S01.E05: Plastique

[Xantar]

I just don't see much there. The pairing is being pushed but I don't see much actor chemistry. 

 

I don't see romantic chemistry between Barry and Caitlin. But in the opening scene, they seemed like convincing friends, and that's totally fine with me. It was great to see Caitlin showing a side to herself besides ice queen. And her expression when she finally got Barry buzzed was delightful (albeit slightly marred by the "500 proof" line. They could have just said "200 proof.")

 

Put me in the "No body, no death" camp. And I wouldn't mind seeing Plastique back. The actress did a good job and was very sympathetic.

[Primetimer]

Barry tries to help a girl he meets. Let's see how that goes!

Read the story

[Ubiquitous]

It's been said already, but Barry and Joe keeping iris out of the loop is becoming tedious. Even Barry and Joe seemed to realize that was the ebst solution but came up with this lame non-reason.

 

I thought it was cool to see some of the Silver Age Flash's stunts but how would he know how fast he's runing to perform them?

 

Oh yeah, someone doesn't understand how alcohol percentages  and "proofs" work at all.

[Kromm]

You do realize this is a comic book based show? where people have super powers- a man who can run faster than anything, a woman, who by touch, can make things explode.... It might be easier to consider all of these kind of shows as an alternate universe/reality with its own brand of science, some shit will be different some not. It makes viewing so much more enjoyable.

I couldn't disagree more.  Comic books, like all story telling, are best when they at least have some consistent internal logic, and don't unnecessarily take you out of the story.  A man can run up walls against the actual laws of physics and logic (if one even tried, those windows would break, for one thing), but that's NECESSARY illogic for the sake of the story.  It can be forgiven, because we need it for the story to work. 500 proof isn't that.  "500 proof" is just TV-writer stupid and forgiving it with an elaborate justification is IMO like saying that TV writers don't even need to TRY to make sense.  Sure they do.  If it doesn't make sense for the story, then don't do it.

(albeit slightly marred by the "500 proof" line. They could have just said "200 proof.")

Exactly.

[bluebonnet]

It doesn't really make a lot of sense to call the writers stupid when it's the viewer not recognizing obvious hyperbole.  

[Xantar]

So anyway, it just occurred to me that this would be an excellent backstory to have Plastique return as a villain. Supposing she survived the explosion (because...powers or something), she would be gunning for Harrison Wells and General Eiling. She wouldn't have Barry's inherent trust in institutional authority because look at how badly they failed her. Now that is a story with a lot of potential. 

[FurryFury]

Barry/Iris scenes are becoming more and more repetitive, but I think this was the first episode when I've started to get a feel of Iris as her own character, not just Barry's crush object. Her stubborn insistence on continuing to spread word about Flash, ahem, Streak finally felt like real characterization. I thought there was a tinge of desperation there, of some longing for a hero, and maybe even trying to find her purpose in life. Of course, I may be reaching, but I actually liked that she hasn't allowed men in her life to make the decision for her, and I guess I liked Iris herself, too. 

But still, this Streak storyline is horrible. Please, show, get her something to do. And while we're at it, don't make her a damsel in distress more often than once per season, because that's the surefire way to make the audience hate the female lead.

 

Otherwise, a good episode all around. Wells continues to be literally 50% of why I watch the show, and I still hope him being a 100% bad guy is a red herring. Maybe because I like him and the actor so damn much.

 

Danielle Panabaker seems to be slowly improving, but the character still isn't quite there yet, as is Cisco. Felicity and Diggle made a much stronger impression on me by this time in Arrow's run, and I'm not even such a big Team Arrow fan.

[jah1986]

Another really good episode. On a show where all of the meta humans have been villains of course the first time that doesn't happen is when they're being chased by Clancy Brown. He doesn't need meta human to be a villain.  But man Wells really is one bad man and I mean that in a good way. As others have said way to be menacing without using physicality.

