THE FLASH - SEASON 6.2

REVIEW:  THE FLASH - SEASON 6, EP.2: "A Flash Of The Lightning"



The Scarlet Speedster is off and running this season, as we race ever closer to CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.  This week's episode sets the tone for what's to come for the future of the show.  We got quite a bit tonight, including a Jay Garrick appearance, a new (kind of) villain, and a career altering choice for Cecile.  

This show's focus centered on two themes:  Never giving up in spite of what seems like insurmountable odds...and never judging a book by its cover.  Plus--being careful what you wish for.

Barry is struggling as we open this week's show.  Ever since the Monitor made his grand entrance in the season premiere, informing him that he will indeed die...because he HAS to in order for the universe to survive, a heavy weight has been placed upon our hero.  It's a large punch in the gut for a man who has been a symbol of optimism and never giving up.  He's resigned to his fate, it seems.  This is noticed by Iris, who proves time and again that she is the rock that holds The Flash together.  She is the beacon of hope he clings to, and she refuses to give up on him.  She refuses to accept the Monitor's words, and she drills into Barry the importance of changing the future.  They both agree that the only way to find a way to possibly change his fate is to head to the future itself.  So, off he goes to the day AFTER his death...to see what happens, and whether or not he can alter it.

Meanwhile, Cecile is looking to put away a common criminal named Allegra Garcia, who happens to be a metahuman that can see radio waves, and manipulate them.  It seems like an open and shut case for the young lady, who's already had a record when she was a teenager, but--lo and behold--Cecile's own powers kick in and feels Allegra's emotions, and knows she's innocent.  Cecile is now determined to prove her innocence, and uses Ralph and Iris for help.  Joe is left confused and a tad frustrated that a young woman, with whom he's familiar with, is now looking at being proven innocent by the very woman who was supposed to put her in jail.

On a lighthearted note, Ralph is now initiating his new volume of "The Book Of Ralph" on Killer Frost, who is looking to formulate a life of her own outside of Caitlin.  They take a trip to a museum art show, where it just so happens that Camilla has photos she put on display.  Needless to say, the event doesn't go well, as Killer Frost's "icy" personality doesn't jive well with everyone---especially Camilla, whom she was overly critical of her work.  Safe to say, Killer Frost is a work in progress.

Back to Barry...we see him ready to jump into the timestream, as he has a mini transimitter of Gideon to help him along the way.  He speeds off, but as he is about to reach his destination, a wave of antimatter blasts him, and halts his trip.  He's injured a little, but discouraged that he can't press through.  Iris says that he should get some help.  We then see Barry on Earth 3, where he meets up with Jay Garrick...who is now sporting a cane as he gets around his lab, because his speed is diminishing.  It is here that Barry gets another shock:  He meets Jay's new wife, Joan Williams.  And wouldn't you know it---she's the doppleganger of Nora Allen.  This rattles Barry a little, Jay is glad that Barry decided to see what the future holds, because he himself has been tracking these antimatter anamolies, and he fears the worst.  Though Barry can't travel PHYSICALLY to the future, perhaps MENTALLY.  Jay has invented a machine to allow a speedster's mind to travel forward in time.  They hook Barry up to it---and what he sees is not good:  The antimatter engulfing the Earth...all his friends and Iris...swallowed up by it.  Then he himself---disintegrating as he is running for his life.  Barry is shocked back to the present by the traumatic experience, and is knocked out.

Iris and Ralph follow up on a lead to a witness that was involved in Allegra's case.  As they enter his apartment, they see Allegra standing over him...he's dead.  She tries to make a break for it, but Ralph goes to stop her.  She blasts Ralph in the face, and he's incapacitated briefly.  She bolts out the door, and runs into Joe.  Just as she's about to zap him, Ralph recovers enough to slap the power dampening cuffs on her.  Joe arrests her for violating her parole.  He tries to question her, but she asks for her lawyer.  Cecile and Joe argue over what she's doing as far as helping Allegra out.  Cecile then sits down with her, and has her recount her story.  Turns out, night of the Particle Accelerator exploding, she was in jail with her cousin, who had her own little gang, and both were blasted by the dark matter energy.  Her cousin, Esperanza, was killed.  Allegra wishes to be a reporter, so she was doing her own digging to find the truth---that's when she saw the dead witness in his apartment.

In the midst of all that's going on with Team Flash...Ramsey Rosso has an interesting problem:  He needs more dark matter for his experiment, and ran out.  He meets another seller, but can't seem to come up with the now increased fee.  Just as the seller looks to kill him, Ramsey's "powers" emerge, and he apparently kills the man.  

