S09.E08: Partners in Time

[Trini]

A seemingly simple mold inspection at S.T.A.R. Labs leads to unexpected time anomalies. Barry and Iris try to make sense of the confusion – and figure out how to get back to their reality. Chester admits a secret to Allegra which makes things awkward between the two, and Allegra relies on Cecile to act as a buffer.  Meanwhile, Khione meets with an old friend of Team Flash.

Written by Sarah Tarkoff & Joshua V. Gilbert and directed by Ed Fraiman. 

Airdate: 4/5/2023

 

 

[scarynikki12]

Oh good more future shenanigans that effect the present. Two hooded figures in a row.

Nora isn't going to care Barry because she's not only not born yet but will be a baby whose only opinions will be about pooping, eating, and cuddling. By the time she's old enough to care she'll want a Big Girl Bed. It's a nice crib and as long as you and Iris like it that's all that matters.

Maybe Carla coming will confirm my theory about Blue Streaks being a merge Caitlin and Frost. She's the kind of smarty who would think of this possibility.

Ok Barry needs to hire a team of administrative staff so that easy shit like renewing permits get done. Of course, I don't know how a high profile facility like Star Labs wouldn't have been inspected before now.

I do like the mold guy. He's got a cheerful lunch box and surfer dude energy. Why couldn't he have been the final season regular rather than Chilldude?

Barry it's the final season and your first instinct is to change time? You really haven't learned anything.

Settlers of Catan!!!!! Ok I begrudgingly like Chester and Allegra a tiny bit more.

How are these four the only ones who don't know Barry is The Flash? I do like Iris thinking the Star Trek uniform is from Star Wars.

Hee, Mold Guy's reaction to Barry revealing himself. Perfect stoner grin.

I can't tell if the electrical inspector is a red herring or not but she's my prime suspect for the Time Thief. I hope it's not Mold Guy!

Wow that was a really lackluster way to win Settlers. I have friends who will stand up and make a big show about getting the winning points. Now I'm thinking no one on or involved with the show has ever played the game before.

Other than Settlers I cannot begin to care about the Chester, Allegra, and Cecile subplot.

I think Barry heard me about the constant time travel even if it ends up just being lip service.

Barry figured out who the thief is yet he doesn't use his speed to possibly contain them.

The Time Thief is a Sith?

NOT COOL TIME SITH!!! YOU KILLED MOLD GUY!!!!!

I really miss the Legends.

Yay Mold Guy's alive again!

[Terrafamilia]

Are they lampshading that at this point they are just running out the clock?

[Proteus]

What the heck was that? 

Awful. Just awful.

[cambridgeguy]

If they're going to burn time on Khione then her meeting with Carla should have been shown on screen instead of all that time they wasted with Mark.  DP's going to be directing the next episode so this was going to be a light week for her regardless, but still.

This really was a Legends of Tomorrow episode without the Legends.  Goofy time anomalies?  Check.  Dressing up in historical costumes, plus a knockoff Starfleet uniform?  Check.  Quirky guest characters?  Check.  Unusually comic "deaths"?  Check.  Barry being ridiculously cavalier about time travel and his secret (snicker) identity?  Check.

That being said, they really should have just gone all in and dropped the Chester/Allegra stuff.  At the very least TRY to tease what's coming in the next episode and/or the rest of the season, because what is the hook supposed to be?  These past few episodes have been the Flash at it's most mediocre.

[bettername2come]

22 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

Are they lampshading that at this point they are just running out the clock?

I assumed the thought "grandfather clock that appears out of nowhere worked on Stranger Things" inspired that one, but who knows. 

Not a good episode. The B-plot was worse. Khione only bookended the episode because Panabaker had to be paid this week. I thought Iris wasn't going to be Iris because how did she get there so fast? She seemed perfectly comfortable on the couch with her ice cream. I did like the guest actors. Trying to figure out where I've seen the villain before. The mold inspector guy was good. He looked weirdly right in the Renaissance outfit. 

Edited April 6, 2023 by bettername2come

[Trini]

So clearly this was a money-saving episode.

Also clear is that the note in the writers room was that Iris' story for the season is that 'she has doubts/worries about X'. So I'm sure we'll see that come up again. -sigh- But at least they kinda have an outline for her; Barry's seemingly only amounts to 'dote on Iris, and be excited for Nora/the future' -- which isn't bad by itself, but he's the lead the final season, and you'd think he'd have something more substantial or an arc connected to the main villain. (But there is no main villain, so maybe that's the problem.)

Meanwhile, Chester and Allegra are stuck with 'awkward romance'. I've added Cecile to my list of characters to ignore for my mental health.

