The Flash S9 Ep. 2 Personal Highlights

"Hear No Evil"

Going along the marketing campaign's "One Final Run" slogan, we've now landed our second step into the newest and final season of The Flash. What started off on a serviceably well season premiere that acted as an interesting enough time loop episode now enters into a story about identity with teases for the future. So, with this being the final season and having less episodes than what we're used to, expectations are a little higher than usual with the overall level of quality being presented. Whereas I was able to give the first episode a pass for not delivering anything necessarily game changing, I do expect to see a bit more boundary pushing aspects making their way into the show. 

In some fashion, I'm expecting character moments, action scenes, and story ideas that give longtime fans the impression that the quality reaching effort was at an all time high with the production team. So, does Episode 2 start to imbue this season with these sensibilities or has things felt just about the same from where we left off? Well, without further ado, let's dive into my personal highlights of this week's Flash.

Post-Crisis Brings Us Another Villain Redo

One of the recurring themes that I'm noticing for this season of The Flash is the idea of new Post-Crisis iterations of previous Flash villains showing up. Now we’ve actually seen this idea rooted already back in Season 6 with Cisco’s villain catalog being referenced as new faces pop up carrying old villain names following the game changing crossover event. However, they’ve made it a point in this episode to specifically call out the fact that it’s happening in such succession which is kinda interesting. The first was the new Captain Boomerang (who I’m still not sure if he’s a familial legacy character for the show or a Crisis rewrite) and now we have the new Fiddler. As stated by Iris, we’ve already had a previous Fiddler by the name of Izzy Bowen who became an ally to Team Flash (the Season 4 Thinker arc) making this more villainous version a bit of an anomaly. 

Once they revealed through CCPD criminal records that her name is Andrea Wozzeck, I immediately rushed over to the DC Comics library for a quick bit of research only to come out empty handed. Guys, I have to be honest. I have no idea who this character is and whether or not she’s a new creation for the show considering her name was nowhere to be found in my search. Now, there is a villain by the name of Virtuoso with a secret identity in the comics who apparently stole the original Fiddler’s signature weapon. Perhaps Andrea is the show’s creative take on this villain now inserting an actual civilian identity to her where the source material may have kept it vague. Or, with a bit of humility, I can just admit that I may have incidentally missed over her name in my research.

Either way, in regards to how she’s utilized on the show, I’d say that there isn’t really much to celebrate here. She comes across like any other forgettable villains of the week on the show serving just to keep the heroes busy while the “big bad” looms in the background. That being said, I did like the fact that she was prominently highlighted as a villain for Hartley more so than Team Flash. With Season 9 being our final outing with this cast, it’s kinda awesome to see the writers taking one of the show’s recurring side characters and giving him his very own nemesis to face. The power base matching confrontations between Hartley and Andrea does make for some occasionally enjoyable visuals (albeit nothing particularly jawbreaking). 

And although the character design on this new Fiddler doesn’t inspire much awe and wonder, I did like the added element of making the instrument itself have a noticeable high tech aesthetic. Placing it adjacent to Captain Boomerang’s more advanced gadgets, there is a visual through line that you can see being formed around the idea of side villains being mysteriously armed by someone with big connections. So although this Fiddler may not standout much in the costume department, what she represents is something quite alluring for the grander narrative. Who is arming these criminals with more advanced weaponry than Team Flash would normally have to deal with in their previous iterations? Well, considering who the ominous big bad is set up to be, advanced gadgetry makes perfect sense (but I'll let the writers reveal that).  

Now let's hone in on this Fiddler's power set for a moment because there’s a couple of details that I quite liked. Other than having teleportation tech like Mercer's Boomerang, the fact that she can use her sound wave attack to trap people in a state of molecular stasis is alarmingly formidable. There’s a great moment where she blasts Hartley's employees and love interest seemingly wiping them out of the environment with one stroke of the fiddle. Barry later uncovers, through his phasing ability, that these helpless victims are actually stuck in a warped new form of reality and not just vaporized. It’s a bit of a quick scene and probably won’t be addressed later on in the season, but from a conceptual standpoint, this is arguably one of the most interesting threat scenarios that a villain of the week has ever offered up. 

It takes Barry’s commonly used power to be used, while in the midst of being attacked by Andrea, to accidentally come across her victims’ horrifying state of existence. Although the visual execution in this scene isn’t anything to necessarily write home about, I do think that the writers should be given a little pat on the back for trying something really interesting with such a minor character. Also, on a side note, Andrea uses her voice through the nightclub's speaker system to project a sonic blast categorizing her in the same meta catalog with the likes of the Arrowverse's Black Siren, Black Canary, and Banshee. 