Back to Barry---who had been injured in his little mental trip through time, was brought back to Earth 1 by Jay and Joan to Iris.  While she's off investigating Allegra's case, Joe comes over, and he and Barry have their usual Father/Son talks.  Barry tells Joe that something bad is coming, and he may end up dying in order to stop it.  Joe recalls his first days on the job as a beat cop, and how a bullet nearly killed him.  Instead of quitting, and in spite of how scared he was, he pushed through...because of the badge.  He reminds Barry of the symbol he wears as The Flash---the symbol to never give up.  That gives people hope.  

Going back to Killer Frost's situation, we see her trying to draw when she's interrupted by Cisco, who lays into her about her behavior.  He then sees what she's trying to draw, and tells her that it's okay to express yourself, and show the world who she is.  It's a great pep talk, and Frost takes it to heart.

Poor Ralph suffers a sunburn for his troubles, and Iris, Joe, and Cecile realize that Allegra doesn't just see and control radio waves, she can tap into the entire spectrum.  But she's not the only one---turns out her cousin Esperanza has been able to do the same.  Allegra is still at CCPD with Cecile when Esperanza arrives, laying waste to the cops on duty in the process.  Calling herself Ultraviolet, she's looking for Allegra.  Cecile and Allegra manage to stay out of Ultraviolet's path, but she's ready to pounce.

At that time, Barry is at home recovering, and looking over Allegra's case himself, when Iris buzzes him, letting him know that Allegra's cousin has Joe, Cecile, and Allegra pinned down at the CCPD.  Despite his injuries, Barry's off and arrives at the precinct.  He faces off against Ultraviolet and blasted by a wave that moves at the speed of light---faster than Barry (though this IS a misnomer, since that--in order for the Flash to time travel---he needs to be going as fast as the speed of light in order to pierce the time barrier...so I felt that was a mistake).  Flash recovers though, and even while Ultraviolet is blasting him, he manages to pull through and knock her out, ending the threat.

We draw towards the end of the episode where we see the team discuss the fact that there is a group out there using metahumans as assassins, as is the case with Esperanza.  They are now on Team Flash's hit list.  We also see Killer Frost open up, by buying several pieces of art (all in Caitlin's credit card---we'll see how Cait feels about THAT), and Cicsco adds the drawing Frost made to the collection.  

Barry and Iris, Jay and Joan say their goodbyes, and promise to keep contact as the threat looms.  Barry and Iris talk, and realize that no matter what happens, IF he is to die, then they need to inform the team that they may be WITHOUT The Flash very soon.

Allegra's story ends well, as she is now joining the staff of the Citizen with Camilla and Iris.  Nice to see her story end well.

Cecile and Joe chat...and Cecile makes a major career decision:  she's going to be a public defender for metahumans.  Joe is proud of her.

We end the episode with Ramsey examining the body of the man he killed, getting samples of the coagulated blood from the man.  When he examines it, he finds something odd about it.  Turns out, the man isn't really dead, and attacks Ramsey.

This was a great episode.  We get the images of the future, with existence being wiped out, and Barry making his ultimate sacrifice (much like we saw in the comic series).  We got to have a Jay Garrick appearance, which is ALWAYS a welcome sight.  John Wesley Shipp has filled that role wonderfully, and to bring in Michelle Harrison to play his wife, Joan Williams.  It helps bring an emotional reaction to Barry, in much the same way his first time seeing Jay as the doppleganger of Henry Allen.  While Barry didn't make mention of it at the time, Iris DID bring up the fact to Jay and Joan that she is the doppleganger of Barry's mother.  It was also pretty cool that, at episode's end, we got to see the Allens and Garricks in the same room.  I'd love to see MORE of this.  Would be pretty cool.

Ralph helping Killer Frost with her "coming out" party so-to-speak added the humor in this episode.  Danielle Panabaker has terrific range as an actress, being able to balance between drama and comedy in one go.  I think the last couple of seasons has allowed her to broaden her range, and loosen up the Caitlin/Frost combo into more well rounded personalities.  Hartley Sawyer continues to bring the fun as Ralph Dibny---such perfect casting.  Throw in Cisco and even Camilla...it makes for a nice balance between the seriousness of the show which we get a lot from Barry, Iris, and Joe...to the silliness of the other three.

Cecile becoming a defense attorney for metahumans now begins to align with the original Cecile Horton of the comics.  She was a defense attorney who had helped clear Flash's name during the trial of the Reverse-Flash's murder.  And Joe...once again, Jesse L. Martin is just the father figure we ALL want!  

Ramsey is continuing to play with fire, and I wonder where and what his fate will be as we move the story forward.  How much will he be an effect on Team Flash?  I feel Caitlin will be his big target.

Allegra Garcia and her cousin are metahuman powerhouses.  And while the villainous Ultraviolet has been put away, and a "villain of the week" fare, I'm hoping Allegra gets to stick around...especially now that she works under Iris at the Citizen with Camilla.  I feel she can bring something to Team Flash, and hope they'll keep her around and not kill her off.

I enjoyed this episode a lot, and can't wait to see the further development on how we get to CRISIS.  

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Until next week...keep on running!