My biggest problem with this season is that Zoom has hardly done anything to Barry and the team, making him even less threatening than he ever was. There’s never a sense of urgency in these episodes, and no matter how much the writers try making the “Jay is Zoom” twist interesting, it still mostly comes off as cheap and boring.
So imagine my surprise when I actually enjoyed this week’s episode. Maybe it was the time-travel factor, seeing our characters in their season-1 selves or seeing Eddie and Eobard Thawne again, but something about Flash Back really worked as it came together within the overall season arcs.
Eobard finding out about The Flash was a nifty twist, especially as it’s obvious from their first interaction that he becomes suspicious about Barry’s equations and whatnot, but it all gets even better once the two face off in Reverse Flash’s secret room. The way Barry tricks Reverse Flash into thinking that he gets the upper hand in the future is a sigh of relief, finally showing us that Barry is no longer the idiotic, naïve character he’s been for the past 2 years. No idea how long that’s going to last, but I’m glad he did the smart thing for once.
Even the Iris subplot managed to tug at my heartstrings in the most unexpected way possible. There honestly isn’t anyone out there who was truly rooting for Iris and Eddie last year, but it’s nice to see Barry get a video montage out of Eddie when he travels back in time in order to use it to help Iris move on in present-time. It might be too easy and convoluted, especially considering the exact words Eddie uses, but it actually got me all teary-eyed, so kudos.
Sadly, the villains were highly disappointing. I never liked Hartley who still looks like a young Harry Potter (and hey, even the show used that reference to make a joke!), and the Time Wraith was more creepy than interesting. In fact, I wish the episode was brave enough to keep The Flash vs The Flash fight longer because that was one of the most amusing sequences I’ve seen on this show in quite some time. And granted, this show needs to be more amusing or else we’ll start to completely lose interest.
Speedy Bits
– I thought this episode was supposed to help us understand how The Flash makes it to Supergirl’s earth. Did I miss something?
– I’m eager to see what changes in the timeline Barry must have caused now that he travelled back in time.
– Wow, Caitlin has become absolutely useless.
– Barry’s voiceovers are full off cringe-inducing clichés that I cannot stand anymore.
Red Blurs & One-Liners
Cisco: It’s gonna be hard to course-correct if anything gets altered, so get what you need and come back, preferably to this moment, this exact time you’re leaving, or else you might set off some kind of 12 Monkeys time loop you’ll never get out of.
Cisco: It’s like you think I have ESP or something. I can’t just magically sense where things are.
Eobard: None of it adds up. The interference with the comms, the speed equation, the Time Wraith. That’s what we call them. Time Wraiths. Scary, aren’t they?
Cisco: Have you ever seen The Frighteners? It’s sort of like that, but scarier and faster and it’s after you…after him.
Conclusion
An entertaining hour, but still not good enough.
Chris Rating
B
Good episode. But I was disappointed that there weren't more consequential changes in Barry's present due to his time travel. And watching the episode made me realize how deeply flawed this season has been for the most part in comparsion to Season 1. I hope the rest of the season greatly improves and clears the way for the writers to do a better job next season.