The kids are back in 2049, and Barry is having fun as the leveled-up Flash. But, Goldface makes a daring raid of CCPD itself, placing everyone there in mortal danger. It’s an episode marked by trust issues – trusting your partner, and even trusting yourself. How do those trust issue get you into (and out of) trouble? Wanna know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD – YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
NOTE: Now that THE FLASH has moved to Wednesdays in the United States, it’s becoming a bit difficult to give same-night reviews. I apologize for the delay.
Okay, let’s talk relationships first:
- Chester and Allegra are adorably awkward, though they are getting closer to being a couple. Hopefully we will see this relationship move forward as the season goes on. For now, the awkwardness provides some comic relief, and it is well-done.
- Caitlin is falling for Marcus, and they accidentally end up at the same place as Frost and Chillblaine. It’s a double date destined to blow up, and it certainly does (at least at first).
- Goldface has fallen for Amunet Black, and their partnership has been very successful – at least so far. The ring tone on Goldface’s cellular phone is spot on (and hilarious at the same time).
- The last one is not romantic, but it is central to the story. It’s Kramer’s working relationship with Barry and with The Flash. Flash may have leveled up, but he’s creating more work for CCPD when he just drops off the bad guys and leaves.
Now, let’s get to the main storyline:
Goldface has come to CCPD to steal the meta-bullets he believes are stored there. Those are the ones that can permanently take away the powers of any meta. He and Amunet want to sell them to the highest bidder, and that would create havoc for The Flash and any meta alive.
To make the raid, Goldface gasses the precinct to knock everyone out. As they wake up, everyone has a meta-dampening bracelet. This one has an additional feature – it can blow up, killing the wearer if they try anything. There are a lot of threats to the lives of Kramer, Barry, and others in the group. It gets intense at several points in the show.
But, Kramer’s meta powers defeat the bracelet. The reason? With her mimicking power, her DNA constantly shifts, and the bracelet can’t keep up. Barry tries to convince her to stand up to Goldface, but she is afraid to use her powers. She hasn’t had any control over them, making her potentially dangerous to others. Part of her frustration with the Flash is that she wants help in learning that control – but she hasn’t been able to ask. Barry convinces her to trust herself, to allow her power to take over.
She does that and is successfully holding Goldface to a standstill. That gives Barry time to use brute force on his cuffs and speed out before the explosion could hurt him. He changes to the Flash and stops Goldface and his team.
After that, Barry decides to visit Kramer as the Flash, giving her the means to contact him anytime. He’s about to reveal his identity…but Kramer has already guessed. She knows that’s the only way Barry could have survived that stunt with the exploding bracelet. Barry agrees to give her the training she needs, and now there is a real partnership between Flash and Kramer’s CCPD, just as there had been before with Joe. And speaking of Joe, that leads us to the…
EPILOGUE
Iris and Joe are having a great dinner. Just as Iris starts to get some leftovers, her fork disappears. Then, the whole meal disappears. After that, Joe is coming from a totally different direction with files Iris supposedly requested, but that couldn’t have happened so fast, unless…yes, we are going to finally explore Iris’s time stream slips as we move on in the season.
NOTES:
- This episode had some great secondary threads as well as a tension-packed main story.
- For those who missed seeing Barry for most of last episode, this was a very Barry-centric show. Having his powers cancelled out for most of the episode let Barry show us his CSI/Science-Nerd side, and it was very well done.
- Recent articles indicate that all storylines will be resolved by the end of Season 8, just in case Season 9 doesn’t happen. So, we should be picking up speed (no pun intended) on all threads as we get closer to the finale. Get ready for what should be a wild ride.
- It was about time to bring Kramer onto Team Flash – even though she started out as an enemy.
SUMMARY:
This was a solid show all around. You can debate where this sets compared to the other episodes so far, but then again this season has set a high bar so far. Overall, I’ll give it an 8/10. Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!