The Flash Season 3, Episode 6: Shade

Last year I accused The Flash of spinning its wheels, padding out episodes as it saved its shocking revelations for the big season finale.

You certainly can't say they're treading water this season! They're currently juggling at least seven different plotlines, and this episode just added another major one with the introduction of Savitar. Well done, writers!

That said, there were a couple of fumbles in this episode. The main one was the horrible use of the Shade as a throwaway villain of the week. He's been a major player in The Flash comics since the 1940s for Thor's sake— he definitely deserved better. 

The writers continue to bend over backwards trying to make us think that Julian Albert is really Alchemy. Eh, I'm not buying it, as that would be way too obvious. So who else could Alchemy be? I doubt he's really HR, as Alchemy appeared on the show before he did. There is something a bit off about HR though, and I don't think he's the harmless goof he appears to be. That leaves Cecile Horton, who's the only other newish character on the show. I'm not quite ready to crawl all the way out on a limb and say with 100% surety that she's secretly Alchemy. But I am starting to suspect her. That would definitely be a twist that most people wouldn't see coming though!

We finally get a few more scenes with Alchemy in this episode. It feels a bit odd that we're now six episodes in and we still know very little about him. Pacing-wise, I think some of the mysteries should have started peeling away by now. It's hard for the audience to be scared of him when we don't know anything about him.

It also feels way too soon to introduce Savitar, especially when we're still right smack in the middle of the Alchemy storyline. Maybe you should solve one mystery before starting up another, OK guys?

And really, Savitar, The God Of Speed? Do we really need yet ANOTHER speedster villain on the show? I get that speedsters are really the only type of villain that can pose a threat to Barry, but Jesus, how many more are waiting in the wings? 

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
Wally begins having dreams about being Kid Flash, which excites him, as he wants nothing more than to be a superhero. It upsets Joe, who fears his son's not dreaming, and it's actually Alchemy messing with his mind.

At the Central City PD, Cecile reassigns Barry to the Metahuman CSI Department. Isn't that where he's been working all along? She flirts with Joe, who's apparently finally asked her out to the West family movie night. Joe tells Barry about Wally's dreams. Barry agrees that Wally's in danger.

Over at STAR Labs, HR wants to turn the building into a museum (of what?). Cisco and Caitlin finally decide to tell him that his Earth-1 doppelganger was a murderer, and if he shows his face in public he'll be arrested. Somehow HR restrains himself and doesn't kill the two of them on the spot, like a normal human would.

Elsewhere in Central City, a businessman is attacked by a large, shadowy humanoid who grabs him by the throat and kills him. The next day Barry and Julian Albert investigate the death, but find no physical evidence on the victim. Barry invites Julian to movie night, but he declines, saying he has plans with his girlfriend (to prove he doesn't have teh gays).

Back at STAR Labs, HR appears with a totally new face, courtesy of an Earth-19 feature-morphing gizmo. Cisco accuses HR of stealing his superpower-dampening cuffs from him. Caitlin looks nervously away. Barry arrives and tells the Gang about the businessman's murder. Cisco calls up a CCTV recording and sees the shadow thing kill the man. HR names it Shade, after an Earth-19 metahuman.

Meanwhile Wally visits Joe at the CCPD. Joe explains that he trusts his son, but not what's happening to him. Just then Wally's doubled over by some sort of painful attack. Back at STAR, Caitlin returns Cisco's dampening cuffs to him, saying she borrowed them because she's developing powers. She asks him to "vibe" her to see what's in her future. He does so, and sees himself fighting Caitlin, who's in full Killer Frost mode. He lies and tells her he saw nothing.

Joe brings Wally to STAR Labs for help. Barry confirms that the "dreams" Wally's having are really events that happened in the Flashpoint timeline. He's afraid Alchemy is trying to recruit Wally. HR suggest locking Wally up in the Secret Super Jail to keep Alchemy from harming him. Joe starts to call Cecile to cancel their movie night, but Barry says he'll stay with Wally and to go enjoy himself. Amazingly, Joe agrees to this and leaves his sick child in order to go on a date. Cisco, Caitlin and HR go along with Joe, which seems a bit odd.

