Jessie Robertson reviews the twenty-first episode of The Flash season 2…
Snooch-to the-Naga-Nooch!
Yep, this is the “one Kevin Smith directed.” If you’re not a fan, don’t let that scare you off; and if you are a huge fan, you won’t notice much of a difference from business as usual. That being said, this was one hell of an episode. Last week when Barry was hit by the particle accelerator and transported…somewhere, most of his crew believed him dead. This was not the case. He had been transported inside the actual Speed Force. When Barry wakes up from this ordeal, he’s in his house, Joe’s house. He sees Joe. But, as Jesse L. Martin so deftly tells him “I’m not Joe.” This very cool, “trippy” moment sets off a strange adventure where the Flash isn’t chasing down bad guys, he’s wrestling with his own emotions. Now, as an impatient society, it’s probably pretty well believed Barry would get his powers back, and this feels like the episode for it to happen, but if any our of CW-speedsters out there were waiting impatiently for this to happen, cool your heels; there’s major stuff happening here.
Joe (sitting and explaining things very Morpheus-like) tells Barry he actually represents the Speed Force; it is a living, cognizant force of nature in the world like many other things, light, even….and they both pause. Of course, Kevin Smith was going to bring God into this! That was a very heavy moment though, but not in a bad way at all. Earlier in the season, Oliver told Barry he believed the Speed Force “chose” him; nothing was an accident. Now, we find out that is unequivocally true. Just as you could draw parallels to why God or whatever guiding force you may or may not believe controls the universe, chooses some people to die, some people to have children, some people to get rich; etc. We’re dealing with an omnipotent force that plays by its own rules. The Flash has never really tackled the subject of God and belief, and there’s many reasons why, but in its own way, tonight was that episode and I loved the way they handled it. Joe tells Barry he needs to simply catch this moving shadow and he can go home; but not before. This frustrates Barry, and as he makes his play to chase after it, he’s soon found by a few other figures and interesting places in his journey.
He finds Iris at the riverfront where they kissed and watched the world swallowed up by a giant wave (of course, in an alternate timeline). She questions Barry’s decisions when he gave up his power, his gift. Barry seems to grow tired of these people from his life showing up, knowing they’re not real. His father, Henry, also shows up and really peels away the layers of Barry being the Flash, to just being himself. He is standing over Nora Allen’s grave and comments that Barry has never been to this place, in his real life. It really strikes Barry and again, gives you that God allegory as if they, at least, have been watching over this boy since he was very young. He was meant for great things; but Henry suggests something that, even I, huge fan of the show, did not pick up on: he’s never really accepted his mother’s death. But, that seems silly; of course he has, he’s been dealing with it almost his whole life. But, as Barry sits and sheds tears looking at that gray headstone, it hits him, and us the viewer; In the end, he had the choice to save her, when he became the Flash that went back in time, but he chose not to; for the overall good of everyone else in Central City he saved over the last year, due to that fact. It was a tough decision and the hardest decision of his life; it showed in that one scene.
The real kicker, the main event, was running back home, his childhood home and finding his mother, Nora. This was a massive kick in the heart. This version of Nora told Barry would it help him find peace if he knew his mother was proud of who he has become? Again, sentient stuff there. He questioned if this was his mother or the Speed Force speaking? She replied both. Then, they read a book from his childhood together; it’s a book about being something else, something stronger, taller, faster perhaps; but in the end, you are most special because there’s one person who’s suited just perfectly for you: your mother. This is touching stuff, pulling heartstrings, deep cuts, tears rolling. A perfect emotional roller coaster of an episode, up and down, but it leaves Barry in a good place; and it feels earned and epic when he catches that shadow; himself, as the Flash and stands up, as Iris breaks through the Speed Force, Barry looks back and forth at the two women in his life he has loved, and chooses to keep moving forward. It’s a really awesome moment.
Other stuff happens; Girder is brought back as a zombie (sort of), Cisco and Iris have some hilarious older sister-little brother type dialogue, Jesse goes into a speed coma, etc. This was a Barry Episode; this was a Flash episode; and it was superbly done.
10/10
Other Notes:
– Oh yeah, to Kevin Smith-it up a bit more, his good friend Jason Mewes (Jay from Jay and Silent Bob) makes a funny cameo.
– Our post credits scene looks to really shake up the end of this season; as Zoom has followed Wells’ plan to a tee: he’s now recruited every meta-human he can find for his war against the Flash and this Earth.
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