Going in to its third week ‘The Flash’ is flying high after securing an order for the back 9 episodes taking the season to the full 22, it’s now only a matter of time before the second season renewal is made but before we get ahead of ourselves and start thinking about the future we’re got to deal with the present day and the threat of Kyle Nimbus, otherwise known as the villain Mist from the comics.
The writers are not letting up on the comic book villains, throwing them at us on a weekly basis so far rather than dream up creations of their own. It works really well but I hope that in the near future they feel brave enough to invent a villain of their own which can start to push this show into some real original territory.
We’re reaching that inevitable stage in the development of a new hero where he’s starting to struggle with the dual identities and how to keep them separate. What the modern day hero series do well is not shy away from having our titular heroes allow those closest to them to understand their identities, even looking as far afield as ‘Man of Steel‘ Lois Lane is on on the mystery pretty early on. It might go against the comics or the series of days gone by but in this modern day and age it works for the heroes to have those close to them aware of the secrets and to replace the will-they-won’t-they-reveal angst with the notion of ‘now these people know my secret are they in even more danger?’.
This episode also delves much further in to the night of the accelerator accident with the introduction of Ronnie Raymond through flashbacks. The depth I was hoping for with Caitlin Snow is already becoming apparent through these flashbacks and leads to some poignant moments with Ramon which really cement their friendship.
‘The Flash‘ is making interesting use of flashbacks which are really a stable of sister show ‘Arrow’. They’re not a necessity here yet they’re still a great way of opening up the universe and showing the origins of some of these characters without allowing the show to become stuck in the past. It balances out the action without making the show dull.
If I had one gripe about episode 3 it would be the ease with which Mist is defeated in the end, for much of the episode he’s pretty formidable but in the end it all comes down to one well placed smack to bring him down. It’s a little anti-climactic but thankfully it doesn’t ruin the episode.
Without a better phrase it’s really the pace of the show which will make or break it in the coming weeks and at this stage the writers seem to have found a good niche. This doesn’t feel like a brand new show which at episode 3 is almost revelatory. If these kinds of stories and this pace can be held up for the next 19 episodes then nobody will be able to discount the huge success. I also wouldn’t be surprised if executives at The CW are already looking for the next DC Comics property to add to their slate, in fact next season expect it to be relaunched as The DC network.
The special effects continue to be top notch whether it be the wall of fire inside the accelerator or the green clouds when Mist transforms himself, both work really well throughout bar one scene with a judge being smothered in a lift which suffers from a lack of depth perception.
The actors themselves all seem pretty comfortable in their roles now and Grant Gustin is really stepping up as the show lead, I’m beginning to feel as though he doesn’t always need somebody around him to lean on at this stage so now its just a case of keeping that confidence up and pushing himself to new levels. We’re yet to witness any new tragedies on screen but it’s only a matter of time before the writers tug at our heart strings and I look forward to seeing how Gustin deals with those moments.
There’s still that mystery around Harrison Wells which continues to be thrust in our faces, I hope it’s going to become clear pretty quickly what his motives are before these lone scenes of him standing in his futuristic pod begin to get old.
Keep up the good work Team Flash.
4 stars