At the movie night in the park, Caitlin confronts Cisco about what he saw in his vibe vision. He says he saw the two of them battling one another. He urges her to tell the rest of the Gang what's happening to her. Suddenly Shade appears in the park and attacks. The crowd panics and runs. Barry begins battling Shade. Cisco hacks into the headlights of some nearby cars (?) and turns them on. Somehow this disintegrates Shade, leaving a human behind. Barry puts the dampening cuffs on him (man, those things really get around!).

Back at STAR Labs, Wally's psychically attacked by Alchemy, who says, "The time has come to set you free!" Wally screams for Iris to open his cell door, and like an idiot she lets him out. In his crazed state he attacks her, and she punches him out (!). The Gang returns and restrain Wally. Barry realizes that Shade was merely a diversion so that Alchemy could attack Wally. Cisco apparently thinks the Gang doesn't have enough to worry about, and decides this is the absolute best time to force Caitlin into telling everyone she's turning into Killer Frost.

Joe and Barry decide to use Wally as bait to capture Alchemy. Wally senses him in an abandoned subway (at least it wasn't an old warehouse this time). Barry, Joe and a SWAT Team follow. They find Alchemy inside, surrounded by acolytes. He greets Wally and asks if he wants the life he once had (in Flashpoint). The Flash attacks Alchemy, who raises his Philosopher's Stone and uses to zap him. Barry's knocked on his ass, and Joe and the SWAT Team move in and capture Alchemy. In all the confusion, he drops his stone.

Suddenly Barry begins seeing a speedster zipping back and forth through the room. It's moving so fast that Barry's the only one who can perceive it. The speedster dispatches the entire SWAT Team, except for Joe of course. While everyone's distracted, Wally picks up Alchemy's stone. It begins glowing and he's immediately encased in a pillar of stone.

The unknown speedster grabs Barry by the throat. Barry croaks, "Who are you?" The speedster replies, "Savitar!"

Thoughts:

• HR tells the Gang that it's only a matter of time before the public figures out that STAR Labs is working with the Flash. In order to hide this fact, he wants to disguise STAR Labs as a museum. 

A museum of what, exactly? One would think STAR Labs has a pretty poor reputation in Central City, since it housed a particle accelerator that, you know, exploded the very first time it was turned on. The general public probably has a low opinion of the joint.

And what would they even put in such a museum? I suppose they could have an exhibit detailing why the place exploded, and one outlining how it's affected the city so far. Other than that… I got nothing.

I can't imagine there'd be much public interest in such a place. It'd be like putting a museum inside the Three Mile Island reactor.

• Cisco and Caitlin inform HR that he can never leave the STAR Labs grounds, because he has the face of confessed murderer Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne. They tell him if he shows his face in public, he'll likely be arrested.

First of all, I don't remember anyone ever warning Harry about this, and he actually left the building on several occasions.

Secondly, I don't know how long HR's been on Earth-1, but it has to be at least two or three weeks by now. So in all that time, he's never once had an urge to leave the lab? Does that sound right?

Thirdly, as I said earlier, HR takes this news, and the fact that the Gang is just now telling him about it, very well. Much better than I would have if I found out I'd just jumped to an Earth where I share a face with a wanted murderer.

• HR uses some Earth-19 "facial transmogrification device" to alter his looks. Oddly enough, the new face he chooses is that of Randolph Morgan, his former "business partner" on Earth-19.

I googled the name, and as far as I can tell there's no Randolph Morgan in any DC comics.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Morgan is more than just HR's business partner. Here's the full exchange when he talks about Morgan with Cisco:S

Cisco: "How does this work?"

HR: "Light refraction technology."

Cisco: "Light refraction?"

HR: "I think... I don't... Randolf, my... business partner, he's sort of more with the science. But this little sucker is gonna go a long way to solving my Harrison Wells facial issues."

Note how HR stumbles when describing his relationship to Morgan. Then Cisco brings up his missing power-dampening cuffs.

Cisco: "I'm gonna hang onto this until I get my power cuffs back."

HR: "What, your power cuffs? Your meta-human power-dampening cuffs?"

Cisco: "Those very ones, the ones that are missing all of a sudden."

HR: "What... you think... you think I took them? I didn't take them. What do I need cuffs for? I just got to this Earth. I came alone. I haven't met anyone yet; it's gonna take a while, even when I do meet them, to get to the cuff stage."

