Jessie Robertson reviews the eighth episode of The Flash season 4…
Part 3 is where it’s at. This show had intrigue, drama and action galore. It’s not very Flash-focused, but that’s okay. In Part 3 we meet the resistance to the Nazi regime, right as our heroes are about to be executed by Lance’s doppelgänger, a Nazi general in an extremely intense and frightening scene, not like a typical CW show.
Saving our heroes is Lenny Snart, aka Citizen Cold! Anytime Wentworth Miller shows up, it’s a good episode. Citizen Cold (a great character from the Flashpoint universe) is not near as smarmy as his Earth-One counterpart but he’s still a delight to watch. He’s also involved on this Earth, with Ray Terrill aka The Ray, who’s a big DC Comics hero never before introduced. They have been fighting these Nazi’s on Earth X for over 3 generations and the war is about to come to a head. Enter: General Wynn Schott, in a great performance of a doppelgänger. Watching Supergirl, I often feel like the character of Wynn gets the short straw, but here, he’s made strong, tough and unwavering, and you believe it because of what their people have gone through. Even though Alex gives him a desperate plea, he can’t relent and even though he has to, it makes less sense to the plot that he would give in to the Ray, even though he calls it off. He was so convincing, I felt myself wondering if we would see how that storyline winds up.
On Earth One, Felicity and Iris truly exhibit the girl power they always preach, through stealth, sheer willpower and intelligence. It’s a good piece of writing where they are involved because they use whatever they can to survive and help their friend, Supergirl, even while facing a malevolent speedster and a twisted Oliver. Here, Thawne is at his most evil, delivering lines to Kara of what he will do to her with great delight. Stephen Amell & Melissa Benoist also have a sharp edge to them, and pull off very believable performances as their bad guy counterparts, even if the dissension amongst them and Thawne goes exactly nowhere. I found myself wondering where Ray was and why he wasn’t invited to the party but his appearance is a pure delight.
As the heroes gather together to find entrance back to Earth One, we get some harrowing scenes that follow. Oliver posing as his Fuhrer counterpart but being outsmarted by Lance’s evil twin are intense and the shootout afterwards, including Martin & Jax’s heroic effort fills the room with drama. Flash & Ray are sent to stop Wynn’s bomb from destroying the portal before they get back home, but the bomb turns out to be a version of Red Tornado (Yes!) another great callback to Supergirl. This episode literally ends on a cliffhanger before the last one.
Rating: 9.5/10
Jessie Robertson
