The Flash "Trajectory" (REVIEW)
written by Justin Prince (@prince_justin)
Tuesday nights just got a little “flashier” again. After a mini hiatus, we pick up shortly after where we left off. If you caught the last episode, Team Flash has been lamenting the loss of Jay Garrick, but given the surprising reveal that a version or doppelgänger of Jay is actually the one behind Zoom’s mask, this spells trouble for Team Flash. The last episode’s surprise throws out the window what I expected from several months back when I wrote my Who Is Zoom article… but I digress.
anything you can do I can do better...
Barry and Team Flash are back to training, hoping to power up Barry’s speed to better take on Zoom. With all the breaches closed, Zoom is no longer an immediate threat to the denizens of Earth Prime, but in locking him away on Earth 2 our heroes have left the millions of people on that Earth at the mercy of a super powered sociopathic speedster with a serious mean streak.
If training to eventually deal with the oncoming storm wasn’t enough, a new speedster rocking a suit that’s distinctly scarlet has made herself noticed in Central City. After some petty thievery and all around villainy, the citizens of Central City begin to suspect their very own Scarlet Speedster of going rogue. While we the viewers and those among Barry’s inner circle know he isn’t the culprit, the city’s residents see a red blur followed by golden lightning stealing their gas money… it’s no wonder they suspected the Flash of going darkside.
“I can look past the reliance on speed villains and even Harry Wells quoting Kanye”
Back at home base, Cisco continues to vibe whenever he’s near Jay’s helmet… something to do with whoever has Jay’s (or the Jay as we know it) face being the man behind the black mask.
With a new speedster on the lose and as far as this world knows, the only way to manifest the speedforce is through the particle accelerator, Caitlin comes clean with Barry on her discovery of Velocity 9… something Barry is seriously considering taking, side effects be damned.
whadahell?!?
While it’s nice to have The Flash back again, these super speed villains start to get a bit old hat for me. Facing down speedsters like Zoom and The Reverse Flash can make for some compelling TV, but much liker every other superpowered hero *cough* Supes *cough* throwing down a foil with similar powers to the protagonist is good once in a while, but like all good things… loses its charm for the umpteenth time.
meet Trajectory, the villain of the week
Bringing Trajectory (this episode’s baddie of the week) into the fold does further the story… albeit at the end… having Barry face down villains like this makes me pine for the episodes he had to go head to head against Captain Cold, the Trickster, even the Pied Piper.
This season is coming to an end soon, and whatever resolution we get is for sure going to have Flash going head to head against Zoom in the ultimate grudge match for the ages. And while that is to be expected, my hope is that they fill the remaining episodes with some compelling story telling that doesn’t rely too heavily on a speedster villain.
The Flash is still one of my favorite super hero TV shows on the air, and I can look past the reliance on speed villains and even Harry Wells quoting Kanye West. But as a fan, I know how good they can be. Bring us another Trickster episode or bring Weather Wizard back into the fold, just something to temper my expectations for what’s the come.
gotcha!