This may just be me reading to much into it, but I'm betting this little exchange was meant to lay the groundwork for the revelation that HR is gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Based on HR's stammering replay, it's obvious that Morgan's more than just a business partner. I'm betting there was a big fight and even a breakup, prompting HR to leave Earth-19 altogether. And the less said about the cuffs, the better. 

• Caitlin tells Cisco that if she goes full Killer Frost and becomes evil, she'll be forced to leave forever. Sigh… Yep, it looks like we're doing the old "My Particular Pain Is Special And It's Forcing Me To Leave Everyone I Know And Love And Never Come Back" trope.

How many times have we seen this same plotline on shows like this? They're even doing it right now with Daisy over on Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Barry says the businessman was attacked by Shade in Chubbuck, at the intersection of Palmer and Racine.

We all know how much The Flash loves to name buildings and streets after comic book creators. Unfortunately I don't think that was the case this time.

According to the internet, Chubbuck is a residential areal of Central City. The internet also says Central City is in Missouri, which I don't think has ever been confirmed on the series.

I can't find any DC-related link for Palmer and Racine. Well, there's Ray Palmer, aka the Atom, but I doubt this is a reference to him. Apparently these are just random names and have not any kind of in-joke.

The same goes for the Horror At Hofherr Park banner. As near as I can tell, there are no DC characters, artists or writers named Hofherr. Like I always say, sometimes a name is just a name.

• According to HR, Earth-19 uses coins called "helbings" as currency. We also find out that his world has "many" telepathic gorillas. Here's hoping the Gang eventually visits Earth-19 in an episode!

By the way, I'm assuming the coins were named after Todd Helbing, a writer on The Flash.

• Alchemy's psychically attacks Wally, causing him to go into seizure. Caitlin gives Wally a shot of Lorazepam to calm his tortured brain.

Believe it or not, Lorazepam is a real drug here on Earth-1, used to combat seizures! Well done, writers!

• This week the series finally introduces the Shade, one of the Flash's oldest and most persistent villains. Unfortunately, the version we see here bears little or no resemblance to the one in the comics, as they completely and utterly wasted one of DC's most memorable characters, using him as nothing more than a lame plot device to distract the Flash from Alchemy. 

They could have used literally ANY other character here— why'd they have to ruin one of the Flash's best villains?

The comic book version of the Shade has been around since 1942, and was one of the Jay Garrick Flash's main enemies. He was a thief who sported a top hat had the power to manipulate shadows with his magical cane. He was also immortal, and eventually clashed with the Barry Allen Flash.

He's actually quite a complex anti-hero, whose biography is way too long to get into here. The Shade is a major player in DC comics, and he deserves much better than he received here. Hopefully they'll revisit this character at some point and do justice to him, or better yet introduce a different version in the future.

To make things even worse, the awful "smoke effect" used to represent Shade in the episode was very lacking, as it was realized through the miracle of early 1990s CGI. I have a feeling the budget for this episode was pretty tight, as The CW's no doubt putting everything into the big four part crossover at the end of the month.

In fact I'm kind of wondering if the writers confused the Shade with the Shadow Thief, an old Hawkman villain who could turn himself into a living shadow.

• So who the hell is Savitar, the latest in a long line of speedster villains we're supposed to care about? I have to admit I'd never even heard of him before, as he apparently came along well after I stopped buying comics.

In the comics, Savitar is a Cold War fighter pilot from a "third world nation." I guess DC didn't want to offend any countries? He was testing a supersonic jet when it was struck by lighting, causing it to crash. He survived the crash and discovered he could now move at super speed. He named himself "Savitar," after the Hindu God Of Motion (whose name is actually "Savitr." I guess Savitar can't spell very well). 

Savitar has powers that no other speedster has. He can steal from or give speed to others, protect himself with a force field, and heal instantly.

Visually the comic book Savitar is a mess, sporting a garish (even by superhero standards), hodgepodge of a costume, complete with pencil-thin mustache. 

The Flash producers wisely chose to redesign Savitar, giving him a look not unlike between Ultron and a Transformer. I'm OK with this change.

Many fans think there's a reason for TV Savitar's robotic look. They're convinced that engineering student Wally actually built a robot or some sort of speedy armor, and that he's secretly Savitar. 

