This week’s episode of The Flash continues to explore and flesh out the sister-and-brother relationship between Iris and Wally while Barry and Team Flash has to deal with a new meta-human, Tar Pit, that prove to be difficult to take down as Harry begins to steal Barry’s speed for Zoom.
Before we get to the goodies in the West Family focus, there is one major point that needs to be brought up, which was the reveal that Francine had passed away. We knew it was coming, but the thing that was devastating was the fact that they did it off-screen. If you have been spending a number of episodes on an important arc like this, you can’t just wrap it up with a off-screen death, especially as the West kids had their moments with her last week. There should have been a scene or two shot where the arc has a proper closure and also get to mourn at least a little. Even if we learn later that this episode took place several weeks after episode 11, I would understand it a little better, but even then, it’s still the offscreen factor that makes her death so disappointing.
With that said, let’s focus on what was fantastic with the West Family focus as you really see Iris and Wally grow closer together, but not too fast. Even though she has only been a big sister for a few weeks, Iris is already kicking butt being a strong voice of reason for Wally as he continues with his drag racing. It was also neat to see Iris giving Joe a great lesson on that he couldn’t act as just Wally’s friend, and that he had to be a father to him, even if it means being harsh and strict every once in a while. That’s one of the many reasons why I love heavy focused Iris episodes because we see her get to shine like she did this week
Even though I love meta-humans and seeing new DC characters coming to life, the Tar Pit plot was quite underwhelming, even though it connected with what happened to Iris at the end when she got a giant glass piece into her chest. Visually, the Tar Pit effects were amazing, but as a plot, I didn’t care for it, except for how it affected Barry as his speed was being stolen. Even though it was frustrating to see Harry wait so long with telling Barry and the gang that he was being forced to work with Zoom, at least he finally did it. In addition, everyone’s reaction was spot on, from Barry having his reaction as Harry pretty much made Barry almost not be able to save Iris, to Joe going all Hulk on Harry’s butt. But as much as I enjoyed seeing Harry get the crap that he deserved, Barry’s reasoning at the end for wanting to continue to help Harry get Jesse back.
So the ending of the episode reveals Barry and the team deciding to let Harry out of the pipeline and go to Earth-2 with him, which was basically a setup for the upcoming two episodes. While the villain of the week wasn’t the strongest, “Fast Lane” was a solid episode because of the strong focus that the West Family had, in addition to that, Harry finally told Team Flash what he was up to. Whatever happens in the next two episodes, all I know is that I’m 100% ready for Earth-2.
The Flash airs on Tuesday nights, 8/7c on The CW.
[Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW]
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I also liked the focus on Iris and her family because I think her character has potential for so much depth. I don’t want them to just make her Barry’s love interest. She’s a strong woman who has the potential to kick butt. I want to see her doing that