However there were things I liked in this episode: Love that we had Iris with locs for 3 episodes in a row! Barry & Iris had some had some really sweet couple scenes. Not sure which era they were going for with Iris' time-displaced outfit, but she looked great. Also Barry looked great in his "Star Trek" Flash uniform! And it was just nice to have Barry & Iris working together in an A-plot; and when Grant and Candice get to do a bit of comedy.

I just wish I could enjoy these episodes and this season more as a whole, instead of just some scenes. I didn't like that the A-plot devolved into a bunch of expositional mumbo-jumbo; and the resolution of the plot was talking and Barry charges a battery. And it's just weird to have this standalone episode that connects to nothing two-thirds into the final season.
 

On 4/2/2023 at 11:14 AM, Trini said:

Meanwhile, Khione meets with an old friend of Team Flash.

Why did they even bother with putting this in the synopsis when it wasn't even shown, only talked about?? And even Carla is totally fine with her daughter being replaced by the next random dormant personality! Wow.

[thuganomics85]

Man, maybe I've just been so beaten down at this point because despite being the filler to end all fillers, I actually kind of enjoyed the main plot the more it went on.  I think a lot if it was due to just having a lot of Barry and Iris working together and bouncing off one another for once, and both Grant Gustin and Candice Patton at least seemed to be having fun with everything.  And Iris revealing her fears and insecurities over how pregnancy will change her was actually refreshing and compelling compared to last week's stuff.  I guess I'm just taking what I can get.

The guest actors were fun enough in their roles as well.  Figured early on that Tao was going to end up being the time thief though because her not knowing what a breaker box is was clearly a set-up for a massive red flag.  And she was actually Lady Chronos in the end.  Kind of felt like they were setting her up for a return, but I can't see what happening with this being the final season.

That said, dear lord did the Chester/Allegra stuff damn near kill me.  My eyes were honestly truly close to glazing over.  He accidentally drops the L-bomb, she freaks out over said L-bomb, he freaks out over her reaction to said L-bomb, she then reveals she actually feels the same way but is just letting her own fears get the better of her, and then one pep talk later they are now saying it to each other and hinting about sex (obviously can't actually say that word though, because this show is only one step above a Disney Channel one when it comes to anything referencing the art of getting busy!)  Oh, and Cecile is there to mug a lot because as much as I honestly do enjoy Danielle Nicolet most of time, when she's told to be comedically broad, she dials it way up to 1000.

Easy week for Danielle Panabaker I see.

[Lantern7]

A few nice moments . . . but yeah, grandfather clock appearance = running out the clock. I wish I was clever enough to have gotten that while watching.

What is it with mold as a plot point? First Superman & Lois, and now here.

I'm wondering how many places preempted the episode because that one guy seemingly turned into a statue of David.

How many more episodes are left?

[tennisgurl]

It might be be my relief at getting a break from Chilllame and only minor amounts of Blue Streaks, but I thought that this was a decently fun episode, even if its still frustrating that we are getting these random one off episodes when we're so close to the end of the show. We have no end game, no big bad, no looming threat, its just a bunch of random stuff happening with a bunch of random losers like Chilllame getting a shocking amount of screen time. Still, the episode didn't piss me off and the show seemed to be actually trying again, not just sleep walking.  

The main plot with Iris and Barry really was a lot of fun, even if it felt like a B Grade Legends of Tomorrow episode. Grant and Candice really excel in the physical comedy and they had lots of really cute couple moments throughout, which I am always happy to see. The guest cast was also really good, especially the hilariously serious mold inspector guy, and Barry and Iris looked great in all of their outfits. Iris being nervous about just being known as the wife of The Flash and the mom of the next generation of Flashes has been done before, but I can see her fears about pregnancy coming out like this and I am always happy to get a lot of Barry and Iris being cute. 

Allegra and Chester continue to bore me to tears. They act like nervous twelve year old's who are just working up to holding hands, not two adults who are clearly mutually interested in each other. Why does everything have to be one step forward and two steps back with them for literally no reason. This is so boring and I truly cannot believe we are wasting so much time with the two of them giggling and avoiding eye contact. Cecile was also mugging it up like she often does when she's doing her comedy bits, I couldn't help but wonder how her daughter is doing knowing that her mom would rather be playing Settlers of Catan than spending time with her. Chester and Allegra did both look really nice, so there's that. 

[Daltrey]

On 4/5/2023 at 6:20 PM, Proteus said:

What the heck was that? 

Awful. Just awful.

I mean...it was better than the last episode, right? 🤣🤣🤣😂😆☺️😏😒🫤😞

In all honesty, it was the most enjoyable of the season for me, so far. That said, the fact it was a poor man's Legends knockoff just pisses me off more that the showrunner said they weren't going to have the time for a proper Legends wrapup, yet was able to make time for both a two part Batwoman tie-in AND a Dreamer followup that no one needed or wanted either of.😡 I'm going to stick it out because I'm far too invested at this point but my god they aren't making it easy. If this was season two or three I'd be out.