[REDACTED] died heroically, saving Central City and quite possibly the world from Deathstorm. Now, Team Flash must deal with their grief while continuing to protect the city from crime. How do they overcome this loss? How do they move on? That’s what we begin to answer in this episode. Wanna know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
If you are looking for lots of fight scenes, this isn’t your episode. But, a major character was killed last week, and it makes more than enough sense to spend time here. Without this episode it would have seemed that her death didn’t matter – and it absolutely does.
The episode is divided into chapters, focusing on different characters (or groups of characters) as they process their grief over losing Frost. Each is trying to handle things in their own way – and not very well at first. It costs them dearly in their first battle with Blockbuster. This baddie is using an exosuit from Ivo Labs that amplifies everything from strength to emotions. And, they are distracted enough that he gets away – and an entire building is nearly lost in the process. Allegra is injured in the fight, and they all realize that they need to somehow process their grief in order to focus on the threats that Central City faces.
We start with Caitlin walking out on a meeting of Team Flash (one she had not been invited to but walked in on). She is refusing to go to Frost’s funeral, at least for now. We then see how everyone is dealing with it, from Iris (back in Central City) and Cecile to Chester and Allegra (with Mark/Chillblaine), to Barry (trying to complete Frost’s Bucket List) and back to Caitlin.
In the end, they all find the best ways to honor Frost’s memory. Iris interviews so many people who Frost helped, changing the public’s perception of Frost. Chester and Allegra set up a memorial to Frost at S.T.A.R. Labs, using the jacket she wore when first becoming a superhero. While Barry did some pretty wild things like make a snowman on top of Mount Everest, he realized that taking care of the people he cares about mattered more. He convinces Caitlin to come to the funeral, where she gave a moving speech on behalf of her sister.
After that, a mini-wake ensues at the West house. The alarm goes off and Team Flash (or most of it) goes after Blockbuster. This fight occurs off-screen, but of course the bad guy is brought to justice. That leads us to two important plot points as we get ready to end the episode.
Iris is back at the Central City Citizen, where one of the reporters is once again attempting to undermine Allegra’s leadership. That’s not the important point – the important moment is that Iris disappears, once again hit with her time sickness. We’ll see more about that next episode.
The other plot point? Caitlin gets Mark/Chillblaine to meet her at her apartment. This apartment has been turned into a very well appointed lab. Caitlin has “borrowed” a genome sequencer and is asking Mark to help her bring Frost back? Yes! She has some of Frost’s hair for the DNA (Frost version of course) and plans to start some mad-scientist level stuff. What could possibly go wrong? And, that’s where we drop off for tonight.
NOTES:
- While I would have loved to see the final fight with Blockbuster, I think it was more important for this episode that they give the full time to how Team Flash deals with their grief. The death scene last week was powerful, but if they had just skipped past it this week it would have seemed like it didn’t matter. It obviously does matter, and may even drive more of the main storyline moving forward. Overall, glad they did it this way – but again that’s just my opinion.
- I’m ready (actually past ready) for Chester and Allegra to move beyond just friends. They have passed up multiple opportunities for this, and I’m hoping we don’t have to wait much longer. The on-screen chemistry is there and should be pushed further.
SUMMARY:
Fans of action scenes vs emotional content may not care for this episode – but for me this worked. It was needed before we jump back into the next graphic novel arc of the season. For me this was an 8/10 – but of course that’s just my opinion. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!