The Latest Metahuman On The Flash Is "Untouchable!"

The Good: Moments of character, Effects, Moments of performance
The Bad: Very familiar and predictable plot, Repetitive elements
The Basics: The Flash fights yet another metahuman in "Untouchable" with very obvious results.


One of the nice things about the way The Flash began was that there was a pretty solid scientific methodology to the show. The series made a decent attempt to appeal to geeks who were brainy by being fairly smart and having the protagonists try to evaluate their circumstances and reason their way out of their problems. By the time "Untouchable" comes up in the third season of The Flash, there has been so much melodrama and repetition that it is almost hard to remember how good the show used to be. By this point in the third season, the main plot of the season is concerned with the fact that The Flash visited the future, witnessed a newscast with vital information and saw Iris being killed by the villainous speedster, Savitar. Now, Barry Allen and the S.T.A.R. Labs team is committed to changing that future, but they have missed a number of key opportunities to avoid the events Barry witnessed (not the least of which is simply locking Iris in the pipeline on the day she would otherwise die!).

"Dead Or Alive" (reviewed here!) leads in to "Untouchable," with a pretty basic b-plot being the connective tissue. Barry realized in "Dead Or Alive" that Wally represented the best chance to save Iris's life and in "Untouchable," he continues to train the younger speedster. Gypsy from "Dead Or Alive" is also referenced in "Untouchable" as Cisco is moved to vibe Flashpoint!

Barry and Wally race to test their speed, with the S.T.A.R. Labs team betting on them. Barry manages to win the race by phasing through a building before Barry and Joe have to visit the latest metahuman attack. Julian has found a body with advanced necrosis and Iris recognizes the name of the restaurant the body is found at as one from the future Barry experienced where she is killed. When Julian and Dr. Snow try to perform an autopsy on the body, they discover that it has transformed into - essentially - sand. The metahuman attacks a second time and Barry recognizes the second victim as the man who was the CCPD Captain in the Flashpoint tangent. While doing the autopsy on the second victim, Julian recognizes the DNA anomaly in the metahuman DNA as being common to the metahumans who were created by Alchemy.

Unfortunately, Barry, Wally, Iris and Joe are out on a date with Cecile and her daughter when the new metahuman attacks Jitters. While Kid Flash is able to incapacitate the metahuman - Clive Yorkin - he gets away. Yorkin next turns up at Barry and Iris's apartment where he attacks Iris before Kid Flash can stop or catch him. Wally gets Iris to S.T.A.R. Labs where Dr. Snow acts fast to save her arm and stop the hyper-necrosis. Cisco vibes into the Flashpoint tangent universe to try to find who Yorkin's next victim might be and Joe moves to save her!

"Untouchable" works to make Julian a viable and interesting character by exploring - at least in part - the guilt he feels for his actions while Alchemy. Julian has had Tom Felton often playing the same jerk-style character that he has gotten typecast as a kid. In "Untouchable," Felton is able to flesh out Julian as a smart, competent, scientist who has more depth to him than he initially appeared. Still feeling guilt, Julian has a chance to try to make up for Alchemy's crimes.

Training Wally to phase is a smart idea, but it is handled in a fairly ridiculous way in "Untouchable." Barry has Wally try to run and phase and Wally is incredibly articulate about how he does not understand how he is supposed to "phase" through solid objects. So, basic scientific and education methodology should have had Barry try to teach Wally from a standing position. In other words, instead of trying to run and phase through something, the most sensible way to train Wally would be to have Wally stand in place and move his hand fast enough to phase through something.

In addition to giving Joe West the best part he has had all season, "Untouchable" returns the conflict within Dr. Snow to the forefront of her arc. Snow is supposed to degenerate into Killer Frost during the time between "now" and when The Flash witnessed Iris's death. So, giving her more chances to "slip" and use her powers makes sense and in "Untouchable" that conflict is well-rendered.

The effects in "Untouchable" are better than average for The Flash and not all of them are big moments. Caitlin Snow's eyes, for example, are decently rendered as she tries to save Iris's life and feels like she is losing control.

