The Flash Review - S2 Ep 20: "Rupture"

The Flash Review – S2 Ep 20: “Rupture”

So, I don’t know what happened to the show I love. But they’ve clearly stumbled in these last several eps.

Long story short, this episode was the same as last week’s…a bunch of relatively insignificant developments setting up the main thing that we needed to see. Which happened, of course, in the last five minutes of the episode. I was screaming at the TV for the whole hour this time.

The whole “Flash hologram” thing? Was a real stretch. Again, they have to dumb the characters down to make it work, because as an idea for crime fighting it is completely unsustainable. They also again have to shoehorn Iris in, because have we noticed that we don’t see her doing her writing job at all anymore? She’s just at Star Labs all the time. And it takes Wells to call it out, as usual. Love the “Hoodlums and Holograms” line.

 Barry’s attitude in this whole thing doesn’t make any sense. They try to justify it by explaining how Zoom got to Earth 1, but all season long, Barry has been saying (and demonstrating) that he was willing to do whatever it took to stop Zoom. Which included taking a HUGE chance with Thawne/Wells and messing with the timeline, have we forgotten that? So his resistance to a controlled particle accelerator explosion is baffling. He’s the one that rightly reasoned many episodes ago that without his speed, everyone he loves is going to die at Zoom’s hands anyway.

So for whatever reason, they have Barry once again spinning his wheels to make a decision that should be made in less than five minutes. Which means that pretty much all the other storylines are filler.

Barry reconnects with his dad, and I have to admit…Henry weighing in at this point generated a little resentment, surprisingly so. Henry bolted right after he got let out of jail, and now he’s being brought back into the mix and trying to lecture Barry. It doesn’t feel like he has that right anymore. But the little interchange they have in his cabin almost seems to seal the deal on the Man in the Iron Mask reveal: it’ll be someone with Henry Allen’s face. A Garrick, for sure, since that was his mom’s maiden name, and maybe the real Jay Garrick IS Henry Allen of Earth Two.

As much as I love this show, they have overused their quota of heart-to-heart talks. Because nowadays, it’s all they do. Too much of any condiment can kill a sandwich, even ketchup.

The whole sideline storyline with Cisco and Dante…I was just kind of bored. I love Cisco, he’s the quippy, geeky Chloe Sullivanesque hipster of this show, but again, too much of a good thing can get old fast. Especially when it’s clearly being used to distract us from the slow moving main plot. I honestly couldn’t have cared less about Cisco and Dante.

Zoom showing up at the police station with Caitlin in tow? It just feels really…I don’t know, weird. Zoom has no real rhyme or reason to what he does. It’s like he just spontaneously decides he wants something, and then drags his forced girlfriend along with him? Who does that besides the Joker? I guess Wells lays out his modus operandi later, but it’s quite an inefficient way to establish oneself as the new super power in a city. But Zoom is so fast, he doesn’t need anyone else. Is he just a sadist? Or is he a speed addict? Or a sociopath? Or is he a redeemable, Vaderesque character that will see the light through Caitlin’s influence? And they keep making it clear that there is something inside of Zoom besides pain. It’s Black Flash at best.

Zoom certainly channels Vader by tempting Caity Cait to unlock her inner darkness. The question is, how is Caitlin going to be activated in terms of her ice powers.

 Most of the events in this ep? ...were completely predictable.

Rupture AKA Dante of Earth 2 showing up? WE SAW THAT COMING.

Cisco and Dante reconciling? WE SAW THAT COMING.

Kid Flash and Jesse Quick being created? WE SAW THAT COMING.

(Also, sticking Wally and Jesse in that room together, they would have totally been making out. That whole sequence just made me laugh.)

Wells is the Thomas Wayne (of sorts) in this ep in terms of setting up the accident to recreate The Flash a la Flashpoint. He has to keep defending himself in terms of his plan, and Henry for some reason is suddenly anti-powers? All three of Barry’s dads are weighing in, but it shouldn’t have taken all ep for Barry to figure out that there’s only one real answer here. That’s just really bad writing.

So in terms of the WestAllen shippers (and holy CRAP was Iris looking good this ep) I guess this was a pivotal development. Iris just doesn’t seem like she’s clear to me, she comes off as really fickle. Barry and Iris both seem to be conveniently forgetting the fact that just a few episodes ago, she said she thinks about Eddie every day. And, if Eddie was still alive THEY’D BE MARRIED. And her exact words when she was first confronted with the future (the byline being written by Iris West-Allen) was “SCREW THE FUTURE.” So, if I were Barry I wouldn’t trust a single thing she says. There’s no telling if her feelings are real, or if she’s just trying to fill the void that Eddie left with the sure thing she has with Barry. So, if they’re going to get them together, just get them together. Let them be the power couple they are in the comics. Again, it is clearly thee only reason Iris is on the show.

So Barry says they have to stop Zoom without The Flash. He’s made up his mind, because risking an uncontained particle accelerator explosion is just too risky. Okay. Hologram Flash to the rescue. Okay. Rupture is shot multiple times in the back and doesn’t die. Okay. Zoom figures out Caitlin warned them and then decides it’s time to spill some blood. Okay. And then Zoom demonstrates why NO ONE CAN EVER BEAT A SPEEDSTER. It’s ALWAYS THE VILLAINS THAT KNOW HOW TO USE THE POWERS. I can’t stand it.

So after THIS COMPLETELY PREDICTABLE BEHAVIOR BY ZOOM, and after figuring out that there are metahumans galore still unrevealed on Earth One, and after realizing how indescribably stupid it was to give up HIS ONLY ADVANTAGE, Barry changes his mind. “Let’s do it. I wanna do it.” In the Flashpoint comic the FIRST thing Barry figured out was that he needed his speed back, whatever it took.

So we FINALLY get to the scene we wanted to see, and of course CryBarry is back, because he can’t do anything without hugging everybody like he’s going to die and crying over the situation. And now Iris pledges her undying love. I won’t even get into how ridiculous it is that Cisco’s had Weather Wizard’s wand all this time and they are just NOW using it?

The experiment begins, Iris seems like she didn’t get the memo as to exactly what was going to happen, Zoom for some reason can’t get there fast enough to stop anything, and Barry…..derezzes. And of course conveniently catches Wally and Jesse in his wake on the way out. (Hello new members of The Flash Family!) It’s rather obvious that they made Barry super fast this time and transformed him into light particles, and he’s going to have to be talked back from the Speed Force Heaven he’s in with Echo Joe next week. Because seriously, does anybody really believe that Barry’s gone?

            *Sigh* Oh well, only three episodes left. Most of my predictions I think are accurate:

            -Barry and Iris will kiss and start dating

            -Kid Flash and Jesse Quick, hurrah!

            -The man in the Iron Mask is the original Jay Garrick, but it’s Henry Allen of Earth Two

            -Caitlin begins her transformation into Killer Frost

            -Zoom is going to be defeated in an ULTRA LAME way

            -Reverse Flash, Thawne/Wells will be revealed as still alive

So I don’t see many surprises coming our way in the next few weeks, but hopefully they make it fun to watch.

That’s it for this week…more Flashy goodness in seven days!