"The Elongated Knight Rises" In Fun And Interesting Ways On The Flash!

The Good: Decent performances, Fun special effects, A surprising amount of character depth
The Bad: Very predictable plot
The Basics: "The Elongated Knight Rises" on The Flash while Barry Allen is stuck in prison!


Every now and then, I write a review that - even as I post it - I know is not the best piece of writing. That happened last week when I was reviewing "The Trial Of The Flash" (reviewed here!). The reason for the poor review of "The Trial Of The Flash" was that I found it impossible to write about without spoiling virtually the entire piece. But now, a week later, it is easy to talk about what went horribly wrong with "The Trial Of The Flash."

"The Trial Of The Flash" telegraphed its ending from the beginning. Barry Allen had virtually no chance to win the case and he was determined not to fight the verdict against him. The episode was so predictable that well before they showed it, I bet aloud that Barry Allen would end up in his father's cell. And he did. Fallout, who has a great arc in The Flash books was given a lip-service b-plot in "The Trial Of The Flash" that did not do him justice. In last week's episode, Fallout served as a plot device that forced Barry Allen to leave his trial in order to save Central City, with only a nod to his truly sad character. But so much of the critique of "The Trial Of The Flash" hinged upon how much of the episode telegraphed the episode's end. I am certain to do a better review of "The Elongated Knight Rises," so long as it does not replicate the same problems as last week's episode.

Opening with a prison riot, seven days into his stay in Iron Heights, Barry works hard to resist the urge to help people, but eventually gives in to save the lives of the guards. At S.T.A.R. Labs, the team works to help Ralph Dibny defuse a bank robber who has taken hostages and is wired with a bomb. Dibny starts to get cocky as Barry encounters Axel Walker (The Trickster) in the yard. Barry is visited daily by Iris, who has not given up on trying to find the evidence needed to exonerate Barry. Walker is broken out by his mother, the former-villain Prank.

But Axel is not content to simply flee Central City. He challenges the Elongated Man to a fight and while Dibny has some early victories against his gadgets, he is susceptible to The Trickster's acid. While the S.T.A.R. Labs team hunts down Walker and his mother, Barry discovers he has an ally in Iron Heights. Zoey Clark and Axel Walker start transmitting a lethal game show - Wheel Of Misfortune - and when Prank calls out Dibny, he refuses to confront the pair. After a pep talk from Barry in Iron Heights, though, Dibny attempts to stop the two villains.

The idea that a week or eight days in, Barry would be going stir crazy makes perfect sense and Grant Gustin plays the growing edginess well. When Allen is visited by Joe West, Gustin manages to portray the young man with an unsettled quality that is subtle, but palpable.

On the flip side, Iris West steps up to play the team leader in a way that she has not been allowed to since the season premiere and the return of The Flash. The fourth season of The Flash missed a big opportunity to show off Iris West's leadership skills in a compelling way before bringing Barry back to the mix and quickly restoring the equilibrium. In "The Elongated Knight Rises," Iris is given the opportunity to direct the heroes at her disposal well.

"The Elongated Knight Rises" does a good job of creating motivations for all of the characters. Axel is a psychopath who idolizes his father, Zoey is jealous of how much her son loves his father to the neglect of her and Ralph Dibny, for all his ridiculousness, has a pretty healthy survival instinct. Even Big Sir, Barry's new prison ally, has a backstory and a motivation. The characters in "The Elongated Knight Rises" all have a sense of personality and realism to them.

The fourth season of The Flash might be recycling its own plots and playing with a fairly dull set of villains, but the special effects have been stepped up as Barry continues to do a number of Quicksilver-like sequences where he re-arranges adversaries during the battles.

Corinne Bohrer is wonderfully over-the-top as Prank and she steals the scenes that she shares with Devon Graye (Axel). Bohrer makes a generally ridiculous episode seem more fun than stupid or silly. The serious prison plot plays off the ridiculous villains and heroes in "The Elongated Knight Rises." And the Beebo allusion to Legends Of Tomorrow is pretty fun.

Ultimately, "The Elongated Knight Rises" manages to do what "The Trial Of The Flash" did not, which is to make the heroes feel like they are doing more than spinning their wheels heading toward the inevitable.

6.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

"Return Of The Mack" Restores Damien Darhk To Legends Of Tomorrow!

The Good: Good performances, Decent special effects, Moments of character.
The Bad: Simplistic plot, Repetitive character elements for the villain and Tomaz.
The Basics: "Return Of The Mack" causes tension within the Legends Of Tomorrow as Rip Hunter returns on a one-man quest to stop the new Big Bad.