 

I love that Joe knows that Barry is in love with Iris but how can want Barry to tell Iris how he feels but not tell her he's the Flash. That didn't add up to me. I also thought there was some chemistry between Iris and Flash so here's hoping they don't drag this out forever. Of course I've never read the comics so I don't know if they will ever get together.  But I can't go through another Clark Kent/Lana Lang.

[cambridgeguy]

 

It doesn't really make a lot of sense to call the writers stupid when it's the viewer not recognizing obvious hyperbole.

Hyperbole would be her saying that it's "like 500 proof alcohol!", which gets the point across quite well.  Saying it IS 500 proof alcohol with a straight face implies that she wasn't kidding. 

 

Besides, the internet is made for fans obsessing over pointless details.  Who really cares about the super booze when Wells is turning people into personal assassins and has created everyone's favorite gorilla supervillain.

[quarks]

Clancy Brown! Clancy Brown! And a Clancy Brown not killed off at the end of the episode so we'll get to see him again!  Plus, Wells being totally evil in the name of....whatever he's in the name of. This is fun, show.

 

What isn't fun: the science. Just say the shrapnel stuff is in her cells and leave it there; don't try to tell me that it has combined with DNA because particle accelerator explosion or no particle accelerator explosion I am not going to buy it. In fact I may find myself needing chocolate.

 

Also not fun: Iris still not knowing the truth. This makes no sense.  Even the "she'll be in danger if she knows the truth...." Look, as it is, Cisco and Caitlin know the truth, and they seem to be fine, or at least no less fine than Iris.  Meanwhile, now that she's added her name to the blog, she's in as much danger as Cisco and Caitlin are.  And while I agree that it was a bit much for Iris to continue to blog about the Streak after he came to her and specifically asked her not to, I also got the impression that she would have stopped the second she knew the truth.  So in this case, telling her the truth would make everyone safer. I know the love interest not knowing the truth is a comic book cliche, but it's aggravating here since it makes no sense. Iris isn't just the love interest; she's Barry's best friend, and I'm not buying any of the reasons for not telling her the truth. Grumble.

 

But if I understood the last scene correctly a gorilla is about to show up, which is going to make any complaints I have about Iris' storyline pointless.

[Maverick]

What isn't fun: the science. Just say the shrapnel stuff is in her cells and leave it there; don't try to tell me that it has combined with DNA because particle accelerator explosion or no particle accelerator explosion I am not going to buy it. 

 

 I can live with stem cells and bomb residue altering/merging with DNA because of the magic particle wave, but cloning clothes, shoes and guns or having the meta-humans own clothes not explode bugs.  

[Shanna]

I thought this episode was pretty bad. I liked Clancy and wells being evil, but grodd? Meh.

Death scene of the girl was awfully perfunctory, hated the I have something to say, gasp, dies cliche. Hated Barry not telling iris.

I like iris generally, but I didn't like her not realizing that if the "streak" wanted everybody to know what he was doing all he has to do is call the press. The fact that he is asking you not to write about him means maybe you are being selfish.

I did like the drinking scenes.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Shanna

[XtremeOne1]

I'm not sure who's side we are supposed to be on with the Iris vs Her Father/Barry because the show is making it seem like we're supposed to be touched by her protective they are of her but I find it downright insulting. As we see more and more of Iris, we see she's intelligent, capable, ambitious and intuitive.  I get that they don't want her involved in the danger but it's her choice. We know Iris wanted to be a cop, but her father stopped. And now Iris is finding a zest and a joy in journalism and once again her dad is like, "Yeah, but no!"

 

How about you stop treating Iris like she's a little helpless girl? It's kind of disrespectful to her. I get they love her but lying to her, and hurting her(which Barry did) isn't helping matters, especially since it seems like she'll keep doing it(I hope she doesn't stop. I like her journey towards journalism). In a way they're putting her in more danger. She's taking risks she wouldn't have to take if Barry was just honest with her.

 

I'm guessing Iris will discover Barry's secret on her own through her own skillset, which is cool but they need to do it sooner rather than later.

