- Title: The Flash – Invincible
- wiki: link
As frightened as they are by Zoom‘s (Teddy Sears) army of meta-humans ripping apart the city, his friends and family are more concerned with Barry‘s (Grant Gustin) new-found sunny attitude since returning from the Speed Force. As it turns out, neither will survive the episode. Thanks to the work of Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Wells (Tom Cavanagh), the team finds a way to neutralize all meta-humans from Earth-2 at once – including the recently arrived Black Siren (Katie Cassidy) who kicks some Flash ass before going nite-nite with all of her super-villain counterparts. As for Barry, the team’s victory is overshadowed by yet another loss as the show kills off a major supporting character leading to a big showdown in next week’s season finale.
Despite his friends and family being a bit concerned with his new attitude, I actually enjoyed this version of Barry (which we’re likely not to see much more of given the tragic final scene). Not only does “Invincible” allow Katie Cassidy to return but it also gives the show an excuse to dress up Cisco and a still-traumatized Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) to play dress-up as their Earth-2 counterparts. The show certainly uses the special effects budget to good use teasing us with the Flash’s struggle early in the episode to keep up with the increased meta-human activity. And as for big moments, we see Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) begin his unofficial role as the Flash’s sidekick and later being stunned to learn who is under the red suit. The show also delivers a nice reunion for those of us who enjoyed the 90’s Flash TV-show before the unexpected death of Henry Allen (John Wesley Shipp).
Whether or not his death is a good idea for the series, Henry’s untimely end continues to make me believe that whoever turns out be under the iron mask will be played by Shipp. Barry doesn’t need tragedy to fuel his heroics and I’m afraid more is lost here than gained. I appreciated the show allowing the character to finally come to terms with his mother’s death and move on while at the same time embracing his destiny as the Flash. Henry’s death, if it stands (remember, time travel is always a possibility), means the character loses some of the hard won growth he’s earned over the show’s two seasons. As for Wally, I’m curious to see how the discovery of Barry’s secret may change his perceptions of both Barry and the Flash.