I guess that's possible. Wally's currently encased inside a stone pillar, but I suppose he could be mentally controlling the armor. And his resentment at not being granted speedster powers like Jesse could fuel a turn to the dark side. I'm betting we'll find out in the mid-season finale.

The Flash Season 2, Episode 12: Fast Lane

This week's Flash was all about family, as pretty much all the characters— Barry, the Wests, and even Harry— learned they're not alone and have each other. Awww. Cue the Family Ties theme.

In fact the family theme was so prevalent that the supervillain, er, I mean metahuman subplot almost felt like an afterthought. Tar Pit came off as little more than a throwaway villain, appearing in just a few brief scenes, after what had to be the laziest origin story ever.

Iris also stepped up her game in this episode, as the writers finally remembered she's supposed to be a reporter, and let her actually do something besides stand around in STAR Labs with her arms crossed. 

SPOILERS!

The Plot:

We begin with yet another flashback to the particle accelerator explosion two years ago. Two stereotypical thugs are dangling Joey Monteleone over a pit of boiling tar in an asphalt company. He tells them what they want to know, but they drop him into the pit anyway. He's burned alive in the pit just as the accelerator explodes, bathing him in cell-altering energy.

Cut to the present day, when Joey emerges from the abandoned company, and discovers he can now turn his body into molten tar. Naturally the first thing he does with this amazing power is seek revenge on those who "killed" him. He tracks down one of the thugs and fries him.

Meanwhile Harry is still being blackmailed into helping Zoom steal Barry's speed. He creates a gadget that will siphon off the speed force from Barry and hides it in his Flash suit. Barry then insists on helping Harry figure out how to close the various breaches into Earth-2. 

Monteleone, now dubbed Tar Pit, attacks the second thug. Barry speeds to the rescue and stops him, but Tar Pit gets away. Harry's device permanently steals two percent of Barry's speed energy. Harry meets with Zoom and gives him the energy. He injects himself with it, and demands the rest. Harry reluctantly agrees.

Joe and Iris are trying to bond with Wally, who's still Fast & Furious racing. Iris tells Joe he needs to stop trying to be Wally's friend and be his father, before he gets himself killed. Iris follows Wally to the street race, and takes a photo of Clark Bronwen, the man behind them. She tracks him to his office and threatens to expose his shady dealings unless he disbands the races. He threatens her family if she does so, but she reveals she's recording their conversation, which I have to admit is pretty gutsy on her part. He throws her out.

Cisco examines the readings from Barry's suit and says he's lost some of his speed. Barry plays it off, saying he's just tired. Harry warns Barry not to get too close to him, because eventually he'll have to choose between the STAR Labs Gang and his daughter (who Zoom is holding captive), and he'll choose her.

Wally enters another street race, and Iris shows up again. Tar Pit suddenly appears to kill Bronwen, who ordered the hit on him two years ago. Tar Pit buckles the road, tossing the cars into the air. Barry arrives and saves Wally seconds before his car crashes and explodes. Debris from the explosion flies toward Iris. Barry's able to stop it all except for one piece, which strikes Iris. He rushes her to the hospital.

The next morning Wally visits Iris in the hospital. Joe's there and finally begins acting like a dad to Wally, ordering him to stay with Iris and stop racing. Cicso invents special grenades that will freeze Tar Pit, but is worried about Barry's loss of speed. He asks Harry if he knows anything about it, and he admits he stole Barry's speed to give to Zoom. Furious, they lock him in the Secret Super Jail.

Barry and Joe draw out Tar Pit. When he appears, he's now completely encased in tar and resembles a large, globular monster. Barry manages to freeze him, and the coating of tar explodes off him. Joe punches out the now normal-looking Tar Pit, and presumably puts him in Super Jail as well.

At STAR Labs, Harry pleads for them to send him back to Earth-2, close all the breaches and let him deal with the problem of Zoom himself. Everyone's all for this idea except for Barry, who defends Harry. He says any of them would have done the same thing if their loved ones were being threatened. They vow to travel to Earth-2 to help Harry save his daughter.

Thoughts:

• Harry cobbles together a widget that will siphon and store Barry's speed. He hides the gadget under the chest emblem on Barry's suit.

Um... is there a reason why Harry's secret gadget is covered in blinking blue lights? Other than because it looks kewl. One would think if one wanted to hide something, one would leave the flashing l.e.d.s off it.

