Speeding To The Finale!

Central City

Last night’s episode of The Flash set the stage for next week’s big season finale.  I have to admit that the first season has been a whole lot more than I expected, and four of the last five episodes could have easily been the season ender.  The writing has been excellent, enemies and friends have been introduced without bloating the cast too much, and nods to the old television series have been greatly appreciated.  Also, the constant hints to other heroes and villains in the DC Universe have been handled quite well.  I can’t wait for next week’s big episode and can only hope that next season is just as good as this one.

Now, with that primer out of the way, I have to let you know that there might be a few spoilers in the paragraphs that follow.  SO, if you haven’t watched last night’s episode, STOP READING NOW!!!!!  SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Last night saw the return of two characters (one who has his own show and the other, possibly a part of a series featuring the “lesser” heroes in CW’s DC Television Universe) who show up near the end of the episode to give our favorite red runner a hand against the very menacing and no longer hidden Eobard Thawne/Harrison Wells/Reverse Flash.  Reverse Flash plans to power up the particle accelerator for some nefarious deeds, but in doing so, he (most likely intentionally) put the lives of the metahumans in the containment unit in danger.  Barry decides that he needs to move these villains out of the city for their own protection.

Barry has a plan in mind, but it isn’t that easy to execute.  He hopes to fly the villains in the accelerator to Lian Yu, Oliver Queen’s former hell away from home and an A.R.G.U.S. prison where plenty of Ollie’s old baddies now reside.  In order to do that, he has to truck the villains to Ferris Airfield (Green Lantern reference, kids), suppress their powers while doing so, and then get them on a plane and out of the city without anybody noticing.

At first Barry tries to get Joe to go the somewhat legal route by asking the DA for help.  After getting a stern talking to by the DA, Joe returns empty-handed.  With the accelerator powering up (and with less than sixteen hours to go), Barry seeks out the help of Captain Cold (despite Joe insisting that it’s a bad idea).  Cold agrees, but only after his life as Leonard Snart is erased from everything…..literally, everything.  It’s as if Snart never existed.

Cold’s sister, the Golden Glider, pops up as well, and offers her truck driving abilities to ship Peekaboo, Deathbolt, Weather Wizard, the Mist, and Rainbow Raider to the airfield.  Barry zooms ahead to barricade the streets while Cold provides security all the way to the airstrip.  Of course, things go wrong, and an all out battle between the five villains (who conveniently get their powers back after being contained all of the way to the airfield) and Barry ensues.  Cold arrives on the scene a bit later to put an end to the whole ordeal (he kills one of the villains), and then cuts a deal with the survivors (except Peekaboo, who leaves the fight before it gets too intense) in which they’ll help him if needed.  Barry is on the ground and in pain thanks to a double shot of villainy from Weather Wizard and Deathbolt.  Cold tells the Flash that he and Glider sabotaged the truck so that the metas would regain their powers and that he plans on using all of them in the future.  He then leaves, allowing Barry to live……

But then Reverse Flash pops up.  He’s ready to take on Barry mano y mano until……

Green Arrow and Firestorm magically appear.  The trio take on Thawne in a very quick but very exciting battle.  I find it funny that Oliver Queen is the hero who actually gets the upperhand on Thawne and tags him with an arrow (twice) with nanite technology lovingly provided by Ray Palmer.  Leave it to the guy WITHOUT any super powers to take down the baddie!

The episode ends with Thawne on the ground and unconscious.  Ollie and Firestorm take off and Barry is left to deal with Reverse Flash.  This sets up and excellent finale next week, and I’m wondering if any back-up or new heroes may pop up to help out the Scarlet Speedster.

Now, was this episode a bit crazy?  Yep.  Was the hype around the big fight a little bit too much?  Probably, but the payoff was great even though that big battle at the end wasn’t very long.  The real successes of this episode lie within the character development of Captain Cold, Golden Glider, Eddie Thawne, and Iris.  Cold (Wentworth Miller) has firmly established himself as the Flash’s toughest villain in this series.  He’s going to be an even bigger problem for Barry than Eobard in my opinion.  His sister is no different, although her prey appears to be Cisco.  Poor Eddie has seen the future, and he doesn’t want any part of it if it includes him marrying Iris.  Iris stepped up to help Caitlin in this episode, and is also fighting with her own feelings much like Eddie.  It will be cool to see how she and him manage being around each other as the series continues and how Barry will fit into the whole picture as well.

Barry grew up a bit also in this episode.  I’ve read other reviews of this episode where people are saying that Barry’s actions were idiotic.  However, I have to say that his actions were the result of him still finding his way as a hero who doesn’t want to kill his enemies if at all possible.  We have to remember that Barry hasn’t been a superhero as long as Oliver Queen in this world.  He’s going to make more mistakes, and possibly bigger ones than attempting to truck a bunch of villains across town.

Now all we can do is wait for next week’s episode.  I’m really hoping that it’s a good show, because this whole season (excepting a couple of episodes) has been stellar.

As always, thanks for reading, friends.  Let me know what you thought about the episode in the comments section.