The Flash: Death of the Speed Force review S6 E14
After a few slower episodes, The Flash is proving it’s in fine shape to carry the Arrowverse without Arrow as it’s enjoying a resurgence similar to Arrow’s amazing fifth season. Death of the Speed Force kept the momentum rolling as we head to the season’s home stretch with multiple potential big problem villains.
Welcome Back
When Barry isn’t alerted to a helicopter crash, another speedster saves the day. It’s Wally who’s back and clearly in need of a different name. Kid Flash didn’t really feel right and it seems even odder with him looking just as old as Barry.
It was great seeing Wally and I loved the DC Rebirth homage with the Barry and Wally hug.
Wally shows off some of the results of his stay with Buddhist monks, which makes for an actually interesting take for a speedster. He’s not as hot headed or in a rush. I really wish Keiynan Lonsdale would return to the Arrowverse as a regular on some show whether Flash or Legends of Tomorrow.
Wally’s detected a disturbance in the Speed Force. Thankfully it’s not a divergence or a dyad. Barry already knew something was up, but kept attributing it to a slower recovery than normal as part of some Crisis fallout. But no, the Speed Force itself is dying thanks to Barry’s actions in Crisis.
I liked how the writers wanted to further establish that Wally is more in tune with the Speed Force than Barry, playing up a crucial distinction between the two from the comics. While they have some residual speed left, once it’s gone the well of super powers are spent.
This is a really cool adaptation of the post-Crisis comic book world. Before the big event, Wally’s powers were slowly killing him so he had to hang up his identity. After Crisis, his powers stabilized and he could function without fear of dying by using his abilities. Here, both Barry and Wally are starting a countdown to losing their speed for good when they use their powers.
Joe’s pep talk to Wally was, as usual, amazing and I liked that Joe got to play more of a pivotal role in helping Barry and Wally take down Turtle 2.0. I loved Cisco’s restraint in not bothering to come up with a cooler name.
Catch the Vibe
Cisco is back after a mini-hiatus. He hadn’t been gone long enough to truly miss him, but it was good to see Cisco back with Barry, Caitlin and company. This doesn’t totally solve the problem of too many supporting characters on the show. Cast juggling has proven to be tricky as there was no mention of Ralph, Allegra or Chester this week. Is that a bad thing or just a thing? I’m honestly not sure at this point.
Nash questions if Cisco has run into any other doppelgangers and tries to tell Cisco what he’s seeing only to get scoffed at. By the time, Cisco comes around only to find Nash has been taken over by Eobard Thawne. Guess Nash wasn’t crazy after all? Thawne Nash tries to kill Cisco, but his powers didn’t make it through the body swap. With a little help from Cecile, they’re able to subdue Thawne…for now.
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Smile
Mirror Iris is still playing at whatever is her game. It’s still not clear if she’s a mirror hologram doing Eva’s bidding in the real world or her partner. We don’t get a ton of Mirror Iris here, but Wally is somewhat suspicious and warns Joe to keep an eye on her. Kamilla took a picture of Iris and Wally, but Iris freaked out.
In the episode’s lone super convenient moment, Mirror Iris returns to the Citizen just as Kamilla sees the picture shows a mirror-like refraction of Iris. Before she can do anything, Mirror Iris zaps her with the mirror gun.
Payback is coming
Thawne has made it into the safest security prison in the Arrowverse – the pipeline. He wants to kill Barry, but is fine taking his time since he knows Barry doesn’t have much Speed Force left. Fortunately for him, Thawne uses the Negative Speed Force and is still fine. Barry gets the bright idea that in order to get his speed back he’ll need to create his own artificial speed force with Caitlin and Cisco’s help. That sounds disastrously interesting.
This was a pretty eventful episode and exactly the right kind of pacing choice as the season starts building to its final arc. The Flash is bringing it right now.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Photo Credit: The CW