The Flash Season 1 Fall Finale Review: The Reverse Flash Is Coming to Town

The Flash S01E09: "The Man in the Yellow Suit"

I'm just going to start with that episode tag.

I was pretty much bouncing on the couch when Harrison pulled out a Flash ring. Yes, it was a lovely bit of fanservice—the comic iteration of Barry Allen kept his costumes in spring-loaded rings just like Harrison's—but it was also a way to connect Harrison to a larger Flash mythos. Was he a certain speedster from the future (aged up, though) who'd been sent back to the past to keep Barry safe? That was my first thought when I saw the ring, and it sort of made sense in the way that convoluted time-travel stories can make sense. And then there was the costume. And then the costume turned yellow. And then Harrison plugged in what I guess was the superluminal/tachyon prototype device, attaching it to the yellow suit. And then Harrison said, "Merry Christmas" with a vibrating voice. I just about lost it.

And then my mother called me. (My mom watches The Flash. And Arrow.) I was still working through the tag and trying pay attention to the promo for next new episode—CAPTAIN COLD WITH HIS FIERY FRIEND!—and her first words, before I could even say hello, were, "That's too easy!" And I'm inclined to agree with her, to an extent.

One of the pleasures/annoyances of narratives that rely on big reveals and twists is that you feel that rush of, "OH NO THEY DIDN'T!" and you're all psyched about what it could mean... but then a little part of your brain says, "But did they really?" It's a little cynical, yes, but it's also something that comes with the territory of building twist upon twist upon reveal upon reveal. Because we all know there's another layer to this Harrison stuff. There has to be an explanation for how and why he had the yellow suit, vibrated his voice, appeared in multiple places at once, and didn't harm Eddie—and that reason has to be something other than, "He's the Reverse Flash."

Or maybe The Flash's writers just want us to overthink it! Damn you, twisty narratives! In any case, I'm excited about this reveal, if only because I suspect it means that Tom Cavanagh will start upping his level of villainy when delivering innocuous-seeming lines, which is going to be great. Totally worth it, even if this arc turns out to be a bait-and-switch of some sort.

Either way, the Reverse Flash was out in force, and it was pretty grand. Meanwhile, the special effects were fine. I experienced what was probably some unintentional blurriness during some sequences, but that was more an issue with my TV cables than anything else; I'm not watching in standard definition, but I can't imagine The Flash looks all that good in SD. What stood out for me wasn't so much the effects in the Reverse Flash's scenes, but the character's raw brutality. The Reverse Flash is vicious and violent in a way that none of The Flash's other villains have been. It makes a difference that he's the first one who seems to have a full understanding of his powers, but his willingness to beat the crap out of Barry and Harrison makes him feel more like an Arrow villain than a Flash one.

This is a good thing, though, a nice continuation of The Flash's development over the past two episodes as it edges closer to the darker side of crime-fighting. Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco experienced a bit of a reality check when they visited Starling City last week, Harrison's manipulations have been pushing that envelope, and now Reverse Flash is a fan of doling out beatdowns. It's not just the sci-fi-infused superhero fantasy world they've been living in. There are dangers in those dark places—and, apparently, sitting in a wheelchair.

Outside of Barry's efforts to figure out what to do about the Reverse Flash, it was do-or-die time with regard to his feelings for Iris. I'm on record as viewing Barry's costumed flirting with Iris as borderline creepy, so I was glad to see her turn against the Flash a bit last week. And I'm glader still that Iris is now in the loop about Barry's feelings, because she was apparently super out of the loop. Hell, even Henry Allen knew Barry had feelings for Iris, AND HE'S IN PRISON. Both scenes concerning their relationship worked very well, and they were nice showcases for Grant Gustin and Candice Patton, respectively.

While I think Gustin has yet to find the right "level" for Barry when the character is feeling shouty-angry, the actor is killing everything else. Take his squirmy physicality at his desk as Iris laughed off the idea of Barry being into her. It was all awkward shoulder and neck rolls with twitchy eye contact as he buried what he really wanted to say. Pile on the emotional breakdown when he talked to John Wesley Shipp—Gustin does a great Sad Barry—and it was a very good night for him.

Patton hasn't been asked to do a whole lot but be chipper and oblivious, so I was happy to see The Flash finally give Iris some meatier material. Yes, Patton got to play a disappointed angry last week, but I really liked her silent tearfulness as Barry confessed his feelings. It was a good scene for Gustin, to be sure, but it was one of those sequences where the actor opposite the person making the big speech needs to be listening and reacting, and Patton really hit that mark. I may still not entirely buy the "Barry's in love with Iris" idea, but I continue to accept the "Barry and Iris are best friends" idea, and Patton's work in that scene brought that aspect to the forefront at just the right time.

In what was probably the weakest part of the episode, Caitlin and Cisco went out looking for Ronnie after Caitlin spotted him in a mall parking deck. I say it was the weakest part because it was obvious place-setting for the Firestorm—he got to name himself, that's nice!—arc that will be part of the back half of the season, so it felt a little removed from the episode's bigger storylines. Obviously Ronnie's coming back into the fold, and I'm interested to see how The Flash will get to that point, and how the writers will dramatize the entire notion of Firestorm as well.

I liked everything that surrounded the set-up, however. I like Caitlin and Cisco being out of the lab, in the world, and doing stuff. I like Caitlin and Cisco talking to one another without Harrison or Barry around. I want more of each of these things, particularly the second one. The effects of the S.T.A.R. Labs shutdown are clear enough with regard to Caitlin, but I want more with regard to Cisco, and I want more of them as a team. They stuck around because Harrison knew Barry would be struck by lightning and snapped into action immediately, but why did that stay to even do that? They appear to be one another's primary support systems, so I want to see more of how they rely on each other. The scene in the lab where Caitlin explained that she saw Ronnie was a great first step, and it showcased the different dynamic they have when they're not tossing out theories about how to stop a cold gun or deliver a sonic punch to a guy who can transform his skin into steel.

These are good, exciting developments for the characters and the actors, and considering how often Caitlin and Cisco are trapped in the lab, I'm love it when they get to interact with others. Heck, Iris and Caitlin's scene at Jitters was just delightfully awkward because, really, how could it not be? And Cisco talking to Joe at the holiday party, suggesting that there was a second speedster on the night of Nora's murder? Completely adorable. Cisco is so eager to be liked, plus their conversation offered a new character pairing we hadn't seen before.

The Flash's fall finale didn't deliver a lot of answers. If anything, we only got apparent confirmation of something many folks had been suspecting from the start—which, of course, only led to more questions—and the aforementioned notion that there was another speedster in that swirling vortex of speed and color that Barry saw 14 years ago. All fun, interesting bits of information, but nothing truly earth-shattering. And that's okay. These are big, season-long mysteries, and we're only nine episodes into a 22-episode run. Reveals like Harrison having a Reverse Flash costume in his... Bumpy... Future Room (I need a better name for that) are enough to get us excited for more, which is what the show wants, and what we should want, too.

Over these nine episodes, The Flash has proven itself a very confident, steady freshman series, one that I have more faith in than I had in Arrow at this point in the latter's first season. The series boasts a really strong cast, a fact that was evident in the pilot and that the show has continued to take excellent advantage of. The Freaks of the Week could stand to improve, still, when it comes to their personalities and motivations, and the writers could find a way to settle on things for Iris, though I'm hoping that the events of this episode will put us on that path.

It's an admittedly low bar to clear, but with all these variables factored in, The Flash has turned out to be one of the strongest new shows of this season, so I'm very eager to see what it has planned for its second half.

LEFT IN THE DUST

– Cisco was wearing a rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock tee. Between that and a character named Cooper Seldon on Arrow a few weeks back, I think it's pretty clear that The Flash and Arrow are really into The Big Bang Theory. That, and/or it's a bit of corporate synergy, as all three shows are produced by Warner Bros. Television and air on the CBS/CW family of networks.

– Another good acting choice: Rick Cosnett adding trace amounts of threatening condescension to his voice whenever he said "Bar" to Barry was just great.

– I'm glad Eddie's in the loop on the metahuman thing. I can't help but feel that Joe is being a touch irresponsible not telling Singh after all this time, though.

– Playing Dr. Tina McGee of Mercury Labs was Amanda Pays, reprising her role from the earlier Flash series of the 1990s. This iteration is obviously a little different, but I appreciate how the show has worked in—and will continue to work in—actors from the previous show.

– Have a good winter hiatus, everyone! We'll meet back here on January 20 for The Flash's mini-Prison Break reunion when Wenworth Miller and Dominic Purcell join forces as Captain Cold (yay!) and he who will be known as Heatwave.

What'd you think of "The Man in the Yellow Suit"? How are you liking The Flash's first season so far?