"Untouchable" is hardly flawless, though. While on the train, Joe tells the p.i. that Yorkin has killed two cops; they were not cops in our world, only the Flashpoint tangent. Similarly, Dr. Snow's arc in "Untouchable" culminates with her going out on a date with Julian and that is pretty much the same arc she already did by falling for Hunter Zolomon in the prior season.

Ultimately, "Untouchable" is very average The Flash, with its mundane, repetitive plot being balanced nicely by the human moments - like Wally's growing pride and the Iris/Barry scene that caps off the episode.

For other works from the 2016 – 2017 television season, please check out my reviews of:
Santa Clarita Diet - Season 1
A Series Of Unfortunate Events - Season 1
One Day At A Time - Season 1
Travelers - Season 1
"Happy Fuckin' New Year" - Sense8
The OA - Season 1
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life
"Invasion!" - Arrow
"Hot Potato Soup" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"The Chicago Way" - Legends Of Tomorrow
"The Martian Chronicles" - Supergirl
Luke Cage - Season 1
Stranger Things - Season 1

[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!]

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.
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I Return And So Does The Flash With "Potential Energy!"

The Good: Moments of character and performance, Decent special effects
The Bad: Generic plot/villain, Dubious science
The Basics: One of the less impressive Flash villains makes his debut in "Potential Energy" which treads close to a soap opera for The Flash.


It has been a slow year so far for my review blog, largely because I just got into video games and there have been a number of big celebrity deaths that have shocked my family. But, The Flash has broken away from a mid-season hiatus to start airing new episodes and that makes it worth returning to reviews! The new episode if "Potential Energy" and it is a, pun intended, slow return to The Flash.

"Potential Energy" picks up a short time after "Running To Stand Still" (reviewed here!) and it is an odd blend of consequences and character-building. Barry Allen and Patty Spivot's relationship has clearly progressed, while Joe and Wally are only just starting to truly get to know one another. Yet, Earth-2's Harrison Wells has not made any sort of move on Barry Allen to advance Zoom's agenda, so the show feels like it is working itself out of its own dead end. Fortunately, "Potential Energy" illustrates that the recent in-episode merchandising push was just part of the attempt by Warner Brothers to give its licensees a pre-Holiday advertising boost. The Flash returns to quality storytelling, as opposed to not-so-subtle product placement.

And that's a good thing, considering that the Villain Of The Week for "Potential Energy" is The Turtle. The Turtle is one of the obscure villains from The Flash comic books that was part of the early books, but most of the newer iterations of the character have not even tried to include. Writer Bryan Q. Miller gets real credit for trying with "Potential Energy."

Opening with Barry Allen having a nightmare about Zoom abducting Patty while he is on a date with her, Barry becomes preoccupied with the idea of telling Patty the truth about his alter ego. Joe tries to bond with Wally, who is not impressed by the detective father he never knew, when Patty arrives to talk to Iris. Patty is concerned that Barry is waking up from nightmares and being emotionally withholding. As Wells becomes more frustrated with scientific dead ends that lead him to be unable to stop Zoom, Cisco proposes using a metahuman he has been hunting for quite some time: The Turtle. When The Flash encounters The Turtle, a metahuman who has the ability to slow down everything in his environment by converting mechanical (kinetic) energy into potential energy, he is unable to stop the thief from stealing a recovered ring from the Central City Police Department.

Regrouping at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco believes he has found the Turtle's next target and the team heads to an art event at the Central City Art Museum. There, The Turtle interrupts Barry's date with Patty and steals a painting, while attempting to kill Patty. This informs The Turtle of Patty's importance to Barry and he lays a trap to get Patty out of the way. Joe confronts Wally, who is drag racing in Central City in order to win cars to pay for his mother's medical bills. When Patty is abducted by The Turtle, The Flash must rescue her and Barry risks exposing his identity to her.

