THE FLASH - SEASON 6.1

REVIEW:  THE FLASH - SEASON 6, EP. 1 - "Into The Void"



Welcome back to another season of The Scarlet Speedster!  When last we left the Monarch of Motion, he once again saved Central City from a severe threat in Cicada, had another showdown with his hated arch-nemesis, The Reverse-Flash...and said goodbye to his future daughter, Nora.  We said goodbye to Vibe, as Cisco gave up the power, Frost and Cait managed to come to a meeting of the mind, and Ralph was...Ralph.   We now pick up The Flash...as well as the rest of the team, as they pick up the pieces.

We open up at STAR Labs, as Barry & Iris are having a chat about Nora, and how they've not gotten over her loss as yet.  They witness a power surge that's coming from the secret room, and find Nora's message playing back over and over...and suddenly, everything shorts out...including Gideon.  Nora's message has been fried.

Jump to 4 months later, and Flash is out chasing Godspeed yet again, with Cisco running point from the lab with Camilla.  He's caught and it turns out he's one of many---with no clue as to where the original is.

Iris is at the West house, where they're having a barbecue, and Joe is giving her props for the increase in subscriptions and readership for the Citizen.  She passes it off nonchalantly, as her mind is clearly on Nora. Cecile shows up, comments that Joe cleared out the garage, which included some boxes with stuff that wasn't needed, and was sent to the garbage.  Iris is off to "take care of something"

Back at the lab, the team tries to hammer out a way to increase Barry's congnative senses to help him better track villains through the Speed Force.  As he wants to get the work, Iris is following up on a lead, Caitlin has a friend in need, and Cisco and Camilla take off.  

Cait attends the funeral of a friend's mother.  The friend, Ramsey Rosso, talks about how his mother lived her last days best she can, while there, she has a quick Frost attack, but quickly disappears.  She then departs.

Iris arrives at the junkyard, and questions one of the mechanics about the stuff thrown out by her Dad, as well as why someone had been stealing trash from there.  The mechanic isn't one to quite cough up the info, but Iris keeps digging.  She finds what she was looking for:  her purple jacket that she gave Nora.  Soon, a black hole appears, and Iris helps save the mechanic from being sucked in, but loses Nora's jacket in the void.

Barry's on the scene, checks up on Iris, asks why she's there, and she says she's following up on a lead about a rash of thefts at the facility.  Cisco discovers that it was a black hole that opened up.  They have a lot of info to decipher, and just as they're about to get to work, Ralph appears, having come back from his whirlwind, worldwide trip around the world on his case to find the missing Sue Dearbon.  Cait has another Frost Flash, and is told to take a break.  She goes to hang out with Ramsey.

That conversation doesn't go over so well, as Cait finds out that Ramsey is bitter and upset that his mother "gave up" on fighting her cancer, when he was working on a cure.  The only thing he needed was Dark Matter to help his formula to work.  He knows STAR Labs has it, and Caitlin tells him that it's not available.  He departs, but not before he shows his displeasure with her for not giving him what he wants.  As she's about to bail, Jitters quakes, and Cait has another Frost Flash.  The black hole opens, and she's about to be sucked in, but Flash makes the save.

Iris is back at Joe's office, where they're going over the mystery thefts from the junkyard.  There's a picture of Nora, Barry, and Iris, which is just triggering all kinds of remorse and depression.  She takes off yet again, as Cecile shows up, and asks what's wrong.

She heads back to the lab, and informs the team there's been a series of junkyard robberies, and the culprit is a scientific blogger named Chester P. Runk, who's created a machine to manage a singularity, but in the video, the machine malfunctions, and he opens up the black hole.  Iris goes to see about him, as the team figures out how to stop the black holes before they destory the city.  

Caitlin and Ralph have a heart to heart, and they both try to put their heads together as to why Killer Frost refuses to emerge.  Ralph indicates that maybe because she's lived Cait's life and not her own.  Cait will talk to her about it.

Ramsey's up to no good as we see him obtain a weapon with Dark Matter in it from some mysterious stranger.

