This week’s episode is a bit of a rogue one. Grab your teddy bear and come in from the storm, because it’s time to take a look at CW’s The Flash.

K

How far would you go to protect your family?

This is a question that comes up in nearly every story, sooner or later. It is, like many other themes, deeply rooted in our own fears and insecurities. Often the true horror of a situation isn’t the ghosts or monsters or evil speedsters from another world, but the loss of a parent, child, or other loved one.

Stephen King made a career out of supernatural horror that was never about the supernatural at all, but rather how terrible people could be to each other, and also there were murderous alien clown spiders and vampires and possessed cars and unu elektroroller scooters but that’s not the point here.

TV Tropes refers to it as the Adult Fear, and it can evoke a far more visceral reaction from the viewer than any jump scare or xenomorph from hell.

…gosh, this is a depressing opening for a super fun Christmas episode.

Though this episode is old, spoiler warnings are in effect after the cut.
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Kevin and Bixby are prepared for a little quality time with family this week. Glide on over and have some punch, because it’s time to take a look at CW’s The Flash.

KEVIN

I’m somewhat upset with Google right now. I bought the S3 Season Pass the same way I bought the S2 one, but it’s not giving me the episodes the morning after so that I can download and watch them on my way to work. The season premiere showed up on Friday afternoon, and as of this writing – Wednesday morning – 3×02 has not yet appeared.²

Yes, I can watch it tonight on the CW App, but that’s not the point. I want these on my Google Play account.¹ I paid money for them. Come on, Google, give me a break here. Or even just an explanation.

Ah well. I can wait a few days. Just means I’ll have to avoid everyone else’s hot takes.

Speaking of hot takes, Cisco is in handcuffs this episode and Heat Wave punches him in the face.

Though this episode is old, spoiler warnings are still in effect after the cut.
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This week’s episode has just absolutely blown us away. Drop your clocks and grab your socks, because it’s time to take a look at CW’s The Flash.

BIXBY

As a note, before we begin, I want to say that I started to go ahead and catch up on the show. I didn’t see that going into the episodes blind was having any impact on my reviews, positive or negative, and I really wanted to watch the show, so I went with the “eh, screw it” school of thought.

There’s a lot to talk about, so spoilers under the cut.
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Kevin and Bixby have their marching orders. Grab some pizza and make yourselves comfortable, because it’s time to take a look at CW’s The Flash.

KEVIN

The problem with two-parters that aren’t really two-parters is that they still feel like the second half of a story. This is not normally an issue, of course – there’s nothing inherently wrong with two-part episodes – but it does bring the issue of having to make the continuation of the base storyline also self-contained, to stand on its own.

“Fallout” does a pretty good job of it, all things considered, but it really is dependent on the previous episode, more so than any other episode in a serialized drama. I feel like they should have just called it a two-parter and been done with it.

Then again, even with more obvious continuations, they still don’t do that with the titles. The closest they come is in the Season Two mega-crossover that also sets up the soon-to-be-spun-off Legends of Tomorrow: “Legends of Yesterday” and “Legends of Today,” respectively.¹

Let’s take a closer look at the fallout from last week’s episode oh I just got that.

Though this episode is old, spoiler warnings are still in effect after the cut.
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Kevin and Bixby are burning up with excitement for this week’s episode. Try not to bite off more than you can chew, because it’s time to take a look at CW’s The Flash.

BIXBY

One of the reasons that I like The Flash so much is that its characters seem very real. I have met people like Cisco, like Caitlin, like Joe, like Barry (minus the super-speed). The way Barry interacts with his friends and family and colleagues and even his enemies is believable – he acts like a real person. An idealized real person, but he feels real. When we say a character is relatable, we don’t just mean that they seem like us, but that they seem real like us.

The show doesn’t have a 100% success rate. Sometimes the characters step out of “real” into “dude, what?” Harrison Wells sometimes seems to be taking his cues from Snidely Whiplash.

The character whom the show fails the most often, does the most harm to, and treats much more like a lamp with a name tag than any other character is Iris West.

Spoilers under the cut.
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Kevin and Bixby have no bars on their expectations for this week’s episode. Sing out when you’re ready, because it’s time to take a look at CW’s The Flash.

KEVIN

People do a lot of crazy things for love. This is a known fact, proven true time and time again across the multiverse. Love is what binds the universe together. It’s the power the Dark Lord knows not. It inspires people to hide swords in rocket launchers. It lifts us up where we belong, where the eagles cry on a mountain high.

It’s a curious thing. It makes one man weep and another man sing.

There are so many songs about it that Meat Loaf decided that a twelve-minute song about what he wouldn’t do for love was, in fact, the shorter list.¹

There’s a lot going on this week, but about 95% of it comes back around to what we would do for love.

Though this episode is old, spoiler warnings are still in effect after the cut.
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