SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
This episode is the best and greatest argument for why Barry should never have told Iris that she is going to die. Who knew that she had it in her to be far more reckless than Wally?
The
writers of this show seem to have finally remembered that Iris actually has a job; a life beyond being Barry’s girlfriend, Joe’s daughter and Wally’s sister. Seriously, it feels like forever since we last saw her being a reporter. She decides to follow a lead about an arms dealer who is supplying criminals with very advanced weaoponry, despite Joe, Barry and even Wally telling her it’s a bad idea. She promises not to, but we all knew that that was a lie.
When not just Joe but Barry and Wally – Wally! – tells you shouldn’t do something, you should listen Iris!
The
only part of Iris’s little misadventure that I enjoyed was when she almost gave Joe a heart attack. His reaction was priceless! Pretending to talk about wanting to have children, then reframing it as a conversation about what kind of pet to get Barry was an amazing and hilarious distraction tactic.
Other than that, I was quite annoyed with her. Especially when she walked right up to thr arms dealer and dared him to kill her. That was the stupidest, most reckless, most ridiculous thing she has ever done in the entirety of this show. I get that she was confident that she would not die because, thanks to Barry, she knows exactly how and when she will, but that does not mean she is to throw her life away.
I understand her angst and I would have been able to sympathise with her if her reasoning for her behaviour was “I’m going to die anyway, so what’s the point of being careful.” That would have been believable. That would have made me feel for her. But the writers decided “I’m not afraid of dying; I’m afraid of dying and not making me mark on the world and making a name for myself” is far more compelling.
It’s not.
That
in and of itself is not a bad reason. But the lengths she went to were too far for that to be a reasonable justification. She told someone to kill her because she wants to be memorable outside of Team Flash. She says she wants to make a difference in the world before she dies, but writing that story doesn’t exactly accomplish that. The way she wants to “make a difference” comes off more like she is just trying to be famous.
Cisco
fell for yet another bad girl and this time it was Gypsy; the Collector from Earth-19. Only Cisco would flirt with someone and ask them on a date when they’re attacking him and his friends. Clearly he was distracted by her beauty when he agreed to the trial by combat.
Considering how mean he’s been to HR it was confusing that he would then turn around and risk his life for him. Even more so when his lack of experience as a fighter and the fact that he doesn’t have much of a grip on or understanding of his powers are factored in. It really would have made more sense for Barry to do it. But as Gypsy demonstrated earlier, she had her ways of literally stopping a speedster in his tracks.
Ignoring all of that, though, it was nice that Cisco got a moment to shine and once he explained why he was putting his life on the line for HR it made a bit more sense. His relationship with the Wellses is complicated.
Fie on Barry – and HR – for going behind Cisco’s back and trying to take care of Gypsy himself. That was contradictory to his expression of confidence in Cisco and the fact that he did it because of his own feelings of inadequacy makes it even worse. He made it about him. HR and Cisco’s lives were on the line and he put them – HR more than Cisco – in greater jeopardy because he was feeling insecure.
I
don’t think Cisco actually won the trial by combat. The rules said that it was a fight to the death. Not that Cisco would ever have killed her, but in such a situation knocking her on her butt would not and should not be enough to qualify as a victory. If he had knocked her out, sure, but not getting one good punch in. That really didn’t make any sense.
From the moment that Julian said, at the beginning of the episode, that Barry is not progressing quickly enough to reach the speed he needs to in order to save Iris in time, I said to myself that they should have Wally do it. Why it took Barry until the end of the episode to think of that is beyond me. Why Julian didn’t think of that at all is beyond me. It was the obvious solution.
Random thoughts:
- Iris: “I’m still a journalist Barry.” Really? You don’t seem to do it much anymore.
- Joe is already noticing her odd behaviour. He’ll find out very soon.
- Barry: “How do we ever know if our actions now will impact the future?” You’re worried about his now?! Also, I don’t know, have Cisco vibe you to the future again maybe?
- Trial by combat? Is her Earth Westeros?
- Please never teach Julian to be a better person.
- If this is 24 hours later why is it a different time of day?
- When is Cisco going to get a long term love interest?
- I do not like Cisco’s suit.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 PM on The CW.
This first episode was painful to watch and uninteresting and so were it’s characters.
Betty is the very smart girl who is in love with her best friend and has an overbearing mother and is on medication, as well as a tragic past involving her sibling. And just wants to live for herself for once and not do anything for anyone else. She also has a gay best friend and really wants to be a cheerleader.
I really liked how this episode had flashbacks of Wes’ individual interactions with Annalise and the Keating Five, now the Keating Four (unless you count Oliver). It was a nice send off for Wes and for each of the main characters to have their little moments with him to say goodbye. In some ways, it gave the characters and the viewers a small measure of closure.
I loved how Annalise’s booking process was juxtaposed with Wes’s autopsy and really demonstrated how some of the procedures are very similar or exactly the same. It was disturbing but very, very interesting. The medical examiner drawing a different conclusion from the one she had previously, though common, leaves me thinking that there was some meddling involved there. But I’m always suspicious of things in this show.
I like Annalise’s bunk mates. The only good thing about her being in jail is the two of them and getting to see more of those characters in the foreseeable future. I especially like the older one, Jasmine. Her speech to Annalise, I hope, reignited a fire within her. Annalise is so down and dejected and like she’s resigned herself to being in prison. And tired. I want the fierce Annalise back. The “Queen” that Jasmine said she was and still can be. The old Annalise needs to come back.
