There was a time, not too long ago, when I gave the Flash writers a lot of credit for taking the most cringeworthy character to watch and turning her into a competent side character. Once a wet blanket standing between our heroes and whatever it was they were trying to do, Iris transformed into a competent, chill, and fun member of Team Flash. Well I hope you kept that credit, writers, because I want it all back.
Iris is an idiot again.
All it takes is the threat of imminent death to turn a sane Flash character into a complete nutcase. After learning about her Savitar-kabob fate, Iris has decided that she needs to make an impact on the world. And she is going to make a difference the only way she knows how; “journalism.”
In Central City, “journalism” is basically police work where at the end you get captured and are forced to call a Flash to save you. It mostly involves putting your life in mortal danger for no real reason. Since Iris has decided she is invulnerable until May, she is going to “journalism” the mob all by herself. She will dare arms dealers to shoot her even though everyone JUST LEARNED that if you know about the future, you can change it.
And this episode was a bit strange, overall. The whole Gypsy bit didn’t really go anywhere. I highly doubt Cisco will use his newly focused Vibe powers to do very much good and it seems unlikely that we will see Gypsy more than once a season. I like to imagine Carlos Valdes has a wonderful clause in his contract that forces the writers to shoehorn in an episode with love interest that is both strangely attracted to Cisco and waaaaaaay out of his league. That would explain a lot.
Speaking of Gypsy, let’s talk about that costume for a second. I’m no expert on fashion but I believe this is the first time I have seen a women’s leather jacket that features two Modonnaesque boob cones. We don’t know what exactly the women of Earth-whatever have going on under there, but that seems like a very impractical piece of clothing. Especially for Death Combat.
And what a Death Combat it was. Rivalling the Season 4 Arrow Finale, the battle between Gypsy and Vibe hopped between familiar universes Earth-2, Earth-Supergirl, and Earth-Volcano. All the while, our heroes were rolling around and half kissing until Cisco eventually won and threw Gypsy into the magma below. Cisco plays for keeps. Seriously, though. How great would it have been if Cisco killed Gypsy? I would have lost it.
Here are some other things I noticed
- Hey Wally, you think any other those “hot cheerleaders” looked old enough to drive?
- I can’t deal with this HR is Abra Kadabra thing anymore. The writers are mocking us, right?
- Iris is a monster for tricking Joe into thinking she was going to…propose to Barry I guess?
- Good thing Julian was there to notice that when Gypsy jumps, her feet are…wait for it…off the ground. Excellent work new teammate. You’re really contributing.
- Award for Dumbest Character of the Episode goes to the cop who walked over the broken glass from the front door of Jitters to ask Gypsy “How did you get in here?” Doing the Lord’s work, officer.
- Also why does anyone go to Jitters anymore? Isn’t it clearly the most dangerous place in town? Is that the only place in Central City where you can buy coffee?
- Who is watching the Science Museum while everyone is dealing with Gypsy? Are we supposed to assume every off-screen character is working the ticketbooth in their spare time?
- Solid LoTR reference Cisco.
- Is anyone feeding the Turtle?
