Thursday, February 6, 2020

THE FLASH - SEASON 6.10





REVIEW:  THE FLASH - SEASON 6.10: "Marathon"


Welcome back to our new Flash review!  It's been quite a while since we've seen the Scarlet Speedster, ever since he save the universe in Crisis, but now we shift gears to the 2nd half of the season, and see just what our Monarch of Motion has been up to since Crisis ended, and we're now integrated into Earth-Prime.  There are some questions that need to be answered, so let's not plod along, and get to the good stuff, as we check back in to Central City...

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We see that Jitters has had a reopening since the Crisis, and it's looking a lot brighter, but the fun is soon spoiled, as a guy with some kind of ray gun shows up, looking to rob the place.  The waitress says they JUST reopened, and they have very little to no cash in the registers.  The crook obviously feels a bit embarrassed, but decides to shoot up the place anyway.  He does a bit of property damage before Flash shows up and halts them in their tracks.  He gets a huge applause from the crowd, says he likes what they've done to the place, and takes off.  

Cisco seems very deep in thought, and somewhat disturbed.  Flipping through a book he's catalogued all the new threats that he's been able to obtain info on thus far since the Crisis, and with National City, Happy Harbor, and several new places established on Earth-Prime, he is concerned about growing threats, and new and improved threats.  He's discussing this with Frost (as she prefers to be known as nowdays), when we hear Nash banging on a door to a different part of the lab.  Cisco has kept him busy, while he's designed a new circuit, though he can't imagine WHY he needs it, considering the extrapolators no longer work.  Nash wants to check the tunnel again, but Cisco assures him there's no more antimatter, but Nash heads out anyway.  

Iris is on the phone, and is happy to report that her story about Flash saving the world in Crisis is still their most viewed story at The Citizen.  Just as she gets off the phone, Barry walks in with a surprise guest---Diggle!  Iris and Dig hug, and he discusses that he and Lyla are moving the family to Metropolis.  He's there to present Barry with something Oliver had left him in his will---the mask Barry made him years ago.  Barry notices smudges on it, and Diggle said that Oliver hadn't worn it in years, so maybe it just got dusty.  Barry is curious about it, and as he looks it over some more, Iris gets a call.  She's got a lead on a story, and she's going to take off and check it out.  They kiss, he wishes her off, and Barry goes back to trying to figure out what the smudges mean.

Iris meets her informant in an undisclosed parking garage.  His name is Gene Husk, and he used to work for McCulloch Technologies.  He doesn't want to be recorded, so she asks him about the symbol that she found on one of the guys she had been investigating, a Malcom Stromberg.  Husk fills her in on the details of what Stromberg was up to.  He got assigned to Husk's R&D division, and had lifted an infrared photon rifle.  Stromberg had no technical acumen.  He found out, Stromberg didn't technically exist, and when he went to report it, he got fired.  She tells Husk that the group that had gotten the rifle, had killed Stromberg.  Iris says they need Husk to help break the story, and offers to protect him.  We then see a woman dressed in a white coat with special glasses and black pants, chasing after a guy with an eyepatch, and she shoots him with the gun, and he disintegrates into nothing.  She calls someone called Black Hole, and in a foreign language, she let's this person know that her job is done.  They then give her another job---to kill Iris West-Allen.

Back at the Citizen, Iris goes over with her team what she knows about this secret organization that Barry and Ralph had stumbled upon a few months ago, turning super powered people into assassins for hire, including Allegra's cousin.  This Black Hole person is the head of it.  Iris, Allegra, and Camilla have been investigating the story, and have a board up with all their info, and relating this to Cecile.  Cecile has her concerns, and asks Iris if she's run this by Joe, and Iris says that her dad would have to get all sorts of legal clearance, and this is a reporter's alley, so they're going to crack the case.  This group is dealing in terrorism, international arms dealing, and more.  Cecile shows great concern, but Iris tells her that a reporter doesn't run away from the truth.  She tells Allegra and Camilla that she's got a meeting with McCulloch Industries' CEO--Joseph Carver--and that if he isn't willing to give a quote, they're running with the story regardless.

