DearEvette

With Zoom and Savitar the reveal of their actual identity was part of the story arc. The problem with that is that is by the time they were revealed so much crap had happened you forgot why you even cared or even forgot what their actual beef was in the first place. And in the case of Savitar, the end didn't quite match up with the beginning (or if it did, then it was so convoluted it was too hard to trace back). I like that at least it seems like with DeVoe it is relatively straight forward. He does seem to be playing a chess game with Barry and Team Flash being both his opponents and the pieces he's moving around the board. He is thinking four moves ahead and they are still catching up. But, I'd characterize Barry not as the pawn, but more is more like the King, the piece he has to completely stymie and box in before he can declare checkmate. I wouldn't say he is at checkmate just yet, more like 'check' because obviously Team Flash is going to come out triumphant, we just need to see how they maneuver Barry out of this mess. If the showrunners/writers can manage to restrain themselves from getting too fancy with too many flourishes like they did with Savitar, and keep this a story of a two opponents out-thinking each other, Devoe has the potential to rival S1 Thawne as the show's best villain, imo.

I think last season was a failure on every front -- tone, character, story, romance etc. It did no one any favors, it was too dark, didn't make any narrative sense, regressed Iris, misused Tom Felton, badly deployed Killer Frost, and gave us the worst incarnation of Harrison Wells, imo. If any time was to bail on the show it as last season. SO far this season has been a major improvement in every area. The hardest part to pull off, imo, is the long story arc and I think they are pulling that off admiably so far. It is difficult to give us a season long villain and parcel out his villainy in such a way we keep invested and entertained and also give us little surprise twists to keep up invested in the story. Also, to give us someone to both dislike and admire because you have to be engaged in the villain as well as the hero, or else the story gets hard to watch *cough* Negan *cough*. They've managed to do that this season with Devoe. The only thing the are falling down a bit on, is making the heroes do out of character stuff, even dumbing them down a bit to make plot work. You don;t have to do that. You can keep your heroes smart, just make your villain smarter. And I do like that they aren't sacrificing the romance but are also not letting the romance cannibalize the show. We are getting a nice amount of Barry/Iris that deepens their relationship but it isn't at the expense of the bigger plot.

And here I was thinking they were doing a great job of balancing the romance and the action, keeping the show still a superhero show while not shortchanging the relationships.

I just finished episode 2.3 and thought this was a really good, strong episode. It was also very funny in places --like how Nicola's advice to Rebecca of what to do after a break up came back to her from her own father. That particular game of telephone was fun to see. Alison's reaction to Eddie's new gf, and Alison's 'notes' while she was sitting in on Eddie's lecture. And basically everything out of Nicola's boss' mouth. I agree with everyone about Maurice's storyline with his gf's cancer is the weakest link and it infuriates me that he simply won't respect her wishes. I loved her talk to Alison about it being her cancer and she needing to manage it her way, but overall the show would have missed a beat if they had done without it, but then I guess they would need to have come up with something for Maurice. Not sorry to see Nicola's dad leave, but his being there added to what I liked the most about this episode and that is the entire family interaction with each other. No matter their issues this is a warm and likable family. Like, Rebecca going to Nicola for advice, ditto Paul going to Eddie, Eddie allowing Alison and Joe to stay at his place, Nicola's dad giving Rebecca driving lessons (she is right he is patient teacher!) and he then working so tirelessly on fixing up that bike for Joe, Joe's sweet reliance on baby Emily being one of his familiar anchors, and Maurice getting Joe that goat. My favorite scene was of Nicola walking baby Emily, while Eddie was walking the goat as they trailed along behind Rebecca giving Joe his bike riding lessons. And finally, Joe's goldfish are named Kim and Kanye. Ha!

Oh, man, I had no idea this was back for S2. So glad, I enjoyed this so much last year. I've only just watched the first episode and like how they've moved the characters in the two year since the show ended. After spending much of the first season being so exasperated and sometimes downright disliking Alison, I am totally loving her in this this episode. I can see the growth in her attitude wrt to Joe's diagnosis. Meanwhile Paul seems to have regressed. I'm interested to see how far they take it. Oh man, I thought the cracks in Nicola and Eddie's marriage were realistically shown last season. Somewhat surprised (and honestly glad) to see they decided to do the smart thing and divorce. But here again, it seems that one has seemingly grown - Eddie - while Nicola seems to have regressed. It doesn't seem like the Nicola from last season would have been the type of character to insist on pretending her marriage for her parents. I am glad that plot point got resolved in this episode I'd hate for something like this to drag on. I love her mother, though. So salty! Their daughter is dead cute and I love the smallish glimpse we get of Joe's relationship with the baby. Ok, Rebecca's sullen bf. Hot yeah, but dude-- lighten up! Anyway, so glad I have something to binge at the start of my two week Christmas vacay.

But if it is another fake=out then they are massively out of touch with their viewers because they already did it once with Glen. It would absolutely send the message that they aren't trying to tell a story, but are just fucking with their fandom. I am not so much as outraged that Carl might be dead, I am mad that his death might just be one more death in the show that means nothing except to get fans talking about a major death. If he is dead, will it galvanize Rick? Michonne? Will it represent some sort of sea change in the direction of the story? What does it really accomplish except them being able to say they killed off yet another major character. What is worse, where is his emotional replacement? In early seasons before we lost a characters with history, we got introduced to newer characters that we could get to know. In S2 we lost Shane but we got Maggie, Hershel & Beth. In S3 we lost Lorie, but we got Michonne, Tyreses and Sasha, in S4 we lost Herschel & Beth but we got Abraham, Eugene and Rosita. And we actually got a sense of them as characters with some background and built history. But since the Saviors came we only seem to have gotten Jesus. (Ha!) And his characterization is as thin as paper. I don't feel like we really have anyone to care about anymore because they aren't taking the time to give us a story with stakes to make use care. I honestly think they were trying to take a page from The Wire. The character of Omar was such a bigger than life personality on the show, you just knew that if he was gonna die, he was gonna die spectacular. But in the end he died kinda ignominiously. And it was sad but it worked as a great coda for the character. Like I said above, Carl dying, no matter how great or glorious or little and sad, doesn't really mean anything, because the show itself just feels so diminished.

Rick = Charlie Brown going for the kick Negan = football GImple & Co - are Lucy pulling it away

I feel like this whole "THIS IS WAR' storyline has been nothing but a sad, boring waste of time. How have we exactly progressed from the end of last season? Negan is still alive. The Garbage people are still useless. And the Alexandrians have lost yet another important member? I the last two years we've lost Abraham, Glenn, Sasha and now Carl. Literally the only forward momentum this show is giving us is killing off character at the end of each season just to give us an OMG! Shocking Death! But storyline wise nothing has changed. At this point there is a very definable formula that Gimple & Co. are following and it is sad and boring; - First episode comes out of a cliffhanger ending - Starts out sorta promising - Negan talks - Character nobody cares about gets an episode - Negan talks - Nothing happens - Negan talks - At least once Carol will do something bad ass - At least once Rick will do something stupid or inexplicable - A confrontation happens - Rick sweats - Favorite or long time character dies - Despite standing in the midst of a hail of bullets, walkers, general mayhem, Negan Lives and monologues - Useless cliffhanger - only about 1 week has passed in-story timeline

Well, if they are anything like The Flash writers, they'll manage ways to make his speediness not so speedy. The show fudges on the whole "fastest man alive" thing when the plot miraculously needs him to not to be. I think it would be analogous to how when someone without Sarah's specialized martial training manages to either stick with her in fights or even sometimes best her. I mean, c'mon, no way would Ava been able to beat Sara in a fight, unless plot called for it. I am glad if it is Wally, I like the actor and the character and let's face it, as another speedster on The Flash he is pretty redundant. I mean, he is canon in the comics but for the show I feel the writers wrote themselves into a box with him.

Loved his line delivery on that. Since it followed his and Amaya's guilty face, sneaking poses it was perfection. I am giggling just thinking about it.

And we're back! Great episode. Three things stood out for me: 1) The pants Terry borrowed from the Boyle cousins were soooo effin' short on him. Perfection. 2) The entire Nakatomi plaza picture taking frenzy. I can remember all those scenes exactly just from Jake's re-enactments. 3) Amy allowed to shine without anybody dumping on her. The amazed applause after she mapped out their return trip was great. This is why I don't miss Gina one bit. Gina is always ragging on Amy and I can't help but think that Gina would have spoiled that moment.

