Season 8 Episode 2 – Despero warns The Flash that great tragedies will lead to Armageddon; Barry doubles down on proving his innocence, but a devastating revelation pushes him to seek counsel from Black Lightning.
What I Liked
1. One of the props I’ll give the show so far this season is the exploration of Barry in his CSI position again. As he attends a scene after Despero explains he’ll lose his mind, we subtly see a bit of madness happen. He’s ordered to turn in his badge due to Sunshine claiming her inside mind was Barry. I love how subtle the show is becoming when it comes to this.
2. STAR Labs is shut down due to a radiation leak, to be honest, it’s nice to see the lab hit. We’ve never really had any stories in regards to the actual building to cause the team issues. It’s an interesting take hearing that needs to encase the building in concrete to stop the radiation from spreading into the city.
3. Xotar despite being a poor villain, manages to entrap Barry mid-air snapping him “like a magician spoon”, he then manages to build up lightning within his body to the point he’s essentially overcharged. He then releases the overcharge taking down Xotar. I did like this scene, to be honest, I’m happy we’re seeing more and more of Barry’s powers come into play. More so considering what he can do in the comics.
4. An interesting twist after seeing Barry try so hard to keep his cool. We then find out Joe is dead. We’re unsure at this point if this is reality, but it’s extremely creepy in a sense. I do enjoy this angle they’re taking with the character. We’re even getting to briefly see evil Flash as his mind is broken. Very interesting.
What I Disliked
1. Despero told him his mind will break into madness. He knows a Meta is causing people to go mentally insane with no prior recorded history of it – so he mentions that he will “take her down” first. Why couldn’t he just assign a member of his team first so that he could sit back in case Despero was right? He’s an idiot.
2. Barry literally outsped a psychic last episode but in this one, he gets completely outplayed. How can it just so suddenly change when the episode deems it fit?! He’s the FASTEST man alive. He can put speed thoughts, but no, just because the narrative fits then it’s okay. It’s really not.
Favourite Moment
Despero has enough and tries to kill Barry finally. Barry has been “blacking out” and ending up in positions he’s unsure of. This has resulted in Despero being ready to end his life. He comes very close if Chester and Alegra didn’t show up to stop him. Barry then heads to the Justice League-type table, something we haven’t seen for a long time. Black Lightning then shows up!!
Standout Character
Despite being an idiot, I have to give it to The Flash this week. He is the only one that truly stood out in this episode. I do like the idea we’re constantly seeing new powers and abilities come from it, and the overcharge was a great way to introduce that. I do like the idea we’re getting evil Barry again in a sense. It’s something Grant did really well with Savitar in season 3.
Verdict
I have to admit, this episode had very high moments, followed by an extremely low moment to a very interesting end. It was a delight to see Black Lightning at the end of the episode, and we’re super excited to see him properly in the next episode.
Rating 8.5/10
Promo For Next Episode
The Review
Story - 10
Action - 7.5
Characters - 8
Entertainment - 8
Quality - 9
8.5
Great
I have to admit, this episode had very high moments, followed by an extremely low moment to a very interesting end. It was a delight to see Black Lightning at the end of the episode, and we're super excited to see him properly in the next episode.
