The Flash has done a spectacular job of taking the more “grounded” approach of Arrow and adding a layer of archetypical superheroics on top of it.  There are times when The Flash plays out like a more mature version of Smallville, and in many respects, takes everything that was wrong about how that show handled matters and transforms it into something much better.  The portrayal of Firestorm is, perhaps, a perfect example of something Arrow could never touch, yet feels like an organic extension of the same world.

The key is taking the personal approach, rather than the broad epic stroke that might have been applied.  For every major step along the way of understanding and protecting Firestorm (and the two men that comprise him), there is a character-based connection that fuels the drama.  Whether it is Ronnie’s relationship with Caitlin or how the merge with Ronnie has transformed Dr. Stein’s personality, or even Wells’ conflict with Eiling, the situation reduces to a basic human level.



It doesn’t hurt to have someone like Victor Garber at the heart of the story, parallel with Robbie Amell, to provide a solid core to the proceedings.  Garber rarely delivers a poor performance, and quite honestly, if you’re going to have someone chattering in the back of your head, Garber is probably one of the better options!  And again, this is a matter of having two people merging into one, so making that work conceptually is a tricky business that Garber helps mitigate.

This episode makes Team Flash aware of the time travel implications that Wells has been trying to manage in the background, and while Wells is still keeping his knowledge and involvement to himself, this means that Barry and his support system has another element to address.  For one thing, Barry now has a very good reason to set aside his free-wheeling attitude about being The Flash and focus on gaining the resources and training to accomplish his personal goal.  For all we know, this is precisely what Wells is trying to do; the nature of Wells’ abilities suggests that it is not the individual, but rather the technology involved, that allows Reverse-Flash to exist.  In other words, anyone could be in the suit at any given time, especially if time travel is a definite factor.


The main downside is that the matter of Ronnie and Caitlin gets very little time to earn its current resolution.  Caitlin is moving on, but is there sufficient basis for her to do so in the episode itself.  Perhaps her semi-move on Barry was meant to suggest she was already well on the way, with this being the final straw, but earlier episodes suggested that the matter was not something that would be overcome quickly.  Of course, that was before she realized that Ronnie’s survival meant sharing a body with Dr. Stein.  I can see how that might put a damper on any thoughts of rekindled romance!





The other issue is a minor one for this episode, but a potential disaster for the future.  I’m simply not sold on Grodd at all.  I dread the moment that he becomes integral to a given episode’s plot, because as much as he is a part of the DC canon, they are already struggling to depict him well on-screen.