The newly appointed Elongated Man. Photo taken via direct screenshot of the episode.
Please Keep In Mind That This Article Contains Potential Spoilers For “A Flash Of Lightning” and Events That Occurred Prior
Chester! I thought the show had forgotten about him. I mean it took them long enough to finally go back to him. But we’re here, and Chest is finally done recuperating. Brandon McKnight is a joy to watch, and his charisma is off the charts. I’m already pleased with what seems to be a new official team member. Sure, his development was ham-fisted by the end of the episode—but up until that point it was doing good. This episode, and the first of the season combined, laid some really strong groundwork for Chester on the show. A fairly strong connection to him has already been established with two appearances. It also helps that he’s just a fun character to watch.
The first person to help Chester was none other than Cecile—in which we finally got to see and get an update on her new career path. Furthermore, we took a deep dive into how it was affecting Cecile. I recently mentioned the lack of follow through in this plot, so I’m glad that they put such a heavy focus on it. Cecile is struggling with her recent career shift—and more so how replaceable she seemed in hindsight. This led to an identity crisis that fueled her soul searching mission with Chester. The whole plot was almost more for her character than for Chester. Which isn’t a bad thing!
Chester! Photo taken via direct screenshot of the episode.
Chester’s recovery wasn’t even the heart of the episode. That came with Barry and Ralph, and their Bond-esque mission. The homages throughout were clear, and quite fun. It was a case in which all of it could have come off as campy and too much, but it all landed quite well. Ralph once again excelled throughout the episode. There was a lot of focus on him due to Barry deciding to crown him as protector of Central City in front of the world. We all know Barry will more than likely survive the upcoming crisis, but the characters in the show don’t—so it’s good that the show isn’t skimping on the weight that comes with that.
With Ralph’s mission, Barry had to deal with doing things Ralph’s way. You’d think at this point, Barry would be a little more understanding in what needed to be done. His “lesson-learned” moment (ala learning The Flash isn’t needed) felt like something he’s learned a hundred times. Nonetheless, Barry was still fun to watch. From trying to play the part and ruining everything, to being clever in his tactics towards the end. It’s always good to be reminded that Barry is talented even outside of his abilities as The Flash. It was also a pretty big moment for Barry to pass the torch to Ralph—something not even Wally got close to being a candidate for.
Barry and Ralph in a tough situation! Photo taken via direct screenshot of the episode.
Then, along with all of that, we had a little adventure with Nash and Allegra. Needing to find a way inside of The Monitors layer (who I guess is a bad guy now?), Nash realized that Allegra was his ticket inside. It was then she got a very quick recap of the problems plaguing the world and its secrets, including a clumsy slip of the tongue from Nash—The Flash’s identity. I really hope that this doesn’t boil down to a confrontation between her and Iris/the team. One that revolves around her being angry that she was lied to and/or not brought into everything. Because let me tell you, that wouldn’t be earned in the slightest. We barely know the character, and what right does she have to know all of this stuff? Alas, I am ranting about something that hasn’t happened yet. The point is, I hope it doesn’t culminate in that.
“License To Elongate” was a fun, homage filled episode. We got to spend some quality time with Barry and Ralph on their mission of espionage, follow Chester and Cecile’s soulmate mission, and let Allegra in on some massive secrets of the universe. Overall it was a strong episode, even if had some bumps along the way. The episode ended on a slightly awkward note though, as symbiote looking Ramsey showed up to attack the newly anointed Elongated Man. I guess his new job as protector of the city started sooner than he expected.
Bonus Notes:
- A+ Mortal Kombat reference.
Special Note: We’ve had to resort to taking direct screenshots of the episode ourselves and/or repeated and unrelated Flash images due to the CW Network failing to provide adequate photos for proper coverage.
You can catch The Flash as it airs on The CW on Tuesdays at 9pm EST!
