Season One, Episode Fifteen – “Out of Time”
By Molly Jane Kremer and Jarrod Jones. If you happened to have caught last night’s episode of The Flash and you’re still feeling pretty knocked out, congratulations. Your heart is doing great. “Out of Time” is that kind of episode – y’know, that “Man in the Yellow Suit” kind of episode; it’s daunting, exhilarating, and downright frightening. Everything changes with this installment, or at least for now – you never can tell what’s gonna stick when time travel is involved. And time travel! We’re finally talking about time travel! Arrow can go swim in the Lazarus Pit all it wants, it’s The Flash that’s the real superhero TV show.
WHAT WORKED: The episode’s mysterious “running man” tease definitely jolted us upright. Watching Barry (Grant Gustin) run to the rescue as another Flash pops up in the Speed Force – even if it was just for three seconds – made us dance in our seats. Time Travel. Everything changes in this episode, and the show’s writers pulled off this tease admirably.
Cisco Ramon’s detective work into the mysterious Dr. Harrison Wells’ extracurricular activities merited the greatest (and saddest) shocker The Flash has offered yet. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Dr. Wells (Tom Cavanagh) have a bout of truth-telling that raises as many questions as it did answers. And how that sequence ended… If there was ever cause to run back in time to get shit straightened out, well…
WHAT DIDN’T: The first (second?) appearance of the Weather Wizard (Liam McIntyre) definitely played second fiddle to Wells’ shenanigans, and that’s a shame. The introduction of yet another Rogue deserves the appropriate wiggle room, especially when he’s as effectively menacing as McIntyre portrays him. The momentum of the Reverse-Flash subplot completely eclipsed Mark Mardon’s vendetta against Det. Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), making us squirm in our seats for this particular plotline to hurry the hell up, because Reverse-Flash.
The romantic quad-angle between Barry, Iris West (Candice Patton), Det. Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett), and Linda Park (Malese Jow) elicited the most groans. Luckily, most of The Flash‘s unappealing, slightly-unbelievable stab at romance was crammed into the first few minutes of the episode during their icky bowling sesh. But watching Eddie finally realize that – hey! – Barry and Iris have something going on all while Linda just stands around looking annoyed was the definite low-light of this episode. We get that the show needs to get these two kids together – Wally West won’t just be popping out of the ground, y’know – but when one writes for a show called The Flash, it’s vital that one slow down, especially when it needs to count.
BEST LINE(s):
“Like a… Weather Wizard! Boom. Been waiting since week one to use that one.” – Cisco. More meta in this episode, but when it works, it works.
“You’re asking your adopted father for advice about being in love with his daughter, who just so happens to be dating his partner?” – Det. Joe. It doesn’t sound so ridiculous when you put it that way, Joe.
BEST MOMENT: Barry and Joe’s burger & drive. The boys bond over hamburgers during a sunny day drive, but as their conversation grows more complicated, it’s apparent that something else is amiss. Watching small drops of rain turn into a smattering and then grow into a deluge is a beautiful example of how The Flash can build strong characters while compounding serious dread. Barry’s last second “race the lightning” save was a nice touch, too.
That ending. We should have known The Flash wouldn’t cram in some soppy ending to such a catastrophe. That’s why we were so grateful for this week’s cliffhanger. Cisco is dead. Wells is Thawne. And Barry has run into the past. Give us a week, The Flash; we need time to process all of this.
EPISODE’S MVP: Dr. Harrison Wells. Or should we say ‘Eobard Thawne’? Either way, the Reverse-Flash stands revealed in all his sinister glory, and whoo did shit get intense. Cavanagh’s been rolling around for the majority of this season with a big ol’ smirk on his face, and now we have a better idea as to why: When he’s allowed just slightest bit of breathing room, Thawne is a very, very dangerous man. And Tom Cavanagh nailed it beautifully.
FLASH FACTS:
– Weather Wizard is known for brandishing a wand to control the weather, so it’s funny (and more than a little fitting) that S.T.A.R. Labs would use one to negate his powers. (We’re sure it’s just a coincidence that it looks so much like a giant sonic screwdriver though, right, Cisco?)
– That Eobard Thawne reveal though: having Eddie’s last name be Thawne was a good misdirection on Wells’ true identity, so it will be very interesting to see how this affects the the good detective.
– Captain David Singh (Patrick Sabongui) has a fiance – he only mentions him every single time he’s onscreen – but it ain’t the Pied Piper like he is in the comic books. Instead, we’re introduced to Rob (Jeremy Schuetze). If only we could have met him under better circumstances…
– We don’t mind the shout to Walking Dead, so long as that doesn’t lead to a Gotham reference.
