This week Barry Allen got a case of the yips. After an unfortunate run in with Blackout, he finds himself severely drained, both with his power and his psyche. Apparently even super powers rely on mind over matter.
Grant Gustin keeps up the good job; he’s always likeable, even if he’s a bit whiny sometimes. Though for the most part he’s great. This week he has to be strong without being The Flash, which he does successfully. He shows that he’s going to the moral fulcrum for the show. He’s definitely a paragon of goodness, for now. Keep it up Gustin!
The secondary characters are pretty solid this week, more so than in past weeks. Tom Cavanaugh really stepped it up. Dr. Wells showed his true colors, even if they are a little on the dark side. His willingness to sacrifice others to protect Barry is not so nice but sacrificing himself is kind of noble. Don’t worry; he’s not dead. As we see he’s actually very desperate to keep Barry alive and keep him speedy. This is one of the few episodes I really felt how Dr. Wells feels, and it’s a good thing. I don’t like how cozy Cisco is to him; I still don’t trust that Cisco. Caitlin, Joe, Iris, and Tony don’t have a lot going on this episode, even if most of them were involved in a hostage situation and Tony has been shot. That’s about all that happens. Oh, but we do get to see that Iris can handle herself.
Now for the bad guys, that’s right … two! First we have Blackout, who did not live long enough to get his moniker. He’s a very tragic bad guy. Changed during the particle accelerator incident, he knows his friends died trying to save him, electrocuted trying to perform CPR. Now he hungers for energy constantly and wants revenge of Harrison for the death of his friends. He isn’t completely heartless; Barry has a modicum of success just trying to reason with him. He’s angry, and he’s essentially always constantly dying.
The other villain is a returning one from Arrow, so that’s neat. We get to see The Clock King again. This time he does his best to escape his police bondage, and he does. He takes a handful of people hostage at the police station in an attempt to escape, including Joe, Iris, and Eddie. He shoots Eddie, by the way. The Clock King is just a fun character; he’s crazy he’s eccentric and is completely out for himself. He might be evil, but he’s just too much fun not to like. And he shoots Eddie Thawne!
And this:
- How does Barry speed up how fast a coffee pot brews?
- We hear Dr. Wells acknowledge that Barry reaches his potential when people he cares about are in danger. This isn’t good for someone.
- Iris steps up and saves herself; maybe we’ll see her take on a stronger role, which would be good for her character.
- Again I am given the feeling that Cisco is a little too close to Dr. Wells, he can’t seem to let Wells go.
- We’re reminded that someone is out for Joe, he’s clearly shaken by these threats.
- Blackout seems to need energy almost 24/7 it’s been almost a year since the disaster, why hasn’t this come up before?
- We lost one of the two meta human bad guys captured alive, I think someone doesn’t want them around.
Hush Comics gives “Power Outage” an A-. I really like where The Flash is headed with character development. Barry is coming out as a true hero, truly looking out for everyone, even old foes. Dr. Wells is becoming a little deeper of a character. I’m dying to see what his ultimate plans are. He sees into the future, he’ll sacrifice anyone to save Barry, and he’s clearly up to something really dastardly.
All pictures belong to The CW and DC Entertainment. They are credited to Diyah Pera.
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