Into The Arrowverse: Introducing…Sue Dearbon!
By Ariba Bhuvad
Pictured (L-R): Hartley Sawyer as Dibny and Natalie Dreyfuss as Sue — Photo: The CW
The Flash Episode 612: “A Girl Named Sue”
The Arrowverse welcomes comic book character Sue Dearbon to The Flash family this week, and I couldn’t be more excited! Sure, the episode itself is mediocre, but it’s exciting to see this character finally grace our television screens.
Comic book fans know Sue Dearbon as Ralph Dibny’s (Elongated Man) wife, and adore the love story between her and Ralph. Of course, we’re not nearly there yet with the series, but hopefully, this is just the beginning.
Two plot points are at the heart of this week’s The Flash: Iris and Ralph/Sue. But before we talk about the two future lovebirds, let’s discuss what’s going on with Iris and her whole mirror situation.
As you know, Iris got sucked into a mirror world and is struggling to find her way back home. This week, she learns that Eva McCulloch is in this mirror dimension with her. In fact, she’s been stuck there for six years following the particle accelerator explosion. Eva has tried over a thousand times (literally) to get out of the mirror world but has failed every single time.
I love how Iris chooses to ignore that and thinks she can solve the problem immediately, or thinks there will always be a solution. Sure, there will be eventually, but things like that make me question Iris sometimes. The lady is clearly distraught, but Iris pushes her anyway.
Luckily, Iris’ pushing and urging ends up working out in the end after a failed escape attempt goes very wrong. They try to use liquid nitrogen, which caused the mirror to shatter, but somehow, Eva’s rage attracts the mirror shards and she’s able to put it back together.
I’m not sure what this means just yet, but I’m hoping it leads to something very cool. I’m still going with the whole Mirror Master storyline. In a post-Crisis world, it’d be neat to see this character shift. But time will tell. Until then, evil Iris is gallivanting around Central City, and I have a feeling it won’t end well.
Okay, so now, let’s talk Ralph and Sue. Nearly eight-nine months ago, Sue’s parents came to seek Ralph’s help in locating their daughter. All this time later, he’s failed to turn up results. However, when an alert goes off that Sue has made a deposit on an apartment, Ralph immediately goes to investigate. He nearly dies in an explosion there, but his (hopefully) future wife is nearby! He runs into Sue, and begins what may be a long and fruitful relationship. Although it certainly doesn’t feel that way just yet.
I’m loving that Ralph is finally getting his own story, away from Team Flash. When this character is thrown in with everyone else, he’s kind of grating. But on this own, he’s more exciting and interesting. I think the Arrowverse thrives on individual stories, so I’m glad to see Ralph finally getting his.
After talking to Sue, Ralph learns that she’s trying to exact revenge on her ex, who is after her for knowing too much about his illegal arms business. She’s hoping to get her hands on a ledger but needs Ralph’s help to break into the bank to get it. For some reason, Ralph goes along with the plan, only to learn that the ledger is not what Sue is after, but instead a diamond.
Moral of the story? Ralph trusted Sue too quickly and learned the hard way that she is a thief. But since he had to reveal his Elongated Man abilities in front of her, they have an understanding that they’ll keep each other’s secrets. Cute? Perhaps.
Maybe not so cute, because while Sue runs away with the diamond, she leaves Ralph behind in the dust to deal with the CCPD and a meta named Ultraviolet. Not the best start to what I’m hoping ends with them together. But hey, weirder love stories have happened on the Arrowverse, right?