"Potential Energy" finds a surprisingly compelling blend of character development and emotional realism in an otherwise potentially absurd and basic plot. Barry Allen's dream is a perfect embodiment of his character's realistic insecurity both in his relationship and in his conflict with Zoom. Similarly, Patty and Iris bonding over Barry is realistic, even if it is not particularly compelling television. The more "Potential Energy" progresses, the more there is the feeling that the episode is a "necessary evil" episode; it has a clear end goal, but it's trying to flesh out a mediocre idea and/or lackluster conflicts.

For those reasons, it is easy for the almost melodramatic conflict between Joe and Wally West to overshadow much of the episode and for an almost entirely inconguent scene between Cisco and Harrison Wells to steal the episode. Wells telling the story of how Zoom got his name is cinematically dull, but it is the most captivating scene in "Potential Energy." The character element and the performances by Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdes make the short scene feel so much more important than the charming, whispered scenes between Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Patty Spivot (Shantel VanSanten).

The deepness of the character conflicts between the established cast of characters is offset by the utterly generic character of The Turtle. The Turtle has had more than a year of stealing things from Central City with greater effectiveness than Leonard Snart and after his first encounter with The Flash, where he bests the super hero (!), he becomes obsessed with ridding Central City of The Flash. Between that and Cisco declaring The Turtle his White Whale and then immediately finding him, there is a prominent sense of narrative convenience in "Potential Energy."

And, seriously, why does anyone who has a peephole on their door ever open the door without checking it first?! Especially law enforcement officers . . .

"Potential Energy" is an odd blend of decent performances and character moments in an otherwise mundane episode of The Flash, which makes for an ultimately average hour of television.

For other works with Aaron Douglas, check out my reviews of:
Catwoman
The Chronicles Of Riddick
Saved!
X-2: X-Men United

5/10

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

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Another Fairly Jumbled Flash: “Crazy For You” Is Still On Uneven Ground!

The Good: Acting is fine, Decent effects, Neat villain
The Bad: Derivative adversary of the week, Way too many plot threads to be a coherent narrative on its own.
The Basics: “Crazy For You” is an episode of The Flash that is all over the place; working better in context than on its own.


I love serialized television; stories with long arcs and complicated characters. The weakness of serialized television is that either arcs with few characters have to be drawn out over long periods of time or a large cast is given very little to do in each episode. At this point in The Flash, the number of characters that need to be serviced is pretty large and episodes like “Crazy For You” might mix up the tired format of “villain of the week,” but it leaves the viewer with a feeling like the show they just watched was diluted enough not to have a cohesive narrative.

Picking up after “The Sound And The Fury” (reviewed here) – and, in fact, referencing a scene that was not in the prior episode (perhaps a deleted scene?) – “Crazy For You” continues the promised storyline involving Hartley Rathaway and Ronnie Raymond, returns Henry Allen to the mix and goes out of its way to crowd the field by introducing Linda Park. While Wells and Thawne are relegated to non-entities in “Crazy For You,” the rest of the cast and additional guest performers fill up the episode (we finally get more shots of Victor Garber as Dr. Stein, though despite him being credited in the guest cast, he does not even have any lines yet!). So, while “Crazy For You” (not the best title for the episode!) has a lot going on, none of the plots are well-developed to be compelling or create a story that has lasting merit outside the current The Flash arc. In other words, this is an episode that is more like a soap opera than must-rewatch, timeless television.

After The Flash rescues a young couple from a car that has been in an accident and explodes, the team at S.T.A.R. Labs decides to take the night off. Dr. Snow learns that Hartley Rathaway has a theory on where Snow’s fiancé, Ronnie Raymond, is and she confronts Cisco on his willingness to work with the Pied Piper to find Ronnie. A metahuman, Shawna Baez, breaks her boyfriend Clay Parker out of Iron Heights, using her unique ability to teleport. While the Central City Police and the S.T.A.R. Labs team try to track Baez down, Henry Allen does some investigating on the inside. When Cisco gives in to temptation and takes Hartley out to have Rathaway deliver on his promise to show him where Dr. Stein is, he sees the bomb shadow of Stein and thwarts Rathaway’s latest escape attempt. The Flash tracks down Baez and Parker as they steal from an armored car to pay off the gangster they are in debt to, but is shot by Parker before he can stop them.

