The JV squad takes on Ultraviolet in a Flash-free episode
Original cast members are largely absent, but Danielle Panabaker is behind the camera
TV Reviews Barry Allen
This is the kind of episode you get when a series is deep into its seventh season. We’ve already lost Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdes, and within the first two minutes of “Rayo De Luz” it becomes clear that Grant Gustin and Candice Patton won’t be around this week either. Giving the leads a break usually happens once a season anyway, but it’s a starker absence this time given that it only leaves two original cast members, Danielle Panabaker (a triple-threat this week as Caitlin, Frost, and the episode’s director) and Jesse L. Martin (who has more to do in this episode than he has in quite a while).
That means Team Flash is made up of Chester, Allegra, and Sue, a configuration that would baffle any viewer who checked out a couple seasons ago. Allegra has been using the Citizen hotline to track her cousin Esperanza, better known as the Black Hole assassin Ultraviolet. No sooner does she tell Chester that Esperanza is due in Central City for a job than her cousin shows up at Jitters in full attack mode. Sue, who knows Ultraviolet from her days pursuing Black Hole, shows up to join the fun, but Esperanza gets away.
As it turns out, Esperanza is in town to kill Dr. Olsen, the man who made her Ultraviolet and took away her voice. With the help of a stun grenade, Sue and Allegra manage to capture Esperanza and lock her up at STAR Labs, but after hearing her cousin’s story, Allegra makes the mistake of asking herself “What would Barry do?” and then doing that thing. I mean, come on! Everyone knows you ask yourself that question to determine what not to do. This is definitely a George Costanza situation where you should do the opposite, but instead Allegra frees Esperanza, much to Sue’s dismay, and Chester ends up getting blasted when he was only trying to bring the gang some snacks.
Luckily, “Chuck” (as Allegra calls him) only ends up with his arm in a sling, and is able to work out a system based on the yin-yang tattoo Allegra and Esperanza share, allowing them to track Ultraviolet’s location using her cousin’s energy. Once again, Sue’s acrobatics are an episode highlight as she helps Allegra past the guards at the warehouse by dancing all around them with an electrified wire. When Allegra catches up to Esperanza, she learns Dr. Olsen has promised to restore her voice if only she’ll wipe out everyone who knows what he did. She’s happy to go along with this, and it looks like she’ll easily defeat her cousin, but it turns out Allegra has taken Barry’s methods to heart. Literally. Once again, the power of love is too much for hate, as Allegra’s chest lights up and she’s able to blast Ultraviolet. I guess, on some level, you have to admire the writers’ willingness to keep going back to this corny well. On another, more personal level, I’m ready for it to never happen again.
How much one cares about all of this is largely dependent on how much one cares about these particular characters. If you’re more invested in old school Flash, there’s Joe West working a case despite no longer being with CCPD. He confronts Kristen Kramer with his findings and gets thrown out of his former office, but at a later meeting he learns she didn’t betray her unit, but rather has been protecting the man she thought of as a brother. She trust Joe and enlists him in a mission to find the former soldier. Given that this is the woman who tried to lock up Frost forever, it’s hard to feel warm and fuzzy about this development, but at least it’s preferable to any further cringe-inducing moments revolving around Barry and Iris attempting to procreate.
Stray observations
- Once again we get an opening flash-forward action sequence, followed by a “12 hours earlier” title. Not only is this device overused on this show (and many others), it shows a lack of confidence on the part of the creative team, as if they’re worried viewers will tune out if they don’t see people punching each other right away.
- Early on in Chester’s tenure, I felt like everyone involved was trying too hard to make him a lovable goof, but in recent weeks he’s grown into that role. Caring about a potential romance between him and Allegra may be a bridge too far, however.
- Frost captures (her boyfriend?) Chillblaine again, but this time he’s out for legit reasons, having turned state’s witness against his fellow metas.
- Next week: The much-teased reappearance of Godspeed is finally here.
49 Comments
It was nice of ILM to let the Flash VFX guys borrow the Captain Marvel Binary effect for Allegra. All in all I thought it was a perfectly cromulent midseason episode.
I pfft-laughed when the doctor said “Your powers are fueled by hate” and Allegra said “Not mine” and then HER HEART STARTED TO GLOW.Also, I don’t know why the Flash writers need to be reminded of this because he wasn’t introduced that long ago, but CHILLBLAINE ISN’T A META.
During his fight with Killer Frost, she even specifically mentions that he isn’t a meta.
Reporters never let facts interfere with headlines.
The glow in Allegra’s chest was from the center of her chest, so it wasn’t her heart. But this is the common trope/belief that the heart is in the center of your chest, because of symmetry.
