This week’s episode of The Flash deals with the aftermath of Barry’s trip back in time at the end of last week’s. Honestly it was a bit of a let down emotionally but it had to be. To have topped the events that took place last week would have not only taken some doing, but probably would have given a few people heart palpitations.
I said last week that “Out of Time” could have survived on the fan service alone and this week’s episode lends weight to that statement by resetting everything. Doctor Wells’ secret is safe, (for now), Barry’s identity is secret (from the one person it was revealed to) and several other events that took place were reworked in this episode or eliminated all together. All in all, a very solid outing and a very well done follow-on to the jaw-dropping events that took place earlier.
Now that the summary is out of the way, if you don’t want to be spoiled stop reading now because it’s about to crazy.
So, Cisco is alive. Wells doesn’t kill him for discovering his identity, instead Cisco actually goes to his brothers birthday party (something he was avoiding last time) and so we don’t have to experience that drama. Thankfully. Although, there was a moment towards the end when Wells and Cisco go into the chamber where Cisco died and they were talking when I yelled at the TV because I thought it was going to happen again. I might need to switch to decaf for this show.
We do have a death however, and it is done by Reverse Flash shoving his hand though someones chest and disrupting their heart, however it is someone on the periphery and doesn’t have nearly the same impact.
Because of the rest, Iris doesn’t learn Barry is Flash and doesn’t confess her feelings for him, which creates some very painful moments during the show when Barry, who has experienced this and knows the reality of how she feels, is excited to be getting together with his childhood sweetheart only to have her reject him, again, because for her the feelings are still buried. I understand that romance is part of life and that it is awkward as hell but TV romances like this are just uncomfortable.
That said, because Cisco didn’t die and went to his brother’s party, and subsequently gets kidnapped by the new villain (since Barry already captured Marden in order to prevent the events of last episode… confused yet?), he is forced to reveal to Cold who the Flash really is. Did I mention Captain Cold is back and that he brought his little sister? The awesome thing about Colds return is he reminds us that there are bad guys that are ‘villain’ caliber without super weapons or powers, which just makes him that much more dangerous.
Finally, Harrison Wells identity as the Reverse Flash is once again safe since Cisco didn’t pursue his thinking about the night he captured Reverse Flash in Star Labs. Instead, this time it is Barry that is questioning things. Personally I thought the jump from being Wells’ greatest supporter to thinking he isn’t all that is a huge leap for Barry to make, especially so fast. The catalyst of which being the death mentioned above, felt too much like there was a thread left untied and this was the most convenient and ‘twisty’ way to fix that.
So everything that happened before Barry goes back in time still happens, just not to the same people and not in the same way. As Wells himself says, time has a way of fixing things. So while not the show-stopping impact of last week, this was no less a vital and important part of the story. We now know that going back in time, even a mere 24 hours, can have devastating effects on time. It’s a perfect way to set up for the after effects of Barry going back to save his mother.
Fans of the comic know this is the starting point for one of the biggest story lines in the DC universe in some time. If they do that and have the effects carry through like the comic, one has to wonder if there will be an effect in Arrow as well. Might be a good way to clean some of the slate and set up for an amazing second season for Flash.
Last Updated on January 12, 2019.
