The Flash - season 4 (The CW) (1 Viewer)

[NeilO]

... The wedding was on some other CW show I don’t watch, a whole bunch of stuff happened, and now I’m watching some random episode completely disconnected from the story I was just in.

Is this X stuff part of Devoe’s plot? He’s supposed to be the smarter guy in the metaverse and plans for everything, but I don’t know how this relates.

The Crisis on Earth X really needs to be watched as its own thing, especially as a Flash fan. It was one basically complete story featuring the wedding. It had nothing to do with DeVoe.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I agree with Neil. "Crisis on Earth-X" is basically a 2 hour, 40 minute movie with a cast of characters drawn from all four shows.

It's not like last year's crossover where the "Supergirl" episode wasn't really part of the crossover at all and "The Flash" episode was still a "Flash" episode and the "Arrow" episode was still an "Arrow" episode and the "Legends" episode was still a "Legends" episode.

 

[DaveF]

I’ll end up watching the last half of it, since I’m still recording LOT. But I don’t record SG or Arrow so I don’t know how to watch the first two.

 

[DaveF]

What frustrates me is the wedding of Barry and Iris is a story point The Flash has been building to for three and a half seasons. And it’s thrown into the garbage by a crossover: The Flash’s wedding isn’t even an episode of The Flash. I’d have to be paying attention to and recording every Berlanti show to watch an important pivotal event in The Flash’s arc. Dealt with in a throwaway side story unrelated to the story it’s actually part of.

(Sigh)

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I’ll end up watching the last half of it, since I’m still recording LOT. But I don’t record SG or Arrow so I don’t know how to watch the first two.

If you don't mind sitting through commercials, the CW has posted all four parts on its website:
http://www.cwtv.com/shows/crisis-on-earth-x/

 

[Joel Fontenot]

We don't normally watch SG or Arrow either - just too many shows already on our limited schedule as we DVR them all to begin with. But, we get enough through osmosis that we weren't too confused for those parts of the crossover.

 

[DaveF]

Now watching The Flash episode after the mini-series; didn’t get to watching any of the non-Flash episodes.

And they did the wedding of The Flash on a different show.

In the annals of TV writing, who does this? Who writes one of the most important character events, that’s been built up over multiple seasons, in a different show?

 

[DaveF]

But, have I mentioned how much I enjoy Katee Sackhoff in this role? Because she’s marvelous!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm loving Barry's arc at the moment. In the past when the show has tackled big arcs like Flashpoint, they've rushed them a bit too much. I'm glad the Trial of the Flash storyline is taking its time. Presumably Barry will be back in the suit sooner rather than later, but I really like that his present circumstances allow us to spend more time with Barry Allen.

One thing that I wish the show had captured better: Barry experiences time differently than the rest of us. The kind of waiting he's doing now would be miserable for anybody, but it's got to be especially miserable for him.

I'm almost always impressed at the acting ability of WWE stars when they appear in scripted television. The internet tells me that Henry Allen's old prison buddy, Big Sir, is played by Bill Goldberg.

A little Ralph goes a long way. I'll be happier when he's relegated back to comic relief. And I hope they don't make him a series regular.

The mystery of Jessica Parker Kennedy's mystery girl character deepens. Both times she's appeared, she's been very starstruck meeting members of Team Flash. And then that teaser at the end: She was wearing a gold ring. Was it a Legion ring? And she was writing in a journal. Was the script the same script that Barry was writing in when he first came out of the Speed Force?

In the annals of TV writing, who does this? Who writes one of the most important character events, that’s been built up over multiple seasons, in a different show?

I've got to imagine that when the DVDs and Blu-Rays come out for this season, they'll have a "Crisis on Earth-X" disc that's duplicated across all four sets. Otherwise, the crossover makes no sense.

 

[Richard V]

I really enjoy Ralph Dibney's appearances on the show. A poor man's Jim Carrey if you will.

 

[Gary Seven]

I've got to imagine that when the DVDs and Blu-Rays come out for this season, they'll have a "Crisis on Earth-X" disc that's duplicated across all four sets. Otherwise, the crossover makes no sense.

They unfortunately, did not do that with the previous season's crossover.

 

[NeilO]

I'm loving Barry's arc at the moment. In the past when the show has tackled big arcs like Flashpoint, they've rushed them a bit too much. I'm glad the Trial of the Flash storyline is taking its time. Presumably Barry will be back in the suit sooner rather than later, but I really like that his present circumstances allow us to spend more time with Barry Allen.
....
The mystery of Jessica Parker Kennedy's mystery girl character deepens. Both times she's appeared, she's been very starstruck meeting members of Team Flash....

I've got to imagine that when the DVDs and Blu-Rays come out for this season, they'll have a "Crisis on Earth-X" disc that's duplicated across all four sets. Otherwise, the crossover makes no sense.

Barry's experiences have been good. The fact that they haven't figured out how to appeal is frustrating. They have kept us in the dark of what they are doing precisely because we know how stupid they've been. If we are kept in the dark we don't know their mistakes.

I'm hoping we get some good payoff on the mystery girl.

They unfortunately, did not do that with the previous season's crossover.

This season it was really was one long story that had important elements for each show in the other shows. Last season, for the most part, each was an episode of the show with some extras in it.

 

[ponset]

Big Sir is alot different character on the TV series then he was in the comics.

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Dufus_P._Ratchet_(New_Earth)

I have been enjoying Ralph's story arc from sleezy PI to becoming the Elongated Man(Personally I think its a neat code name.)

