Nora seeing Cicada for the first time. Photo courtesy of FlashTVNews.com.
Please Keep In Mind That This Article Contains Potential Spoilers For “Godspeed” and Events That Occurred Prior
Well, now we know how everything led to Nora and Thawne being acquaintances! And well…it played out pretty much exactly how one would think it would. Not that it was necessarily bad or anything—just nothing in this episode really felt unique or like it had a creative spin. But hey, at least we got see a live action Godspeed!
It was certainly a highlight to see another well known speedster from the comics make their debut on the show. But while he looked great and all, he was relegated to an one off episode appearance. Which is a real loss, and is sadly something not new to many villains that make it from the pages of the comics to this show. I mean really if you think about it, seeing him was the coolest part. He really was just a cut and paste villain, with the added speedster addition in order to mirror Nora’s origin with Barry’s. Not to mention, they kind of made him a Zoom knockoff. Maybe one day Godspeed can get some proper time on camera, and and some actual effort.
Barry and Iris discuss the choice Iris has to make in the future. Photo courtesy of FanPop.com.
Nora’s story was essentially just Barry Allen’s origin placed in the future, with a few kinks thrown in (obviously). What I enjoyed the most about seeing her become XS was how different and cheery she seemed before everything started to go down. Witnessing how she interacted with her best friend was something we don’t really get to see from her—no matter how cheery she may be at times in our present, she’s always bogged down by the truth of the situation. I do wish that the future sets looked a little more futuristic however. I mean the CCPD Lab just felt like they brought in some slightly updated furniture—the room really didn’t change much in two decades. At least they gave us fancy mini cars though!
The entire Nora origin story telling was framed within the plot as the team reading out loud her diary. This type of narrative structure most of the times seems cheap and unnecessary. Not much came from going back and forth between the two plots. I would have honestly preferred it just hop right into to Nora’s take, and then take the last ten minutes with just the team in present day. The most to come out of the whole present day storyline is the difference in both Iris’ and Barry’s stance on the matter.
Nora’s trip to get food doesn’t go as she plans. Photo courtesy of FanPop.com.
While it’s good to have everything out in the open now, I can’t help but feel that I expected more from this episode—or at least from the reveals. The best part came at the end, when Barry couldn’t help himself and confront Thawne face-to-face. Their scenes are always a joy. Now the show is in an odd position though. Nora is stuck in the future, and most of the storylines don’t really seem to have any clear path forward. Being this close to the end of the season, that’s a worrisome thing to say.
Bonus Notes:
- The Godspeed costume was fantastic.
