Old demons surface for Dr Wells this week on The Flash as an old protégé appears with a mind to tearing down Wells’ world. Barry finds himself looking at what he might have become if things had gone differently.
I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t entirely understand Wells’ final scene in the Christmas episode. According to the showrunners, it was meant to be a definitive sign that Wells was indeed Reverse Flash. Seeing him using his speed this week helps cement that logic. Of course, Wells having a secret room where he apparently has access to newspapers from the future lends credence to the many theories going around that Reverse Flash is him from the future (or Eddie from the future, or both, etc).
Pied Piper is our villain of the week, and mercifully has a more modern take than his comic book counterpart. A flute wielding villain would have been very out of place in a show that’s already straining credulity for that sort of thing. While there’s an attempt to give Hartley Rathaway a deeper back story, it ultimately falls short as his obvious intelligence over others shows him to be rather unlikeable.
Ultimately, for better or worse, Wells is in the spotlight this week. His character is certainly among the more intriguing. That’s more than likely due to his ambiguity. While he is most certainly the villainous Reverse Flash (probably even Barry’s mother’s killer), his motivations are still sketchy at best. He is definitely driving Barry towards becoming a better hero, the question really is ‘why?’.
Cisco and Caitlin have some meat in their scenes this week. Caitlin in particular is usually rather reserved for someone who lost nearly everything in the accelerator explosion. Her continued working for Dr Wells is something of a confusion for me personally.
Onto talking about Barry. There comes a point where we ought to put our hands up and admit that he should be overpowered. The oddity of it comes from the fact that he really isn’t. He has ultimate speed powers, most enemies should be easily dealt with or at least avoided thanks to it. Pied Piper gives him a run for his money, but that’s likely in the interest in creating excitement. Like I said in last week’s review, Barry’s greatest threat so far has come at the hands of regular joes with fancy tech rather than any super powered villain has.
Joe, at least, seems to finally be wisening up to the fact that Wells isn’t what he seems. Last week had the seeds of doubt being sewed due to Wells’ continued influence over Barry. Putting Eddie up to the task of keeping an eye on him opens up quite a few possibilities. Personally I get the impression that eventually Wells will confront him with his secret identity and bring Eddie into the fold. Eddie still a bit of a sketchy character to me at least. He seems a bit too perfect and his immediate connection with Iris seems a little too convenient.
Carrying on to Iris, apparently being a crazy internet blogger for ‘The Streak’ means that she can get hired on as an honest to god journalist for all the work she put into it. Never mind her flip-flopping on The Flash between thinking he’s a hero or a villain depending on what serves the plot. At present, her character seems mostly like an afterthought. Given that her and Barry as a couple is at the moment not an option her character doesn’t really serve much purpose at this time.
Do you think Barry needs to up the anti when it comes to fighting his villains? What do you think Dr Wells’ motivation is? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
