THE FLASH 8.17

 

RECAP - THE FLASH  8.17:  "Keep It Dark" 

Things keep moving forward towards the 8th season finale for our Scarlet Speedster.  In this episode, we see Flash chasing after a new speedster, who seems to have stolen some important tech from Ivo Labs, and Allegra and Chuck have their hands full, as Allegra tries to help her friend get away from her former gang, who're now trying to threaten the city....but do in a way as to protect her criminal past, as well as her being a superhero.  

For the Monarch of Motion, this episode was having him racing around town on patrol, when Chester gives him the call about a fire and theft at Ivo Labs.  When he gets there, he sees what looks like someone charred a lab there, and a major piece of equipment was stolen.  He spends the episode trying to track down the new speedster, but it takes him off the grid for a day or so...as he needs some help from a least likely individual:  Eobard Thawne.  So, Flash races out to Lian Yu, where Thawne, powerless, has been nicely tucked away, serving his time.  He's gimping around a little bit slower, since his powers were taken away---a point he keeps making to Barry time and again.  Barry tells him about a new speedster in town, and he's having trouble locating them.  Thawne sees this as an opportunity to tease and taunt Barry as usual, calling him dumb and whatnot.  At first, Barry had assumed that Thawne somehow managed to break free, get his powers back, and break into Ivo Labs for the piece of tech, but he can't.  Barry does end up coercing the info out of Thawne by taunting him back---turns out, the new speedster is just learning about their powers...and doesn't know how to control them.  That's all Barry needed, and he's off to face this new speedster...as he realizes that the fire was an accident.  However, as he leaves, we see a little evil grin out of Thawne---like he knows something we don't. Flash eventually heads back to Ivo Labs where the scene of the crime is, and we see the other speedster race in, and Flash faces them head on.  The other speedster tries to escape, but Flash is just too fast.  When they're caught, and know they can't outrace the Fastest Man Alive, they reveal themselves to be Dr. Meena Dhawan---who wrote several books about speed, and started up Fast Track Labs, which was going to be a story Iris was going to write about before she vanished.  She said that she was inspired by the Flash, but she says he only borrowed the equipment from Ivo Labs, and was returning it.  She's new to these powers, and got them, so she could help people.  Flash offers to help her learn how to use her powers and control them.  

For Allegra, she's running things at CC Media while Iris is gone, and she's still has to deal with Taylor, who's been pissed off at her since they had their argument about a story a few months back.  Taylor wants to investigate the heroes that help the Flash, and learn more about the team, and while she DID approach Iris with that story, Iris said to hold off on it, and then she'll consider it.  Allegra holds up Iris' mandate, but Taylor isn't going to be satisfied.  Allegra ends up meeting with her friend Lydia whom she helped out awhile back by writing a story about her as a former inmate at Iron Heights who got a second chance.  Lydia is panicked because the Arañas...who are now being led by Dr. Light and Sunshine, are going after anyone that's a former member of the gang, who can expose their illegal activities.  Lydia is looking to skip town before they destroy her chance at her new life.  Allegra says she can protect her, but they need to bring the activities of the gang to light, and Lydia agrees to do an interview on CCMedia, but it'll be done with a voice modulator and she'll be shot in the dark, to keep her identity secret.  But before they can do that, one of the gang members has recorded the conversation between Lydia and Allegra, and by the time Allegra and Lydia are ready to do the interview, Dr. Light and Sunshine show up and try to capture Lydia.  Chuck manages to whip up some tech to put up a force field around the office in order to find a way to protect Lydia before they kill her.  But the shield will only last so long, and there's no way out.  Taylor, and the other members of the writing staff, are upset with Allegra, and want to know how all this is going down. 