 

Also I don't want them to thaw or deedge Caitlin. I hated her scene where she's like "He's hot" than backtracked. Don't make her Felicity, make her Caitlin. From what I saw earlier of her, she'd seem like the type of woman to own that sort of comment, and be like, "Yeah, okay. What? He is." and maybe just show some contriteness to Barry, not "Oh I said a boy was hot! Better act quirky because only guys can comment on hotness!"

[Lord Kira]

Likes:

Lex Luthor 

The humor

Joe

Team Flash/Wells interation

Plastique

 

Dislikes:

The Iris melodrama. I don't dislike Iris, but I don't particularly care about her either. The actress is good, but the character is so irrelevant to the show. She reminds me of season 1 Lana Lang; especially the way they are handling the Barry/Iris and him keeping her in the dark about his powers. This is more than played out in the superhero genre and I find that trope hard to care about anymore. The writers need to step it up, unlike with Laurel on Arrow, they have a good actress here.

[TV Anonymous]

How is it that The Flash does not have super-strength? His bones are capable of withstand extremely high G they endure when he accelerates from 0 to almost supersonic in an instant. As well, his body is capable of holding wind resistance and impact from small debris that certainly hit him when he travels.

 

In the same token, he must also be very "smart". Maybe not in cognitive terms, but he is able to think much faster than normal human. That makes him capable of ingesting and processing data and making decision faster than normal.

[In2You]

I thought the actress playing Plastique sucked. 

[Agent Dark]

Anyone catch the Captain Boomerang foreshadowing/Easter Egg (Caitlin holding up the boomerang)?  I like  that they're really starting to establish The Rogues.  Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Grodd, Pied Piper is coming up, a little hint at Captain Boomerang in this episode.

 

I liked Plastique, and I think the door is open for her to show up again.  I think she could make for a pretty good 'grey' area villain. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

Compared to the various actresses on CW/The WB/UPN's genre shows over the years (such as Birds of Prey, Arrow, Smallville, etc. etc.), the woman who played Plastique was on the higher end of the scale both in terms of acting and hotness, IMO!

[wayne67]

On another topic, usually I love the Joe-Barry interactions. But Joe being all "I've known forever that you wanted to break off a piece of my daughter, quasi-son, and I'm psyched about that!" was a little squicky. That said, Jesse L. Martin did his level best to pull that off.

 

I'm glad I wasn't the only one disturbed by that. The fact that Joe apparently knew Barry had the hots for his daughter since Barry hit puberty while they all lived under the same roof seemed really creepy. Frankly the fact that superheroes are often so lazy about their dating has always bugged me. Barry lusting after the girl who is his best friend and de facto foster sister who he lived with for like 5 or so years makes it super dodgy dating wise.

 

On the upside.

 

I loved Cisco's reaction to the 'hot girl' and his 'exploded suit'

The General made for a worthwhile antagonist to Flash and gang.

Joe laughing over Barry's voice modulation

Grant Gustin really sizzled in that rooftop scene

Partial nudity (Barry in his underwear)

 

The downside

 

Barry and Joe deciding to keep Iris in the dark about his superpowers. Ignorance doesn't help prevent a superheroes loved ones from being in danger. Hell if you told Iris she'd be able to figure out her best course of action 1) avoid reporting on the Streak 2) Get self defense training 3) Learn how to shoot a gun 4) Help with rebranding the Streak into the Flash.

Wells threats to alert the press about the General's activity. It came across as weird as 1) His public image was tarnished due to causing widespread damage and over a dozen deaths 2) Any reprehensible or dubious activities the General did while around Wells would be problematic as a) he might be charged as an accessory/ after the fact b) be hard to prove c) The General might have immunity from prosecution if sanctioned by the Military.