Barry and Diggle are back at his place, as Barry keeps racing back and forth, bringing equipment from his lab to test Ollie's mask for whatever substance is on it.  Barry runs some tests, and finds out the mask has traces of Mirakaru on it.  That's Professor Ivo's super serum, and Barry and Diggle wonder if it means there could be some out there, thus proving dangerous, because someone could be making new super threats.  So, Barry and Diggle are off to Lian Yu...but not before Diggle loads up on drammamine.  

Iris meets with Carver, and gets to the point about his missing photon rifle, and the links it's been tied to like organized crime, international arms dealings, terrorism, and murder.  He pulls her aside for a quiet meeting. In a private hallway, Iris sees a door with AV3 on it. He figures out that her source is Gene Husk.  He does admit that someone stole a prototype, possibly from Obsidian Tech.  He said Husk was convinced of a huge conspiracy, so he had him dismissed.  He says that he's installed new security cameras, new badges, and everything.  He goes on to say that he has an obligation to the late Eva McCulloch to protect her investment, and to ask Iris NOT to print the story.  Iris, however, is no pushover, and says she has an obligation to the people to report the truth, so she's running the story.  With that, the meeting ends.  

Iris runs the story, and it's already gotten 100,000 hits.  Then Cecile shows up with bad news - Carver is suing Iris for defamation.  Iris isn't swayed by this, she feels it's a scare tactic.  Cecile, as their legal counsel, urges her to thing otherwise, but then her powers kick in and she senses something wrong.  We see from far away, that the lady in the white coat and glasses with the photon rifle is back, and she's aiming for Iris.  Cecile tells the gals to duck as the woman fires off a shot, hitting and burining the wall.  She goes for another shot, and she hits the board, where all their work is at on the case.  Camilla tries to snap pictures to save some of the evidence and clues to the story.  However, Iris says she's the target.  She wants all of them to go back to STAR Labs, and she's going to check on Husk and use Nash's tunnels to get back and meet then there.  Camilla and Allegra make it back to the lab, and they said that Cecile went to see Joe, and Iris was checking on their source.  Camilla shows Cisco the burn mark from the rifle, and he deduces that it's using high intensity raditation.  They can't get ahold of Barry, because he's on Lian Yu with Diggle, and there's no way the can get a signal out to him.  Frost is out looking for the shooter.  Nash shows up, and checks in on Allegra.  He wonders why he wasn't informed, and Cisco tells him that he's not a part of the team.  Cisco also says that he's the guy that caused Crisis, and Nash yells back that he paid his price as Pariah.  Cisco reminds him about those lost:  Oliver, Harry, Jesse, and they're stuck with the man who killed the multiverse.  Nash storms off, and when Camilla asks why Cisco was so harsh, he replies that he doesn't want a repeat of Crisis.  But right now, they need to find Iris.

Iris finds Husk, and they realize Black Hole isn't what they thought it was.  He is about to say more, but the woman manages to find them, and zaps Husk.  As he's dying, he says "mirror", but that's all he gets out as he dies.  Iris is getting shot at now, and she sees Husk's ID card from McCulloch industries with keys attatched.  She grabs them, and makes a beeline for his vechicle.  She manages to escape getting killed, but the woman manages to hit the back window of the vehicle, thus shattering it.  The charged shards hit Iris' shoulder, but she gets away.  Iris makes her way back to the lab, and wants the binder Cisco put together.  She loooks over the new meta threats and comes across one:  Dr. Kamino Hoshi.  an astronomer who had meta powers, but disappeared.  She had light powers, but they weren't that powerful...she'd need something to focus them through, hence the photon rifle.  So, they have a new Dr. Light they're dealing with.  Iris is injured, but she insists she's fine...however, she passes out.  She handed them a flash drive that had information from Husk, but it's damaged.

