In an annoying turn of events, the show kicks off with The Flash battling Captain Cold and Heatwave. Normally a battle between The Flash and two of his most entertaining villains would be thrilling. Actually, even though this encounter was brief, it was quite exciting. The problem here is considering the way the last episode of season one ended, this writer wanted immediate answers! Cliffhangers manage to somehow be great and terrible all at the same time. When The Flash ran up the debris to try to stop the singularity, it looked phenomenal… but then the episode ended. Point of full disclosure, the TV remote in this writer’s living room may have been tossed at the TV screen in frustration.
All jokes aside (totally wasn’t joking, that really happened) this really was the best way to start the episode. Build up the anticipation even further for the answers we all so desperately craved. Even though the entire start of the show was a dream sequence, it was a moment that needed to happen. Barry envisioned being surrounded by all of the people he cares about, including Dr. Wells. Wells tells him that Barry doesn’t need him; he can do this on his own now.
That statement is quite prophetic. Seems Barry has taken to being a lone wolf. Barry has dismissed his team with the hopes of no one getting hurt trying to help him. At first, this was perplexing, but it seems Barry blames himself for the apparent death of Ronnie Raymond (one half of Firestorm). During the singularity, event Firestorm split to dissipate the core while The Flash stabilized it. The problem is the only Professor Stein and The Flash made it out of the sky. Ronnie has the worst luck ever. It seems a season of The Flash can’t start without Ronnie “dying”. That singularity was a portal of sorts. It is probably safe to assume that Ronnie may have been sucked into it, which means he may still, in fact, be alive. This could lead to a “we have to save Ronnie” episode later in the season, but didn’t we already do that last season? At what point are they going to move on from Ronnie being in peril?
One of the prevailing themes of this episode is Barry’s unwillingness to fully embrace his connection with people: the people in his inner circle and the people of Central City. At this point the city has embraced The Flash as the hero he was meant to be. They dedicated a day to him and the mayor wants to give him the key to the City. This is the kind of love and respect most heroes only dream of. In the comics, The Flash has always enjoyed the adulation of the people of Central City, they actually build a museum in his honor. On the other hand, he can’t reconcile with the fact that Ronnie is gone and he not only does he blame himself but he doesn’t feel he truly deserves this day or the key to the city. In his eyes, it was Ronnie who saved the city. Giving up one’s life is a noble act but acting as if that was the only reason Central City is still standing is asinine. It was a team effort.
This is further evident in Barry’s overwhelming need to rebuild the city by night. A noble effort, but Barry is clearly spreading himself too thin. Barry is feverously trying to right his perceived wrongs all while walling himself off from the people that helped him become the man he is today.
After a pep talk from Iris, The Flash decides to show up at the “Flash Day” celebration. Of course, this was a terrible idea because the dead body that Barry and Joe were standing over earlier had seemingly been reanimated and given Metahuman powers. This fight does not go well for The Flash, but with help from Joe, he manages to fight off the later named, “Atom Smasher” (side note: seeing the glee on Professor Stein face as he came up with the name “Atom Smasher” was definitely a high point of this episode).
Cisco has an interesting moment via what seems to be a flashback of someone talking to Atom Smasher. Could this be another manifestation of the powers that Dr. Wells alluded to during last year’s finale? Cisco’s comic book counterpart Vibe has, you guessed it, vibration-based powers. If Cisco’s powers were manifesting themselves in a manner that allows him to feel the vibrations of other dimensions it would make sense that he would be able to see a glimpse of the events that surrounded Atom Smasher’s eventual arrival in Central City… well, sort of.
Atom Smasher isn’t the most well-known villain (and sometimes hero… don’t ask questions just go with it) but his debut here did nothing to help that fact. Albert Rothstein is the definition of a one-note villain. He said very little and did even less. In previous roles, Adam Copeland has shown more of an ability to… well, act. His performance here is not indicative of his work on “Haven” or the many years he spent in the squared circle as a WWE superstar. It is painfully obvious that this script didn’t call for Atom Smasher to rival the depth of the Ra’s al Ghuls of the world but this was ridiculous.
The lack of development reminded this writer of the villain of the week formula of a show like “Smallville”. Last season they managed for the most part to create an overarching, multilayered, connected group of rogues for The Flash to face. The sole purpose of the interaction between The Flash and Atom Smasher seemed just so Atom Smasher can die and say Zoom is the reason he attacked The Flash. Zoom promised to get Atom Smasher home if he killed The Flash. Talk about the definition of an epic fail.
After Barry is given a final gift from Dr. Wells, Barry is finally able to get his father out of prison. For some unfathomable reason in the event of Dr. Wells’ death, he recorded a video that exonerated Barry’s father in the death of Barry’s mother Nora. Dr. Wells always has a plan. There is a strong possibility that there is more to this, but it is hard not think all of this might be happening solely for Barry’s dad to get killed. Even money says the deed is done by Zoom at some point during the season. Barry is being propped up way to high to not come crashing down to earth. The only thing that could shake Barry to his core other than one of his team members dying would be the death of his father after being separated for 14 years.
Episode Rating: 7-out-of-10
As far as season premieres go, this was a mixed bag. There was a fair amount of action and a lot of character development. Well for everyone but the antagonist that is. The Flash’s special effects were pretty impressive last season. The way they were able to animate Grodd is a good example of that, but the growing effect for Atom Smasher left a bit to be desired. With very little development and pretty mundane special effects, it was hard to care or feel legitimately threatened by this villain.
Focusing on the different layers of Barry’s character was a welcome addition to this episode, but too many convenient and nonsensical plot points (Wells admitting guilt was a bit much) left a bit to be desired from this episode. Hopefully, the revelation of Jay Garrick appearing at the end of the episode (the build-up of Cisco talking about S.T.A.R. Labs new security before Garrick magically appears was pretty hilarious) will lead to the show delving into all of the zaniness of Earth-2 and the multiverse. Not sure what any of the means? Click here for more on Earth-2 and the Multiverse.