We got to find out who won the Scandal election and, unsurprisingly, it wasn’t Mellie. I never thought that she was going to win. I couldn’t see that many people voting for her. But apparently, very many did because the race was a close call between her and the winner, Francisco Vargas. But just when we – and Mellie – think she suffered a crippling defeat, the writers (as always) throw in an unexpected twist; Francisco was shot and gravely injured. And then died. Unceremoniously.
When he died and the presidency was left up in the air and David told Fitz it was up to him to choose the next president, I was sure it would have gone to Mellie. That is a way that I could believe her becoming president. And like Olivia said, I think she would do an amazing job at it. But then Fitz gave it to Cyrus. Cyrus! Mellie lost not once, but twice. That had to have been rough. Especially after the talk she had with Fitz on the balcony.
He did seem terribly shaken up by Frankie’s death; which is believable because Cryus did actually like and care for the man. But on the other hand, it’s believable that he would have pretended. But then he looked to be taken by surprise when Olivia confronted him at the end of the episode. But he could have been acting there as well. I was so back and forth coming on to the end that at this point I can’t pick a side. I need more information.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Stephen Lang, if your familiarity with his work does not extend beyond 
Lang presented Trinidadian soca super star Machel Montano with the first Barbados Independent Film Festival Award for Artistic Excellence. In his presentation he praised Montano not only as a musician, but as an actor as well for his lead role in 
Of all of the films I got to see – Beyond Glory, H20, Catching the Sun, Diverge, Zora’s Dream, Sweet Bottom, A Caribbean Dream, Barbados Surfer Girl, Ain’t No Fish, Saving Our Turtles, Aloysius 2, and Bazodee – 
It cannot be expected, and is perhaps a little unfair, for Barbadian films (particularly those unlike A Caribbean Dream and Sweet Bottom) to compete with foreign selections such as these which excel in the creative and technical aspects of film. Comparatively speaking, the Barbadian offerings were not as technically or creatively proficient as those from the other countries; my own film included. We fall rather short.
on the Beach’ was lovely. It started an hour and a half late – the scheduled time was 4:00 PM but it started closer to 5:30 PM – but this could not be helped since the sun needed to go down in order for the screenings to commence.
For this week’s challenge the girls had to learn a dance routine and come up with their own signature move, which they executed at the end. Taught by Chris Grant, choreographer to the Queen of Fierce herself Beyoncé, the girls had to dance while looking like a model. The dance routine was longer than I thought it would be and perhaps a little too complicated for beginners – even India said that it was – but the girls did fairly well with it.
It was obvious from the moment she performed that Tatiana would win the challenge. Paige was the better dancer – obviously – but Tatiana brought the “model.” She really is, as Chris said, the whole package. She wasn’t someone I was particularly looking at before in this competition, but she is quickly proving herself to be a threat and is the contestant I have pegged to win this cycle.
Marissa’s conduct with Stacy was very unprofessional and bratty. I don’t exactly believe her when she says that she was actually trying to learn from her. Maybe she thinks she did, but her attitude and behaviour suggest otherwise. She even said herself that Stacy was being annoying. No one who genuinely wants to learn from someone would call them that. If it had been a real set she would have been fired and sent home. I’m glad that later on, at judging, it seemed to hit her that she had conducted herself poorly.
I agreed with Law; I did not like Corryanne’s performance in the video shoot. As incredibly adorable as she was, she didn’t look like a model, her movements were sluggish and she just wasn’t impressive. But gosh was she adorable! Marissa was stiff and underwhelming and the hat thing was cringe inducing and annoying. Cody’s wasn’t very good. Her face was stunning, but she didn’t really move much and looked a little lost. Binta look like a damn fool and was an even bigger mess than Kyle was during their lesson. Rita was right about Kyle’s take; the moment at the end was brilliant, but in the rest of it she looked awkward and like she didn’t know what she was doing. But again, she stuck to it and owned it. So while she’s fumbling she’s being very endearing.
Courtney’s was just mediocre; not bad and not good. She was another girl that didn’t move much but her face at the end was beautiful. Courtney is totally a high fashion, editorial girl, but she needs to learn to be more commercial. Tatiana was “meh.” She did so well in the challenge that I expected more of her. She kind of under performed. Paige was excellent; she was fun, youthful, energetic and cute. It was perfectly commercial and she looked beautiful. I really liked India’s; she was fierce and fun and the clothes looked amazing on her. Her take was an edgier kind of commercial than Paige’s but she didn’t dance as well as her. Some of her movements were awkward but over all, she was stellar.
know that as a viewer, I know Renard better than a character in the show who barely knows him. But barring that, if this dude believed so wholeheartedly that Renard killed the “love of his life”, why would he then go and blackmail him?! In his mind Renard already killed someone, what makes him think that Renard wouldn’t kill him to eliminate a threat? He clearly does not know who he is dealing with. And so said, so done. not even ten minutes later in the episode (it really did not feel like it was very long), Renard had him killed. That was a very stupid decision on his part.
of, Nick’s plan was very obvious once he said he wanted Eve/Juliette to turn him into Renard, told Adalind to watch the news at 7:00 and they brought up that Renard being mayor-elect meant that once he did become mayor, he would be near untouchable. I expected him to announce Renard stepping down from being mayor, but not him going so far as to exonerate himself and clear his name. It was very smart move.
was quite evident that Diana would be the one to undo Nick’s transformation as Renard. I had assumed that she would recognise that Nick was not her father when he turned around and faced her, but I guess her powers are not that extensive (until the writers call for it, that is). Her seeing Nick as Renard was one of the worst things that could have happened to him. Now we’re getting the Nick-hating Diana that I always thought she would be.