Please Keep In Mind That This Article Contains Potential Spoilers For “Pay The Piper” and Events That Occurred Prior
There he is! We got our first tease of him in the season six premiere, but it took until episode 17 to finally see Godspeed. With such a far-out tease, one would have thought that Godspeed would have played a much bigger role than what he got here. Instead, we just got someone who randomly showed up to cause trouble—trouble that was fairly disconnected to the main story of the show. Yes, Godspeed’s power may have been the answer to help out Pied Piper, but Godspeed’s appearances were rather random and convenient.
At the very least, this wasn’t Godspeed’s big hurrah. The show made it clear that the real Godspeed is still out there, and that he may even be working for someone. When it came to what this season may offer, I was most excited when it came to the possibility of Godspeed becoming a key component of the story. Especially after his messy and ultimately useless one-off in the previous season. So while it’s a shame his appearance in this episode seems random and disjointed, hopefully, we see him in a better capacity down the line.
Godspeed in all of his glory. Photo taken via direct screenshot of the episode.
While it was fantastic to see a villainous speedster once again, the real focus was on Hartley—AKA The Pied Piper. We finally learned about what caused him to go sour in this new post-Crisis world. The reason? His love was wounded in an attempt on their end to beat The Flash (something that the team somehow wasn’t able to price together). While it’s great that we got some significant character development, the content itself wasn’t anything special. To date, this is probably the most focus the show has given him—and the deepest dive into his character. I’m not very connected to Andy Mientus’ performance, which could easily be due to his character not getting enough attention. With all of the foundation they set up for Hartley though, I’d be surprised if we don’t see him again sooner rather than later. Clearly, if Godspeed continues to become a bigger threat, Hartley could be a great Ally to have on board.
Speaking of villains, Eva was nowhere to be seen for a majority of the episode (all except for her awkward and brief final scene). Instead, her presence was felt in spirit—as the focus was on Team Flash’s coping of the Iris revelation, and on Iris herself as she learned that her sanity has a new timer placed on it. As for the Team, everyone’s reactions to the revelation was handled well. As one would expect, Barry beat himself up about it quite a bit. Thankfully he had Nash there to give him a rousing pep talk, along with Cecile offering some helpful words of advice. While the team knows that Iris—and at least two other people—is still stuck in the Mirrorverse, they don’t have a plan to save her just yet. They better get on it though, because Iris may not have much time left before her mental capacities are scrambled like Eva’s.
Teamwork makes the dream work. Photo taken via direct screenshot of the episode.
“Pay The Piper” should have been a much better episode. We finally got some focus on the Godspeed mystery, which sadly just led to no new information and simply presented only more questions. Questions we likely aren’t going to get answers to for a long while. While we did get some character focus on Hartley, it certainly didn’t make up for the disjointed feel of the rest of the episode. The clock is ticking for Team Flash to find a way to save Iris and the others, and you know what? I wouldn’t be surprised if the show is set to reveal yet another mole hiding amongst the team.
Bonus Notes:
- While Godspeed’s appearances may not have been amazing, his suit certainly is. Easily one of the best in the Arrowverse so far.
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!
