m not sure it would have mattered as the only surviving person he originally used it on already knew who he was by this point (he really just used it to keep Eddie and Iris in the dark ..once they knew, he didn’t need it anymore)
As far as Henry goes I got this weird feeling when he spoke to Barry that John was speaking to the fans as well saying…”Guys, you don’t need the star of the old Flash show hanging around constantly. i’ve passed the cowl on now and it’s Grant’s turn!” (Especially since so many were in favor of Shipp playing Jay when he was announced before season one even started filming!)
In all, I really enjoyed the season premier (i’ve watched it 3 times already!)
Yeah, I don’t think he’s ever bothered disguising his voice with people who didn’t know him as Barry. This of course leaves him open to the risk of meeting someone as the Flash, and *then* meeting them as Barry, and realizing he didn’t think to disguise his voice before.
Though I thought the episode did a nice job in wrapping up the season 1 cliffhanger, and reaction to who really saved Central City was great, I did feel like they tried to accomplish too much in this episode. It really felt like they could only highlight the important and necessary sections with little transition or explanation. Atom Smasher wasn’t developed as a villain, and the “Henry Allen” storyline was a bit jerky and rushed. I really felt like this needed to be a 2 hour opener for them to accomplish all the pieces they were trying to accomplish, and fit them together with smooth and thorough story telling.
I liked the episode well enough, but was disappointed by some of the same things as other people. I keep hoping that there’s a plot-based reason for Henry’s abrupt departure (maybe he’s traumatized by spending 14 years in a maximum security prison, maybe somebody’s pressuring him to leave or he’s doing it for Barry’s safety, or maybe he’s possessed by a villain *cough*), but if that’s the case then it should at least have been hinted at. As it is, it seems really sloppy and melodramatic. Also, if Atom Smasher is dead then that’s really kind of horrifying. In fact, I thought the stuff with AS was really rushed because they were trying to fit too much plot into one episode. It should have been broken up.
Something that another person (not me) realized: Eobard’s lawyer was with the Wethersby-Stone firm, which is the name of the law firm in the Eli Stone series. That show had Tom Cavanagh and Matt Letscher as relatives of the main character, and Victor Garber played Mr Wethersby 😀
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892535/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm