When The Flash is good, it’s really good. The first season kicks things off with a bang by following Barry Allen as he learns how to control his super-speed and continues to investigate his mother’s murder. It shocks The Flash when it comes to light that his mentor, Harrison Wells, is behind everything and is actually a speedster from the future named Eobard Thawne. The two characters’ rivalry takes the Arrowverse to new heights, and things don’t slow down in The Flash Season 2 when Zoom enters the picture. Once again, Barry and his friends work to unmask their enemy and put a stop to his schemes. Unfortunately, the show suffers from a dip in quality after that.
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Season 3, which is about another mystery speedster, Savitar, treads water for as long as it can. However, the dam breaks in The Flash‘s fourth season, letting through lackluster villains and plenty of melodrama. There is one bright spot in Season 4, though, “Enter Flashtime,” which pushes the titular hero and his allies to their limits.
The Flash Is Stuck Between a Rock and a Nuclear Place in Season 4
The Flash Season 4 is tough on Barry because he exits the Speed Force after a prolonged stay and immediately finds a new villain gunning for him. Unlike the bad guys from previous seasons, The Thinker uses his brain to battle The Flash, making trouble all over Central City to distract the hero from his real goal. The Thinker even goes as far as to frame Barry for murder, which gets him thrown in jail. Once Team Flash proves their friend’s innocence, they get back to the drawing board to find a way to defeat The Thinker. They don’t get very far before another issue demands their attention.
Season 4, Episode 15, “Enter Flashtime,” sees an eco-terrorist group set off a nuclear bomb in Central City. To avoid losing everyone he loves in the blink of an eye, The Flash slows down time around him and discusses what to do next with his fellow speedster, Jesse Quick. The two of them can’t come up with a solution, so they seek out Jay Garrick, who has been around the block once or twice. The only thing they can think to do is to throw the bomb into the Speed Force, but Jay warns that doing that would mean the end of all speedsters. Not wanting to leave the multiverse defenseless, Barry has to think of another way, and it nearly kills him. He’s only able to save the day after having an emotional conversation with his wife, Iris West-Allen, and putting it all on the line.
The Rest of The Flash Season 4 Can’t Hold a Candle to “Enter Flashtime”
Despite hitting its stride over halfway through, The Flash Season 4 fails to stick the landing. The Thinker’s plan is incredibly messy, with it being hard to follow why he’s doing what he’s doing. His main goal is to make everyone in the world less intelligent because he believes humanity is too reliant on technology. Sure, everyone could stand to use their phones a bit less, but The Thinker quickly goes off the rails, and The Flash doesn’t do much to make his actions feel warranted. Even The Thinker’s own wife, Marlize DeVoe, has to bail on him when she realizes he wants to rule the world. However, that’s basically his plan from the start, as deciding what people should know gives him complete control of Earth’s population.
Even when The Thinker isn’t on-screen, there’s not much to grasp onto. A mysterious character shows up in various places throughout the season, and it’s obvious that she’s Barry and Iris’s daughter from the future. However, The Flash acts like Nora West-Allen’s identity is some major reveal, making it Season 4’s cliffhanger. The moment might have landed if the episodes preceding it weren’t so hard to get through, but it turns out that “Enter Flashtime” was nothing but a diamond in the rough.
The Flash is streaming on Netflix.
Do you think “Enter Flashtime” is the best episode of The Flash? How do you feel about Season 4 of the show overall? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.