Yeah, there are way too many holes in the murder. First one is motive. Why would Barry want DeVoe dead? In about 72% of murders the motive is a crime of passion (romance, DV) or money. Why was DeVoe at Barry and Iris' house in the first place? It would look worse for Barry if DeVoe had lured Barry to the Devoe's home. But by being at Barry's house he has set up reasonable doubt. Barry has proof of an intruder alert on his phone. The house was dark, couldn't Barry have thought he was an intruder? And yeah, if the wife suddenly starts spending all her time with this young hottie, then she starts looking mighty guilty.

Let's see... Beebo Ray lecturing about God, evolution and science while choking on cotton stuffing, The montage of plans, Ava looking like she really could have been an extra on Vikings, Puppet Stein and Shrink Leo, Young Stein, Nate's beard, Damien's hair, Jax's exit.... this show really knows its strengths. Such fun.

Yup Iris was not pleased by wedding interruptus. Added to that her shade included their non-registry gift. Ha! Poor, hot psychic dude. I couldn't help flashing back to Get Out after Devoe brain swapped him. I don't mind the development of Barry going to jail. I am looking forward to see where this is gonna go. Also, Mrs. DeVoe looks like she is not quite 100% on board with new guy.

I think the Claire harassment story is actually smartly done given how brief it is. They first show her discomfort and her inclination to down play it or even doubt that it happened. When she does actually say it out loud to someone, Jared, he immediately gives an alternate explanation despite not being there and dismisses her concerns. This is pretty typical of people to wonder if the victim isn't perhaps 'reading it wrong' with the result being the victim hesitates to report for fear of not being believed or it injects some more self doubt. Then comes the abuse/praise cycle (truncated here because it is only one episode) . But after feeling her up and making her uncomfortable where she shies away, he backs off and praises her professional skills lavishly, making her forget her unease and feel gratified in the praise. When he harasses again, she confronts him, he deflects and threatens retaliation. This is why a lot of women who have been harrassed still maintain relationships with their harassers. They are kept off balance by the abuse/praise cycle and employ a variety of methods of appeasement to stave off retaliation. Claire's comment about not wanting to go to HR and make the complaint and her fear of being labeled difficult and not being believed have a higher probability because of her gender and her complexion are very real (data based) concerns. So yea, this episode hit all the right points in a remarkably smart fashion without feeling too 'special episode' abut it all. I am real curious to see what the final fall out of this is. Did she get a chance to present her issues with handsy doc? It sucks that Charming Doc was a creepy harrasser because the actor is pretty damned easy on the eyes. Sigh. Also what is up with harassers and massages? I swear all the accounts we've been hearing about in the news recently all include the perv asking for or promising a massage. I liked the smallish scene between Shaun and the custodial guy. But "Would you be happy if you died tomorrow" said by a strange guy to you in a closet where you are alone while he is holding a mop with a long handle, would make me start looking for an exit. Looking back on the pilot where I didn't like many people and hated the romantic relationships, I have to say here at midseason I pretty much like almost everyone now. But still hate the relationships. Jared and Claire do nothing for me as a couple. Also Melendez and Jessica are even worse, they have zilch chemistry. She definitely is the least interesting of all the characters. Maybe it is because she has very little to do and the actress just doesn't infuse her with a lot of personality. Man Freddie Highmore is soooo good as Shaun. That last scene with Schiff was felt so real. The way Freddie has Shaun hold his body in odd angles and his lack of eye contact is simply full body acting. He doesn't even look like the the same guy who was Norman Bates. Excellent job.

I am no Supergirl watcher, but I have to admit, her Overgirl was very different from Supergirl. She seemed like she had been someone who had been indoctrinated. I think she sold her Erde-X character much, much better than Stephen Amell did his.

I read that, I am of two minds. 1) They may have some insider info and therefore is floating this theory in order to later say "see...we were right" 2) They are making too much of a grand conspiracy theory of a smallish scene. The show could have just been emphasizing the waitress in such a way to make sure the people in the cheap seats in the back realize that she was someone way more important than just a random waitress at a wedding. Since most people guessed that she was a descendant, possibly Iris and Barry's daughter, the overemphasis of her on the scene is mission accomplished.

I think it would have been nice to see more recognizable faces from the CW shows as part of the resistance overall. After having a real killer moment in the first hour, Wally disappeared. He could have been a resistance fighter. Him getting speedster powers on E-1 was the result of a very specific set of circumstances that didn't have to happen on E-X. So he could have just been a regular guy fighting against Nazis. I agree about Joe or even Diggle being the leader that would have been nice. Winn could have still been an objector to the plan, just not the leader. Seems weird that E-X dopplegangers all seem to have be pulled from Arrow or Supergirl.