On Lian Yu, Barry and Diggle search through the cells, and come across a case, but all the bottles of marakuru are gone.  Barry is sure that someone's got it, and there's a threat out there with it.  Diggle tries to get Barry to relax, but Barry is upset, and his powers flare up and he hits the bars in frustration.  Diggle then tells Barry that Thea and Ollie were here a couple of years back, to face down the man in this cell---Deathstroke.  They had brought his mask and equipment with them...thus the smudges of marakuru on it.  He and Barry sit down, and Barry says he feels obligated to finish what Oliver started, especially protecting this new Earth.  Diggle says that there's more to life than the mission.  Diggle says that Oliver sacrificed his life so that everyone--Barry included--would live THIER lives.  So, he urges Barry to slow down, and enjoy the life he has.  

Caitlin is having a pow wow with Cisco, and sees him looking at an old video of Harry talking about some experiment.  Cisco said that when the Monitor gave him his Vibe powers back, that he felt he failed to save the universe, and that included Earth 2.  He feels responsible and felt he could've done more, knowing how powerful he was, and would've been able to detect the antimatter wave.  She asks him that although he wants to protect everyone on this new Earth, does he regreat giving up his Vibe powers.  He honestly can't give her an answer...he just doesn't know.  He says it's not simple for him.  She suggests that since he's been cataloguing everything on this Earth thus far, that maybe he needs to get out of the lab, and out of Central City for awhile, and clear his head, find out who he is, and finish the job he started.  

Iris is recovering when Joe drops by.  She says she knew what she was doing.  Joe informs her that this Black Hole organization has VERY deep roots, and if she had gotten killed, he wouldn't have had any evidence to bring her killer to justice.  She can't solve the story in one day.  Joe talks about throwing himself into work, and solving as many cases as he could before the Crisis.  But now that the Crisis is over, they have to figure out how to live in this new reality.  Iris isn't sure what to do.  Joe asks if Husk had given her anything else to go on besides this Black Hole person.  She isn't sure, but sees a news story on TV about Carver and McCulloch industries, and she begins to put the pieces together.

Carver is seen talking to someone on the phone in the same language we heard earlier, which is this Dr. Light.  She is stationed just oustide the West home, as he is identified as this Black Hole character.  Light goees into finish the Iris job, and fires a shot at Iris.  But it turns out, it's a hologram, and Joe has the drop on her, as well as Frost.  Back at the lab, Camilla was the one disgused holographically as Iris.  Iris is at McCulloch Industries and confronts Carver, exposing him as the Black Hole, and knows all about his plan.  He tipped her off when commented that the badges use ultraviolet light, the same as the guns.  It also uses optic lenses to focuse the power like Ultraviolet.  He used Stromberg to get the gun from Gene Husk.  He then gives her credit, but if she exposes him, he'll have her family and friends killed.  She says that if anyone she loves dies, she'll expose him in front of all the reporters in down the hall.  At that moment, Light knocks down Joe, and shoots Frost.  Frost manages to freeze the bullet, and get it out of her.  Frost is about to get up and fight, when Light gets a call from Carver, cancelling the contract.  She takes off, and Frost wonders if that's it.  Carver then takes off to confront the reporters, and says he's dropping the lawsuit against Iris.  

Cisco is packing for his worldwide trip, when Nash comes in.  Cisco apologizes to him, and says that it was uncalled for in regards to what he said to Nash.  He's going on a trip to catalogue all the new threats out there, and wants Nash to hold the fort while he's gone.  Before he takes off, he tells Nash that he hopes he finds what he's looking for.  Nash pulls out a polaroid of him and a woman that is Allegra's doppleganger looking like Indiana Jones.  

Barry and Iris catch up, and he tells her what the mask truly represents that Oliver gave back to him.  They both realize that they have been moving in overdrive since Crisis has been over.  And they both need to slow down a bit.  Later that night, Iris is up to  get a drink, when she sees the keys and ID card of Husk's on the counter.  She remembers his last word:  mirror.  She then flashes back to her time in the hallway at McCulloch Industries, where she saw the door with the number AV3 on it.  She quickly scribbles in on a note pad, and holds it up to a mirror.  Backwards, it reads EVA. Iris pops open her laptop, and does a quick serch, and finds out Eva McCulloch mysteriously disappeared. Iris scribbles a note to Barry, saying she's chasing a lead.  She heads back to McCulloch, and gets into the building, and down the hallway to the door.  The door as a special key on it, so she usues the symbol on the keycard to get in.  It looks to be Eva McCulloch's old office---with tarps covering the furniture up.  Iris looks around, and sees a computer that's running.  She throws off a long tall tarp to see a giant mirror under it.  She wonders aloud what happened to Eva, and turns away from the mirror.  Then, to arms reach out from it, and grab her, pulling her into it as the show ends.  


