The Flash Season 3 Episode 10
When you think about it, these midseason breaks are really quite long. Ordinarily, by episode 10 of a 22 or 23 episode season, I’ve usually called out about 3-4 episodes as being “disposable” and indicative of why most network TV shows could benefit from moving to the cable model. Anyway, I’m not going to do that tonight, even though Plunder is a completely lame villain of the week. Meanwhile, for a guy that we only see in flashback (ahem, I mean, flash-forward), Savitar’s presence looms large. But really, he’s completely absent in every appreciable way from the episode, but his presence is still felt heavily in nearly every scene. You can thank Grant Gustin’s performance for that, and I think finally, after Barry’s manic episodes that ultimately led to Flashpoint, the character has settled into that perfect groove of “the weight of the world, perhaps multiple worlds, is on my shoulders” without compromising his otherwise appropriate exuberance and positivity. And I do think that the scene where Barry tells Iris about her fate might be the single most powerful moment these two have had together. Candice Patton and Grant Gustin have had wonderful chemistry since the first episode, and it’s hard not to root for these two characters. But the moment in original Wells’ secret room is, I think, the best they’ve had. It’s safe to say that’s saying quite a bit. On the other hand, Barry telling Iris “I swear on both my parents’ lives” shouldn’t exactly fill anybody with confidence now that I think about it. And speaking of Wally, I sure do love that Kid Flash costume. And I really loved his initial square off with Plunder on the motorcycle there. That might have been the best blend of practical stuntwork and the CGI (yeah, I know, lot of “bests” this week from me…cut me some slack, I missed this show) I’ve seen this show attempt. It was brief, but it was cool. And c’mon, how can you not pop for Wally when he literally got lightning in his eyes when Barry gave him the “Iris needs a hero right now” pep talk? Of course, if Iris is saved, the future is probably going to find a way to take another West away, and Wally seems to be having way too much fun and Joe West is having way too easy a time of things right now so…let’s not get too attached to anybody, OK? I was prepared to write about what a slow-moving, downbeat episode “Borrowing Problems From the Future” was, but then The Flash, as it has been known to do this season, just went ahead and proved me wrong. Seriously, for a show that now boasts at least two speedsters a week on it, The Flash has been a remarkably patient affair all season long. It’s not in a hurry to get anywhere. But if the first ten episodes of this season are anything to go by, well, everything is going to be worth the wait.
Flash Facts!
– Plunder has only made a handful of appearances in DC Comics, and you aren’t missing much, and really, he doesn’t bear much in common with the guy we met here. He was created by Geoff Johns and Angel Unzueta during one of my favorite periods of Flash comics, though, and he was really one of Wally’s enemies, so there’s some appropriate symmetry in having Wally take him down. Now, let’s talk headlines… – Unfortunately, I think Ms. Snow’s return to Killer Frost-dom is inevitable, and I’m afraid she’s going to take poor Julian down with her, one way or the other. I like both of these characters so much. On the other hand, maybe this is one of those events that they’ll be able to put off, and we won’t see Caitlin return to her villainous ways again until The Flash Season 4. I advocated patience with revealing Killer Frost, and it worked quite well. The next challenge is for the show not to overuse her. – The gorilla attack is totally happening, as there’s a Grodd two-parter on the way! I have more details on that here. Anyway, I bet the joke is that Music Meister gets his book deal even after Supergirl and Flash expose what a jerk he is. – I’m calling it right now: STAR Labs Museum closes…but becomes The Flash Museum! Here’s the thing: we’ve already “seen” The Flash Museum in the season one finale and we sorta met its proprietor in the season one episode “Going Rogue” (where he was played by Bruce Harwood) when he was in charge of just The Central City Museum. But it’s not like these shows haven’t swept names under the rug before (Hello, season one Linda Park!), and really…doesn’t HR Wells seem like more of a Dexter Myles to you? C’mon, how can you not be rooting for poor HR to succeed right now? – Regardless of what happens with Savitar, things are going to be difficult for Iris in the future. I won’t go into detail here, because it’s like, season 4 or 5 spoilers, but it’s something else they’ve teased in the speed force visions in the past. OK, fine, I wrote a little more about it here, but spoilers! Alright speedsters, what did I miss? Hit me up on Twitter or let me know in the comments! It’s good to be back!
