SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
I was loving this episode, having fun with it and enjoying the thrill up until the point that Caitlin got caught.
It kind of lost steam after that.
This episode, literally, started beautifully. The sequence in which Savitar was speeding back and forth all over Central City and kicking Barry’s ass was stunning. The CGI on this show has never looked so good. Clearly, the budget went almost entirely to this episode. I was very impressed with the visuals there. It looked like a video game but not in a bad way.
I do like Savitar so far from what I’ve seen of him but, I wish he wasn’t the villain this season. For the pure and simple fact that he is yet…another…speedster.
If he was an acolyte of Dr. Alchemy’s then it would have been a little better because at least the main villain wouldn’t be a speedster.
When Caitlin swooped in and saved Barry by freezing Savitar I was so happy to see her using her powers by choice and participating in Team Flash’s “field work.” As I’ve been saying, I really want her to have the powers but not be evil. I loved how much the showed off her Killer Frost powers and her using the ice breath was my favourite part.
She did start inhabiting the Killer Frost evil persona this episode though. At first I thought she was playing the part of the bad girl to get everyone to leave her alone since she was so desperate to find Dr. Alchemy and get him to take away her powers (which was obvious to anyone who was paying attention, which Team Flash apparently wasn’t because they didn’t figure that out). But then as the episode progressed it became apparent that her bad girl antics were genuine.
I don’t see why her powers are warping her mind and making her turn evil. I don’t recall that happening to other metas on the show; their powers changing their personalities. The ones that were criminals after getting powers were criminals before they had them. I also don’t recall the show explaining why it is happening either or the characters making an attempt to understand why.
It might just be the writers trying to justify her turning evil, but it’s a weak justification in my opinion. It’s not necessary for her to turn evil.
I do agree with her that Barry is at fault for her developing her powers. Every time Barry tries to fix things by going back in time (except the very first time he did it to stop the tidal wave, if memory serves) he pretty much makes it worse and everyone else has to pick up the pieces behind him and help him fix his fix. I’m glad she really is angry with Barry because last week it didn’t seem like she was.
It didn’t occur to me until this episode that Caitlin’s Killer Frost storyline was directly tied to Barry’s emotional journey and coming to terms with what he did with Flash Point. I think that was a bit of intelligent writing to tie those two stories together.
I would have gotten behind Iris’ “your mistakes make you human” speech to Barry if this had been the first time he’d screwed up so royally. The first time is a mistake. Every other time after that is not. He’s made the same “mistake” over and over. After a point, he truly is to blame for whatever consequences stem from his actions and he needs to take responsibility and be held accountable.
But hey, it’s Iris. She’s his forever girl and no matter what he does – it seems – she’ll support and defend him even when he is in the wrong.
I wish the entire episode had focused on Caitlin and Wally’s awakening happened next week. I feel like how they concluded her story in this episode was very anti-climactic and very weak. She did not come to terms with or accept her powers, which I think is what her story this season is all about and what she needs to do. Barry testing her by asking her to kill him probably buried her Killer Frost persona temporarily because that cannot really be the way they end her Killer Frost arc. There was no closure there. Her character is stuck in limbo if she never accepts her powers.
Julian being Dr. Alchemy was expected. What questions remain now are how and why he is working for/with Savitar.
Random thoughts:
- Don’t his acolytes have powers? Why isn’t this one guy using any?
- We need more Flash/Killer Frost/Vibe team ups.
- Geez! I felt those pokes Cisco.
- His super power is hope? Really?
- Iris: “You can’t keep doing this to yourself.” What he needs to stop doing is messing with the timeline.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 PM on The CW.