The performance by Magda Apanowicz in the role is serviceable enough (thankfully not as over the top as countless of previous villains). And though I personally have zero interest in seeing her show up ever again, the idea of a newly outfitted rogues gallery forming to take down Team Flash is a pretty enticing one. Some of you guys may remember about a couple years ago when I suggested the final season of The Flash to be an all out rogues attack storyline. Well, if one were to observe these first two episodes focusing primarily on the weekly villains all being on the same team, what if that’s exactly what we’re building to here? Just saying. I'm getting some major Flashpoint Paradox flashbacks with the idea of an evil speedster orchestrating Flash's rogues gallery for some grand scheme assault.

A New Caitlin Story That I Can Finally Get Behind

If you’ve been following my Flash episode reviews for years now, you’ll know that one of my recurring nitpicks has revolved around the Caitlin/Killer Frost character. I’ve already dove into this several times before (in several rants), so without rethreading that ground, I’ll just say that I’ve never liked the approach to this adaptation from the comics. It always felt, very much like the Gotham TV show’s take on the Joker, like the writers going the most convoluted route just to land at a destination that could’ve easily been met with a more simplistic and rewarding path. So, you can only imagine how challenging it must’ve been for me to pick up immediately early on that this was going to be a Caitlin heavy episode. 

Well, it may surprise some of you to know that I…well...I actually kinda liked this subplot. I know, crazy right? As a matter of fact, I’ll go so far as to say that I really admired some of the ideas being approached here even if I still feel that we could’ve reached this destination much more smoothly. The characters that we know to be Caitlin and Frost are apparently “dead” making way for who the show labels as simply being “Snow”. Now we can sit and nitpick all week long about the questionable science behind what it means for someone to have sides of themselves dying (their words not mine) birthing a whole new entity of sorts through technology. However, I think it’s much more interesting to hone in on the emotional and psychological side to this new character tale. 

Who or what is Snow and makes her so unique aside from a few visual aesthetic touches? Well that’s exactly what this episode aims to tackle, and through this process of figuring things out, created something that I never expected to see on the show. I’m just gonna say it. Surprisingly, I really like this new persona for Caitlin and can comfortably say that it’s the most interesting and story-wise rewarding thing that they’ve ever done for both the actress and initial character. Snow is depicted as someone with childlike curiosity and innocence observing the world around her while gently but also eagerly grasping onto things that appeal to her. 

Now on paper, this description sounds pretty close to Frost's occasional sensibilities, so why is this new character so easily celebrated whereas the latter was admittedly complained about frequently by yours truly? What I love about this presentation so far is primarily the direction given to her scenes. Danielle Panabaker isn’t forced to go over the top with cheesy ice puns or cringe inducing adolescent-like emotions as Frost. She’s also not thrown into emotional breakdowns lashing out at anyone or being silent off to the side in a constant fearful state as Caitlin often was. Instead, she displays a slightly more nuanced performance as this newborn individual finding her way around through tender, soft spoken interactions with other characters.

It paints her as being both compassionate while also being a blank slate excited to fill in new layers for herself. Thinking retrospectively on the show, I don’t typically get to applaud Danielle’s acting since the writing and direction rarely gave her anything worth celebrating. Well, this episode changed the landscape a bit for me and imbued a sense of optimism moving forward in that regard. Now, let’s talk about what they specifically do with Snow that made her stand out so much for me here. Throughout the episode, you get to see that gentle curiosity that I referenced earlier during her dialogue exchanges with other characters. Her conversation with Hartley gives her a bit of a revelation regarding the choice to be who she is and later speaking to Cecile confirming that mindset. 

Let's focus on the latter discussion segment because I truly feel that this was the key moment that really solidified my growing admiration for this new character. We start the scene with this episode’s repeated rain imagery as Snow is shown with her hand pressed against the window calmly soaking in the sound of it. Cinematically speaking, this was one of the more beautiful character centered shots on the show (which plays into my thoughts on the premiere making this season out to have consistent noticeably improved production values). But not only are the visuals dazzling, the imagery also plays into the storytelling as well. Cecile approaches Snow and kindly asks about her fixation on the rain which Snow replies that she feels at peace by it due to nature itself having a purpose like everyone else. 

The idea introduced here is that this new individual (Snow) enjoys the idea of everything having a purpose but wishes that she could uncover her own which is a very relatable human characteristic. And without the need to overact or make crazy decisions throwing the team in danger, she just delicately voices this feeling. Cecile not being able to read her mind yet feeling perfectly calm about it coupled with Snow’s spontaneous and childlike friendship embrace made for such a charming and equally interesting scene. With the sound and imagery of heavy rain making up the majority of the atmosphere during this exchange, the show is able to offer one of its most directionally engaging character centered scenes to date. 