One of the cool things about Legends Of Tomorrow is that the show can be pretty much anything it wants within the DC Television Universe. The freedom to go anywhere in time and introduce any adversary the producers want makes for an enjoyable concept for the show. With "Return Of The Mack," the writers and producers decided to introduce a vampire into the Legends Of Tomorrow narrative. Given that immortals, speedsters and aliens have already appeared on Legends Of Tomorrow, it might seem unsurprising that a vampire is the new enemy for an episode. Fortunately, the episode treads toward rational with a less-supernatural villain than traditional vampires.

"Phone Home" (reviewed here!) led into "Return Of The Mack" with Dr. Stein stealing the Waverider in order to attend the birth of his first grandchild and Zari beginning to bond with Ray Palmer. Jefferson Jackson wants to split up Firestorm in order to give Dr. Stein his freedom to spend time with his family. "Return Of The Mack" quickly diverges from the prior episode by reuniting Rip Hunter with the Waverider crew.

In London, 1895, Rip Hunter follows a woman who is afraid of him, but leads him to a corpse who appears to have been killed by a vampire. Ray Palmer severs the psychic link between Jax and Stein right before Dr. Heywood reveals he has discovered the pattern to the time anachronisms created by the Legends breaking time. There are, however, two outliers in his map: the Seattle incident where Zari was hunted by a bounty hunter and 1895 London. The Waverider crew goes to London where they discover the local coroner has a PalmerTech watch from the future, which he stole off the corpse of a "vampire."

Rip Hunter offers the Legends a deal; he will call off the Time Bureau in exchange for the Legends helping him stop the vampires and draw out their master, Malus. Using Dr. Heywood as bait, the Legends learn that one of Stein's ancestors is part of the secret society that is obsessed with the occult. When Damien Darhk pops up in London, Rip Hunter becomes convinced that he is integral to Malus's sinister plan. When Hunter turns on the Waverider crew, Tomaz is the only member of the crew off the ship and it falls to her to stop Malus's attempt to resurrect Damien Darhk.

"Return Of The Mack" has the comparatively joyless return of Rip Hunter and he annoyingly plays Sherlock Holmes throughout much of his time in old London. Peppered more conservatively throughout "Return Of The Mack" is Zari Tomaz's story. Tomaz wants to return to a year before she was rescued by the Waverider crew to save the life of her brother. Tomaz presents a rational argument, but it is familiar to fans of Legends Of Tomorrow is Captain Lance went through the same thing with her sister.

Rip Hunter finally makes the purpose of the third season explicit in "Return Of The Mack." Hunter describes Malus, an ancient evil, who appears to be altering time through outlier incidents that will allow him to build an army. Malus, apparently, is much like Eobard Thawne, traveling through time to recruit his team. The fact that Damien Darhk comes back into play in Legends Of Tomorrow makes the insinuated villain feel very derivative.

Victor Garber is given the fun chance to perform dual roles in "Return Of The Mack" and it is almost a shame that the character of Henry Stein is not fleshed out more. Despite that, it is fun to see him play a tangential role to his more familiar Dr. Stein.

The totems that Jiwe and Tomaz are given more powers in "Return Of The Mack," but their nature continues to defy a scientific explanation. Similarly, Captain Lance's wonderful new low-cut costume seems to defy the conventions of protecting one's body (it's not exactly sensible armor, no matter how wonderful it is to see Caity Lotz!). Despite that, "Return Of The Mack" does a good job of finally introducing the main villain of the third season of Legends Of Tomorrow, albeit in a fairly simple way.

For other works with Courtney Ford, please visit my reviews of:
True Blood
Parenthood - Season 3

5/10

For other television and movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

The Flash Stays In Its Rut For "Mixed Signals"

The Good: Good initial humor, Therapy scenes, Performances are fine
The Bad: Forced humor as the episode goes on, Very generic metahuman plot, Gloss over all the best character moments
The Basics: "Mixed Signals" keeps The Flash mired in being a genre show without committing to its own inherent complexities.


The Flash got off to a rough start for the fourth season. The impact of Barry Allen's sacrifice and even the idea of the Speed Force prison was severely undermined in the fourth season premiere when Cisco managed to get Barry Allen out of the prison exceptionally quickly. As "Mixed Signals" begins, it is hard for fans of The Flash not to feel like they have invested in something that has gone completely to pot.

