Title: The Flash: “Luck Be a Lady”
Release Date: October 24th, 2017
Network: The CW
Genre: Superhero, Drama, Action
Following one of the best episodes of Supergirl in recent memory, The Flash had high expectations to live up to for “Luck Be a Lady.” And boy did it every. Not only was it as funny as the girl of steels trip to Mars, it developed the season’s antagonist and brought back a fan favorite all at the same time.
The episode begins with the main antagonist for the series scouting one of the 12 metahumans he looks to involve in his game of Chess with The Flash. Sugar Lyn Beard’s down on her luck character turned Lady Luck is a goofy concept on the surface, but also a refreshing one.
Last week’s villain of the week, Kilgore, was evil simply for the sake of being wronged in the past, a cliche motive seen far and wide throughout the superhero genre. Yet Rebecca Sharpe, aka Hazard, isn’t really a bad person and her motives aren’t malicious either. Her conversation with Barry shows that she just felt that if it happened to her, why shouldn’t others feel a small dose of unluckiness.
Sure this isn’t really justified based on how dangerous those bits of bad luck are compared to her own, but her ditsy character’s actions reinforced she had the mindset of ignorance is bliss to her surroundings. The Thinker’s comments of her being easy to manipulate helped a lot too to establish her character.
While we’ve been given bits and pieces of The Thinker at the end of each episode this season, “Luck Be a Lady” starts with the villain, fleshing out his thought process. I’m really glad that The Flash went in this direction from the get-go in this episode, as “Mixed Signals” gave a sinking feeling that the season has lacked real direction so far. His explanation of using Sharpe is the first example of over exposition that really fit the situation in the Arrowverse, as its shows are generally prone to overusing exposition.
Alongside adding direction to the fourth season’s main plot, “Luck Be a Lady” continued The Flash’s return to being an over the top campy, light-hearted comedy. The West house falling apart, a Hudson River pilot reference, and an attempted wedding immediately after a funeral (“I love this coffin. Is that Cedar?”) were just a few of the comical situations brought about by the unique powers of Hazzard.
Nothing brought a smile to my face quicker than seeing the return of Earth 2’s Harrison Wells though, even if it made for a sad (but hilarious) breakup for Kid Flash. It amazes me that, despite Tom Cavanagh’s characters being killed off in the show not once, but twice, that The Flash still manages to work around those deaths in order to bring him back to the cast. And quite frankly, despite the ludicrous nature of it, there is no actor more deserving of it.
As much as I enjoyed his portrayal of HR last season, Cavanagh’s return as Earth 2 Harry adds a much needed dynamic to the show. While he isn’t necessarily the mentor to Barry that he was when he was Eobard in season one, this version of Harry is still smarter than any of the members of Team Flash. Not to mention his smart-ass attitude brings out the best in Carlos Valdes as Cisco. It doesn’t take long before the banter between the two becomes the highlight of the entire episode.
On the flip side of that coin, I hope that The Flash doesn’t rely too much on Science Ex Machina plot devices now that Harry has returned. I have no idea how the particle accelerator explosion could be so negative the first time, killing people and turning them into metahumans, but its how they solve Hazard’s growing bad luck field.
The writing for Kid Flash this episode, and all season, was even lazier though. The end of the episode revealed that Kid Flash was leaving Central City because no one even realized he wasn’t around for the entire incident. While it’s a scene that actually makes sense from Wally’s point of view, its done in a quick two-minute departure at the end of the show. To make matters worse, they somewhat belittled his departure at the end with an odd pregnancy announcement for Joe and Cecile.
All that aside, “Luck Be a Lady” was another hilarious installment of The Flash which also managed to further the overarching plot significantly more despite the goofiness. While Wally’s departure was anti-climatic and disappoint, I can’t wait to see the Wells/Ramone dynamic back in action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVy-aXhURRM
Verdict: “Luck Be a Lady” continues to build a lighter tone for the fourth season of The Flash, keeping the gags rolling and bring back one of the funniest actor dynamics in the entire series. The future looks bright for this season, as a strong villain and likable cast build momentum for the latter half of the long season.
What did you think of the second episode of season four of The Flash? What scene or scenes did you like the most? What are your predictions for the rest the season as the mysteries begin to pile up? Be sure to let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to check back next week for the fourth episode of the season,”Elongated Journey Into Night” immediately after it airs on The CW at 8 PM ET next week.
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