Edited November 13, 2014 by wayne67

[Oscirus]

On another topic, usually I love the Joe-Barry interactions. But Joe being all "I've known forever that you wanted to break off a piece of my daughter, quasi-son, and I'm psyched about that!" was a little squicky

 

Not only that, but I was also wondering why the hell was Joe tripping over Iris dating a cop but not over Iris dating The Flash?  That's pretty much the most dangerous thing that she could do.

 

Another thing that bothers me is the blog somehow putting Iris in danger. If you think about such a situation it comes off as a bit absurd.:

 

Evil mastermind: OOOOO that Blur pisses me off if only I knew a way to get him.

Henchman: Yea boss, there's this blog about the Blur, the author obviously has to know him.

Evil Mastermind: How? Are there pictures, interviews, or any other type of special knowledge contained within this blog?

Henchman: Well, no. There's pretty much just news like you can find in any newspaper but she signed her name so she obviously has to be connected to the Flash.

Evil Mastermind: You're right! Let's kill this Iris West! BWAHAHAHA

 

I think Plastique has to remain dead. If people start coming back to life then you run into the "Captain America" problem of nobody really dying and therefore robbing the emotional toll that deaths of characters close to Flash should have because in the back of the audience's mind there's always a chance that person could be alive.  Not a good thing for a show to do.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Thinking that Iris may be threatened by blogging about the Streak may be a problem of being genre-savvy. If I had $1 for every time someone threatened Lois or Jimmy because of their connections to Superman (but strangely, I can't think of any times people have threatened Clark directly) or Peter, JJJ or the rest of the Bugle crew in an attempt to get to Spider-Man and similar type relationships, I could probably finance my own Hollywood studio.

Also, I wonder if she will in fact blog about the Streak contacting her and trying to encourage her to not continue blogging. On the one hand she has more proof that he exists. On the other hand, blogging "I'm blogging this despite this heroic figure telling me not to" is at least somewhat obnoxious.

 

As for people coming back from the dead, I'd say that's a comics-wide thing. Pretty much every character has been brought back from the dead at least once, and most of the supporting characters  and villains who have died in the midst of a superhero's career have also been brought back or pseudo-brought back. It's only characters that were dead before the hero became a hero that have stayed dead (like Thomas/Martha Wayne, Uncle Ben, Jor-El and Lara-El, for example).

[twoods]

I don't think that Joe cared as much that Iris was dating a cop, more to the fact that he was his partner and Joe can't do his job if he's caring about Eddie getting hurt all the time. Joe can see what Barry does so knows he can take care of himself.

Caitlin did admit that she's starting to sound like Felicity, so maybe the writers are aware that Caitlin needs to be her own person instead of a Felicity knockoff.

[Slovenly Muse]

I get that the whole tortured, lonely, "the girl I love can never really know me" tragic figure of the superhero is a staple of the genre, but this trope of nonsensically keeping said woman in the dark in order to facilitate that story is so grating and dumb. And it seems to be high up on the list of viewer complaints in EVERY superhero show that uses it! And it's especially out of place on The Flash, where Barry does have friends and support and happiness, and will (hopefully) never BE the "tortured, lonely" hero. So why can't this godawful cliche be retired? Even put on forced leave for just this one show?

 

I get that there needs to be some tension regarding the secret identity, but honestly, when the person you're worried about finding out is someone who cares deeply about you, then there aren't really any stakes involved. If she finds out, she obviously cares enough that you won't lose her as a friend, and telling her the truth might deepen her respect for you. Can't the tension come from supervillains and the press trying doggedly to uncover his secret identity?  Then at least there would be a sense that it would really MATTER if they found out. Need a way to keep Iris and Barry apart? How about the danger of those OTHER people discovering the truth? Even staying apart because Joe  was uncomfortable with them dating would make more sense than this.

[88Keys]

I thought the actress playing Plastique sucked. 

 

Thank you!  I thought I was the only one. 

 

Despite her mediocre acting, I did kind of like her, though, and was sad that she died. 

