Into the Arrowverse: Supergirl returns, The Flash falters
By Ariba Bhuvad
The Flash — “Pay the Piper”: Pictured: Candice Patton as Iris West – Allen — Photo: Shane Harvey/The CW
The Flash Episode 618: “Pay the Piper”
The Flash continues to be The Flash, with its repetitive storylines and the return of the same ‘ol villains. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Godspeed, but I just wish things could be different for The Flash. They’re capable of doing so much more, and I just don’t understand why they don’t tap into that.
After learning that the real Iris is stuck in the Mirrorverse, Barry is eager to get her back (of course), but has no idea where to begin. And Cisco isn’t too pleased with Barry’s confusion because Kamilla’s life is in danger as well. Cisco is quick to assume they’re dead. Panic abounds on Team Flash.
The problem Barry has been facing for a few episodes now is that his speed has become essentially useless. He’s not as fast as he used to be, and given Eva can travel within the blink of an eye, it makes his job harder.
But he doesn’t get much time to focus on the Mirrorverse issue because guess who shows up?Godspeed! I have to say my favorite Flash villains have always been the evil speedsters. But again, they deserve better storylines.
When Godspeed shows up, he attempts to take what’s left of Barry’s speed. Just give the guy his speed back, enough torture — seriously.
Given the unique way Godspeed was taking Barry’s speed away from him, Team Flash realizes there is only one guy who can help them out of this mess: Hartley Rathaway, aka Pied Piper.
But the problem with asking for his help is that in this post-Crisis world, he hates The Flash, who hurt someone close to him named Roderick. Getting his help won’t be easy, but Barry has got to do what he’s got to do.
What Barry fails to realize is that Roderick isn’t just Hartley’s friend, he’s the love of his life. And no one understands that pain better than Barry. But Hartley doesn’t seem convinced, so it looks like Team Flash is on their own for this one.
This next part of the episode is where I got a bit frustrated. Barry has little to no speed left, but he still lets Godspeed fool him into a chase around the city. It’s not the best idea. If anyone has an explanation for this, I’m all ears.
As expected, Barry’s energy and speed eventually run out, and as he begins falling off the side of a building, it seems like it’s game over. But then Pied Piper shows up and together they defeat Godspeed, learning something vital in the process: Godspeed’s blood is “charged sound,” which could be the very thing to help get Barry’s speed back. So all in all, it’s not a complete failure and something good comes out of it.
You all know what comes next, right? An inspirational speech by Barry to Team Flash. I used to love these speeches. I thought he was a great leader and always knew the right thing to say, but that has changed over the years. It seems like Barry goes through the same cycle in every season, and I think after everything he’s been through, he needs to change it up.
Anyway, he gives the speech to get everyone ready to save Iris, Kamilla and Singh. It sounds like Cisco knows of a machine that can help, but it’s in Atlantis, so he’ll be right back.
…with Aquaman, perhaps? Please?