"The Flash Reborn" (reviewed here!) precedes "Mixed Signals" and the whole purpose of the fourth season premiere was, ostensibly, to reunite the entire S.T.A.R. Labs team (less some version of Harrison Wells), seed that there continues to be a problem with Dr. Snow and her metahuman powers, and introduce DeVoe (The Thinker) on screen. The magnitude of Barry Allen's sacrifice were completely undermined by "The Flash Reborn."

When an arrogant, rich young man comes to Central City and attempts to buy the most expensive apartment there, he is killed in the building's elevator by a man whose eyes indicate he has the ability to manipulate electronic devices. Barry speeds through his morning and catches up on all he missed while trapped in the Speed Force. When Barry has to run off to work, Iris is miffed that Allen has already completed their wedding plans. Cisco Ramon arrives on the scene and discovers that the elevator has malicious code in it - that it has been hacked.

While Barry is slow to adapt to the new dynamic in the S.T.A.R. Labs team, Ramsey Deacon strikes again, rewriting the code in a car being driven by Tim Kwon, a tech genius. Gypsy comes to visit Ramon, while he spends his time trying to track down the connection between the tech geniuses who have been targeted by Deacon. When Ramon discovers there is a third person on the team with the two prior targets and Deacon, Wally and Joe West work to protect her. With Ramon distracted by not being able to be with Gypsy and Allen and Iris West experiencing relationship problems, the S.T.A.R. Labs team needs to regroup to try to stop Deacon.

"Mixed Signals" actually starts to deal with some of the effects of Barry Allen being returned to Earth and normal speed. Barry is not exactly listening to Iris through most of their interactions and as a result, Iris decides to take Dr. Snow's advice and go to couple's counseling with Barry. The idea that Barry did not come back the same is a smart one and the episode works to explore consequences. Despite the happy initial tone of "Mixed Signals" with Barry Allen dancing and lip synching, the episode turns to a darker tone with Iris listing off all the people they know who have died.

The Flash is hampered by the expectations placed upon it in "Mixed Signals." The best moments of "Mixed Signals" are when Iris West works to reconcile her problems with Barry, both from his leaving and how he has acted since his return. Because The Flash is regarded as a genre work for late-teens, early twentysomethings, "Mixed Signals" is unwilling to commit to its best aspects. Iris and Barry have compelling, real and very adult problems and watching an honest therapy session between them could have been a truly compelling hour of television for a series that committed to being an adult drama.

The Cisco Ramon and Gypsy subplot is similarly forced. The idea that Gypsy has visited Earth-1 in the prior six months enough to build a relationship with Ramon is a fine one; the idea that she has only visited on the few moments when Central City is not being menaced and Ramon is busy is just utterly ridiculous. As a result, up until the moment when Gypsy actually explains why this particular day is important to her, the relationship moments between Gypsy and Ramon fall flat.

Ramon has upgraded The Flash's suit and the idea is initially good, but it quickly turns to parody. The Flash's new suit features pulse cannons that are reminiscent of Iron Man and a flotation function that stretches the limits of what the show's special effects can handle. The idea behind Cisco's upgrades to the suit are all solid, but the suit being co-opted right away seems far too plot-convenient. All of the suit's upgrades make Barry Allen seem far less impressive - he does not need to think as much or use his innate skills; his suit can do so much more now.

Even Wally West is undermined as he stands around waiting for Barry Allen to act as opposed to acting like (one presumes) he was for the past six months . . . like a fully actualized speedster.

"Mixed Signals" earns some geek points for the introduction of Warden Wolf and it seeds well the idea that Central City is soon to be overrun by more metahumans. The acting in the episode is fine, but because the plot quickly takes precedence over the character aspects, none of the performers are afforded truly deep opportunities to show off range.

Ultimately, The Flash could have grown quite a bit from the set-up and inherent conflicts in "Mixed Signals," but it treads toward the familiar instead of the audacious.

For other works with Dominic Burgess, please check out my reviews of:
"Eye Spy" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Bad Wolf"- Doctor Who
Batman Begins

4/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Almost Every Betrayal Revealed: "The Wrath Of Savitar" Is A Lot Of Reversals.

The Good: Decent performances, Good special effects, Moments of character
The Bad: Light on genuine character development (tries to service far too many characters), A lot of reversals but very light on plot
The Basics: "The Wrath Of Savitar" is a bridge episode for The Flash, which has a number of characters outing their secrets . . . without actually having much of a story of its own.


With The Flash working so hard to incorporate so many characters, the show is now trying to find a balance in the various elements it has created. It is tough to service all of the characters on The Flash and the third season has not managed to do a lot with Wally West. Wally West is a character who has to be differentiated from both Barry Allen and other speedsters in order to be an effective character, now that he was given super-speed by Alchemy. Wally West on The Flash has been set up before "The Wrath Of Savitar" to be a prideful character who has only just begun a romantic relationship with Jesse Wells (Jesse Quick) from Earth-2.