This episode was not crash. It was definitely feeling the mode.I like Allegra, do not like any hint of Allegra & Chester being crammed into a relationship (again, why does everyone need a love interest?!?!). Also, you can’t let the DM’s love interest be in the party, he’s 100% going to nerf the monster rolls for her.Maybe it’s just me, but are they even writing Sue poorly now? She seemed so dour this episode.Quick Legends pivot – who else wishes that Enes Esmer got cast as Bishop instead of getting wasted on the mommy/daddy force family plot on this show?I really really hope Huey Lewis is getting royalties for all the times this show has metaphorically played “Power of Love” this season.The fact that I’m super excited for a non-Thawne speedster showing up next week says a lot about where this show is at.
I think the problem with writing for Sue is them trying to step around the steaming pile of poo that Hartley Sawyer left them with. They just don’t know how she fits in to all this. I feel bad for Natalie Dreyfuss. The only upside is that she may end up in a more central role that “Ralph’s superspy girlfriend”. But the Flash has a habit of introducing characters that go nowhere so she may just be written off as being on some secret mission never to be heard from again.
Yeah, it’s definitely not her fault, but the big problem is that she has no real good foil to play off of on the team. She & Ralph had good banter and it made the character fun. The writers seem to not know how to make her fun anymore, she just comes across as a generic action person and frankly just kinda mean/angry. If they’re going to have her stick around, she needs a witty repartee partner to bring the fun back in. The problem is that Bart/Impulse is probably the most fun arrival they have showing up in the near term and knowing that character, he seems like he’d annoy her more than anything.
I find myself genuinely missing Sawyer’s portrayal of Ralph, and I’m pissed that Sawyer had to be such a jackass. It wouldn’t be the same, but couldn’t they recast the character, coming up with some goofball sciency reason for his form reverting to a different shape at rest? Then we could get more Sue, too!
If Hartley Sawyer’s sin is no greater than James Gunn’s, then I say bring him back. Do a series of “apology” segments to include on the CW’s streaming site. Hell, write an episode with a thinly veiled apology narrative. Have HS come out at the end and do a direct-to-camera apology. Bro-heims in their 20’s say some nasty shit; drunk/stoned people in their 20’s & 30’s say some nasty shit. Half of these guys mature past this behavior. Hartley sounded like he matured beyond his Twitter Edge-lord phase or whatever went down. A solid job with other quality actors seemed to cause him to up his game. Jeremy Piven got the boot for being a current asshole. James Franco got busted being a current dickhead. This sin of Hartley’s is what? 6-7 years ago? More? A year pre-Flash at least. Idk. Uncovered gross dm’s … more than say, four years old … need not be career enders. Especially if they’re not full-on racist or nazi. I mean there’s a line that should end careers, sure. I don’t think HS crossed that line. The poor-taste line five-some years ago, okay – agreed. Seriously, put it to a vote – ask his co-workers. If he was a current workplace dickhead in behavior … or even off set, then fine, good riddance.
I’ve been slowly feeling more sorry for Sawyer. I noticed since his apology post on Instagram after he was fired, he totally dropped off the face of the earth. COVID definitely affects things a bit, but dude’s probably not getting any work soon either way.The thing is, he really does feel like he either learned to keep his shitty jokes to himself, or he really had changed in the years since. By all accounts, his Flash co-stars seemed like they get along really well with him, and he endeared himself to most(if not all) of them. During his tenure, they all posted about him often. The way the whole show and cast immediately dropped him without anyone saying anything about it, good or bad, rubbed me off the wrong way.
For all that Kaitlin and Barry and Chester are supposed to be geniuses, I feel like Sue is the smartest person there. She gets that you think WWBD and do the opposite. I think she’s exasperated by all the idiot behavior she keeps seeing. That may make her seem mean to others, but to me it makes her relatable.
Oh yeah, she’s definitely not wrong (and she’s clearly smarter than Barry at the very least)! It just seems like she’s got more cold distance from the team post-Ralph, which is just going to make it awkward having her around.
The writing direction for Sue more just seems to be “write for any Amy Acker-type” than writing for anyone specifically. The actress clearly makes lemonade out of lemons, hopefully next season they can get a better handle on the character.
