This season of The Flash has been, in my opinion, one of its strongest. ,Jessica Parker Kennedy as Nora has been excellent and other than how dull Caitlin’s storyline was before Killer Frost returned, I feel it has done a good job mixing the family dynamics and superhero aspects.
However, the episode before the “Elseworlds” crossover ended on a big reveal. Nora has mentioned learning to be a speedster from someone who wasn’t Barry, as well as being told she was a speedster by someone who wasn’t Iris. We found out in “What’s Past is Prologue” that person is Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. Reverse-Flash, circa 2049. It’s so bizarre to me that Nora would not know that Thawne killed her grandmother, and that she would team up with someone she knows to be her father’s greatest foe.
That being said, it’s poetic and very much in comic book fashion that both father and daughter were trained by the same villain.
Showrunner Todd Helbing gave TVLine some insight into what’s coming next in season five and also what the heck is going on between Nora, Thawne, and future Iris, so mild spoilers:
“I would say that Thawne is her ‘coach.’ We get into it a lot more in [the winter premiere], we explain what’s going on, and as the season progresses, she goes back to the future quite a bit. You’ll see a lot more of Thawne.”
I’m really looking forward to seeing this dynamic explored with that extra screen time. A part of me really hates the idea that Iris would leave her daughter so unprepared for what could happen by not even filling her in on basic details that she knows (come on, Flash Museum), and especially considering how Iris was similarly in the dark early on in the series, I’d think she’d have a bit more foresight
I do hope we will eventually see future Iris and get to hear her side of the story in raising Nora. As bad as I think her decisions have been, she did have to be a single mother after losing her husband in what is probably some big tragic moment, so I think that story should be heard.
Another storyline I’m not surprised to see mentioned, but I’m kind of exhausted by, is one involving Caitlin and Cisco coming up with a cure for metahumans to avoid having to “juggle” a superhero life. Yay?
But … Caitlin just got Frost back, and didn’t we establish that she isn’t a normal metahuman? That’s the whole reason she’s able to fight Cicada and not be impacted by his meta tech dagger that dampens power. That’s your whole purpose, Caitlin!
Even though I don’t like Caitlin, I want better for her, because I wish the reason I didn’t like her were that I disagreed with her character choices, but really, I feel like her storylines are just always on one big rotation of parental issues and love interest is evil/trash. Then, Killer Frost was finally a good story for her, and they just don’t know what to do with it. Just let Killer Frost stay, and incorporate their personalities so that Caitlin can be a genius, but now have a personality that isn’t just “nice.”
Oh yeah, there’s also more stuff about the Flash Museum and the next Cicada/Barry battle, and we did get a teaser that showed Cicada hurt Nora badly enough that she can’t walk, but because shows rarely know how to deal with disability longer than an episode or two, I’m sure that won’t last.
Either way, I’m excited about the second half of the Flash. I have enjoyed having Cecile stay on the team, and I also really do like Cicada as an anti-meta villain; it’s a good parallel to the anti-alien story on Supergirl right now. I’m having a good time, and I hope the second half lands just as hard.
The Flash returns tonight at 8PM EST.
(via TV Line, image: The CW)
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