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This was a pretty good episode, coming back from Crisis, and we were all wondering how Barry's world had been effected in this new reality.  As we have seen...A LOT has changed.  

Cisco has a new journey:  He's feeling guilty about those lost in Crisis, about those that--had he been able to use his Vibe powers---could've avoided losing.  However, he is now more determined to find out just what they're now dealing with as far as new threats, since now Black Lightning, Supergirl, and Batwoman's foes all now occupy the same Earth.  Not to mention that some of Flash's own Rogues seem to have gotten an upgrade.  Hence, we get a new, and albeit different Dr. Light.  This is not a Linda Park doppleganger, but a completely new woman.  And she's working for this Carver guy---a new criminal mind known as Black Hole.  Will be very interesting to see how he deals with Team Flash in the future.  But we also know that Metropolis, National City, Star City, Happy Harbor, Gotham, Central City, Freeland, and Gorilla City all occupy the same Earth now.  This'll make for more fun team ups!  But this will take Cisco off canvas for a tiny bit.  In his place, we got Nash filling in, who is also on a personal quest:  to find HIS version of Allegra...his adventuring partner/love interest.  NOW we understand WHY he took such an interest in Allegra a few episodes back.  All makes sense now.

It appears that Killer Frost has dropped the "Killer" part of her name, and is just Frost now.  Gonna have to get used to that one.

Was awesome to get some Diggle/Barry time.  It finally allows these two to  strengthen their friendship, and bond over the loss of Ollie.  Diggle also gives Barry sound advice in this episode.  Great stuff.  And apparently, this story takes place just after Ollie's funeral, but before Diggle leaves for Metropolis (and he finds a certain green power ring).  But I love that Barry now has a chance to bond with other members of the Arrowverse now.  I liked his growing bond with Sara during Crisis, since they were the two closest to Ollie.  He and Kara already have a strong friendship.  But now he can bond with Diggle.  And if Diggle DOES become Green Lantern, it plays real well into the whole GL/Flash friendship of the comics.  The one comedic point of this episode was when Diggle loaded up on drammamine, knowing Barry was gonna race him to Lian Yu with him.  Classic.  Nice to know some things don't change.  But this is good for BOTH characters.  

This was a VERY Iris-centric episode, as girl power reigned supreme.  Team Citizen has picked up the slack from the story that was left off from a few episodes back, and is now become the focal point of the 2nd half of this season.  I am truly enjoying the "graphic novel" nature of the story arcs this year.  While you'll still have some elements that will move the entire story forward for the team during the season, but big bad's are broken up.  It keeps the season fresh, and gives us a whole new threat to deal with.  And since we're back to McCulloch Industries, that can only mean one thing:  Mirror Master is coming back.  But this won't be Sam Scudder.  But will it be Eva McCulloch?  A female Mirror Master?  It's possible.  But I like how we got the ladies involved, and they're running like a well-oiled machine.  I like them a lot, and it's finally allowing the Iris character do what she does best:  be the investigative reporter.  Iris now gets to have her life OUTSIDE of being a part of Team Flash, and being in Barry's world.  Especially now that Barry himself has a new group of Super Friends to play with.  I feel this will be a good jolt for the show, and give some much needed character development for everyone.  But...we DO know that when it comes to the super villain..it's still going to have to be the Flash to come to the rescue.  Overall...I'm liking where we're going thus far.  

Oh...one more thing:  I LOVE the new title intro.  It's GREAT!  A nice refresher from the same old voice over intro.  It's great to break out something new...the new title card is awesome!  I'm hoping ALL of the shows get something of a makeover in this department.  

That's it for this week---be sure to subscribe, tell everyone about this place, and leave a comment!  I'd appreciate it.

Until next week----Keep On Running!

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