Title: The Flash: “O Come, All Ye Thankful” Review
Release Date: November 27th, 2018
Network: The CW
Genre: Superhero, Drama, Action
After seven episodes, I can officially say that I’m not feeling this new Flash suit.
Look, I know why Grant Gustin likes the suit so much and I even like the concept of it myself. It’s not the cheap-looking leathery material we’ve seen from other Arrowverse suits. It has to be a heck of a lot more comfortable to wear as well. That being said, Barry just looks ridiculous out there now, especially during the day.
I think adding back the chinstrap would do wonders for the costume, as would adding a touch of “armor” to distract from the latex-like material. Hopefully, we see some changes made to the suit by the time the show returns from their Christmas break.
Getting my critiques of the Flash suit out of the way early, I can now get to “O Come, All Ye Thankful”. This episode has somewhat changed my view on Cicada as the main antagonist. I’m still not totally on board with Chris Klein in the role as at times, it looks like he’s just trying too hard to come across as intimidating.
That being said, his backstory was pretty cool. His sister dies from a meta attack so he has to take care of his now-orphaned niece. He gets his life on track for his niece to give her a good life just in time for The Enlightenment. The whole scene of him attempting to escape with Grace reminded me a lot of the scene in Batman v. Superman where Bruce sees the destruction of Metropolis first-hand (which was by far the best part of that movie in my opinion).
Was it a bit cliche? Yeah, maybe. But it gave Cicada clear motivation for why he is on this crusade against metas (and why he speaks in that gravelly voice). With the reveal of the doctor being the mastermind behind Cicada’s mission, it does lay the seeds for a possible redemption arc for the Flash villain down the road.
I was actually surprised Cicada wasn’t the main focus this week for Team Flash seeing as his backstory was heavily teased throughout the week leading up to this episode. Instead, the focus was on Barry and Nora.
After a scary brush with death (speedster defibrillator!), Nora wants Barry to retire as The Flash so he doesn’t die in the future. Honestly, she brings up some good points. There are so many heroes in the Arrowverse now that Barry doesn’t have to carry the world on his shoulders anymore. That scene with these two on the balcony stands out as another prime example of the amazing chemistry between Grant Gustin and Jessica Parker Kennedy. It was definitely one of the major highlights of the episode for sure.
This is something about Barry Allen’s Flash that is just awesome and is a reason why he is one of my favorite comic book characters. Like Spider-Man, Barry just can’t help himself but save people, even if it causes him pain.
While the developments between Barry and Nora were highlights, it couldn’t totally take away from the atrocious villain of the week, Weather Witch. The character and performance were so unbelievably over-the-top that it was just hard to sit through any of her scenes, despite her interesting meta-tech ability and family lineage.
It was also a little too on the nose for the show’s theme of father-daughter legacy. My point is this, Weather Wizard is a spectacular character and has been for his short time on The Flash. His daughter shouldn’t have been any different.
Finally, we had the typical “I have no family so I can’t celebrate the Holidays” subplot we typically see about once a year on the show. This time from Sherloque Wells. I’ve stated a few times that the character was growing on me and I don’t know. Maybe I was just hoping he would get better as time went on. For me, Sherloque reminds me of a more annoying H.R. Wells without the heart. I think The Flash would have greatly benefited from bringing that version of the character back somehow or even just keeping Harry Wells on the team.
Next week is the 100th episode of The Flash and boy does it look like an amazing episode. We are set to see the return of Savitar, Zoom, Reverse-Flash, and more in an attempt from Barry to try to take down Cicada. How does Barry going to the past with Nora help in his fight with Cicada? I don’t know but I’m pumped to find out.
Verdict: The Flash thrived this week when it spent time on the West-Allen family and Cicada. The latter finally got some much-needed backstory that should help humanize him in the future. But its horrible villain of the week, like it has in the past this season, kept “O Come, All Ye Thankful” from hitting its stride.
What did you think of this week’s episode of The Flash? Does Cicada’s backstory help solidify him as the main villain of season five? Let us know in the comments below!
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