Cisco's got a plan to save the city and stop the black holes, with a bomb he created.  But before they can enact that plan, Iris tells them that the black hole IS Chester, that it's a part of him.  If they destroy the black hole, they kill Chester.  Cisco feels there's no choice, and Barry says he's NOT going to lose another person to death...not a one.  

Cait gets a text from Ralph, and Ralph calls out Killer Frost, saying she's scared to live life on her own.  Frost refuses to be baited by Ralph.  He says that she should talk to Caitlin, because it's been HER life Frost has been living.  

The alarm sounds---Chester's opened up another black hole.  Frost and Ralph run interference in the streets to protect the citizens, meanwhile, Barry, Iris, and Cisco find a way to save Chester, by pulling the part of his brain not functioning out of the black hole, and racing out of it before he gets trapped.  Iris warns him to be careful...doesn't want to lose him like they did Nora.

All ends well as Flash is able to rescue that part of Chester's consciousness, and head back out before the black hole closes.  Back at STAR, Cecile had Chester moved there, and they race back to see him alive and well...for the most part.  Minus the glowing eyes.  He's apparently stoked, though.

We end up having Chester stuck at STAR, but wishing to be part of the team.  Barry and Iris realize that they have to face the pain of losing Nora on their own, but that they do it together.  They head to the secret space, where Barry surprises her with a gift---the purple jacket that he displays in honor or Nora.

However...they get an unexpected visit from the Monitor, who reminds Barry that he cannot change the upcoming Crisis.  That in order for the universe to be saved, The Flash must die.  Barry says that's not until 2024, but time has reset, said the Monitor...and it's only months away.

We fade back to Ramsey, as he takes the Dark Matter vial out of the weapon, puts it into an injector, and, while we notice that he himself is 99% a carrier for cancer, he injects his formula with the included Dark Matter, with painful results.


A great way to open up the 6th season for The Fastest Man Alive.  We see some people dealing with some serious issues, and two new people make the scene.

Barry and Iris are dealing with the loss of Nora---and NOT very well.  It seems that BOTH of them are looking for as many distractions as they can to avoid ACTUALLY dealing with the problem.  Iris' desperate quest to hold onto ANYTHING that reminds her of their daughter, and Barry flat out refusing to sacrifice Chester just to save the city is blatant avoidance altogether.  It takes until the end of the episode for both of them to realize that they need to actually confront and face the grief, and do it together.  Even if it means grieving on their own.

Ralph's worldwide search for Sue Dearbon is fairly reminiscent of the adventures Ralph and Sue have had in the comics.  I see this becoming a regular thing once the two actually meet and fall in love.  Also, his friendship with Caitlin has gotten closer, as he managed to help bridge the gap between Frost and Cait, allowing Frost to live a little more.  Not that she knows WHAT to do...but let's hear it for Ralph and his NEW edition of "The Book of Ralph".

Ramsey Rosso is the new man on the scene who's got a plan to "cure" people using the same cure Cisco used to rid himself of his Vibe powers, only in reverse.  His intentions are thought to be noble, but when Caitlin reminds him the consequences of using Dark Matter, he doesn't take it well.  And we're going to see just exactly the consequences of his taking his own formula.  

I was STOKED to see the appearance of Chester P. Runk!  They have made some minor alterations from his comic book version (he's not a slow talker as in the comic, he's MUCH BIGGER, and he absorbs things into himself---maybe we'll see that down the road).  But glad they've finally included Chunk into the Flash mythos.

One more tidbit:  WINGTIPS!  The Flash has FINALLY got some freakin' proper wingtips on his mask!  This has been--oh, I dunno--YEARS in the making!  I LOVE IT!  And back to the chin mask, which is okay.  But this costume is FINALLY whipping into shape.  NOW....if they'll just do something about the boots....we'll have a winner.

All in all, a great episode to start the season off!   Thanks for checking out the blog, and please gimme some feedback!  A comment, subscribe....and hey!  Tell a friend!  Pass the love along!  I'd be appreciative of that!

Until next week....keep on running!