 

Thinking that Iris may be threatened by blogging about the Streak may be a problem of being genre-savvy. If I had $1 for every time someone threatened Lois or Jimmy because of their connections to Superman (but strangely, I can't think of any times people have threatened Clark directly) or Peter, JJJ or the rest of the Bugle crew in an attempt to get to Spider-Man and similar type relationships, I could probably finance my own Hollywood studio.

 

Also, I wonder if she will in fact blog about the Streak contacting her and trying to encourage her to not continue blogging. On the one hand she has more proof that he exists. On the other hand, blogging "I'm blogging this despite this heroic figure telling me not to" is at least somewhat obnoxious.

 

 

I think that is my problem with the Iris blogging storyline- I feel like I've seen it before.  And I don't understand her persistence in maintaining the blog even after the hero has showed up and asked her not to.  It just makes her look naive and selfish. 

Also, I get that Barry was blurring his face and voice and everything, but it still seems like Iris should be able to recognize someone she grew up with.  His voice wasn't that different.  Plus, she knows Barry was struck by lighting and was in a coma and everything- can't she deduct that something might have happened to him during that time?  Especially since he's been hanging out at Star Labs a lot?  I actually turned to my husband during that part and said "sometimes comic books make women look dumb." 

[Carrie Ann]

Yeah, it's comic book Clark Kent magic glasses stuff, but it is ridiculous to believe that Iris wouldn't recognize Barry despite the blur and the voice. I could recognize my family and best friends in costume, full snowgear, masks, etc., just based on how they stand and move. It's something we used to joke about in college--how we would spot each other from across the quad in a crowd, just by our movement.

 

My bigger problem at this point is that Joe's argument for keeping it from her was just rendered completely moot, but they didn't address that. Iris has made herself a target by putting her name to the blog, and she has refused to stop looking into this. Letting her know Barry is The Flash is the only chance they really have to convince her to stop, to remove herself (and Barry) from further danger. There is literally no reason not to tell her now, and every reason to do it. The fact that they didn't acknowledge that is a concern, but I have high hopes that these EPs learned something from Arrow, and that they won't keep her in the dark for much longer.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Carrie Ann

[arc]

My bigger problem at this point is that Joe's argument for keeping it from her was just rendered completely moot, but they didn't address that. Iris has made herself a target by putting her name to the blog, and she has refused to stop looking into this. Letting her know Barry is The Flash is the only chance they really have to convince her to stop, to remove herself (and Barry) from further danger. There is literally no reason not to tell her now, and every reason to do it.

At this point I think the forced secret identity stuff must be imposed from above by idiotic executives at CW or Warners/DC. It makes no fucking sense, as you point out, and the writers have been relatively good about everything else (some science goofs aside).

 

Compared to the various actresses on CW/The WB/UPN's genre shows over the years (such as Birds of Prey, Arrow, Smallville, etc. etc.), the woman who played Plastique was on the higher end of the scale both in terms of acting and hotness, IMO!

Y'know, I've heard that elsewhere (that the Flash is pretty good, acting-wise, for this network) and it's probably true, but I don't watch a lot of CW genre shows. By the standards of TV as a whole, the CW lines up some truly dreadful (but good-looking) 20-something actors, and the Plastique actress was in line with that.

[caracas1914]

I've heard that elsewhere (that the Flash is pretty good, acting-wise, for this network)

 

Jesse L. Martin and Tom Cavanaugh alone raise it by 75 %.

[FurryFury]

Actually, CW usually isn't that bad with casting the older actors. For instance, Flash, Arrow and The 100 all range from decent to great with their parents/parental figures. It's the younger generation that's often problematic. At least, on this show, both Gustin and Patton seem to do well in their roles (although I'm not as sure about Caitlyn or Cisco). 

[Cirien]

The actress was okay (even by CW standards) I wouldn't say she sucked, but it was painful watching her when she had to be anything but "tough chick"

[arc]

So, since Wells brought up his and Eiling's history with mind control experiments (WTF?), was Wells just being regularly persuasive when he told Plastique* to go kill Eiling, or was he using mind control powers?

