The Flash, 3.06 - "Shade"

Warning: SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED.

As Thanksgiving break approaches, I finally have some free time on my hands to catch up on my shows. I finally got to watch the most recent Flash episode 6 days late, and a lot happened.



This season is definitely better than the last so far, but the biggest issue with the show is that they're trying to fit too many characters and events in each time. I know Arrow was shamed by comicbook fans for not having enough comic content, but remember: the general audience are not comicbook fans. If I have to google all the new characters at the end of each episode, I'm going to be lost, confused, and even bored. I don't want to have to struggle to remember what happened each episode just because there was too much going on. From Wally's dreams/memories of his Flashpoint life as Kid Flash thanks to Dr. Alchemy (and turns out there's an even bigger force at play) to Caitlin's struggle with her powers to the latest metahuman named Shade, I could barely keep up. However, I'll try to break everything down.

Wally longs to help people, and knowing that Jesse got superspeed despite the both of them getting hit by the dark matter exacerbates his feelings of uselessness. I'm glad that Wally called out Joe and Barry for their hypocrisy, especially Barry. Also, I genuinely don't understand how Joe can trust Barry with powers after all he's done. I didn't plan to bring it up this early into the review, but let's face it - everything that has happened since season 2 has been Barry's fault. Barry ran back in time for his own selfish desire to save his mother, and caused the opening to infinite Earths. Though he should've learned his lesson about the consequences of messing with time, he STILL does it again, creating Flashpoint and the new timeline where literally everyone suffers. I will never not be bothered by the fact that the team decided to forgive him so easily, and seeing someone FINALLY point out the double standards was so amazing.

Even Iris starts questioning things - she longs to help people with superpowers as well, though not as much as Wally. Barry reassures her that "there is no Flash without Iris West" - one of my favorite scenes and quotes from the episode. This is so so SO important. I'm glad that Iris West's value is directly acknowledged and hopefully it can finally shut up the racists. And before you go there, no, this is nothing like Laurel's "importance" to Arrow.

But that's a discussion relevant to a later post. Wally's dreams intensify, and eventually Alchemy starts causing physical pain that could lead to severe brain damage if not stopped. Team Flash somehow decides that locking him up would be the most effective solution. It's also ""weird"" that the white man suggests the idea. (???????) Honestly, Wally doesn't deserve this. Let my son achieve his dream of being a hero, Flash writers!!! One good (kinda) thing that came out of it - look, I love Wally to pieces, but Queen Iris punching her brother hard enough to knock him out was the highlight of my day. The team eventually decides to send Wally in to set up a trap for Alchemy. Does that ever work? Also, I'm surprised that Alchemy couldn't figure out it was a trap earlier despite the obvious indications it would be. In the end, the police and Barry lose to the bigger threat of the season - a speed God named Savitar, apparently. I mean, okay? Whatever, I guess. The background music was a nice touch, and the cliffhanger was vaguely scary, but other than that, the whole sequence was kind of a mess. Nothing flowed, and it passed too quickly to really be that effective.

Besides worrying about Wally, Joe and Cecil finally start to get somewhere. They actually have nice chemistry, but I still don't particularly like Joe. They have their first date at Movie in the Park when the new meta, Shade appears - able to vibrate himself into looking like a shadow,, he had previously killed a businessman. At the end of the episode, we still know nothing about his identity or motivations, which is weird. His storyline is pretty much swept aside for the bigger, cooler comic threats. Is it going to be brought up again? Also, Julian and Barry's relationship goes back to being frenemy leaning toward enemy. So their deep conversation in the previous episode was all for nothing? I'm tired of these inconsistencies. It's annoying.

Meanwhile, Caitlin finally confesses to someone - Cisco - that she has frost powers. Admitting that she secretly took Cisco's power-dampening cuffs to restrain herself (which obviously leads to handcuffs jokes), he vibes them in the future fighting in their Vibe and Killer Frost identities. Why is it that only Caitlin's powers make her evil? Also, if the cuffs are effective, why would she need to leave? Why can't Cisco just make more of the cuffs? Anyways, Cisco makes her confess to the entire team, and Barry tells her she didn't have the powers in the previous timeline. (The theme this episode is clearly avoiding your problems gets you nowhere.) See, Barry? This is all your fault.

Overall, this episode was.....okay, I guess. The writing and plot are messy, but they always have been. Hopefully we get more of Iris and Cisco next episode, and NOT just them making sacrifices so others can be happy. Especially Cisco - when will someone do the same for him? It's TIRING seeing the brown man play second fiddle to the whites. Also, how do he and Caitlin earn money? I still want to know!!!

Rating: 7.8
Extras that didn't make it in: I like how the show tried to suggest that JULIAN is Alchemy. It was so poorly done, there's no way he is. HR needs to disguise himself (I don't know why the writers don't bother acknowledging this until now, when he's already been on multiple coffee runs and has yet to be caught), and his Earth has some fancy facial transformation technology. Cisco and Caitlin's friendship has been getting increasingly awkward. Why?

*My next review will probably be of Pitch or Supergirl or Jane the Virgin! I'm also trying to catch up on Luke Cage. See you then!