THE FLASH 8.1

 

RECAP - THE FLASH  8.1:  "Armageddon Part 1"  

Welcome back to Central City, as we gear up for yet another race with The Fastest Man Alive. And while I have had some sense of excitement about a new season of The Flash, this season I was a bit more, because it's the first time we're kicking a season OFF with a crossover event.  And this is a crossover event unlike every other time---this is a five episode even relegated to just ONE show...and that helps, considering the storyline will JUST take place on said program, and NOT deviate to the other shows, thus allowing the guest stars to visit Central City in this case.  They gave us a new threat that will give Team Flash fits for the next few episodes....and with ANY luck...we'll have our "official" formation of the Justice League after this (seriously---it's LOOOOOOONG overdue, CW!).  

This episode showed us quite a bit of change since we last left Barry and Iris renewing their vows at the end of the Godspeed affair.  Life has moved forward, and we got to notice some big changes.  First of all, Iris West-Allen has taken the Central City Citizen from a small newspaper/online outlet to "CC Citizen Media", which now includes her doing podcast interviews with some of the people of Central City and more.  She's taken on more administrative duties, and thus can't be the managing editor anymore.  She's now handed THAT job to a VERY reluctant Allegra, who feels that she can't measure up to what Iris has done, and is bullied and intimidated by the staff writers early on because they're "actual" journalists, and go about finding their OWN stories instead of listening to Allegra.  Iris ends up giving Allegra the pep talk she needs---after welcoming her to management.  She relates the new position to her powering up when she fought against her cousin.  Iris lets her know that her voice is what's made her a good writer, and will make her a better managing editor.  The pep talk worked, and Allegra managed to give the lecture to the writers about what she and Iris expect at CC Media.  It works, and she gets what she wants out of her staff...even if they don't like her.  Iris has become a smaller version of Cat Grant, and it's great to see her career flourish.  

Speaking of Iris, she had a chance to interview returning CCPD Captain Kristin Kramer, as she discusses Kramers decision to end the Metahuman Task Force.  Now being one herself, she's seen a different perspective on things, and just wants to make sure everyone gets a fair shake at the hands of the law.  And has for her and Barry---well, while their adult kids DO come visit from 2049 from time to time, between Barry's time as the Flash, and being at the CCPD, and Iris' time at CC Media, they still haven't been able to conceive yet---and there's still Iris' issue with her illness.  So, not much downtime for our favorite couple.  And now that Kramer is back to work, she's working close with Barry, and that makes him nervous, as her mimic powers can activate around him, and she'd know he's the Flash....which she brings it up during their recent case.  

Speaking of said  case, Barry and Kramer investigate a theft committed by the Royal Flush Gang, who had made a series of robberies in Central City quite a few years back while Barry was in a coma.  But they had stolen a rare microchip, and they wonder why is it they've changed their M.O. from simple bank robberies to theft of tech.  Earlier on, Barry and Caitlin were chatting at Jitters, where Caitlin said she's ready to get back out into the dating world---mostly inspired by Frost's crush on Chillblaine.  They got an alert about two trains about to collide, and manages to save everyone before they crashed.  Back at STAR Labs, the team is trying to figure out what the Royal Flush Gang is up to.  They later find out that therewas a powerful energy source that was aboard the train that the Gang also made off with.  Then, they find out that there's an energy surge at Iron Heights, and the inmates are loose, so Flash races over there to get the prisoners locked back up, and finds out that the Royal Flush Gang used the energy source to "level up" their game.  The team eventually puts their heads together to find out that the Gang plans on using the eneregy source to power up this microchip in order to steal all the cryptocurrency that the casinos in Central City use.  So, Flash meets up with the Gang, and they feel they got him dead to rights.  Queenie, who can see the future, says she knows his moves before he makes them, but that doesn't seem to stop Flash from putting an end to them quickly.  Thing is---she can't think as FAST as Flash...therefore, he's able to make adjustments on the fly before she can read them. So, with the Royal Flush Gang taken care of, the team can focus on other things.

Barry and Iris also got a visit from Ray Palmer, who was in Central City for the tech convention in town, and was looking to shack up at the Allen's while he's here.  Barry had to take off to work, and Iris made sure she made her own beeline for work, as they left Chester in charge of Ray's schedule while he was there.  Chester, however, planned a lot more than what Ray was expecting, as he was thinking that Ray was looking to start up another tech company again, and Ray wasn't.  While he's done being The Atom, and not a Legend anymore, he's just looking to do research, and tinker, and not do anything grandiose---though Chester thought that Ray would sponsor some of the young minds at the event.  So, Chester felt down about that....and proceeded to avoid Ray at all costs for the remainder of the episode.

The huge part of this episode was the arrival of the new villain, Despero.  Despero came from the year 2031, where we saw people running in panic, as Central City was burning to the ground.  Despero shows up at the convention to face off with Flash, and Flash shows up, but is quickly beaten down by Despero, who says he's here to kill him before he destroys Central City in the future.  Ray decides to break his Atom suit out of mothballs to assist our Scarlet Speedster, and actually shrinks Despero down using his belt to end the threat....temporarily.  They know nothing about him, and he said Flash is the one that destroys Central City in the future, and they need help to find out why.  So, because he's an alien, Caitlin goes to call Alex Danvers for her input, and see what will happen there.  Now, everyone knows Barry isn't a supervillain, but Despero seems convinced Barry is.  So, when Despero does return, Barry reveals his secret ID to him, and says that he is not the man Despero thinks he is.  Despero, however, gives Barry 7 days to prove him wrong----or he'll kill him.  

One of the good things to come out of this episode, is during Ray's interview with Iris...he doesn't know what his future is, but he'd like to find out together with the audience in about a year.  He talks to Chester, and says that he created a non-profit organization for young scientists and researchers, and named it in Chester's father's honor.  

This episode was very well done!  I was happy to see a little time jump, and see how everyone has progressed since we last saw them.  Barry and Iris are happy, even though they haven't made a baby yet---but they still have her issues from last season to deal with, which I hope they do eventually.  Barry and Kramer's work dynamic will be interesting to watch further, because I wonder when it will be that she finds out he's The Flash.  Iris turning the Citizen into Catco-lite is awesome, and we now see she has a staff----and to promote Allegra is great too...she needed some more development.  And Caitlin----FINALLY---she won't be a wallflower anymore.  We NEED her to get a life...she's been a part of the show from the beginning, and has essentially STALLED as a character since Ronnie died.  We got no Frost this week, as she's pining over Chillblaine, and Joe was absent----I wonder if we see LESS of him this season?  I hope not---we need Joe to be our father figure, our pillar of strength.  

It was cool to see Chester and Ray interact, and for Ray and Barry to team up.  We know more is to come, but we've missed Ray Palmer since he and Nora left the Legends, but it's cool they gave us an update on his life while he came in.  And Despero looks GREAT!  I like that he changes into the comic book form of his character, and I'm curious to see where his story goes over this mini-series.  And top notch for the writers to bring in new villains like The Royal Flush Gang for Flash to tangle with to keep things fresh.  

Overall...a VERY good start to Season 8...and look forward to next week.  What about YOU guys?  What caught YOUR eye for this season premiere?  Subscribe and leave me YOUR thoughts below.

Until next time....keep on running!