The Flash "The Sound and the Fury" Review/Thoughts

This week on The Flash, we get a fresh new rivalry between Dr. Harrison's old chess-loving protégé, Hartley Rathaway, and his current protégé who is adamant that Han shot first, Cisco Ramon.

Episode Description: Once a friend and colleague of Dr. Harrison Wells, Hartley Rathaway returns to Central City to make Wells pay for ignoring his advice regarding the particle accelerator. Meanwhile, Iris lands a job as reporter for Central City Picture News but soon realizes she may not have been hired on talent alone.

High Points:

• Start the episode off with The Flash casually taking down the Royal Flush Gang (very cool to see Barry do some casual hero work, as well as have it be against recognizable enemies)
• We have seen him with the suit and very possibly in the suit, but tonight was the first time we saw Dr. Harrison Wells run at super speeds
• Enter Hartley Rathaway a.k.a. The Pied Piper
• I like the rivalry between Rathaway and Cisco right now. It makes me wonder if there is going to be some Pied Piper/Vibe rivalry down the line and it also adds to Cisco's character.
• The flashbacks tonight also helped to give some character-building background on Cisco as well as Wells and Rathaway
• Iris West's new job introduces us to Mason Bridge (a character who has been known to be good friends with Wally West)
• We get a very interesting scene of Harrison Wells faltering in his speed powers in which he falls to the floor and mutters "Not now". (Sounds like there could be some speed force/time stream discrepancies at work here)
• Hartley's promise that Cisco will release him soon (sounds like there could be a Hartley/Cisco adventure to find Firestorm on the horizon. Perhaps this will be the beginning of a Pied Piper/Vibe relationship?)
• Speed Force confirmed!! First time it has been directly referenced and the device that Wells is using to harness it is very fascinating since usually the speedsters can just harness it themselves 
• He mentions the machine as a "temporary fix" (Definitely sounds like there could be some speed force/time stream discrepancies at work here)

Low Points:

• The effects seemed really off tonight...Specifically during the fight on the bridge. When Rathaway pushed the cars with his sonic waves it looked very rigid and when his gloves blew up in his hands it just didn't look right. 
• The "He Wanted to Be Caught" scenario is pretty overdone nowadays. Just ask the Dark Knight... 

                                                              The Joker applauds Hartley Rathaway's scheme

• I was perfectly fine with Hartley's chess references but then he just kept going and going and going with it. It felt like they were trying really, really hard to portray him as a strategic mastermind but it started to lose it's effect really quick

                                                      How I was starting to feel after the 17th chess reference

Verdict: When I first heard that Hartley Rathaway was going to be making an appearance on the show I really didn't think too much of it immediately. However, after seeing him on the show tonight I think a lot of possibilities open up for future storylines. First off, the Pied Piper has been known to be a member of the Rouges so if and when he does get out of his prison, I am sure Captain Cold and Heatwave could find a spot for him on the team. Secondly I am loving the rivalry between him and Cisco because it gets me thinking that Vibe is going to make an appearance at some point. We knew going into this show that Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow were the names commonly associated with Vibe and Killer Frost respectively, but we weren't sure if, when and how they would become those characters over the course of the show. Now Pied Piper strolls in with his sonic technology and immediately butts heads with Cisco "Vibe" Ramon, a superhero persona who can manipulate and generate sonic waves. This is all just speculation of course, but it is starting to look like the Cisco/Hartley relationship will continue to grow via a Firestorm hunt in the very near future. Perhaps it will eventually lead to Cisco's transformation into Vibe. Either way I look forward to seeing where this renewed rivalry takes them during the course of the show. We also got introduced to another interesting name tonight: Mason Bridge. As of now we know him simply as Iris's co-worker, however a certain Mason Trollbridge has been known to be very closely affiliated with Wally West. Could he eventually be really close with Barry? Could this mean the potential to see Wally in the future? By the future do I mean in later episodes or in a confusing time travel paradox way? Who knows! One thing is for sure though, this Mason Bridge character is meant to be more than just a disgruntled employee where Iris works. We should keep an eye on him and expect him to play a bigger role at some point down the line. And now we have reached the point where I talk about the good doctor. We very clearly saw Dr. Wells do some super speedy running tonight so in case there was even the slightest doubt left in anyone's mind: Dr. Harrison Wells is officially a speedster. We also got the very exciting confirmation of the speed force tonight via an interesting chest piece that Dr. Wells was wearing during the weekly twenty second cliffhanger. We also heard him call the device a "temporary fix" and saw him falter with his powers during Rathaway's escape. It seems like Harrison is using the device to harness the speed force which is fascinating due to the fact that historically the speedsters tap into it themselves. Could Harrison Wells not know how to tap into it himself? Could he be siphoning so much of it up already to prevent time-travel by other speedsters that it is affecting his other speed based powers? (taking that one right out of the Flashpoint Paradox). Once again, Dr. Well's motives are not 100% clear, but according to him, his endgame is getting close, and I cannot wait. Tonight's episode gave us some great character development and some new names to keep an eye on moving forward. All-in-all a 7.5 out of 10 is in order.

Thanks for checking out the review. Do you think Cisco's character is starting his transformation into Vibe? What the hell is going on with Dr. Wells and his speed force machine? Let us know what you think in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Also be sure to check back on the site regularly for more show and movie reviews as well as breaking stories, latest rumors and in-depth analyses of the superhero universe. The Flash returns same time next week with "Crazy for You".