 

* and why did it come off so weird when everyone called her "Beth"?

[Chicago Redshirt]

I think Wells was using just regular ol' persuasiveness and manipulation rather than any mind control stuff based in part because of comics stuff...

 

The conventional theory seems to be that Wells is the Reverse-Flash, a villain from the future. If so, mind control is not part of is skill set. As for how mind control comes in, it is part of the abilities of Grodd. He's got a gorilla body with gorilla strength but advanced intelligence and some psionic abilities.

 

Plastique's real name is "Bette Sans Souci" so it may have sounded weird because you were expecting "Beth" rather than "Bette" (which is pronounced like "bet.")

Edited November 13, 2014 by Chicago Redshirt

[arc]

Oh, that might be it. I think I actually read some of those old comics, old enough that they were before she moved over to being more of a Captain Atom supporting char than a Firestorm villain, and I think she was Quebecois?

 

But I think that's only half the weirdness.  The other half was in how stilted everyone came off when addressing her, as if the director was concerned the audience wouldn't remember her name and told every actor to hit the name hard.

[catrice2]

I did not like the Plastique part of the episode, but loved the Barry and Iris scenes.  Not because I care about the romantic aspect of the show, but this was the first time I really saw him as an adult man with her, as himself and as the Flash.  I did think there was some chemistry in the scene when he was the Flash.  My main problem with the coupling of the two have less to do with race, her acting, the character being annoying, etc. and more to do with the fact that the male lead is portrayed more as a little boy than a young man.

The part of Iris' boyfriend is woefully miscast. I forget he is even on the show.  I would like to see Barry having to communicate with STAR labs less while he is out. He has been shown to be extremely smart, he should not need them to answer every question.

 

I'm tired of the heroine falling in love with the alter ego/super hero but not acknowledging that person when they are their true selves.  I hope we are not in for a long drawn out Iris is in love with the Flash, but does not know Barry is alive story.

 

Focus on the villians!!  

[Jack Kerouac]

I thought the actress playing Plastique sucked. 

 

But she was exceptionally hot.

[NumberCruncher]

Also, I get that Barry was blurring his face and voice and everything, but it still seems like Iris should be able to recognize someone she grew up with.  His voice wasn't that different.

So glad I wasn't the only one who thought this! When I heard it I started laughing because unlike Oliver's voice alteration over on Arrow, Barry still very much like Barry. If Iris can't recognize that then she just comes off looking foolish.

 

 

Jesse L. Martin and Tom Cavanaugh alone raise it by 75 %.

Agreed. They carry this show in the acting department.

 

 

I did not like the Plastique part of the episode, but loved the Barry and Iris scenes.  Not because I care about the romantic aspect of the show, but this was the first time I really saw him as an adult man with her, as himself and as the Flash.  I did think there was some chemistry in the scene when he was the Flash.  My main problem with the coupling of the two have less to do with race, her acting, the character being annoying, etc. and more to do with the fact that the male lead is portrayed more as a little boy than a young man.

The part of Iris' boyfriend is woefully miscast. I forget he is even on the show.  I would like to see Barry having to communicate with STAR labs less while he is out. He has been shown to be extremely smart, he should not need them to answer every question.

 

I'm tired of the heroine falling in love with the alter ego/super hero but not acknowledging that person when they are their true selves.  I hope we are not in for a long drawn out Iris is in love with the Flash, but does not know Barry is alive story.

 

Focus on the villians!!

Thank you for finally pinpointing why the whole 'shipping aspect of this show has always seemed so off to me. I haven't been able to ship Barry with anyone really and I could not figure out why but this explains it perfectly. I think the combination of Barry's awkward geek personality and Grant Gustin's baby face had been killing any hint of sexuality between Barry and all of the females on the show for me. I know people loved the Barry/Felicity kiss but personally I found it rather awkward and I honestly can't envision Barry kissing Iris or Caitlin and having it generate any heat. Maybe I'll change my mind when it finally happens, but for now he comes across as an adolescent with a crush.

