Please Keep In Mind That This Article Contains Potential Spoilers For “A Flash Of Lightning” and Events That Occurred Prior
Right out of the gate there’s one thing that needs to be addressed. The Mirror Iris charade has gone on for far too long. This is something that should have been discovered episodes ago, yet here we are in the same old rut. What do I mean by that? There’s an inherent lack of emotional importance. Iris just broke things off with Barry—yet I couldn’t care less. It doesn’t matter. We all know that it’s not the real Iris. Her reaction and feelings in the situation are completely fake. The only person with any real footing is Barry, and how he will react to the situation going forward. This whole thing though feels like it should have played out over two-three episodes at most. I’m sure that this fracture will spark a proper discovery of Iris being trapped away, but it doesn’t make up for its already elongated existence.
The event that sparked the big fracture? Joe finally faces the situation at hand and accepts himself into Witness Protection. It was a strong outing for Joe, as he coped with the balance of trying to get justice, while also having to worry about both his and his family’s safety. It obviously took a lot for him to make the final decision—having nearly been killed multiple times throughout the episode, and even going as far as to recklessly confront Carver in person. The shot of him solemnly in the corner after getting lucky and saving himself from the bomb was a powerful moment. A moment that really went the distance in causing Joe to shift away from his headstrong ways. His luck was bound to run out at some point.
The infamous Sue! Photo taken via direct screenshot of the episode.
The assassin sent over this time was none other than Rag Doll. Not only is Rag Doll a fun villain, but he is a perfect example of what should have been the fate of many Flash villains before him: a recurring threat. Far too often the show uses great villains for a villain-of-the-week situation, immediately robbing great characters of any further presence on the show. Rag Doll is a fun, creative, and creepy thorn in Team Flash’s side. He makes a fine addition to the show, and the reoccurring capacity that he inhabits is the perfect way to use the character. He even got some good character moments this time around; giving us a little tease of his past, and providing us with a look inside of his mind as he searched headlong for pain.
Off on the side, we had Ralph finally running back into Sue. This time with an added Cisco companion. It was great to see Sue back in the picture, and it’s worth noting once again how great Natalie Dreyfus is in the role. Her personality is electric, and I can’t wait to see her role expand. More of Sue in the show will be a great thing. We might have even seen her crack a little, and show her true self. It’s looking like both her and Team Flash may have the same target in mind. Sounds like a perfect match if you ask me.
Eva planning something evil. Photo taken via direct screenshot of the episode.
Aside from Mirror Iris, “So Long and Goodnight” provided was us a fairly good episode that gave some strong character work for the likes of Joe, Sue, and even Rag Doll (as subtle as it was). With Joe out of the picture, the stage is set for a proper and focused retaliation on Carver. One can only hope that the first step to this is not only saving our real Iris, but also figuring out just what Eva is up to. I mean at some point Cisco is going to have to officially coin her as Earth-1’s new Mirror Master.
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!
