Barry is in jail, having been wrongly convicted of the murder of Clifford DeVoe. He currently inhabits his father’s old cell, and is out of action as the Scarlet Speedster. What happens to Central City in his absence? A lot, apparently…so who comes to the rescue? Well, this episode IS called “The Elongated Knight Rises”…

Want to know more? Follow us after the jump!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Note: This revue is posting prior to THE FLASH airing in the Pacific Time Zone USA. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, STOP HERE and return after you’ve seen the show. Trust us, it’s worth it!

We run two parallel story lines here…and probably will continue to do so for a while. Barry is in prison, adjusting to life in Iron Heights, and the rest of Team Flash is trying to keep Central City safe while also looking to clear Barry’s name.

Barry meets Axel Walker (the second Trickster) in prison, but only briefly as Axel escapes with the help of his mother, the original Prank from the 1990’s Flash series.  Yes, even though we don’t get Mark Hamill this time around, we DO get the original actress (Corinne Bohrer) who played Zoey Clark in the first Flash TV series.  Zoey/Prank wants to escape Central City with her son, but all Axel wants is the attention of a father who seems to want nothing to do with him.  To get his dad’s attention, Axel reappears in Central City with a series of weapons, looking for the latest hero of Central City…

…the Stretchy Man?

Yep, that’s what he’s called at first…and Axel wants to defeat him.  Bombs don’t work, and most of his other weapons are useless against Ralph.  But, he has an ace in the hole…a very powerful acid cooked up by his mother! For the first time, Ralph realizes he has a weakness, and it shakes him to his core.

Meanwhile, Barry makes friends of a sort with Big Sir, played by one-time pro-wrestling champion Bill Goldberg. As it turns out, Barry’s dad saved Big Sir’s life by performing an emergency appendectomy.  As a result, Big Sir is looking out for Henry Allen’s son.  That’s a good thing, because Barry is being targeted…but we’ll come back to that later.

Back in Central City, Trickster and Prank have set up a diabolical games show that promises to end the lives of two innocent hostages.  They give “the Stretchy Man” one hour to show up and stop it…only Ralph is too afraid to show up.

Ralph has realized he isn’t truly invincible…and he can’t deal with it. He leaves the rest of Team Flash to figure out a way to neutralize the acid, while he breaks into prison to talk to Barry!

He wants to break Barry out to stop the threat. Instead, he and Barry have an important heart-to-heart talk about what being a hero really means.  It makes a difference, as Ralph returns to accept his new costume and try to save the day.

It’s a good thing he did…Cisco and Caitlin were tricked by the Trickster (see what I did there? Ok, sorry) and Prank, and are about to be killed. While Ralph shows up and gives a very wonderful (and very rehearsed) heroic speech, Harry works to neutralize the acid.  The acid is released before we can know if it has been neutralized…and Ralph launches himself over Cisco and Caitlin to save them. A true selfless act from Ralph…and fortunately for him the acid was neutralized barely in time.

Trickster and Prank are captured and a new hero is found for Central City…and in his long-winded description of his powers a new name is found by the press…

…The Elongated Man!

Okay, Ralph hates the name. But, it’s gonna stick.  

Back at Iron Heights, a gang is attacking Big Sir. Barry finds a way to discreetly use his powers to stop the gang and save Big Sir…rather, “Dave”.  

Ralph is still a bit full of himself, but he is learning greater responsibility and a bit of humility…at least as much as Ralph could have while being the Hero of Central City.  That leads us to an outstanding…

EPILOGUE: Cisco and Ralph are arguing over who will pay for the coffee at Jitters. Suddenly, that same young woman who showed up at the wedding appears, paying for the coffee. She wearing an Oregon Trail t-shirt and acting just as awkward as she did before.  But, after talking to the two, she goes back to her journal…

…

…

…

And writes in the same strange code Barry was using in the first episode of this season!

 

SUMMARY: This was an amazing episode of THE FLASH. Ralph Dibny’s character is developing before our eyes, being alternately charming and goofy, afraid and heroic, and a fantastic addition to the cast. Hartley Sawyer is doing a great job as Ralph, and I’m glad to see the show use the original moniker for one of my favorites heroes of the Silver Age.  The “Barry goes to prison” scenes are far better than I had feared they would be, and actually give us a great look at the non-meta side of Barry’s character.  It was also great seeing a member of the 1990’s FLASH show appear here…though it does perpetuate that old trope of “crazy=evil” that haunts so many DC villains. That said, the show overall was well-paced, full of fun as well as great action, and the special effects team is in overdrive with the way they handle Ralph’s powers.  This was a 9/10 for me…that’s my opinion, though. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!

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