– Barry in a Hawaiian shirt is precious.- Poor Chester. Made fun of behind his back for the elf ears, then injures his wrist, and then breaks his arm almost dying from Esperanza. Surprised he didn’t get caught during the final battle.- I probably mentioned this in previous weeks, but more of Sue in her very flattering, form-fitting spy suit, please. – Not sure how I feel about Kramer. On one hand, having a meta-hating police chief is pretty standard fare and I could see it ending terribly. On the other, having her be an unabashed good guy deflates whatever tension was built up in previous episodes.- I am getting my Arrowverse locations mixed up. Was O’Shaugnessy’s Flash’s bar or Supergirl’s bar?- So we don’t have Frost for the past few episodes, then she comes back only for cheap shipping with Blonde McMuscles? Eh.- Since I forgot to put it in my Legends post, Batwoman corner here: I could not take the episode seriously with the massive Villain Balls Black Mask and Circe gripped. Thanks to the heroes idiocy (the exact same idiocy that allowed Tommy Elliot to do damage), Black Mask won. He controls the GCPD, he knows Ryan is Batwoman (and like that Wayne was Batman), and everyone who could stand up against him directly is taken care of. Yet, instead of disposing of Ryan or locking her away deep, he goes through normal procedures and even has her parole officer come in. Meanwhile, Circe knocks out the others, but doesn’t kill them, instead locking them in an elevator of all things without even tying them up first. Hell, Black Mask could even set up a new HQ in the Batcave and unleash his own Batman and Batwoman to tarnish their legacies forever. Just such a massive disappointment all around.
Was O’Shaugnessy’s Flash’s bar or Supergirl’s bar?
It was Killer Frost’s bar.
Batwoman has never worked as a show. Rose was hopeless whenever she tried to act, and even though the supporting cast no longer has any reason to be in the show, the showrunners keep trying to shoehorn them in, despite the fact that they’re even dumber and more annoying than the characters on The Flash. Leslie’s not a bad actress and her storyline could be interesting if it were allowed to breathe on its own, but its stuck in this endless loop of the vastly uninteresting problems of the Kane family.
Supergirl’s bar was Noonan’s which was a truly impressive DC deep cut, though was missing a certain demonic bartender.
Batwoman corner: At least Knock-off R’as al uh, I mean Safiyah is dead. Stay dead. Please. I guess you could argue that Circe!Kate subconsciously wants to keep her friends alive? But yeah, it was silly to put Ryan through the whole ringer, complete with a PO visit, just to kill her.
Safiyah has all the confidence of a great villain without actually having done any great villain stuff. So far Alice remains the greatest villain of Batwoman, with Black Mask a pretty solid second.
I like Sue, and want more Sue. That was the only positive thing about this episode.
I’m starting to hate the flash forward intro. It’s way overplayed.I was really hoping that they were going to lean into a Frost/Allegra friendship…Please don’t let Frost be visiting Chillblaine in prison.Where has Allegra been learning to fight?…although I can also go with Allegra and Sue.“For today, this is Team Flash.” I just about died at Sue’s expression.It’s hilarious to see Caitlin towering over Allegra.I was expecting Sue to use the 10 min fully charged time to ditch Team Flash.Yeah, Kramer. You’re not acting sus at all.Please don’t hook up Allegra and Chester.I love Allegra’s glow-up, but I’ve always hated that trope. “I’m trained and experienced, but I’m no match for your righteousness.”Really hope that there’s more to Kramer and her friend’s story. That there’s an other side.I could see Frost, Sue, and Allegra being the Team Flash B-Team.
Starting to hate? I’ve hated it for YEARS now! I want to see The Flash go a whole season without using it ONCE
How about that episode of Superman & Lois!
On the directing front, Danielle Panabaker made at least one interesting choice this episode; When the gang have locked up Ultraviolet in the pipeline and she’s recounting her origin, the camera starts to turn. Just slightly without going full dutch. It’s a nice way to throw a bit of unease as Ultraviolet’s relating what is otherwise a pretty by-the-numbers origin. I don’t recall this in other episodes so kudos to Ms. Panabaker for this touch.This is filler, but it’s perfectly fine (even the heart power moment) and I would take this over the more cringe-y Frost/Chillblaine stuff, honestly. The script doesn’t give Kayla Compton much to work with beyond surface-level motivations for redeeming her cousin, so even after a full spotlight her character is still kinda flat. Sue pretty much steals the show in terms of Natalie Dreyfuss’ expressions (which border on mugging) and the acrobatics the character gets to perform. I guess we’ll see how the Godspeed stuff plays out to determine whether this was a needed pause or we could’ve jumped to the good stuff sooner.Curious where the Kramer stuff is going, if it’s meant to tie into Godspeed somehow or Joe’s adrift doing his own thing. Also again, yes there’s COVID protocols but weird Jitters and the bar are completely empty when the other Arrowverse shows have been able to populate a few extras at least where needed.