By the end of the episode, Team Flash's dilemma about having to choose which identity to save only to come to the solution to let her choose for herself was such a satisfying narrative conclusion to witness. Snow chooses the name Khione (which isn't a particularly easy name to digest like Snow but it does have significance to her father, so I suppose it can work). The more that I talk about it, the more I'm starting to feel as though I need to officially mark this episode down as a triumphant feat. I mean they did it. They actually managed to win me over with the whole Caitlin/Frost identity issue that has plagued this series in the past by creating something entirely new and interesting.

With this being the last season, and them improving one of its main supporting characters, it makes me feel pretty optimistic about the rest of the season despite some other concerns that may be present. Although, I will admit that we're only two episodes in and it might be a bit premature to think that they could just "fix a character" with just one episode. There's also the Chillblaine conflict which, and let's be honest here, I can care less about. What is it that they're trying to set up here? Will he end up working with Red Death just to get back at Team Flash only to re-team with them after realIzing the error of his ways? Will Red Death kill him as the show's way of "safely killing a Team Flash member" simply to show off the new villain's threat level? Again...don't care at the moment.

I Am Vengeance. I Am...The Red Death

Well guys, here he is. After being teased during Season 5's Flash museum future exhibit namedrop, we can now finally take in the live action debut of one of DC Comic’s Dark Multiverse characters, the Red Death. Now I’m not gonna pretend as if I’ve read the The Dark Nights: Metal comics, but I’ve always been personally interested in checking them out due to the various artwork that I’ve seen in recent years. I’d always dip my toe in a little research every now and then with some of the characters just out of sheer curiosity and two characters specifically always stood out to me. 

Those character were "The Batman Who Laughs" and the "Red Death" who caught my attention mostly from their incredible character design and personal intrigue towards their background. Now I won’t spoil anything for the show since I have absolutely no idea what the CW can and cannot adapt from the comics, but what I will say is that this is a villain that I never thought they’d be able to actually pull in. The identity surrounding them is particularly exciting to see unfold for the show especially with the Arrowverse’s questionable history with the use of this particular individual.

As for the design, and you guys know by now that character design is a pretty big thing for me, I'd say that I'm...a little mixed on it. I see the effort and I applaud them for really shooting for comic accuracy here, but the show’s budget just doesn’t allow for certain costume designs to be successfully executed. This looks better than what we gotten in the past with Godspeed but not too far off from coming across as a Power Rangers villain of the week. I’ll have to wait and see how they have him fight and move around in future episodes to make a fairer judgement on the whole thing. 

Actually, that's one thing I have to say that I am very excited for with this character coming in now. To see how the production team elevates the visual direction behind the speedster battles in this season compared to the past will be one of the major components that I'll be keeping my eyes peeled on. I’ve always said that we’ve yet to truly present just how spectacular an epic speedster battle can be in live action for this show. They’ve always scratched the surface with some of the fight scenes (the first Savitar encounter, a few of Zoom’s scenes, and Crisis on Earth X’s street battle), but has yet to really fulfill the potential for what these characters are capable of doing.

 

I hate to sound like a broken record with this point, but this is our final season after all. I feel like we have a golden opportunity to take the Red Death villain and deliver something absolutely thrilling and cinematically jaw dropping of which the fans can celebrate as being a high point of the entire show. For those of you who saw the series finale of Arrow, there's an extensive action scene where the production team went above and beyond to honor the show's action roots creating something that everyone lost their minds over once the episode was released. This type of mentality should easily be incorporated for The Flash being Arrow's accompanied flagship series that kept the CW Network's Arrowverse alive and kicking. 

They ought to really stretch that budget to new heights given the less episodes this time around and the “final run” overarching marketing theme. That’s where my hopes are anyway. As for the storyline surrounding Red Death, so far he just seems to be someone needing side villains to give him certain tech for his own gain. 

Why was he seemingly trapped in a state of phasing in need of Hartley’s tech? Why did he need Captain Boomerang to steal a portable particle accelerator? What does he have against the Flash and does he know Barry personally? Being that we’re still very early into the season, I’ll just patiently wait for them to gradually unveil these things for us though my comics research in the past gives me a little idea on where they might go with him (or her?). 

I just hope this isn’t another power craving, one dimensional, and over the top speedster villain like Godspeed was. Please writers room, please don't give us just another Godspeed clone. Give Red Death a compelling story, a solid enough performance, and some standout geek out worthy action scenes to close the series on a high note. If you do this one thing, I'll somewhat forgive some of the absolutely awful season villains that we've had in the past (Savitar's character writing, Cicada's repetition and laughable performance, Devoe's overly convoluted plot, almost everything in Season 7, etc.).  Season 8 was the first in a long time to give us a somewhat consistently solid collection of season villain arcs. Let’s make Season 9 conclude with one of its greatest antagonists to date.

Episode Rating: 8/10