Bringing the information to S.T.A.R. Labs that Baez is a teleporter, Barry Allen and Dr. Snow decide to try to track them by going to bars Parker and Baez used to frequent. While Snow and Allen have a night out together, Cisco and Rathaway break into the Central City Police Department where they go through the film footage of the S.T.A.R. Labs explosion. Rathaway uses the opportunity to escape and the CCPD track down Marcus Stockheimer, but lose the teleporting couple in the process. After Henry Allen is stabbed tracking down leads at Iron Heights, The Flash extorts his assailant for information on how to find Baez and tries to take down the latest metahuman threat.

“Crazy For You” gets the S.T.A.R. Lab team that they would have been at if only one of the characters had asked Ronnie Raymond who he was when he denied being Ronnie when they encountered him in prior episodes. The whole F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. plot is clearly building to something (fans of the DC Universe know exactly what), but the slow piecing together of it makes for a disappointing sense of franchise. Either we’re being set up for a Firestorm spin-off or The Flash is going to be “The Flash And Friends” at some point (or, the third most likely possibility is that fans will get invested in the whole idea of Firestorm before it is abruptly dropped from the series after it is “resolved enough”).

Amid the weak story of Shawna Baez and the potentially more powerful Clay Parker (Baez is a teleporter, but in “Crazy For You,” Wells says that Parker’s DNA takes on the qualities of Baez’s when she touched him, so he could potentially be a power-absorbing metahuman), Iris West’s career trudges forward in an uncompelling way, Linda Park is introduced and Barry and Snow essentially have a date. There is a lot going on and Iris West’s part in “Crazy For You” only serves to illustrate the fundamental weakness in her relationship with Eddie Thawne; Iris turns to Barry with concerns about how she can’t seem to land a story on her own, instead of discussing it with Eddie.

In the plus column, though Peek-A-Boo (Snow’s name for Baez’s villainous alter-ego) is a pretty cool adversary though she is virtually identical to Nightcrawler from X-2: X-Men United (reviewed here!), “Crazy For You” features the best performance yet from actress Danielle Panabaker. Panabaker has been saddled with the role of Caitlin Snow, which has so far been a mouthpiece for dispassionate exposition and unfortunate executions of scenes reminiscing about a love that Panabaker has difficulty portraying. But in “Crazy For You,” Panabaker does exactly what she needs to for Snow. Panabaker has great comic timing and a sense of physical performance that makes the karaoke drinking scene one of the most memorable personal moments of the season.

Similarly, the return of Henry Allen allows John Wesley Shipp to give a passionate monologue that allows for a real connection between Henry and Barry. This is the episode where Henry figures it out and the time spent developing that and putting Linda Park into the field drain from the time Baez can occupy. That makes Peek-A-Boo one of the least-compelling villains (her delivery of the line that she still loves Parker comes across as ridiculous because, of course, she would still love him when they have only been separated for hours after pining for one another for years!) so far, even if she is one of the coolest and could be one of the few enemies who could hold her own with The Flash, regardless of his improving speed abilities.

Finally, the “one in, one out” situation in The Pipeline is becoming more formulaic than compelling. While it seemed obvious that S.T.A.R. Labs would continue to collect metahumans and eventually there would be a horrific, massive break-out, the frequency by which enemies leave The Pipeline prevents that from becoming a problem. It’s also making it seem odd that the S.T.A.R. Labs team is either bothering with confining the metahumans or not altering the access people like Cisco have to them.

Either way, “Crazy For You” is a fair continuation of the serialized elements, but unremarkable on its own.

For other works with Victor Garber, please visit my reviews of:
Argo
Milk
Alias
Legally Blonde
Titanic

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

4/10

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

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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