 

[NeilO]

Last night's episode took an unexpected turn - Barry frees Big Sir and Team Flash's stupidity of ignoring Amunet pays dividends as it looks like Barry will be her prisoner next episode. So, out of jail for some time, but not as he likes. We don't know what they filed in their appeal, but that doesn't look good yet. Of course, now Cecile could use her new powers to help out in that matter.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

After a very uninspiring run of episodes, with far too much Ralph Dibney, "The Flash" seemingly out of the blue delivers one of the best episodes its ever done.

Barry moves faster than anybody else alive, but the show so rarely plays with the implications of that. Here was a scenario that pushed his unique gift to the limits. Over half the episode took place over the course of less than ten seconds of objective time.

The execution was flawless, closer to "Legion"-level sophistication than the usual Arrowverse standard. The Clockstoppers effect of moving a camera through a three-dimensional environment where everything present is (close) to frozen in time a very technically challenging thing to pull off. Tonight's director, Gregory Smith, who came up as the star of Arrowverse uberproducer Greg Berlanti's "Everwood", handles it with aplomb. It's the little things that he gets right that sell it; when the bomb first goes off and Barry's adrenaline kicks in, everything instantly freezes around him -- except Jesse, the other speedster present, who continues moving at normal speed in the background.

I loved the intimacy of it; for most of the episode, it was just the three speedsters: Barry, Jesse, and Jay. When they brought someone into Flashtime, it was one at a time, and it was for a specific purpose. The limitations of that were used to great dramatic effect. And over the course of the hour, we see just how good Barry is: Jay, being physically well past his prime, has to drop out of Flashtime first. Jesse is younger and more resilient than Jay, but she's also the newest at being a speedster. She hasn't faced all of the trials and struggles that honed Barry and Jay's powers and stamina. When it's finally just down to him, Grant Gustin sells the hell out of it -- the helplessness, the guilt, the loneliness, the exhaustion of being the last one standing.

And when, in desperation, he brings Iris into Flashtime to say goodbye, we see why they're married. Candice Patton is wonderful in that scene. Yes, she leads Barry to the solution, but she also takes the time to just hear him.

It's not just the gimmick of the conceit that makes the episode great, though. The scene between Wells and Jesse, where he uses his neural inhibitor technology to let her hear his thoughts so she can understand the things about her mother that he can't put into words, is among the best acting that Tom Cavanagh has done on the show. And he's one of the best actors on the show. That whole scene was beautifully written, performed and shot. We were right in that moment with them.

I continue to be frustrated by the decision to backtrack on the huge breakthrough the Caitlin/Killer Frost made in the previous season finale. But it does appear that the walls between the two personas are crumbling; Killer Frost expressed selfless concern for Caitlin, and Caitlin can remember her time as Killer Frost. Hopefully they reconcile the two personas sooner rather than later.

I figured that Jessica Parker Kennedy's mystery woman is the new speedster that Jay is starting to train on Earth-3. The scene where she met Caitlin and Wells was cute, but the final beat was intriguing; is the nervousness real, or an act? What exactly is her agenda?

The only writing hole I wish they'd plugged was Jesse going to Earth-3 to retrieve Jay. If she could go to Earth-3 to retrieve Jay, they should have been able to portal the bomb to Earth-15, the dead Earth. If they'd had a reason he was in town when the bomb went off, like Jesse was, the logic would have been more sound.

 

[NeilO]

After a very uninspiring run of episodes, with far too much Ralph Dibney, "The Flash" seemingly out of the blue delivers one of the best episodes its ever done.

....

The only writing hole I wish they'd plugged was Jesse going to Earth-3 to retrieve Jay. If she could go to Earth-3 to retrieve Jay, they should have been able to portal the bomb to Earth-15, the dead Earth. If they'd had a reason he was in town when the bomb went off, like Jesse was, the logic would have been more sound.

I have enjoyed the lighter atmosphere of Ralph Dibny, but this was a great episode. I also saw the contradiction of going to Earth-3, unless somehow transporting the bomb would have sped the reaction faster. I also didn't quite understand why Argus was transporting the bomb in the first place (with an active detonator) and how this group found out. Still, those are minor quibbles.

 

[Richard V]

When Jay dropped out, why couldn't they get Wally?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

When Jay dropped out, why couldn't they get Wally?

He was busy stealing shit from Damien Darhk in 1962 Berlin.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Wouldn't be surprised if we see the mysterious waitress suit up in Iris's Flash costume from this episode. It sure looked a lot like Dawn Allen's, with the purple and white.

 

[DaveF]

Despite my early frustration with The Flash S4, it's won me over. I really like the addition of Ralph to the ensemble. I think he adds a beneficial new perspective to the show. The Flashtime episode was quite well done. Although I think I liked Subject 9 even better; it was surprisingly emotionally engaging and I was disappointed to have the violin-playing woman ultimately captured and subsumed by Devoe.



I want the team to try randomness / chaos as a counter to Devoe's predictive intelligence. The trope I haven't seen yet, that seems obvious to me, is that the counter is to use the unpredictable. Which is pure randomness. Even Harry with his Thinking Cap is presumably more of what Devoe anticipates and predicts. But true unpredictable quantum level randomness moves the team outside of Devoe's game and an opportunity to start out maneuvering and then outthinking him.

Of course the other typical approach is to understand his ultimate goal, and to out maneuver him by playing him against his own interests.

Still, for the sake of scifi completeness, I want a strong Brownian Motion producer (say a nice hot cup of tea) introduced.