Thanks for the recap, looks like I can safely skip this episode.
I’m about 45 minutes in and can safely say this is the nadir of the series. It can only go up from here. I don’t care about any of these characters — not even Sue, who really needs a Ralph of some kind — and I care even less about their familial dynamics. The biggest problem was Ultraviolet’s voice modulator. I assume she was speaking Spanish, but it was so garbled and distorted, she sounded like Greedo. The whole thing felt like a pilot for a show I would never watch, much like that horrid backdoor pilot on Black Lightning a few weeks ago. That was the lowest point of the Arrowverse shows, but this wasn’t far behind; almost a Supergirl level of bad overwritten dialogue.
Okay episode in all but Like what does Sue mean her parents were in too deep with Black Hole. Like Eve is gone and who exactly is looking into Black hole and if your parents are just involved with assets then they should be able to get off.
Joe really stood up this episode.By that I don’t mean he was forthright about his beliefs, just that Jesse L. Martin actually got up out of his chair for a short scene.
Anyone else having this massive mental disconnect where Joe, whose role on the show is to basically be always right with that fatherly wisdom, keep saying Kramer is a good cop, when clearly she’s the kind where the only thing that’s stopping her from slapping Punisher decals on everything thing she owns is that’s owned by Marvel rather than DC.
Honestly I don’t mind the Chuck/Allegra romance pairing. They have decent chemistry and it’s honestly more interesting than pretty much anything else they’ve done with her. Which is an unfortunate matter in its own right. Even in an episode focused on her she and Ultraviolet were bland and forgettable.
This show has taken a huge dip with last season and this season (outside of Cisco goodbye show). I still watch it but I don’t care what happenes week to week.Funny enough I do adore Sue and hope they use her more.
Sorry, sorry, for once I’m coming in before finishing the episode because THE SPANISH IS SO GODDAMN HORRIBLE. I’m barely past the Jitters fight scene and:— A female Lone Ranger would be “La Llanera Solitaria,” not whatever the hell it was they wrote.– If Sue wanted to tell UV, “The line starts behind me,” she should have said “La fila empieza detrás de mí.” Instead she said the equivalent of “The line starts behind mine.” I am livid.
Whats it say about this show that I really don’t have anything to say about this episode? Development of Allegra and Chester is crucial if they think the show is going to continue, so at least they are trying on that front. Why is Sue so poorly written right now? I feel bad for the actress to some degree- she was sold on a part that had to be radically changed up due to the jackassery of her paired partner.Barry in a Hawaiian shirt was fun. This power of love stuff is crap. Hopefully they clear out the writers room for S8 if the show continues.
I can’t remember what Black Hole is anymore and I’m not sure I ever knew. But if it brings more spy stuff and more Sue into the picture, welcome back Black Hole!
I’m relieved that I wasn’t mishearing and Allegra actually does call Chester Chuck. Now can someone please explain why? Because it makes no sense.
Isn’t his alias supposed to be Chunk?
Scott said Chuck, and that’s what I thought I heard. I spent a fair time during the show distracted trying to figure out what she could have reasonably called him that sounded like Chuck.
It sounded like Chuck to me too.
I watched with the captions on last night to check and they said Chuck.
Only in the comics it seems.I guess if they wanted to go in that direction, a more modern update on his moniker would be “Crunk”.
Allegra Garcia has very intense eyebrows.
Ultraviolet has that cool modulated voice because a Black Hole doctor cut out her voice box?
Was Killer Frost “going shopping” without her phone on code for hunting Chillblaine or was she honest about blowing off the team?
My guess was 100% Chillblaine related. Despite her insistence otherwise, she got it BAD for the bad boy
It feels like Allegra ought to have a codename & supersuit by now. The jumpsuit she wore to confront her cousin made me reconsider her casual look with bandolier.
Were the ex-Black Hole mercs having electric rifles a nod to Black Lightning or Batwoman?
I like it when villains attack Jitters just to dramatically wreck its overhead ligating & one table.
HOW IS JITTERS STILL OPEN
I can wait until the new big bad is named Hatoraide and it still takes Team Flash multiple episodes to realize they should use love again.
Maybe I wasn’t paying attention or have forgotten or it’s never been said but why did a crazy doctor have to break Esparanza’s voice to give her powers if her and Allegra have the same powers and Allegra didn’t need a broken voice, she just needed to train (and love)?
I don’t think he needed to. He’s just in favor of superfluous surgery.
Allegra and Esperanza are both metahumans who got their powers from the original particle accelerator explosion. The doctor in this episode didn’t give Esperanza powers, he experimented on her because she had them.