[88Keys]

I nearly fell out of my chair when Barry said he was 25.  I thought he was supposed to be 19 or 20 and still in college, working part-time for the PD. 

[In2You]

I nearly fell out of my chair when Barry said he was 25.  I thought he was supposed to be 19 or 20 and still in college, working part-time for the PD. 

Going out on crime scenes and being heavily involved with case work?

[Tangerine]

I must be in the minority, but I did not like the rooftop scene with The Flash and Iris. I didn't see any chemistry there at all. It just seemed like they were both trying way too hard to sell intrigue and attraction there and it didn't come off as very natural. It was disappointing because a scene like that had a lot of potential and acting wise, this show is usually pretty top notch.

[ShadowDenizen]

WHile there were definitely elements I liked, and the cast continues to bring it each episode, I felt surprisingly "Meh" about this episode.

I"m not sure I could put my finger on exactly why, but something about this episode left me cold....

Edited November 14, 2014 by ShadowDenizen

[Chicago Redshirt]

I nearly fell out of my chair when Barry said he was 25.  I thought he was supposed to be 19 or 20 and still in college, working part-time for the PD. 

Grant Gustin looks really young. But presumably he and Iris are supposed to be about the same age, and she's midway through grad school, so he would have to be done with college. When he first appeared on Arrow, they teased him about how young he looked.

[88Keys]

I didn't realize Iris was in grad school and not getting an undergraduate degree.  I thought that is why she had to take the journalism class in the first place.  I missed a couple of the early episodes, so I probably didn't catch all the backstory/timeline stuff. 

[Grace19]

I have no issues with iris not recognizing the flash, his father didnt recognize him too, and i will take it any day over lois not recognizing clark just because he was wearing glasses at least the show tried by bluring barry's face. I love this episode, barry and the wests have amazing chemistry. Plastique was boring though, but barry learnt to use his powers more. I hate that they made barry stupid by making him ask cisco and caitlyn things he should know as a scientist just to give them things to say. Hated barry and joe lying to iris. I love that she stuck to her gun, wouldnt respect her if she had given in. I can't wait to see her journey to becoming a reporter. I still love everyone especially joe and wells.

I trust the writers, they know what they are doing.

[wingster55]

his father didnt recognize him too

 

I think Henry did recognize him actually. 

[slayer2]

Aww I heart this show so much. I loved the hug between Joe and Barry and it's so nice to watch a show with laughter, friendships and bonding. Liked the Iris/Barry scenes but dammit just tell her already! She's not just some person she's your best friend and she deserves to know what's going on with you!! Obviously she care about you, either tell her you love her or tell her you're The Flash, but tell her something. Geez, you idiot.

I also saw chemistry in the rooftop scene as well, looking forward to more with these two but he needs to tell her stat! 

 

Thought it was sweet of Caitlin to create some liquor Barry could enjoy. I really like the bond between these three. Cisco's "That was inappropriate, please don't leave." and Caitlin's "I know how to perform a lobotomy was adorable. All Barry's relationships on this show gel so well and he has great chemistry with all of them.

 

Wells: ohhhh boy, from the moment I saw the General all I could think was Lydecker and sure enough Wells sent poor Bette back to Manticore. That one hurt, too many fucked up memories from that show. I shall stay in the camp of "no body no death" with the others, please pitch me a tent.

 

 

Hyperbole would be her saying that it's "like 500 proof alcohol!"

 

I have to disagree, that's more on par with a simile. "The sky was bleeding." It's 500 proof." are decent examples of hyperbole. Perhaps it was what the writer intended perhaps not but I just had to nitpick that point.

Edited November 15, 2014 by slayer2

[TV Anonymous]

I want to comment on 500-proof comment, from a bit of scientific point of view.

