Thank God Harrison Wells is back because Tom Cavanaugh brings something to this show that none of the other cast can. His performance in the fifth episode of the season is genuinely noteworthy as he adds the perfect amount of wit and charm to earth-2 Harry while still feeling a little different from the original guy we met and loved to hate (the change in his pitch and tone was also a nice touch). I’m actually quite excited to see more of his banter with Barry and the rest of the crew in the future.
Speaking of charming, I simply cannot get enough of Patty Spivot. Much of that charm should be credited to Shantel VanSanten who is absolutely stunning and appears to be having so much fun in the role. She nails every scene, and her dinner date with Barry provided some hilarious comic relief to the hour. I’m so glad she wasn’t dumb enough to fall for the Blind Barry shtick, a subplot that was a bit too Disney for my taste at first but somehow grew on me in the end. And seriously, how isn’t anyone talking about King Shark anymore?
Sadly, the rest of the hour was a bit clunky and cringeworthy. Caitlin continues her downward spiral and manages to become even more horribly written than season one of Gotham (sorry, I had to). I don’t know if I’m late to the party, but I’m starting to find most of the dialogue just extremely cheesy to the point that I literally rolled my eyes a couple of times during this episode. Not just was the freak of the week, Linda Parks from earth-2, extremely underwhelming and disappointing, but also her continuously lame one-liners proved to be absurd with every passing minute. It was actually really weird to see the show suddenly care about Linda (or attempt to make us care) after failing to even mention her name for months.
When you look at it, even the Harry-related material just wasn’t up to par with the kind of stellar episodes we started expecting in the back end of season one. The fact that the show has been rushing to cross so many things off its list this season (setting up the Legends spinoff, revealing the Cisco/Vibe secret to the gang, and getting Harrison back to STAR Labs) is just lazy writing. I’m all for more Harrison/Cavanaugh here, but bringing him back to the lab with the gang is proof that this show is desperate to rush back to its status quo (Harrison helping The Flash catch metahumans while being secretly villainous). That’s not impressive at all.
When I start to love Iris more than every other supporting character on this show, I realize that there’s something off in this episode.
Speedy Bits
– At least Patty is awesome and amazing though. I love her smile!
– Harry calling Cisco “Crisco”: epic.
– All the Caitlin/Jay stuff was absolutely ridiculous. Their final scene, in which Jay storms off like a 10 year-old and says he just can’t do it anymore, feels like it was written by a child.
– Hilarious: Harry (thank you, show, for making it easier for us to differentiate) takes a sip of his soda while in the middle of a fight.
– The way everyone finds out Cisco is a metahuman was also silly, no? Who in their right mind thought that watch was a good idea, and how extremely predictable was it?
– They really beat us down with the whole “Vibe” thing, didn’t they? I was actually expecting them to name Cisco something else, just because they’ve been using the V-word way too much. That would have been cool.
– Barry is taking note from Captain Cold, isn’t he? I feel like he’s becoming more cynical when dealing with his villains of the week.
– On the other hand, the villain was called Dr. Light so I don’t know how you can possibly take that seriously.
– I liked Jay talking about earth-2 where they actually have an Atlantis there. Can we please have an entire episode about this other earth?
– I’m also getting a bit tired of Barry not realizing that the only way to take down these villains almost every single time involves him running fast. Doesn’t take a genius to see a pattern here, Bar.
– Kendra Saunders, guys! You know what that means, right?
– Not subtle (yet still kinda cool): Caitlin mentioning that none of them would become evil if they had powers. We’ll see what you think of Killer Frost, Caitlin.
– So, Harrison has a daughter on earth-2. Interesting.
Red Blurs & One-Liners
Harry: It’s very strange to be holding your autobiography, especially when you didn’t write it, and it’s not about you.
Cisco: You know, our Dr. Wells may have been evil, but you’re just a dick.
Barry: We should have talked about this before I left, but how do I stop her?
Conclusion
Better than last week’s disaster, but still not the kind of quality I expect from The Flash.
Chris Rating
B-
Wasn't the greatest hour but it def amused me more than last week's atrocious episode. I LOVE PATTY! Shantel needs a good show to lead. She was great on One Tree Hill but had a flop with The Messengers. So much charisma!
I need a whole episode dedicated to Earth 2 ASAP! How creepy is Zoom? Love his look! Now that's a villain!
Ohhh yeaah she was in Messengers too! I don't remember a single thing about the 2 episodes (that we watched) of that show lol.
Love what we've seen of Zoom so far!
I enjoyed the scenes involving Alternate Harrison Wells and how the differences between this Wells and the other one were portrayed. This Wells seems more intense and brooding, likely due to the anguish he feels over his daughter being held prisoner by Zoom. Some of Alternate Wells's demeanor reminds me of the Twelfth Doctor from Doctor Who.
I understand Dr. Light being revealed as an alternate version of Linda, Barry's ex-girlfriend, supposed to be impactful, but I think it could have actually been impactful if Dr. Light had been revealed as Iris's alternate self.
I was a bit disappointed in the Jay character. Before this episode, there was a sense of confidence and goodness about him. He felt a bit intimidated by Zoom but that's understandable. But this episode weakened him as a character up to the point when he just storms off. I hope this damage gets undone soon.
Oh, and I liked Barry and Patty's date. It felt a bit soon for them to have reached this point. But I like how they are hitting it off already. It would suck if she ends up getting killed like Eddie.
VERY disappointed in Jay too. His almost-kiss with Caitlin was absolutely ridiculous and too soapy, I still can't believe that happened (or almost happened).
Looks like we'll get our answers on Zoom this week 🙂