The Flash has been going pretty strong this season with the episodes being entertaining and good natured comic book fun all the way. Though we have not yet been introduced to any villainous speedsters this season and Kid Flash is not in the picture as of now, one more member of the Flash team becomes a speedster in this episode. As the name of the episode suggests, it is Iris West Allen who is enabled with superpowers this time. So as of now, except for Joe, every member of team Flash has been gifted with some power or the other. The way superpowers are easily available I doubt whether Joe will remain a non member of that club for long. The episode does not offer much in terms of the main plot development as such but it does fill in with the Iris’s side story quite nicely.

The stage was set up in the beginning with Ralph snubbing Iris for “hiding” and never risking her life in the field. Then Iris and Flash encounters another metahuman from the bus, Matthew Kim, who can transfer powers from one metahuman to any other person by affecting the genes through his touch. So accidentally, Barry’s powers get transferred to Iris and only Matthew can reverse the effect. It does seem quite odd with Matthew trying to help people one moment and sticking a scalpel at Iris’s throat the other. But fortunately, such plot issues do not affect the overall fun factors involved in watching the Flash. The moments of Iris training and enjoying herself were quite enjoyable and Candice Patton was a pleasure to watch in her new costume as the Flash. The show also offered us a glimpse of Flash Vision when we saw the insides of the burning building from Iris’s point of view as she ran.

Barry was visibly disappointed at losing his powers. I wish the show had given us some fun moments, showing how Barry was coping up with daily life without his powers. In a role reversal he has to take position behind the screen and guide Iris about dealing with the situations. In her first mission she gets trapped while trying to put out a fire and has to be rescued by Cisco. But in the end Iris is able to vanquish a firestorm creating villain by creating a tidal wave and bring in Matthew into the Flash team. Ultimately the powers get switched back and Barry becomes The Flash again. It was good that Iris was not endowed with permanent powers. One more speedster in the West family would have been too much. I also liked the way Iris handled Ralph without losing her cool and helps him out even after he was rough on her initially.  She is also able to instil some courage in Ralph who was down fearing for his life. She shows her maturity as the leader of the team and a distinct ability to show empathy for others.

Parallel to the Iris storyline the main plot is also developed, with Harry desperate to invent a thinking cap to boost his intelligence to the level of DeVoe. The two plots do not mesh exactly well but the overall result is somewhat even. Being outsmarted by DeVoe is something Harry cannot tolerate and though he talks about saving lives of the remaining bus metas, there is definitely his injured genius’s ego which is playing a role in this obsession. But he needs the help of Cisco to help him in his project and Cisco is the only one against this plan as he does not want Harry’s brain to get warped. I really enjoyed Cisco’s reference of mad scientist from Spiderman 2 while discussing the subject. In the end Caitlin was able to convince Cisco to help Harry and they do team up. The thinking cap is developed and it works without any visible damage to Harry. After wearing the cap, Harry is able to tell the names of the remaining two bus metas. We have to wait and watch to learn what powers these metas possess. Hope that Cisco’s fears do not come true and Harrison Wells is not pushed into the darkness by his boosted intelligence.

Team Flash earns another member to fight against DeVoe as Matthew. Whether the team goes to use Matthew’s powers against DeVoe successfully or does DeVoe get him too is something to be seen. So overall it was another enjoyable episode of The Flash. As the remaining episodes move towards the end of the season, The Flash will definitely pick up more speed and excitement. But we have to wait till April as that is when The Flash will take a break and will be back with its new episode “Null And Annoyed”.

 

By teleratz team.

 

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