The Flash “P.O.W.” Review

Season 7 Episode 16 “John Diggle arrives in Central City with a weapon to help Barry stop the Godspeed War; Allegra and Ultraviolet’s new bond is put to the ultimate test, while Joe and Kristin Kramer are hunted by a former colleague of hers.”

What I Liked?

1. The episode begins with an ariel view of Central City with Godspeeds running all around the city, attacking random civilians in their work, on the streets, in their cars, and in their homes, Team Flash is trying to figure out why all Team Flash know is that they are coming back within shorter timeframes when vanishing. This opening scene was such a great shot, the white lightning from the Godspeeds looks so nice.

2. This next point is both a like and dislike. Barry and Team Flash come up with a plan to capture one of the “good” Godspeeds, this is when Diggle arrives out of nowhere and gives Barry a gadget that Cisco made over at Argus. Barry and Diggle manage to capture a Godspeed and Diggle mentions that “he’ll only speak when he wants to as he’s a soldier”. I’ll explain why this is also on my dislike list.

3. We finally after many, many appearances get to hear a Godspeed speak, he tells barry that the other Godspeeds want his speed to give to their master August Heart, he also mentions that the “prime” August Heart is in this timeline and that’s why the Godspeeds are searching the city for him when Barry refuses to kill him, the Godspeed which was caught absolutely destroyed the meta cell and absolutely choke slammed Barry, is about to steal his speed when Barry is saved by Allegra. I really liked this scene because we finally have development in the story of Godspeed instead of just appearances.

4. I won’t lie, I’ve missed hearing the “Diggle speeches”, he used to give them to Oliver all the time, now before the mission he gives one to Barry which pushes Barry to run to the future to check in on Nora, but before the actual mission with Cecile, Diggle gets an immense pain in his head, which in turns affects Cecile when she uses her powers on him.

5. Barry trying to run to the future only to be blocked by Godspeeds, Barry is then pulled to Deon who informs Barry about the Godspeeds and that Nora (speed force) is trying to exterminate them all, Barry asks Deon to take him to the future to check on Nora, this is when we find out Deon is actually using nearly all his power to keep Iris in a stable timeline. I’m actually glad we’ve got an answer for where Iris has been the past couple of episodes.

What I Disliked?

1. As I previously mentioned in one of my likes, Diggle, he just appears at the right moment, just out of nowhere with help from Cisco’s gadget, this is the way they brought Diggle back is him “offering” to come to help Team Flash? Could have been written a tiny bit better.

2. Ultraviolet being the stubborn assassin that she is, she leaves Team Flash and Star Labs without being fully healed, she goes after more Blackhole people, Allegra chases after her after letting her go off on her own, this is where Allegra finds a barely alive Ultraviolet, she eventually ends up succumbing to her wounds. While I get that this loss will eventually cause Allegra to grow as a hero, I don’t think Ultraviolet should have been killed off.

Favorite Moment

My favorite moment of the episode came towards the end when Team Flash finds a memory-wiped August Heart, Caitlin gives him a needle of Dark Matter which can only make him remember his name since his memory loss is so severe. Barry is alone in the speed lab when a speedster with purple lightning arrives, it’s Nora from the future, she tells Barry that Iris will be ok, they all will, we will, Barry looking all confused says “we”, this is when Impulse makes his debut on the show, debuting with the line from Young Justice “This place is totally crash”.

The Verdict

While the action was a little bit lackluster, the information and reveals that came to light all through the episode absolutely made up for it, the Godspeed civil war motives, Kramers backstory, all of it was completely great. Seeing Nora and then Impulse show up fully suited up was perfection.

Rating: 8.1/10

Photo: The Flash Season 7 Episode 16 “P.O.W.”.