 

While it is true that proof is the unit to measure percentage of alcohol in a spirit (100 proof = 57.15% ABV), I think it is possible that Snow meant was as a potency of the liquid compared to ethanol. See, if 100% ethanol is 175 proof, then the engineered liquid is 500/175 = 2.86 times more potent than pure ethanol. Of course in practical terms it makes no sense since there is no substance with similar properties like ethanol is more potent than ethanol in real life.

 

The analogy is such measurement is the calculation of octane number. The octane number that we use everyday is the comparison of the anti-knocking capacity between the fuel and a mixture of iso-octane and heptane. So fuel with 90 octane number behaves as a mixture of 90% iso-octane and 10% heptane. However, there are substances with higher anti-knocking capacity than iso-octane. Those substances have octane number greater than 100.

 

Conclusion, as a scientist, Snow was not wrong when she said 500-proof as that style of measurement is not uncommon in the world of chemistry.

Edited November 15, 2014 by TV Anonymous

[Actionmage]

I think it is possible that Snow meant

 

 

I watch Once Upon a Time, and for a moment I pictured Snow White! *G* Thanks for the (unintended) grin and chuckle!

[Trini]

Voice changing, running up walls, running on water; I surprised they introduced 3 new abilities in one episode.

 

“Maybe we shouldn’t see each other for a while” — ?? Dude— you can’t have a breakup talk with your sister. (I know, I know, pseudo sister) But I did really like the Iris/Streak scene.

 

I'm glad that most people agree about the Iris situation: JUST TELL HER ALREADY.

 

I can’t believe they killed off Plastique. I was actually excited that they’d be introducing a female metahuman who could be hero — and then they offed her in the same episode.

 

I wonder if there’s a name for that Person in Charge of Blowing Air Into Actors Faces for When Barry Zips Away.

 

 

How is it that The Flash does not have super-strength? His bones are capable of withstand extremely high G they endure when he accelerates from 0 to almost supersonic in an instant. As well, his body is capable of holding wind resistance and impact from small debris that certainly hit him when he travels.

He must have some degree of super-strength, with him being able to pick up and move people of various sizes. I didn't like that line either.

[arc]

He must have some degree of super-strength, with him being able to pick up and move people of various sizes. I didn't like that line either.

There's a pretty arbitrary distinction in comics between super speed and super strength, despite both powers involving generating tremendous force (equals mass times acceleration).

That said, I think safely catching a falling person probably would be well within Peak Flash powers, where he would probably just reduce their speed via Speed Force powers. (I'm not a big fan of the Speed Force.)

[Izeinwinter]

Eh, he's pretty fit, and as far as he is concerned, they might as well not be moving, so all he is doing is picking up people and carrying them. Which should totally result in gibbets flying, but.. Speed force!

[Sandman]

Wells is a total dick. He basically told that girl, "Kill yourself. It's the only way."

 

Wells is straight-up evil: he played on her emotions and essentially pointed her as a weapon against his enemy. And of course it was completely in his own interest. He thought he'd kill two birds with one explosive stone. I was disappointed that Bette didn't point out that killing Eiling would probably create as many problems (by possibly attracting attention to Bette's new metahuman "flock") as it would solve. But I don't think she was in the most rational state.

 

Evil mastermind: OOOOO that Blur pisses me off if only I knew a way to get him.

Henchman: Yea boss, there's this blog about the Blur, the author obviously has to know him.

Evil Mastermind: How? Are there pictures, interviews, or any other type of special knowledge contained within this blog?

Henchman: Well, no. There's pretty much just news like you can find in any newspaper but she signed her name so she obviously has to be connected to the Flash.

Evil Mastermind: You're right! Let's kill this Iris West! BWAHAHAHA

 

Change the names, and it's the basic outline of every Lois Lane story ever. (And probably every Vicky Vale story, too.)

 

And, what, no comments about how The Streak was, well, actually streaking once Plastique made the suit go boom? Anybody?

Edited November 17, 2014 by Sandman