I loved the scenes of Randall at Howard. Especially the scenes where he and some of the other students all acknowledged they'd gone to predominantly white schools. We obviously know why Randal in particular would find Howard so attractive. But that element of being sometimes the 'only one' in your school makes it a a real heady possibility when you can change the circumstances some. I was just like Randall in school, plucked out of my pubic school to go to a predominantly white private school because of good grades. When I got the chance to go to college I definitely considered an HBCU. In end the end I didn't go to an HBCU but the school I did go to had a sizable, yet very close knit, black student community. I was determined to be part of it, LOL. I also loved the conversation with him and Jack in the car coming back and their foray to the Vietnam memorial. Regarding Deja, I don't see Randall and Beth's initial reaction in a negative light. They were blindsided by Deja's mom showing up at their home, acting a damn fool, and demanding they release Deja. As Deja said, her mom already knew how the process should work. And no, wanting her kid back is not an excuse to go to someone's house and act a damn fool. Let the process work. Randall and Beth deserved the right to have their knee jerk emotional reaction to process that. They were not warned she was out and she just rolled up on them. A lot of people would react the same in a similar situation. As we saw, given some time to process (less than 24 hours later) their more reasoned responses kicked in. Also corny Randall trying to bond with Deja over Beyonce and Lemonade is the best Randall. ETA: "She's safe. She's with Kevin. He's just been arrested with a DUI" is really a rather unintentionally funny line.

Nate's beard action is cracking me up!

This is so me. I watched Arrow first and enjoyed S1 and S2 but it just got too dark and was no fun so I gave up. I watched The Flash and have enjoyed it right from the jump. Last season was a dark mess, but I refused to give up and they rebounded back really well this season. Wasn't on board with Supergirl because it was a CBS show and I tend to not watch CBS for reasons. And I never could warm to it, so it remains the one show I never really watched. I started watching LOTs when it came on but it was a mess and I felt it relied too heavily on The Hawks who I thought were the most charisma free couple on all of tv. I gave it up really quickly only going back to catch one or two more shows later in S1 to see if it had improved it hadn't. But then I happened to catch a random episode of S2 and I found myself enjoying the hell out of it. Went back and watched the S2 eps I missed On Demand. What a turnaround from S1! I think the cast just clicked so hard. The Spear of Destiny storyline, the quips, the fun villain triumvirate, and the chemistry of the cast had gelled so well it became my favorite of the shows. And now the addition of Zari has made it even better. Altho I still love the Flash, LOTs has edged ahead of it as my favorite of the shows.

Oof. This one was a swing and a big miss. This did not feel like a B99 episode at all. I thought the B-plot with Amy, Holt and Boyle was so bad. And that is saying something because anything with Amy + Holt should be comedy gold. The A-plot was only marginally better because it had at least a few things that made me chuckle: 1) Rosa's eyeroll and 2) Rosa looking like most of the heroines on Urban Fantasy and Steampunk books ...cuz she totally does and 3) the Diversity panel -- because the struggle is real. Believe it or not, that is what some diversity panels actually look like at writing conventions. I wonder if they knew this episode was a bit of a turkey and that is why they aired it during this typically low viewership time? It certainly didn't contain any continuity so it feels like it could have been plopped in anywhere in the schedule.

I haven't weighed in on the Barry not killing Thawne thing. I understand the philosophy behind having Barry not kill him. He's Barry he isn't an in-your-face killer. So I get it. But on the other hand, I hate Thawne so much. Like, a LOT. I was so happy when Sara let Black Flash have him. I was thrilled when he dissolved into bits and his stupid face was so surprised. So Barry not killing him bums me out. It is also a huge missed opportunity. This whole season Barry's been about closure. He's finally at peace about his mother's death. So getting rid of Thawne once and for all would have been the capper on that. It would have been real closure. I hate that the writers didn't give either Barry or us the audience the credit to understand that getting rid of Thawne wouldn't have been some terrible blight on Barry's character.

I thought that was hilarious too, especially since he spent the three previous episodes blathering on how the Earth-1 heroes were weak because of their sentimentality. Meanwhile they are doing all this to save Evil Kara from dying. Dude if you are so hardcore, you would've just put her on a boat, light it on fire and give her a hardy farewell.

After all that, are Felicity and Oliver even legally married? Marriage license anyone?