“Fallout†is the second half of the episode that aired last week, “The Nuclear Man,” and what an episode it turned out to be. The Flash has easily been the best comic book TV show thus far. It seems to hit all the right points, is able to juggle multiple storylines and most importantly, it’s insanely fun to watch. “Fallout†continues the outstanding episodes in the show’s freshman year.
This week’s episode started off with a boom, quite literally. We get to see the culmination of S.T.A.R. Labs attempt to split Ronnie and Dr. Stein. The procedure worked, but the unintended consequences helped propel various storylines throughout the episode. Stein and Ronnie are polar opposites, which allows for an interesting dynamic. Their distaste for one another slowly evolves into acceptance as that will allow them to converge into Firestorm and separate after. But, the best relationship tension involved Ronnie and Caitlin.
Throughout the season Caitlin has had to deal with Ronnie dying, coming back, being a meta, becoming himself again and going back to being ½ of Firestorm when needed. Her search for some kind of normalcy is constantly tossed in the air episode after episode, and this episode doesn’t change a thing. But, it is interesting that when Ronnie wants to leave Starling City, she explains that they are needed here. It’s almost to the point that she doesn’t really believe a relationship between the two will ever work. Besides the huge mystery involving Wells, which was tied in a nice neat knot in this episode, there’s some serious depth with Caitlin I hope we get to explore throughout the season.
As the separation of Firestorm has S.T.A.R Labs rejoicing, Eiling, the military general teased at the end of last week, has just found his latest weapon. Eiling does eventually catch up with Ronnie, but Barry is there to save the day, or so he thought. Eiling uses a grenade that uses micro fragments that attract to kinetic energy, thus injuring Barry. Eiling makes it known that he knows that Barry Allen is The Flash, which was a great callback to a previous episode. The portrayal of Eiling is the overzealous war-monger, but I did like that he actually had technology up to par with S.T.A.R. Labs. But while Eiling couldn’t get to Ronnie, he did get to Dr. Stein thanks to Dr. Wells.
Wells is always that character you can’t quite figure out. One episode, he’s in a wheelchair; the next he is walking around in a few scenes. One episode, you are convinced he is the Reverse Flash; the next, you question it. One thing is for certain; he is one of those characters you love to hate. Early on, he gives Stein to Eiling so that Eiling could fully understand and utilize Firestorm. But, through the separation process, Stein and Ronnie can sense one another’s feelings, thus allowing Stein to send his location to Ronnie. They foil his plan, just in time, and then we are left with the biggest scene.
We finally get to see Wells in the Reverse Flash costume, and he takes Eiling down into the sewers. Eiling is pleading for his life, “God, please….†Grodd answers, “ Not god, Grodd.†His voice sounds absolutely perfect, and surprisingly, the gorilla animations look realistic. The only problem is I don’t know how we can wait nearly a month for the next episode.
Barry’s storyline did take a backseat of sorts, but Joe did tell Barry that they found his blood on the wall. He realizes that he must have learned to travel through time, and his destiny is to fail. As the episode progresses, we see his growth as a character when he realizes that he can use what he knows about how his mother was killed and the projection Cisco created to save his mom. The characterization of Barry is always great, but this episode really hit that point on the head.
Now we’ve come to the sticking point for many people, Iris. She often does play that petty role that seems to always hate on Barry’s happiness, but I actually like her scenes this week. Her partner at the paper believes she needs to follow up on the S.T.A.R. Labs lead after seeing the intense military presence at Jitter’s Coffee Shop. She has a happy run in with Caitlin’s “cousin,†Ronnie’s terribly created persona. Eventually, she finds the photo of Firestorm on her blog and connects the two. While not being consequential yet, it should provide for some conflict between the group and Iris in later episodes.
The Flash and outstanding episodes go hand in hand. They’ve rarely had a misstep, and they really cemented why your Tuesday evening should be spent watching The Flash run through Central City. This episode provided a ton of storylines and two enormous reveals. The only problem is that we have to wait a month for the next episode.
