This week’s The Flash is most certainly one of the best Flash episodes so far, as Barry tackles an old threat… in the form of Mark Hamill.
With Barry fresh off a revelation that Dr Wells may not be all he seems, this could not come at a worse time. The possibility of his mentor and mother’s murderer being the same person, Barry finds himself suffering for it.
Mark Hamill, (yes, that Mark Hamill), returns to the role of The Trickster. I don’t know much about his original work, and I’m just calling it like I see it, but I think this is the closest we will ever get to seeing him play The Joker in a live action setting. In any case. A copycat terrorist referring to himself as the Trickster makes several attacks on Central City. Barry and Joe are forced to talk to the original Trickster in prison in the hopes of dredging up some clues on how to catch the pretender.
I would go so far as to say this is the best episode so far… but the Arrow crossover holds a special place in my heart.
Hamill is clearly loving every second of his screen time here. Sure, the villain he plays is ridiculous, cliché and so forth, but that is clearly the point. Considering all the nods to other franchises (Star Wars and Breaking Bad, to name a few), this episode reads like a love letter to one of geekdom’s most beloved actors. Indeed, despite this being another villain of the week plot, this is how awesome it could be every time.
Here’s hoping Hamill returns in the next season.
And that’s not even getting into the b-plot of the episode. Remember last week where Barry finally caught on to Wells being secretly evil? Well this week we get to see how it happened, more specifically, how Dr Wells became the Reverse Flash. We see the night Barry’s mother died, and some glorious action beats as the two duke it out. Following his departure from the scene, Reverse Flash suddenly loses his powers, takes of hiss mask to reveal: not Harrison Wells?
What follows is a tragedy, we see the real Dr Wells happily married to a wonderful woman, whilst Reverse Flash stalks him. The previews pretty much gave away how this plot will end – if anything part of the horror is watching it unfold. Either way it means Thawne is more psychotic than we had initially thought. His calculated method for taking everything from the real Dr Wells, even going so far as to casually explain to the man what he needs his life for, is quite chilling.
Eddie gets added to the list of people who know who Barry is. Honestly, the man has managed to let as many people know his secret identity as Oliver has across 3 seasons. It’s not a bad thing, if anything it helps because it means we hopefully avoid any more instances of Eddie changing his mind about the Flash.
Comic fans will note the inclusion of the Speed Force for the first time. Again, my comic lore is hazy, but I’m to understand this will play an integral part of later stories to follow. In any case, it provides the catalyst needed for several things. One being Barry’s immediate need of enough speed power to phase through something in order to dispose of a bomb. The second is what finally gives Barry the proof he needs of Wells’ duplicity, due to the latter’s knowledge of how it is to run as fast as Barry can.
How will Barry catch the Reverse Flash? Will the Trickster return? Let us know what you think in the comments below…