"The Wrath Of Savitar" follows on "Attack On Central City" (reviewed here!), which climaxed with Barry proposing to Iris and Wally encountering Savitar. Wally was easily duped in "Attack On Central City" by Harrison Wells (from Earth-2) and "The Wrath Of Savitar" opens with the idea that The Flash might have managed to change some of the future he witnessed by minimizing the gorilla attack on Central City. Given that changes in the timeline are what initially attracted Savitar to Barry Allen on Earth-1, "The Wrath Of Savitar" opens with an appropriate level of menace that the season's Big Bad might be arriving in Central City pissed. Oddly, "The Wrath Of Savitar" does not continue where the prior episode left off.

Opening with Barry, Wally, and Jesse racing, Wally West runs fast enough to reach the point he would need to in order to save Iris in time, if Barry is correct. At the climax of the test, Wally sees Savitar atop a nearby building, but does not tell his companions about it. Barry and Iris announce to the S.T.A.R. Labs team that they are engaged, much to the shock of Joe West. When The Flash and Kid Flash get called to a fire, Savitar appears to attack Wally, but Barry only sees the effect of the attack (not Savitar). When Barry wants to communicate with Savitar, Julian Albert resists. Dr. Snow talks him into acting as Savitar's conduit once again and Barry attempts to interview him through Albert. Savitar claims Barry is his adversary and that he created himself, as opposed to being made by Barry or anyone else.

Tracking one of the known acolytes of Savitar, Barry comes to believe there might be more than one Philosopher's Stone and Barry recovers what appears to be the box that housed the Stone he threw into the future. As Wally loses confidence in his abilities, he and H.R. turn to Cisco to vibe the future. Wally returns from the vibe to out Barry's proposal to Iris as yet another attempt on his part of try to change the future. Dr. Snow reveals that she has a piece of the Philosopher's Stone, which she has been using to attempt to remove her metahuman powers. While Joe counsels Iris, Cisco tries to locate Savitar through Julian one more time. When Wally sees a vision of his mother, Jesse Quick is as horrified as Wally that Savitar is directly threatening him now!

Jesse L. Martin steals the early scenes in "The Wrath Of Savitar" as Joe West. Martin plays shock incredibly well and when Joe confronts Barry about not asking him for permission is played well, even if it does not seem to fit his character. Joe West is pretty enlightened, so his sudden conservative streak surrounding Iris and Barry getting married is disappointing. Jesse L. Martin plays through it well and in "The Wrath Of Savitar," he plays shocked and sad for most of the episode pretty incredibly.

Tom Felton steps up to be truly frightening as he acts as Savitar's conduit. Felton is saddled with providing a lot of exposition. Instead of seeming like he is just giving the viewer information, Felton manages to make the possessed Julian Albert so unsettling his performance gives the viewer chills.

When "The Wrath Of Savitar" finds focus, it is actually quite good. The scene between Wally and the vision of his mother is unsettling and sharp, for example. The problem with "The Wrath Of Savitar" is that the episode feels like a few good scenes, but they do not come together as any sort of coherent narrative. More than actually being "The Wrath Of Savitar," the episode is the explanation and birth of Savitar. There is a lot of exposition, a few good character moments, but the episode is disjointed.

Fundamentally, the lingering problem that resonates through "The Wrath Of Savitar" is that after Barry Allen created Flashpoint, there was no episode of The Flash that showed what happened in the new universe. The climax of "The Wrath Of Savitar" feels forced in some ways because the viewer is not familiar with how Wally West was actually introduced in the post-Flashpoint Universe 1.5 (as I'm calling it). Season 2 of The Flash, like the first season, was rewritten and seeing exactly how would make the new relationships in 1.5 actually make sense.

As it stands, the most powerful emotions in "The Wrath Of Savitar" are revealed through Joe West and Jesse Quick, but the basis for those emotions is only the subject of fan speculation. "The Wrath Of Savitar" is a set-up episode that feels like exactly what it is and that makes it a much tougher sell for fans than it ought to have been.

For other The Flash episodes with Vanessa Williams, please visit my reviews of:
"The Reverse-Flash Returns"
"The Fury Of Firestorm"
"Family Of Rogues"
"Flash Of Two Worlds"

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into The Flash - The Complete Third Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the third season here!
Thanks!]

3.5/10

For other television season and episode reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |