Review Time: The Flash "The Nuclear Man" and Arrow "Canaries"

This week marked the thirteenth episodes of both The Flash and Arrow.  The unraveling of both the mysteries of Ronnie Raymond’s disappearance (and subsequent reappearance), as well as Joe’s unearthing of the past to learn more about the killer of Barry’s mother continue this week on The Flash.  Over in Starling City, the ramifications of Ollie’s return are beginning to be felt.

This is going to be very “stream of consciousness” so bear with me.  Okay, so if you haven’t seen this week’s episodes of either show, STOP READING RIGHT NOW.

SPOILERS INCOMING.

The Flash- "The Nuclear Man"

• “Uptown Funk”- The song begins the episode.  And I like Mark Ronson, I just don’t buy into the Bruno Mars hype AT ALL.  Never have.  It’s a fun song, though, and it fits the theme of Barry preparing for his date with Linda Park.
• Sex joke.  They really went there, didn’t they?  It was funny, but Cisco asking Barry about whether or not he’s worried about his *ahem* “super speed” seemed a little juvenile.
• Joe and Cisco investigating into Barry’s mother’s murder is cool.  It also gives a fresh interaction with characters that have been on the show all season, but really haven’t had scenes with just the two of them.  The explanation of the photos in the mirror due to the super speed  and being able to identify the killer that way came across as a little “well, you know because science”.
• Wells’ mini-speech to Caitlyn about how people "want to go home, where we feel safe, where we feel loved" is a Peter Pan paraphrase.  Which, if you know me, you know I love me some Pan.  So that was cool.  Also, even though I’m not supposed to, I really love Dr. Wells, but I really, really do.
• Barry's adorkableness in the sex scene was hilarious.  Maybe I just identify with him.  Who knows.
• "Flame on".  What you did there?  We see it.
• TIME TRAVEL??  We knew this was coming, with the concept of time travel being so intrinsically linked to The Flash and his mythos, but it’s cool to finally see it mentioned as more than just a passing reference.  Joe’s suspicions of Dr. Wells being involved in Barry’s mother’s murder (which we know to be true) being brought to the forefront is, I think, coming at a perfect time in the season.  With there being ten episodes left this season, now is the time to start ramping up to the eventual showdown between The Flash and Reverse Flash (Dr. Wells).
• Imagine how Caitlyn must feel while talking to her thought-to-be-dead fiancé who has someone else’s consciousness inside him.  It’d be super weird.  And these are people that deal with super weird on the weekly.
• I liked that there was no villain on this episode.  Ergo, there was no "villain of the week" on this episode.  Which is great.  The “villain of the week” concept is pretty prevalent in seasons one of many other shows (Smallville comes to mind), but The Flash has done it in style.  I’m just relieved to have had a break from it this episode.
• Dr. Wheels sure does love killing people, am I right?  He killed Simon Stagg at the beginning of the season, and now he wants to kill Ronnie/Dr. Stein, then he’s got a gun for some reason.  Dude’s creepy.
• Wouldn't Linda kissing Barry after he ate the ghost pepper make her mouth burn too?  Cute though.
• I know I mentioned it earlier, but YAY, TIME TRAVEL!!  I love time travel.  Something to ponder:  Is Reverse Flash Dr. Wells now or is he Dr. Wells from the future?  Or the past?  Did he kill Barry’s mom earlier, or has he not killed her yet because Barry isn’t ready to be able to stop him?  Is that what his “timetable” is?  I know my theory.  What’s yours?
• Ronnie/Dr. Stein- "How can you save me?"  It's a technobabble!  This show has entirely too much technobabble.  I mean, it’s Cisco’s forte, but at least they make fun of it (“I thought ‘super light’ would be easier to say.”
• The reappearance at the end of the episode of Clancy Brown as DC Comics villain General Wade Eiling.  Brown, while a great actor, is an even better voice actor.  Best known, probably for his performance as Lex Luthor in almost every appearance of that character in animation for nearly two decades, but also as Mr. Krabs of SpongeBob SquarePants fame.

Arrow "Canaries"

• Although the Hong Kong stuff is better than the island, I'm so done with the flashbacks.
• Soooo, Vertigo is Scarecrow now?
• DJ Douchebag using "Vine", "fan girls", and "epically epic" is trying too hard to be youth relate-able.  Unless they’re just trying to make him annoying.  In which case, it’s working well.
• Thea's reaction is to Ollie telling her that he’s the Arrow is f****** perfect.  "You're him" and the multiple "thank you"s were great. It’s exactly how a REAL PERSON WOULD REACT to finding out a loved one is a costumed vigilante.  In my opinion.
• Thea: "I did kinda kick your ass" Ollie: "you didn't..."  Fun stuff.  Stephen Amell has good comedic timing.
• And I love that Thea gets mad at Merlyn, EXACTLY LIKE A REAL PERSON WOULD REACT to learning their psychopath father has been lying to them for so long. 
• More Hong Kong stuff.  Snooze. 
• Love the Ollie vs. Laurel stuff.  The “pain doesn't go away cliché” is to be expected with tragic superhero origins, so it gets a pass.  The “Laurel's an addict” is a nice twist, though.
• I rather enjoy the word "detonator".  Random thought.
• Vertigo’s "I weep for thee" could just be a passing “oh look, he’s cultured”, but I think it’s actually a Shakespeare/Henry V quote.
• It is in the midst of this episode that I finally realized that Thea is pretty hot.
• I love fun dialogue.  "You smell like smoke.  Korean BBQ?" "C4, actually..."
• Detective Lance calls Sin “the one with the boy hair”! Lololol.
• Good for Felicity for standing up for the team against Ollie!  I disagree with her... But good for her!
• While I’m on the topic, good god, I love Felicity. Why do I love her so much?
• Thea’s surprise fight scene against DJ Douchebag was super fun. 
• Daggett Pharmaceuticals is a Batman: The Animated Series reference to Roland Daggett’s Daggett Industries, a pharmaceutical company.  A Daggett (named John) also appears in The Dark Knight Rises and is a corrupt businessman. 
• Black Canary got hit with the drug again.  What an amateur.  WAIT, she's hallucinating Lance this time!  So.  IS Vertigo Scarecrow?
• Lance's guess at Laurel's secret starts out kinda funny.  It's like "well, YES. But no..."  The actual reveal that Sara is dead is legitimately heart wrenching.  
• Random note on The League: I like that they use the "of Assassins" name as opposed to "of Shadows" from the Dark Knight Trilogy.  Comic versions trump film/tv any day of the week in my book.
• Next week: OOH, DEATHSTROKE!  Can’t wait.
• Where the f*** is Ray Palmer!?  This is two episodes straight without him!

All around, both episodes were good.  The builds to each season finale will be fun.  Prediction Time:

The Flash Season One will end just as the season began:  Nora Allen’s murder.  This time, it will be from our present day perspective.  Wells’ timetable refers to him having enough technobabble stuff ready to go back in time (and Barry will follow him back) to kill Barry’s mom, which is the inciting incident in Barry becoming The Flash.  It’s a causality loop.  It happens because it already happened.  Gotta love time travel.

Arrow Season Three will obviously end with another Ollie vs. Ra’s fight.  This time, Ollie wins.  Beyond that, I don’t have any bold predictions.

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

 

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