As much as Allegra tries to hide her secret, Taylor exposes Allegra's past as a member of the  Arañas, and threatens to expose her, and would rather feed Lydia to the gang in order to save themselves.  Lydia agrees to give herself up, but Allegra refuses.  She finally comes to terms with the fact that she can no longer hide her past....nor her powers. But before she does, she tells Chuck about how she is not a leader, and how she screwed up a plan years ago that got her busted, and nearly killed her team because of her mistake.  Chuck assures her that she can do this.  So, when Light and Sunshine manage to break the barrier, Chuck takes Lydia, and she agrees to do the interview---but as herself, and not hide anymore.  Allegra does what she can to protect everyone in the office, by fighting Light and Sunshine, and using her Ultraviolet powers to be able to hold them off just long enough for Lydia to make her broadcast public.  With the group now exposed, Allegra orders them to leave...or they'll be trouble down the road.  Light and Sunshine say it isn't over, but Allegra and Lydia feel good that they put a dent in the gang's plans.  Taylor and the other writers also commend Allegra on her bravery, and why she did what she did.  She still wants to know who the other members of Team Flash are, but for now, she was wrong about Allegra, and they make peace.  Later, at STAR Labs, Allegra and Chuck fill Barry in on what happened, and he commends them on a job well done.  They then get a message from Caitlin, who said she's had to do some thinking, especially in the wake of what Barry did to her work the other night.  She says that she's going to go spend time with her mother Carla, and that she's NOT coming back to Team Flash anytime soon.  But she tells them to take care of themselves.

This episode showed us about how keeping a past a secret can eat you up...and make trouble for not only yourself, but others.  Allegra has tried SO hard to bury her criminal past, but it came back to bite her in this episode.  It was good, however, to see more character development for her, and step up when needed.  She showed us WHY Iris chose her to be her editor---and that she CAN lead when given the chance.  And while her past is now exposed to her staff, they actually respect her more now, and it seems like her and Taylor have made some peace with each other.  However, Taylor is still got the bug for the Team Flash story, so I'm not sure how long either Allegra OR Iris can keep her from that story before she wants to go public with it.  We also got to see two Rogues reappear with new agendas in Dr. Light and Sunshine.  And Lydia...whom we met a few episodes back, finally got to finish HER story in a great way.  So, for a mostly Allegra centric episode, it wasn't bad.  

For Barry this week, we got to see him interact with Eobard once again....as we know THEIR story is FAR from finished.  And while Barry managed to get some answers out of Thawne in regards to this new speedster, it seems that Thawne's little smirk after Barry left gave us something to ponder, as maybe he KNOWS something that Barry doesn't---and that's going to spell trouble down the road for The Flash.  We also got to meet Meena Dhawan...scientist and head of Fast Track Labs.  It appears SHE is our new speedster, and Flash has offered to train her---but will this be a good thing or bad thing?  There have been speedsters that have burned Flash before like Thawne and Hunter Zolomon...and even a version of himself as Savitar.  So, not sure about what the long-term outlook is for Dr. Dhawan, but it will be interesting to see how this final arc plays out.  

And...as I had mentioned previously...Caitlin is bailing Team Flash in the wake of losing Frost and Barry destroying her work to clone Frost back.  I had seen the departure of Caitlin Snow coming for awhile, and with Danielle Panabaker's 2nd pregnancy in full swing, it seemed like the right time to write Caitlin off the show.  I am not sure if Panabaker will be back in a full-time role for Season 9...i doubt it...but I DO see her directing an episode or two.  But with Frost dead, Cisco gone in Star City (his absence for the whole Frost funeral REALLY hasn't sat well with me, considering the close friendship he, Barry, and Caitlin have had), but Caitlin had no more plot points at this juncture, and taking her off the team seemed like the logical end to her story...for now. 

This was not a bad filler episode, and it puts into place the elements needed for the final arc.  But, however, the thing that has disappointed me most is that Eric Wallace has taken a major character---Iris---and has literally pushed her to the sidelines this season.  The one main character besides Flash that you can ill afford to minimalize---is Iris West-Allen.  And that's ANOTHER thing that's irked me.  So, I'm hoping that this situation changes in Season 9.  You CANNOT have The Flash without Iris West-Allen.  It's than damn simple.

What did all of YOU think of this episode?  Did you enjoy Allegra's story?  What did you think of Dr. Meena Dhawan?  And do you think there's more to Barry and Thawne's little chat?  Are you surprised at Caitlin's exit?  Subscribe and leave a comment below.

Until next time....keep on running!