Please Keep In Mind That This Article Contains Potential Spoilers For “Success Is Assured” and Events That Occurred Prior
“Success Is Assured” was a real mixed bag. On one hand, there was some legitimately good stuff to be found in how some things played out (like the ending). On the other hand though, this episode was filled with logic gaps, more clunky exposition than usual, and some truly awkward fight scenes.
One example of a silly logic gap? When Allegra aims the crystal at the map on the board, somehow Barry assumes that it lines up with the city landmarks. But it doesn’t. Allegra just chose that spot to aim at—nothing in the light had any hint of lining up with anything. Barry’s choice of a “center location” may as well have been a random spot he chose with his eyes closed. It’s just laziness from the writers. Laziness in its purest form.
The splitscreen action scene. Photo taken via direct screenshot from the episode.
At least where they lacked in some part, they tried to make up in others. I do admire the attempt to do new things when it came to their split screen scene sequence. Sadly it ended up only being extremely awkward, as well as putting more attention on the already mediocre fight choreography that the show tends to have. A good idea that just didn’t work well in their execution—not that it didn’t have any enjoyable slivers of action in it.
Now let’s talk about Eva. As I’ve mentioned before, my feelings about her have been mixed—even up to this point in the show. As a character she’s been all over the place. Both the character and the performance. I’ve never been able to lock down my thoughts on if I like this villain, or if she leans closer to the other side of the spectrum. Even when it comes to how her powers are displayed, there’s such an insane lack of creativity (mostly) that it’s rather insulting. I mean, an arm cannon? Really? Her powers have so much more potential that’s rarely shown. That all being said, the moment she killed her husband was a stand out. It was brutal. It was creative. More importantly, it was impactful. It was Eva finally coming into her own. After a season of whining and complaining, she’s now finally at her peak. Even scarier, is how confident she is—something we haven’t seen from her.
Eva in her stupid arm cannon. Photo taken via direct screenshot from the episode.
When it came to the many juggling side plots, the one that completely fell flat was Frost’s. Everything about it simply feels disconnected, and I quite simply don’t care about anything happening in that area of the story. One plot that did work was Ralph & Sue. Sue almost destroying her life to finally be rid of Carver was a strong story and an enjoyable one at that. Sadly for Sue, not only did she not get to be the one to kill Carver—but she also got framed for doing so. Nothing is quite working out for Ms. Dearborn, and something tells me that this is the moment she is brought into the Team Flash fold.
Due to the global pandemic occurring, “Success Is Assured” now serves as the finale of Season 6. So while it can’t be judged as a proper season finale, the installment still had plenty of issues. A strong scene for Eva and a crushing defeat for Team Flash doesn’t quite make up for lazy logic gaps, abundant clunky exposition, and awkward action scenes. At least now, Eva (who is seemingly the season’s core villain) is at her strongest point as a character—which makes it more exciting to get back to her.
Bonus Notes:
- One side story I didn’t mention was Nash and Allegra. There was a little bit of hammy-ness to the proceedings, but little bits and pieces of it worked quite well. Though I will make the note, that I still don’t quite understand why Allegra is as mad about it all as she is. I have a feeling that she’s being just a little bit unreasonable.
- I also didn’t really mention Iris, but there isn’t much to say there. She’s still missing, but now even more so.
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.
