SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
This entire episode was just set up. The first half was set up for the second half and the second half was set up for the rest of the season.  I thought episode nine had already set up the rest of the season, i.e. prevent Iris’ death, but this episode goes further than that into exactly how Team Flash will go about it.
Before Team Flash could come together to formulate a plan of action, Barry had to tell Iris about her impending death. And Barry only told the rest of Team Flash because Iris told him to. It’s probably not helpful to tell Iris that she is going to die and especially how long she has before it happens. I don’t understand why Joe is the only person left out of the loop and why it isn’t Iris instead. It makes sense for Barry to tell the rest of Team Flash because he needs their help, but also so they know what is going on with him when Barry acts out (like he usually does).
This show being this show though, Joe will find out because the writers apparently are very much against secrets.
The actual way Team Flash intends to prevent Iris’ death doesn’t make a lot of sense when you think about it. They are predicating their entire operation on headlines from a news crawl Barry saw when he travelled to the future. But they have absolutely no evidence that these specific events are part of the cause and effect chain that will lead to Savitar killing Iris. If anything, the fact that Barry told Plunder that he is living with someone now is probably what does it. Why he would tell a criminal he has something to lose is beyond me.
Hell, it may even happen because they brought Julian onto Team Flash. He was Savitar’s right hand man. His greatest disciple. How do they even know that he is no longer under Savitar’s sway? Barry knows that Savitar is not going to stay in the speed force because he sees him killing Iris four months into the future. Why would you then invite the one person who did his bidding into your team? Even if Julian is free of Savitar now, who says he will be later? It is the dumbest decision ever. Team Flash has created a huge vulnerability for themselves.
It is far more believable that that is what leads to Iris dying than a random news crawl. In any case, we all know that Iris won’t die and Caitlin won’t become Killer Frost. So there are no real stakes there. The only thing to look forward to from the crawl is Grodd.
The other West sibling, Wally, was the focus of this episode as well. He’ s been training with Barry for the last month and is eager to not just stand by and watch Barry. After they save Matt Parkman from a fire, Parkman derides Wally and his usefulness as a hero. Which of course, Wally over hears. I’m glad that Joe showed the utmost confidence and pride in Wally in that moment and defended him. It was the sweetest thing. But the writers of this show seem incapable of letting or unwilling to let their characters grow and learn.
Why’d they have to go and give Wally a reason to be the reckless little boy he always is? I get that a major part of who he is as a person is a constant need to prove himself, but can he get over that at some point? Can he actually make a responsible decision for once?
Then Wally does what he always does and disobeys Barry. When Barry chewed him out for it, Joe of all people chewed out Barry for not letting Wally get in on the action.
Firstly, Wally has only been training for a month. Sure, he is progressing as a speedster faster than Barry ever did, but as was stated in the episode, his speed and his experience in using his powers to fight crime are two different things. A month is hardly any time for him to train. Secondly, it is completely outside of Joe’s character not to be overprotective. Especially of Wally. Joe himself said so. His insistence that Barry throw Wally into the deep end made no sense and was inconsistent with his characterisation. The writers only did that to make Barry look like a douche. The plot is strong with this one.
Random thoughts:
- Matt Parkman?!
- CGI in this show is still terrible.
- I missed Cisco.
- The ever convenient crimes that keep Barry from telling Iris about his nightmares.
- Why did Barry get alerts for crimes on his phone before but then Cisco had to run into the room to tell him about a robbery in progress?
- Iris: “I forgot this place existed.” So did we.
- Why so mean Cisco?
The Flash airs Tuesday nights at 8 PM on The CW.
