The Flash: Season 8, Episode 8 Review, titled “The Fire Next Time” is easily one of the best episodes of the current season. It has everything the best shows in the long-running series has to offer and even manages to do some of its textbook tricks a little better. However, it still feels like there are times when the writers cannot get out of their own way. If this episode ofThe Flashhad managed to just stick to the main theme, if it had followed the “who dun it?” and the relationship between fathers and sons, it might have been one of the best episodes since the absolute heyday of the series. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a side story that didn’t fit at all into the rest of the episode and it seemed to be forced. Luckily it was a small enough side story that those who were enjoying the rest of the story could just sort of tune out whenever the episode wandered off the point.
For the most part, all the best aspects of the show were back in this episode even in a way thatlast week’s episode ofThe Flashmissed. There was a villain that was powerful enough that it caused problems for the Scarlet Speedster. There was the involvement of the entire Team Flash. And there was the mystery of just who the villain is. There were also some really touching moments. That’s notable because the CW show tends to get that wrong. However, they hit the mark this week.
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Fathers and Sons
Because it wasn’t very subtle, this week’s episode ofThe Flashwas all about the relationship between a father and son. More specifically it was about Barry Allen’s dad (played by John Wesley Shippsporadically throughout the show’s run), who went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit and a man that The Flash has fought before that absolutely did commit a crime. The issue here was that this time around, he didn’t do it and instead someone was setting him up by killing people in a way he was known to do.
It turns out that in part because his own father was convicted of murdering his mom, even though he didn’t, Barry saw through the frame job. That was despite the fact that therest of Team Flashthought he was guilty. There were some moments in this episode that actually had some real back and forth between the members of the group. There were some real doubts about whether or not The Flash was right this time around and whether he was seeing things clearly.
While there were definitely still some issues with how the emotional scenes played out, including a man who caused problems that almost destroyed the city, then eventually barely stopping it being called a hero; the scenes where Barry was really dealing with the fact that his father died were poignant. It was handled rather well when Barry was talking about his memories of his father. It was also done well when the other members of the group were remembering things that Henry Allen did. They were able to do all this despite the fact that thepeople watchingThe Flashnever saw any of these things happen. For a show that botches this kind of emotional scene far too often, it pulled it off and then some. One could even imagine that some viewers were legit moved by the obvious pain Barry was feeling through most of the show.
The “who dun it” part of the show was also done well when that can be a bit of an issue as well. However, it appears that whoever the big bad that was introduced inthis episode ofThe Flashis managed to keep his or her identity under wraps. That means that for at least one more episode, there’s a mystery to solve for Team Flash. That also means that whoever the big bad is - right now at least - appears to be a good match for the group and someone who is likely to cause them problems for episodes to come.
The Allegra Problem
Not everything aboutthis episode ofThe Flashwas great. Outside of the closing of the “villain of the week” story that got far too Hallmark Channel for its own good, the biggest problem in “The Fire Next Time” was what will heretofore be known as “The Allegra Problem.” That problem, quite frankly is that Allegra is simply not a compelling or really remotely likable character. It’s pretty obvious what the show is trying to do when it comes to the character. It’s trying to tell the tale of someone who went to jail for actually committing crimes and emerging from prison wanting to show that she can turn over another leaf.
The problem is that despite being a meta-human who could join team flash as someone who fights crime alongside Barry Allen, the writers have instead decided that they want her character to kind of take over therole of Iris West Allen. She’s the intrepid reporter who is trying to become a bonafide journalist and dig up big stories that are going to be interesting to readers. The problem of course is that her story is not really interesting to viewers. This episode involved showing her how to be a boss. It’s clear that Iris wants to eventually hand over the newspaper to Allegra. It’s just not something that the viewers really need to see. This episode also sets up a rival reporter who has vowed to destroy her. That also was supposed to be compelling. It’s not.
The Flashand it’s handling of the addition of Allegra has seemed off from the beginning. Perhaps because she’s often in scenes away from the rest of the group, she’s never seemed like she’s part of Team Flash. There’s also the will they, won’t they with Chester that certainly isn’t rising to the level of Ross and Rachel. Her character just seems there. Carving out a quarter of the episode to focus on her being a bad boss and an annoying employee didn’t have the payoff the writers were clearly looking for when they wrote the script.
The Flashairs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m on The CW.
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