Into The Arrowverse: Arrow meets Groundhog Day
By Ariba Bhuvad
The Flash — “The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 1” — Image Number: FLA607a_0258b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Grant Gustin as Barry Allen and Michelle Harrison as Nora Allen — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved
The Flash Episode 607: “The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 1”
This episode of The Flash could have been so much better — so much better. That’s not to say it was horrendous or the worst ever, just that it could have provided more hype this close to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Instead, the episode mentions the word “crisis” over and over again, but actual story goes in a wholly different direction.
Ralph’s life is in danger after the events of last week’s episode, but Barry steps in to save the day by phasing through Ralph’s skin and then transfusing his healing blood into him. As a result, Barry ends up infected with Ramsay’s cells. This sends Barry into some sort of coma, but his mind takes a wacky trip.
During this weird journey, Barry comes across his mother, Nora, as a baby. Barry is presented with the option to take Ramsay’s blood, which supposedly will help Barry stay alive and through the Crisis. Of course, if he takes the blood, he’s trading in the soul that makes him…him. And we can’t have that, can we?
Moments before Barry wakes up, Ramsay and his mother are yanking him in different directions. Will he succumb to Ramsay’s hold? Or will he opt to take on the Crisis as he is? He breaks free of Ramsay and wakes up in S.T.A.R. Labs where Killer Frost and Cisco are trying to save his life.
Hoorah! Barry is alive and well. That’s great news, right?
Nope, in this case, it is absolutely not. Because it’s not Barry that has returned from the weird coma; it’s Ramsay. And now that Ramsay has taken over Barry’s body, who knows what the heck lies ahead?
As I said, this wasn’t the worst episode of The Flash but it just didn’t do much for me. Unless Ramsay has a connection to the Crisis, I feel like it wasted our time.
Not to mention, I can’t take the goo that inhabits Ramsay seriously. It looks ridiculous on him, and even worse on Barry. Can we just do away with him?