• Joe, Iris and Wally enjoy some takeout pizza for dinner. Why does their pizza box say "Coast City" when they all live in Central City? Didn't Barry use his super speed last season to make a Coast City pizza run? So how'd Joe get ahold of one? Did the prop man think no one would notice the label on the pizza box?

• Barry wants to work with Harry to figure out a way to close all the Earth-2 breaches. When Harry tells him he's not smart enough to understand the science involved, Barry simply speed-reads several thick textbooks on the subject, and he's instantly an expert.

If Barry can speed-learn like this, he ought to be the smartest man alive in addition to the fastest.

• Dang, The Flash, you killed Francine West completely offscreen. She didn't even get a tear-jerking death scene. Sure she wasn't a major character and we never got to see much of her, but that's still pretty cold.

• Heavy Foreshadowing Alert! Wally delivers a monologue to Iris about how he's always loved speed, and how his mom would take him on long drives and he'd watch the scenery "flash" by. We get it already, guys! Wally's going to become Kid Flash!

• In order to shame Wally into quitting his racing habit, Iris shows up in a slutty flag girl outfit, complete with purple hair extensions. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that she can apparently put together an ensemble like this at a moment's notice.

• Harry steals some of Barry's speed to give to Zoom. Cisco notices Barry's slower, saying he clocked him at 1,450 mph instead of his usual 1,500. A couple things here.

I'm still not sure 1,500 mph is fast enough to allow Barry to do all the things he does, like moving faster than the human eye can see, outracing bullets, dashing up the side of skyscrapers without falling off and running across helicopter blades.

Secondly, this confirms the fact that Patty moving to Midway City should be no problem for Barry. I don't know how far Midway is from Central City, but I'm sure it's much less than 1,500 miles. Barry could zip over to see her in minutes.

• When Tar Pit attacks the street racers, he buckles the road, which somehow causes Wally's car to be thrown backwards toward Iris. Barry stops the debris hurtling toward her, but due to his loss of speed, he misses a piece of glass a bit smaller than the average smart phone. It strikes Iris in the shoulder, apparently with enough force to knock her over.

We then see her lying in a hospital bed, on oxygen! Jesus Christ! Iris must be quite the delicate little creature if a small cut to the shoulder lays her up in the hospital for days.

On the other hand, remember that Barry's top speed is 1,450 mph. That means the glass was somehow flying through the air even faster than that! Anyone would be laid up in the hospital if they got hit that fast. 

• Funny how Harry and everyone else from Earth-2 actually call it that. You'd think they'd call their own planet Earth-1, or better yet just plain "Earth." Maybe they politely submit to calling their homeworld Earth-2 when they're visiting Earth-1.

• Joe realizes Iris is right, and he's trying to be a friend to Wally rather than a father. He finally lays down the law at the end of the episode, ordering Wally to sit with his sister in the hospital. Wally instantly backs down and does what his father says.

Wally's immediate 180º reversal of attitude seemed very quick and waaaay too easy. Are we really supposed to believe that one moderately stern lecture from his father is all it takes to straighten up and fly right?

• Kudos to Barry for offering to help out Harry, and call out the STAR Labs Gang's hypocrisy, since most of them have been in his position— namely betraying their friends to protect a family member.

• Tar Pit could have been an amazing villain— think about all the ways tar could be used to slow a speedster like the Flash. But once introduced, it seemed as if the episode couldn't wait to be rid of him. 

Tar Pit is actually from the Flash comic. The FX team did a great job with him, as he looks exactly like his comic book namesake. Too bad the episode didn't do more with him. His final form was pretty cool, but must have been expensive as he's onscreen less than a minute. Damn you, The CW budget!

The comic version of Tar Pit had a radically different origin than the one we see here though. There, Joey Monteleone was a drug trafficker who ended up in Iron Heights Prison. While there he began meditating (!) and soon he could project his "astral self" into various inanimate objects and cause them to move. One day his astral self got stuck in a vat of tar, while his original body fell into a coma. He renamed himself Tar Pit and began using his new body to commit crimes.

That origin story makes the one we see in this episode look like Shakespeare!

• Next week, Barry and Cisco visit Earth-2 to rescue Harry's daughter Jesse from Zoom. How much do you want to be they'll end up bringing her to Earth-1, where she'll become Jesse Quick, yet another speedster on the show?