It’s Christmas time, and The Flash is too busy chasing his mother’s killer to get into the Christmas spirit.
After weeks of teasing, Barry finally comes face to face with the man who killed his mother: The Reverse Flash. There’s one slight hiccup though, Barry isn’t fast enough to catch him. What follows is a series of drama filled sequences with friends and family as Barry tries to come to terms with the fact that he might not be able to achieve justice for his father.
Coming off the heels of the awesome Flash Vs Arrow episode, this week’s doesn’t let up on the action. The main highlight comes in not one, but two fights between Flash and Reverse Flash. Yes, it’s the Reverse Flash. He doesn’t get officially name dropped this time, but at one point says: “I’m nothing like the Flash, in fact, I’m quite the reverse.” so we’re counting that.
Barry’s love-life comes to a head this week. It starts with Eddie asking Iris if she thinks Barry is in love with her. She doesn’t by the way, still silly it seems. But then Barry actually comes clean to her about it. That follows on from a rather gripping conversation where his father tells him to stop letting what happened to their family rule his life. It’s some rather stellar acting, and while watching Barry try to catch his nemesis is awesome, you feel for him, and want him to do something that will make him happy for a change.
Dr Wells is also not in the festive mood, it seems. Apparently his wife’s death occurred around about Christmas time so he’s not really been into it for a while.
It’s not a great time to bring Caitlin’s fiance Ronnie back into the fold. Obviously it was going to happen, it was just a question of how and when. It would appear the how is he’s now a meta-human, and the when is now. Despite the actors giving it their all, the plot feels stilted and probably should have happened in its own episode, where Barry would be able to give it his full attention. With the Reverse Flash running around, Ronnie and his admittedly cool fire powers aren’t really the draw this week.
As mentioned before, the action is top-notch. Barry and Reverse Flash’s first bout takes place in a stadium with some rather dazzling effects, and Reverse Flash makes for an intimidating foe with his modulated voice and glowing red eyes.
It’s good to see the potential ‘People think Flash is evil’ plot that started last week appears to have been nipped in the bud before it came to fruition, Eddie’s moment this week comes from him finding out about meta-humans, as well as it being revealed that Joe knows who the Flash is (there’s no way he didn’t twig even after Joe side-stepped). Eddie and Iris’s relationship is also moving ahead to the next level, with him asking her to move in with him. Good for them, heart-breaking for Barry.
So, the Reverse Flash. Who is he? The episode’s stinger paints a fairly prominent sign aimed at Dr Wells. Him having a Flash ring and the Reverse Flash suit in his secret room screams it. He even modulates his voice to say ‘Merry Christmas’. I’m not entirely convinced though. Seeing as the two are seen in the same room, with no mention of time travel being a possibility yet. And let us not forget that Reverse Flash kept Eddie alive. There’s still a fair few arguments to made for both sides.
Also, we are now presented with the possibility of there being two speedsters present at the time of Barry’s mother’s murder. This would suggest a plot where Barry has the chance to save his mother and fails to do so? Or is it perhaps a previous incarnation of the Flash.
Who do you think Reverse Flash is? Will we see time travel before the season is over? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
