This week’s episode of The Flash, “Plastique,†was another strong episode, but we had hoped for something different. Don’t get me wrong, Plastique was a pretty good “villain,†but we were pining to see Captain Cold and Heat Wave. With such a great cliffhanger with the previous episode, it’s hard to simply jump to another set of villains. But, the villains featured in the episode were great.
A bomb goes off downtown, and Barry gets to test just how far he can push his abilities. A window washer is dangling above, which doesn’t really make sense since i’ve never seen a window washer washing at night. Barry runs up the side of the building, grabs the guy and runs back down the side. An amazing save with one big problem, Iris saw “The Streak†and continues to publish her blog.
The investigation, being nothing new for Central City, takes a strange turn when the Army takes over the investigation. The local police can’t understand as to why General Eiling has taken over the case, but Joe insists that Barry and the team over at STAR Labs should look into it. Once Dr. Harrison Wells hears word about General Eiling, he explains that the two have some history, and it didn’t end well.
The scene only reinforces that we know very little of what Dr. Wells is up to. From being bound in a wheelchair, by choice of course, to him having connections with just about every shady character in the series, it’ll be interesting when the team at STAR Labs begins to key in on Dr. Wells. But for now, Wells is a great asset in tracking down metahumans.
The team later learned that the metahuman that caused the explosion was Bette Sans Souci, better known as Plastique. But, the nice change of pace was that the villain of the week wasn’t hellbent on causing destruction and killing everything. Instead, she was a victim of what General Eiling did to her. Her “ability†was being able to turn just about anything into a bomb, which was shown when she blew up Barry’s suit about which Cisco wasn’t the least bit happy. It was nice to see Barry have a companion that can share in the struggle of being a meta, but Wells had some plans of his own.
Wells convinced Plastique to kill General Eiling because he wouldn’t stop until he had what he wanted. Of course, being an expat, she unquestioningly goes to kill Eiling. As you’d expect, things don’t go as planned. She throws bombs at them, but before she can commit the final act Barry arrives. His arrival saves her humanity, of which she thanks him. But he didn’t realize Eiling had a gun, and he shoots Plastique. She dies in Barry’s arms. But, the threat isn’t over yet. Plastique is minutes from exploding, and Barry does a godly act. Barry runs on the water far enough away from the city take the explosion away from the civilians and avoid fatalities. Some pretty slick visuals were present and allowed for a heart-pumping sequence.
Although the scene was great, I really felt this episode featured the best scenes between Barry and Iris. In the one scene Barry, in his Flash get up, is trying to convince her not to pursue her blog based on The Streak. He does this by rapidly vibrating his vocal chords to distort his voice; this technique and the rapidly moving face are great little details that add to the character. Of course, he somehow managed to convince her to publish it with her name, something that could seriously jeopardize her safety. Although this happens in just about every superhero show, it makes The Flash feel human.
The episode closed with Wells in front of Gorilla Grodd; yes, it’s definitely going down soon.
The Verdict
The Flash speeds by with another great episode. It was nice to see Barry really test his abilities and the special effects that accompanied them really made for a spectacle. Making a segue from the ultra kill-everything metahuman to a villain with a more humanistic side was a nice change of pace. The show is definitely taking us on quite the adventure; I just hope it doesn’t lead us in with too many villains, only to visit them way down the line.
+ Great special effects and Barry testing his powers was fun
+ Scenes between Barry and Iris are finally good
+ Great villain in Plastique
+ Was hoping for more Captain Cold
– Showdown between Plastique and Eiling was a bit anticlimactic until Barry arrived
