The Flash Season 2 episodes 10-11 review - Potential Energy/The Reverse Flash Returns

Warning: This review has many tangents and rants, spoilers for the Flash Annual #3 and Batman Beyond (And that episode of JLU that was a Batman Beyond ep)

Also, sorry this is late, but I pretty much exhausted myself with a 4 issue test review coming up.

Potential Energy

My name is Barry Allen and I’m the third, maybe fourth fastest man alive!

To do this review justice, I first have to talk about my thoughts on the Flash Annual #3, or more specifically the introduction to the New52 Wally West. It sucked! I’m all for adding diversity to comics. I’m going to be doing the Miles Morales Spider-man for the 4 issue test when it eventually comes out. But they go about it in the wrong way here. You do not change the race of a pre-standing character with a fanbase, some of whom might be of the race you’re changing him too. You introduce a new character and make him take on the mantle to boost his public image. They are masters of this at Marvel. Whilst some of their choices may be controversial, they take nothing from the pre-standing characters to achieve this. But to top that they make him a petty thief/graffiti artist. I am the only one uncomfortable with the undertones that shows?

With that said, this episode uses similar tactics with their version of Wally West. But… To the show’s credit, it makes much more sense here. They already have black actors cast as Joe and Iris, so Wally being white and ginger would make no sense in that context. Topping that with his mother being ill in more ways than one and without a father figure influence. It’s not so much of a surprise that he has tendencies to illegal actions.

Joe and Iris are naturally both keen to get the family back together. Wally is naturally more resistant to this, even calling out Joe’s poor detective skills in not realising that he had a son sooner. His street racing (anyone getting a Human Torch from Fant4stic vibe) whilst he’s using the winnings to pay for his mother’s treatments it may as well be an adrenaline addiction, much like Batgirl in Batman and Robin (I’m comparing this to really bad movies a lot, how about that?)

OK, let me bring up the big problem I have with the CW shows. That even as Barry Allen’s he’s doing one of the following things

1. Talking about/working on a case the Flash needs to solve
2.   Being depressed from a defeat as the Flash
3. Starting off a case the Flash will eventually intervene
4.  Getting a motivational speech

The issue is, what are they even doing with Barry Allen? Well this week it’s a focus on his relationship with Patty and how much his love life sucks because he’s the Flash. Yeah… Here’s some ideas

1.  Have a case as Barry Allen incidentally tie into the metahuman case
2.  Have a metahuman incriminated of a crime but forensic evidence proves someone else is responsible

Patty still doesn’t know, despite some obvious hints but moving past that she kept a secret of her own, a pretty pointless to keep secret. Once again we’re tied to the ‘lie to protect you’ bs I’ve been lambasting for the past year. Anyway, she’s out of the picture for now.

Oh and Jay is ill, I’d thought I’d mention that, it’s a footnote in the episode too but we have the meta-human of the week to concentrate on. He’s boring but presented a unique challenge and has some bearing on the ongoing story as he has his abilities might be able to slow zoom down as even the Flash is slowed to a crawl

It’s a decent episode, I suppose with some nice character growth on the Wests and a decent case, just wish it didn’t follow this particular plot line from the comic

Rating 7/10

The Reverse Flash Returns

They are just making up the rules of time travel as they go along aren’t they?

I spent my first review of the series ranting about how time travel makes no sense in this universe and how it was completely stupid to wipe Eobard from existence in the first place. For the record, my opinion on that has not changed. There are easy ways around most of the problems in that episode

Honestly, I won’t dwell on it too much because this episode was mostly pretty good but like every episode this show has had I can’t love it because something stupid is dragging it down. Didn’t we get rid of Paddy last episode? Was she really necessary in this one? Did we really need to add her to the 50 million other people who know Barry’s secret? Did we really have to go down the road of ‘I don’t want her to know my secret because it’d put her in danger bullsh*t again?

You know, when they did this in Batman Beyond, at least there Kobra saw that the guy knew who he was. The majority of the Flash’s most dangerous foes know who he is, how she in any more danger if she knows too?

Another Batman Beyond example. Terry McGinnis in a scene says he doesn't want to tie the knot with Dana because ‘IF THE BAD GUYS EVER FOUND OUT I WAS BATMAN, they’d try to get to me by hurting you.’ Notice the two big differences, 1^st, it was about the bad guys finding out that Terry was Batman, it’s not like she’d be publicly be known as Batman’s girlfriend. 2^nd, she knew his secret at this point. It wasn’t telling her that was the issue it was getting close.

This comes off perhaps as self-deprecating but at least it’s honest. These CW shows continue to go down the lie to protect you route and it continually p*sses me off because 9 times out of 10 it’s bullsh*t. And you know what’s better, the one time where it might not be they reveal the lie straight away!

Sorry, off on a tangent a bit but seriously STOP!

Anyway, the rest of the episode was some of the strongest character stuff I’ve seen this series, as the Reverse Flash returns, this time a past version so Cisco begins to learn to control his powers, Barry has to let go of his anger to save lives from a timeline incident and they find Jay Garrick’s Earth-1 Counterpart, Hunter Zoloman aka Zoom in the pre-new52 comics.

Oh, and we also see Wally and Iris bond over their dead mother, which is way less creepy than it sounds.

Rating 7.5/10

For updates and exclusive extras click here to like my Facebook page

For more reviews click here

Images used in this review are from The Flash and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use.