The Reactor

Reactor Review: The Flash Season 4 – Episodes 5 and 6

By Mario Wario

Warning: this article contains light spoilers for season 4, episodes 5 and 6 of The Flash.

With Justice League in theaters now, one could say that it’s a good time to be a Flash fan. Not only will he be on the big screen (with a different actor inside the suit), but we also have the ongoing CW series. As for the television show, the last four episodes have been moving the main plot along, albeit at a slower pacing than it should be. Although, the series does like to drag certain plot elements, just for the sake of building tension. The major villains from each season are the prime example of this type of storytelling when looking back. This young season is no better as each week we are introduced to a minor villain, while the Thinker’s endgame hasn’t been revealed at all. “Girls Night Out” and “When Harry Met Harry” did nothing to change that.

“Girls Night Out” was filler. For instance, the Thinker did show up, but only for a moment and this appearance only left more questions, rather than answering anything. What are his true motives? I know, it’s all about the buildup, but can we just get things going here? Moving beyond that, I did feel that Hartley Sawyer’s performance as Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man was better this time. I also enjoyed his interaction with the team as the chemistry between him and everyone else felt more natural. As for the bachelor party portion of the episode, it was great. The guys (who are, of course, Barry, Cisco, Harry, Joe and Ralph), all did a fine job being silly.

As for the bachelorette party subplot, we got a couple of guest stars paying a visit: Emily Bett Richard as Felicity (to join Iris, Cecile and Caitlin) with Katee Sackhoff being the new villain. Her character is the wicked Amunet Black. Now, what I found interesting was that the focus of the episode wasn’t on Iris, but mostly on Caitlin and her struggle to control her darker side. For the most part, I did not mind this. It’s good seeing someone else getting this much attention, other than the Flash. Of course, what helped was that Danielle Panabaker did her part in the portrayal of Killer Frost. Iris did have her moments though, being the leader of this group, which I found to be believable once again.

Meanwhile, Cecile and Felicity were your typical supportive characters when they needed to be. It’s too bad that they couldn’t have gotten a little bit more to do. As for Amunet, you could tell that Sackhoff was having a blast being the baddy. Her passion for being bad was great, so hopefully this character comes back again soon. Her powers are cool and I want to know more about them. (Sure, I could use Google, but I want to see how the writers will handle this for story purposes.)

On to “When Harry Met Harry.” This episode was also filler; it had the responsibility of showing what it takes to be a good superhero. This is where we see Ralph get the spotlight and a suit! (Which looked cheap even if it was done on purpose.) Even here, I thought that Hartley Sawyer’s goofy performance was better. He definitely feels comfortable with his new role now. Storywise, I did like where it went with Ralph, even if it was your typical superhero training story.

The humor, meanwhile, did get a little too silly compared to previous episodes. Don’t get me wrong, some of it did work, but other times it did not. The best examples of this not working were the opening scene (a robber kept hurting himself), Ralph remembering a past event, and the Council of Wells, where we had three extra Harrison Wells paying a visit to solve a clue. Each scene came off as being way over the top in the comic arena. That said, we did get a nice Lord of the Rings nod with the Wells craziness, plus those council scenes did show what Tom Cavanagh can do in acting. Oh, there was a Harry Potter line. We also had Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park references as well.

Continuing the movie theme, someone on the show must be a fan of the Night of the Museum films. That museum encounter at the end screams of it. I am not saying that there is anything wrong that it did, it is just that the movie nod theme was present throughout the episode.

As to the new villain, we are introduced to Black Bison (played by Chelsea Kurtz), who has the power to bring props to life. But unlike Katee Sackhoff’s character, there was nothing memorable with this baddy. But I blame the writing on this one, not the actress. What I did find enjoyable was the friendship between Barry and Ralph, as they continue to keep moving past their distaste of each other when saving Central City. And yes, the Thinker popped up towards the end, but at least it led to something major. So this must mean his story will be picking up now, right?

Well, that is it. Until next time, here’s my overall score for these two episodes: 3.8/5.

Want to talk about The Flash some more? Just click here to join on the discussion over on the FoCC forum.

Mario Wario

Scott is a Spidey/Funko/video game fanatic, yet going to a pop culture convention is always his goal. Yes, he is also a fan of Mario and Wario. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottyTheWise.