5 Cool Possibilities For Season 3 Of The Flash

Last night The Flash ended its second season in style. "The Race of His Life" had lots of unexpected twists and turns. All of which led to a very excited cliffhanger. 

The future of The Flash will certainly be different. Here are some of my ideas of what could happen when the show returns in October. (IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE FLASH FINALE DO NOT CLICK THE JUMP, MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!)

The Flash "Fast Enough" Review

As Season One comes to a close, Barry is given a Sophie's choice! (SPOILERS!!)

High Points:

• A whole season of twists and turns led to the most dramatic Flash episode yet. Barry was presented an impossible choice and it's ramifications led to many heart to hearts.
• Grant Gustin is a star. He is Barry Allen. He has captained the best superhero show on TV and deserves more praise than I can give him.
• Easter Eggs Galore! When Barry connected to the Speed Force several visions from the future appeared. The first was everyone's favorite superhero tourist attraction, the Flash Museum. Then the second and much more surprising one was our first look at Caitlin Snow as KILLER FROST! Then later on Jay Garrick's helmet that popped up. Hot damn we got teased a lot about what is gonna happen with the future of this show.
• Eobard Thawne revealed his master plan to Barry. 
• The final showdown was pretty sweet.
• I've making a joke for weeks that Eddie should Looper himself and make sure Eobard never existed. Well I can tell you that it still surprised me when it actually happened. Reminded me a lot of Tommy's sacrifice in the season 1 finale of Arrow. BUT Eddie was sucked into the wormhole. That could mean we aren't done with him yet.
• Cisco was affected by the particle accelerator! Could we see Vibe and Killer Frost in Season 2?
• The cliffhanger opens up a ton of possibilities for Season 2.

Eddie Thawne be like...

Low Points:

• For a finale, the action was segmented to only the final 15 minutes.
• Ronnie and Caitlin's wedding felt kinda shoehorned into the story. Could have done without it.
• Season 2 hasn't started yet.

At least it wasn't like a Game Of Thrones' wedding

Verdict: The Flash is the best superhero show on TV. It's inaugural season was a blast to watch and the finale capped off all the emotional story threads and gave us tons of hints of where the future of the show is headed. I'm keeping it short and sweet, "Fast Enough" gets a 9.5 out of 10. Can't wait for October.

Thanks for reading! Did you like "Fast Enough"? Did Eddie make the right design? Let us know in the comments or tweet at us @Caped_Informers or me @cstrand73. And make sure to tune in for our weekly Arrow, Flash, and Daredevil reviews.

Arrow "My Name Is Oliver Queen" Review

Barry Allen makes an appearance as Ollie finds love in a hopeless place on an all new Arrow.

High Points

• Who can save the day when Ollie is too busy? Barry Allen of course! His brief cameo was great. 
• Malcolm Merlyn takes charge. Interesting that both Barry and Ollie have teamed up with some of their greatest enemies during this week.
• Ra's hidden agenda makes sense. Kill two birds with one stone.
• Team Arrow is fucking beastly with the additions of Nyssa + Merlyn.
• I'm a big fan of the Lance family alcoholism. They should have a family reunion with an contract for a reality show.
• Speedy is suited up! But there is no middrift...
• Ra's once again beats down the Arrow. Then... Ollie beats him just cause.
• Felicity suits up as the ATOM.
• Malcolm Merlyn is the new Ra's Al Ghul!!!
• Ray wants shrinkage!
• Oliver and Felicity drive off into the sun!

Watch out Stan Lee, there is a new King of the cameo.

Low Points

• Oliver's reveal to Ra's Al Ghul would have been more intense if the writers had kept his allegiance to his original team a secret from the audience until that moment as well.
• The opening fight was weak. Though I love seeing Ra's in action.
• The flashbacks slow down the show to a crawl. Get Ollie back on the goddamn island and be done with it. I don't need to see Ollie torture Shireve. Rather just fucking gut him and be over with it.
• Damien Dark isn't dead which means that he and HIVE are gonna be the villains of season 4. Fuck...
• Oliver's love for Felicity is the key to beating Ra's. I'm at a loss for words.
• Felicity suits up as the ATOM! I'm not sure if it was good or bad.
• Oliver gives up being the Arrow for love. He is coming down with a case of Rachel Dawes syndrome.

What should be done to the person who wrote this episode

Verdict: Urban Dictionary defines the term "shit" as "another word for feces, poop, dookie, scheisse, poo poo, and brownies." Well I would like to add another phrase to that list, Arrow's Season 3 Finale. All season I have stood by my favorite show. I have waited for it to get back to those season 2 highs, but now all those battles with Deathstroke feel like a distant memory. I have ranted on Olicity many times before. If you are part of the group of people that think their love affair makes Arrow a better show, I don't want to be friends with you. 

          In all seriousness I don't even want to talk about them being together anymore. I accept it's gonna take over 50% of the show, but when the writers commit the crime they committed tonight something needs to be said. Oliver beats Ra's Al Ghul because he loves Felicity. That is the biggest load of shit that I have ever seen. Yes having something to fight for helps, but no way does it give Oliver an advantage over a guy who kicked his dick in not 5 months ago. Oliver beat Ra's because... he had to or the season wouldn't end. 

          Take this example on how to stop a villain that has an advantage on the hero properly.  Last night on The Flash, Barry admitted that Wells has the advantage over him. Wells has been faster and five steps ahead Barry this whole season. So was Barry just magically able to defeat Wells? No! He asked for help from the Arrow and Firestorm. He knew when he was outclassed and his writers knew that Barry had to regain the advantage over Wells in order for their class to end in Barry's favor. Tonight's Arrow did none of that. Instead Ollie can kill Ra's because he needs to in order to ride off into the sunset with Felicity. 

          You don't just have to add more firepower to beat a baddie. You can use your brain to defeat a foe. Batman always has to use his mind to get the advantage over some of his more physical opponents like Bane + Killer Croc. If he can't beat them physically, he will figure out some other way. Fuckin' A. Ollie had used his brain the night before when he had Ray give him the nanites to stop Wells' superspeed. And if you go back to last year's finale Olicity was used in a positive manner when Oliver tricked Slade and Felicity was able to administer a cure for the Miraku, thus making it an even battle in which Ollie could win. Ra's vs. Oliver isn't an even battle. So having Oliver win because he has love in his heart is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever seen.

          Now it's was not all bad. Barry Allen showed up for a brief, but entertaining cameo. And I also enjoyed seeing where Malcolm, Thea, and Ray's story lines are leading. My suggestion for Season 4 is to just let Ollie + Felicity be gone. I mean gone. For like the first half of next year. Expand everyone else's story lines and when the huge conflict arises call back the Arrow. As for scoring this turd, I'm going to be generous and give it a 5.5 out of 10. I pray Season 4 can be a return to form, but with rumors that Damien Dark is the big bad, I'm not hopeful. In the meantime I'm just gonna act like Season 3 never happened.

I didn't want to write a review this harsh, but it had to be done

Thanks for reading! Did you like Arrow Season 3? Was I too big of an asshole? Let us know in the comments or tweet at us @Caped_Informers or me @cstrand73. And make sure to tune in for our weekly Arrow, Flash, and Daredevil reviews.

First Trailer For CBS's Supergirl!

Superman's cuz just booked her new time slot at 8 PM on Mondays this Fall and because of this CBS has been kind enough to give us our first look at the show. Check it out.

5 Takeaways From the Trailer

1. Kara is rocking that Clark Kent-esque disguise. That classic glasses look, that can somehow hide a superhero's identity. I hope the writers come up with an explanation on that works today in a society where everyone has a camera phone ready to snap a pic of your face.

2. Supergirl isn't gay. 

3. That shot of Kara blasting the truck is boss. She is the first of the DC TV heroes to have super strength and I wanna see that shit showcased.

4. I get that Superman is her cousin (And if you didn't know that the trailer will tell you 50+ times), but this show needs to distance Kara from Clark. Make her the lovable hero. Don't just tease the cousin that will never come. That's how you end up being like Gotham. A show that is all about giving winks winks to it's audience, but has zero substance.

5. Supergirl's sister masturbates to She's All That (Don't we all?) and dated Captain America.

Thanks for reading! Are you excited for Supergirl? Are you okay with Jimmy Olsen being hot? Let us know in the comments or tweet at us @Caped_Informers or me @cstrand73. And make sure to tune in for our weekly Arrow, Flash, and Daredevil reviews.

The Flash "Rouge Air" Review/Thoughts

On this week's episode, Barry decides to leave the thankless superhero life behind in exchange for a luxurious career in human trafficking, plus we get the dynamic duo we have all been waiting for: the Amell cousins.

Episode Description: When the Reverse Flash rigs the particle accelerator with a mysterious device that threatens the lives of the people in the pipeline, Barry must seek help from an unlikely source: Captain Cold. 

High Points:

• I liked that Well's wheelchair ended up being more than just a clever disguise. Plus it explains why the Reverse Flash is still so much faster than Barry even though he is having trouble accessing the speed force.
• The old "hide right underneath their noses" trick. Well played Eobard, well played.
• This week's moral dilemma with the pipeline prisoners really pushed Barry into uncharted territory and I enjoyed seeing him have to make a deal with his nemesis. And in a shady bar nonetheless!
• Leornard Snart would listen to Foreigner's "Cold as Ice" 

For Captain Cold: A Man who Truly is as Cold as Ice

• Ferris Airfield? Barry mentioned it was abandoned because a test pilot went missing so they shut it down. Hal Jordan's father died in a plane crash out of Ferris Aircraft. Coincidence? NO. Green Lantern confirmed. (Don't hold me to that)
• Screw all other relationship nonsense. I don't want, I need Cisco and Golden Glider to happen. I even have their celeb relationship name picked out: Lisco. (Lisa + Cisco)
• The ol' double cross from Captain Cold only solidifies how cold this man can be. Plus the ensuing battle was fun because it was like a big reunion-style brawl featuring Barry's season 1 enemies 
• That last battle!! All sorts of fun to watch The Flash, The Arrow and Firestorm all team up to take on the Reverse Flash, plus every character had their struggles and successes over the course of the fight
• The Reverse Flash has the suit ring! It was just an extra detail in an otherwise full-on action packed sequence, but still when that suit came of his ring I felt things of a generally sexual nature
• Oliver asks Barry for a favor. Sounds like we are going to see the Scarlett Speedster play a role in the closing episodes of Arrow.

Low Points:

• S.T.A.R. Labs really needs to invest in a deadbolt. Seriously, anyone and everyone in Central City just waltzes through the front door on a regular basis. Iris walked in on Barry with his mask off, Captain Cold just helped himself inside. You would think a high-tech lab would have some sort of system in place to prevent all these unwarranted visits
• Eddie has once again proven to be a huge waste of time. I just keep waiting for the bigger picture with him. Some sort of transformation, some sort of deeper connection between him and the Reverse Flash. So far he is just a meaningless pawn. Maybe something will happen with him in season 2 but season 1 is coming to its conclusion fast and he has done nothing but act as the "reason" Barry and Iris can't be together all season. 
• There is only one episode left until I don't know what to do with myself on Tuesday nights...

Verdict: Tonight we got a taste of Arrow in more ways than one. Barry and the gang find themselves in a really tricky situation where the law isn't willing to help them in their highly illegal activities. We get a lot of that vibe on Arrow with Oliver's vigilanteism, but on The Flash, more often than not the CCPD wants to work with the Flash as much as they can. So it was an interesting change of pace to see the S.T.A.R. Labs gang have to operate completely outside of the law. And where do you go when you need to accomplish such a dark and seedy task? Why to Captain Cold's dark and seedy bar of course! I remember a time when I was not 100% sold on Leonard Snart in this show. Now I love the relationship that has been built between him and Barry. Barry and Eobard Thawne have a hero-villain dynamic going on, and that is in no way a bad thing. But The Flash and Captain Cold have an arch-rivalry forming and I love that. I want to see The Flash and Captain Cold constantly struggling to get the edge over the other time after time. Sometimes Barry walks away victorious, sometimes Snart leaves with the upper-hand, and sometimes there is just no clear-cut winner. The two have already clashed four times this season so I think it is safe to assume they will keep challenging each other into season 2. Plus it looks like next time the Rouges will have some new recruits. Snart helped those meta-humans escape and Weather Wizard was looking pretty thankful for it. Will Cisco be forced to make him a weather gun? Or perhaps, a weather wand?? Only season 2 will tell. However, the Flash/Captain Cold team-up was another interesting chapter in their rivalry and it offered both new moral dilemmas for our heroes while also setting the stage for a fight that essentially payed homage to the first season of Central City baddies. 

                     The majority of the episode focused on Barry's human transportation dilemma so the battle with The Reverse Flash at the end seemed a little but rushed into. That being said, the battle itself was awesome. Not only did the Amell cousins tag in as The Arrow and Firestorm but we got to see everyone do a little facing off with The Man in Yellow. It was a true, blue team effort that brought down Eobard Thawne. Now I won't say there isn't part of me that wants to see Barry ultimately triumph over The Reverse Flash on his own. It has been the story of The Flash vs. The Man in Yellow all season so it would be incredibly satisfying to see Barry beat him without relying too heavily on Oliver and Ronnie. In fact, at times it seemed like the real action was between Oliver and The Reverse Flash rather than the Flash. However, the battle was still fantastic and the season isn't over yet so there is still time for a one-on-one face-off. Plus on an interesting side note, we learned that Oliver lives to be 86. So SPOILER ALERT: Oliver doesn't die at the end of this season or any season. Also, if Eobard knew that from the history books than Oliver Queen must have done something worth noting in said history books. Maybe like being a member of a certain league pertaining to themes such as justice?

Or maybe it was a classic political sex scandal..Who knows?

All-in-all this was another great episode. I personally think some more time could have been dedicated to overcoming The Reverse Flash but I love it when Snart and the Rouges are in town as well. Eddie and Iris also broke up but enough going on about that, because if it isn't Cisco Ramon and Lisa Snart then it isn't love. An 8.0 out of 10 is in order for The Flash's second to last episode of the season.

Thanks for reading the review! Who do you think will be in the Rouge's season 2 line-up? What did Oliver do to get in the history books? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below and on twitter @Caped_Informers. Also be sure to check back here regularly for more reviews, articles, and news about your favorite comic book shows and movies. The Flash has its season 1 finale next week at the same time: "Fast Enough".

An Observation About Oliver Queen: Like I said before, there were parts of the final battle where Oliver was truly the star of the fight, like how he slowed the Reverse Flash down the first time and then proceeded to beat the living shit out of him with his superior hand-to-hand combat skills. However, the part that really stuck out to me was when Oliver ended up being the one who got the last shot in. It instantly reminded me of another epic battle that Oliver managed to sneak a final shot in at the end:

And if you haven't seen this whole 2-part movie do yourself a favor and watch it

Either Oliver Queen demands on delivering the final blow in his battles or he is by-far the biggest kill stealer of all time. The point I am getting at here is that I would never play a one-person shooter with this guy.

Flash "Grodd Lives" Review

Grodd is God on an all new The Flash. (SPOILERS!)

Episode Description: Barry and his team at S.T.A.R. Labs must deal with the fallout from their failed plan. But in order to distract them, Wells releases the telepathic Gorilla Grodd, who kidnaps Joe. Meanwhile, Iris West (Candice Patton) confronts Barry about his alter-ego as The Flash.

High Points:

• Gorilla Grodd was on TV! Never thought I would see one of my favorite Flash villains come alive on this show. He has been hinted at for weeks, but tonight was his night. Big props to Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Bertlanti, and Geoff Johns for having the balls to believe a telepathic gorilla could be done right on TV.
• Hello there General Eiling! Did not expect to see you alive again. Grodd made you his puppet for three months and I would think that would maybe teach you a lesson about not being such a massive asshole, but the second you get out of your trance you still have that douchey charm. Same old Eiling.
• The Thawne Family reunion continues to be entertaining. Eobard is really giving Eddie a kick to the dick every time he talks to him. Calling him the least memorable Thawne, then showing him that he isn't gonna get Iris. Sucks to be Eddie Thawne right now.
• The old Ice Cream Truck that is secretly carrying gold routine. Classic.
• Grodd's telepathic powers were showcased very well. Whether it was mind controlling Eiling or just straight up mindfucking people, the gorilla was a formable foe.
• Cisco is a bigger cinephile than Michael Bolton.

• The special effects for Grodd were damn impressive. I don't blame Joe West for almost shitting his pants around the beast.
• Grodd stopped Barry's Falcon punch like a boss.
• Dr. Wells' is a modern day James Franco. The man understands the bond between man and beast. Smart move sending his gorilla buddy after his enemies to further his endgame.
• Barry Frank Underwood's Grodd with a train.
• Eobard/Wells' endgame is upon us.
• Grodd will be back!

Should have known the consequences of Tebowing, Grodd.

Low Points:

• Still wish Iris learned about Flash's powers through researching him for an article or something. She just seems to be handed everything on this show. She got handed a nice boyfriend. She got handed a job at a newspaper. Now she just gets spoon fed Barry's secret. Make Iris work for something!
• I'm done with secrets creating this much tension on CW shows. Arrow has overused it and now Flash needs to let it go as well. No one ever looks from the other person's perspective who kept the secret. Every person who gets lied to is instead extremely pissy. Get over it. 

You know what, Iris...

Verdict: What could have been a filler episode before Eobard's endgame gets put into fruition was anything but that. Grodd had been teased all season and when he finally got his chance in the spotlight  he serenaded the crowd to tears of joy with his own rendition of "A Moment Like This". Expect this telepathic Gorilla to factor into Season 2 heavily. Grodd is only getting smarter and by next year who knows what else he will be capable of. As for Eobard, him taunting Eddie was equally entertaining. The guy is in full villain mode now. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
         Overall I'm gonna give "Grodd Lives" a 9.0 out of 10. For great use of a Gorilla.

Thanks for reading the review! Are you on Team Grodd? Can ape be man's best friend? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Be sure to check back regularly for more reviews, articles, and news about your favorite comic book characters. The Flash returns same time next week with "Rogue Air".

Was Grodd there that night too?????

The Flash "The Trap" Review/Thoughts

On this week's episode of The Flash, the curious case of Harrison Wells is blown wide open and all the beating around the bush about his true identity comes to a screeching halt.

Episode Description: The S.T.A.R. labs gang develops a trap in an attempt to expose Dr. Well's connection to Nora Allen's murder. Meanwhile, Eddie meets resistance from Joe when he announces he plans to propose to Iris. 

High Points:

• Finally getting some more details from that newspaper. (How and when the Flash disappeared, the author of the article, etc.)
• "You are also The Flash. Founding member of..." -Gideon. (The Justice League? Gideon were you about to say the fucking Justice League??)
• Very interesting piece of information that Barry created Gideon. Pieces are starting to fall into place and make sense on the current end of the time stream, but there is still so much about the future Eobard came from that we don't know
• Wind funnel arms! Another classic Flash move in the repertoire. Now we just need to see some helicopter action:

I expect to see Barry flying alongside Firestorm and Atom by season 2

• The inner struggle that Barry is having with accepting Wells as a mentor but also knowing his true motives was very palpable in tonight's episode
• Cisco's dream sequence was cool, even if it was just a reiteration of what happened in the "Out of Time" episode.
• Joe's flashback to the hospital really captured the "deal with the devil" vibe between him and Wells
• The S.T.A.R. Labs team had a pretty solid trap planned out, but Harrison Well's trap was just a little bit better. They all must subscribe to Traps Illustrated

The authority on modern trap-setting

• Eddie: "So this has all been about me?" Eobard: "Not a chance". Has nothing to do with anything but it brought a smile to my face
• Harrison's flashback to an unconscious Barry was really interesting. We got a real taste of what their dynamic was like before Eobard got stuck in the past but there was still a lot left ominously unanswered. Even when his identity is completely out of the shadows, Eobard Thawne still proves to be a very enigmatic villain.

Low Points: 

• For an honest cop just trying to make the city a better place, Joe really sticks to his "put 2 in the chest" method of police work. 
• I am not buying Iris's realization at the end of the episode. That electric shock doesn't seem like viable grounds to make a connection between Barry and The Flash. I get static shocks touching people and things all the goddamn time and you don't see me jumping to conclusions. I mean Barry even said he would bring Eddie back, which was almost identical to what he said to Iris about Joe in the alternate timeline. They could have easily done a weird timeline flashback thing there and I would have readily bought it over the electric shock thing
• As funny as I thought Eddie and Eobard's exchange was, I am still waiting on how Eddie truly plays into all this..

Verdict: The Flash is roaring down the homestretch for this season and we are still learning things about Eobard Thawne. Up until now the focus has been entirely on trying to figure out who Harrison Wells really is. Now that we know the answer, the question has shifted to what is the story with Eobard Thawne? Tonight we got some hints both from the opening and the closing sequences. We know that Gideon really belongs to a future Barry Allen and somehow came to fall into the hands of Thawne. We also know that in the future, Thawne and Allen have squared off a number of times and that The Flash disappeared in 2024 during a battle in the streets with Thawne. Likely that is when the two traveled back in time. We also saw Thawne find it ironic that he ended up being the one to create The Flash this time, which means originally Barry didn't become the Flash until 2020, when the real Harrison Wells originally created the particle accelerator. So we are slowly getting details to form the entire story of The Flash's and Thawne's complicated relationship but there is still a lot to be answered in the coming weeks. On a semi-related side note, we also learned that The Flash was a founding member of something by the year 2024. Now I am not going to say we should expect a fully formed Justice League by season 9, but I am going to pray for it every single night for the rest of my days and hope a miracle happens. 

CW's The Super Seven. I'd watch

                Tonight we also learned that not only is there still more to learn about Eobard Thawne, but that he is a formidable opponent in more ways than just being a faster version of The Flash. It turns out that he made sure that he was aware of everything going on with everybody from the very beginning, and his counter-trap using Everyman as a ploy was a clever ruse that caught me completely off-guard. Which means that yes, for the briefest of moments I was actually starting to think that all this build-up ended with Joe dropping the Reverse Flash like a hat and calling it a night. Luckily we have a villain on our hands who is as calculating as he is fast, which makes me even more excited to see how these next few episodes play out. Besides the opening scene and the last handful of minutes of the episode though there was not too much to talk about. Cisco's dream sequence was cool but it was literally just a recap of things we the viewers already knew. Couple that with some out of place Eddie-Iris-Barry love triangle action and you got a good chunk of tonight's episode. I am also still waiting on Eddie's purpose to shine through. Wells said he took him as "insurance", so what does that mean? Does he want to keep Eddie safe because he needs the Thawne bloodline to live on in order to eventually be born? Do you think the S.T.A.R. Labs crew will reach this realization and send Joe in to put two in the back of Eddie's head? Seems a bit out of character for all or any of them but hell who knows. Drastic times am I right? This long-awaited Wells confrontation episode scores an 8.0 out of 10.

Thanks for reading the review! What do you think will happen in these last few episodes? What is your opinion on Iris's choice to hyphenate? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Be sure to check back regularly for more reviews, articles, and news about your favorite comic book characters. The Flash returns same time next week with "Grodd Lives".

The Flash "Who Is Harrison Wells?" Review/Thoughts

The focus of the S.T.A.R. Labs crew shifts to figuring out who Harrison Wells is this week and we get a bonus trip to Starling City as well as a crafty shapeshifter terrorizing Central City. An interesting mix for an interesting episode.

Episode Description: Barry works on stopping a metahuman named Hannibal Bates, a.k.a. Everyman, who is a shapeshifter who commits crimes by taking the forms of innocent people. Meanwhile, Joe and Cisco travel to Starling City to investigate the car crash that killed Dr. Well's fiancee.

High Points:

• Start the episode off with a quick zip over to Coast City for some pizza (Coast City is the home of Hal Jordan. Potential foreshadowing?)
• I really enjoy how the Flash/Arrow cast crossovers are becoming more and more of a casual event that everyone can get in on. 
• Cisco's fan-girling over Black Canary was an entertaining addition to the episode plus his role in working on Sarah's sound bombs was exciting for two reasons: 1) At long last we will get The Canary Cry! and 2) Another glimpse of Cisco proving his Vibe-like mastery of sound wave technology
• Everyman may have just been another "villain-of-the-week" type, but his shapeshifting escapades were both tricky and entertaining at times, making him a slightly better character than other villains that have come and gone on this show.
• I enjoyed the fight between The Flash and Everyman. Granted it was completely one-sided but we don't see Barry pull out the high-speed punches too often and he was all about that approach tonight. 
• Every time the Flash's heroism gets recognition from the Central City Police I get excited for the future grand opening of The Flash Museum (It's gunna happen)
• I found the scene between Harrison Wells and Joe to be interesting. I may be reading into it way too much but Harrison mentions both checking in on Eddie (his "distant relation") and then ominously brings up Joe's wife, a character who has not been mentioned or alluded to at all this whole show. Could have all just been fluff, but I'm willing to bet there was more to that exchange than meets the eye
• The discovery of the real Harrison Wells by Joe and Cisco!
• The discovery of Eobard Thawne's secret room in S.T.A.R. Labs by Cisco, Caitlin and Barry!!
• The discovery of the newspaper headline from the future by Barry!!!

The original Daredevil suit was partially yellow...Coincidence?

Low Points:

• I wasn't feeling the floating liquid thing this time. I get that it happens when certain shit is going down like when time barriers are broken and when the particle accelerator exploded but it seemed out of place in this context. I get that there were tachyons on the scene but they were literally just digging up a body on the side of the road. Didn't seem overly floating-coffee worthy..
• Could Barry really not have put 1 and 2 together when "Eddie" came to the door? For a brilliant scientist he suffers from some pretty massive lapses in judgement from time to time..
• I am a bit lost on what to think about Eddie these days. Ever since we found out that he is not the Reverse Flash but rather a distant relative of Eobard Thawne, I have been curious to see how he plays into the story. There seems to be moments of cooperation and potential friendship between him and Barry but there is also definitely tension between the two characters as well. Hopefully Eddie will pan out into something more consistent than this on-the-fence frenemies bullshit that is going on right now so I can finally establish a solid opinion on this guy.

Verdict: The S.T.A.R. Labs team split up this week to cover more ground as Cisco and Joe went to Starling to do some investigating while Barry and Eddie hung back in Central City to deal with a shapeshifting problem. I for one am a big fan of relaxed the crossovers between the two shows have become. Don't get me wrong, it is always fun when The Flash has to team up with Ollie or Ray to take down an evil that is too much to handle alone, but it is also great to see that Joe can swing by the Starling City police department, get some help from Quentin Lance and then offer up some family advice in exchange. Is it as thrilling as watching Ollie and Barry fight Captain Boomerang? Not really. But does it show a deeper level of connectedness between the two shows than just the guys in the suits teaming up? Hell yes. Plus it allows for each show to draw solutions to their respective problems from each other. Example: We have a Black Canary running around Starling City without the "Canary Cry". So we could either beat around the bush about that unforgivable fact in Starling City for a few more seasons, or we could get Cisco Ramon on the case to do what he does best: weaponize the shit out of things. Joe West, a true family man, needs an inside look at the crash site in Starling City where Tess died and Officer Lance has been struggling with familial issues for the entire back-half of this season. Why not get them together and have them scratch each others backs? It's a universe building business we subscribe to when we tune in to these shows nowadays, and I am very fond of the idea that it can be built in ways both big and small. 

                  On the Central City front this week we got Barry and Eddie teaming up to find a metahuman that can take on the form of people he touches. They really decided to stay on a family-friendly path with this villain because much like his namesake implies, the original Everyman was able to shape-shift into people only after he ate a part of them. I guess the The Flash just didn't think their audience was ready for full-blown cannibalism in an otherwise light-hearted show. Plus you can't really have a no-namer like Everyman come in swinging darker and grittier shit around than some of the headliner villains have on this show. 

"The Reverse Flash doesn't eat his victims? What a bitch" -Everyman

However I wasn't bothered by that choice. Everyman ended up being a pretty decent villain of the week who was both clever in his shape shifting game (the "help I'm a kidnapped child" card works every time) and entertaining  in his attempts to portray the people he was imitating. I respected his acting choice to play Barry Allen as aloof yet sexually aggressive as well as his shoot-first, never ask questions take on Eddie Thawne. It's that type of brass-balled method acting I like to see from my villainous thespians. I also liked the growing tension between Caitlin and Barry over the episode. We discussed last week that Caitlin didn't seem very comfortable in siding with Barry and Cisco over Wells and this week only added to that claim. However, she was there when they wheeled in the body of the real Wells and she did see Eobard's man-cave for herself so I find it difficult to believe she will continue to side against Barry. So perhaps this is not the beginning of the Killer Frost transformation we had hoped it was. However, with so much else going on in this show right now with The Reverse Flash at large, and Gorilla Grodd prowling the sewers, and Firestorm off learning how to be Firestorm, there is plenty to keep us occupied until that transformation naturally flows into the story arch. Until then, the stage is set for these last handful of episodes this season. Barry's hunch about Dr. Wells is now a straight-up fact and he saw the newspaper headline forewarning his future disappearance. I suggest we all buckle down and prepare for some time-traveling, tension breaking, speedster style action heading our way in the next few weeks. As for this week, the Flash gets an 8.0 out of 10.

Thanks for reading the review! Do you think there is a chance Caitlin could still side with Wells? Do you think you personally could have handled graphic, on-screen cannibalism in a CW show? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Be sure to check back regularly for more comics news, articles and reviews. The Flash returns same time next week with "The Trap".

The Flash "All Star Team Up" Review/Thoughts

This week on The Flash, a source of evil so powerful threatened Central City that one superhero was simply not enough to handle it. That's right folks, The Scarlett Speedster teamed up with Arrow's very own Ray Palmer this week to protect Central City from the dangers of...BEES!!

Episode Description: Ray Palmer and Felicity Smoak drop by S.T.A.R. Labs to get some help with the A.T.O.M. suit while Mercury Labs is terrorized by Brie Larvin (a.k.a. Bug-Eyed Bandit) and her army of robotic bees. Meanwhile, Barry struggles with who he can trust in the wake of his discoveries about Dr. Harrison Wells.

High Points:

• Barry and the Central City Police teaming up to take on everyday petty crime. A stark contrast to what is going on in Starling City right now with Oliver and his city's finest. 
• I found Joe's comment about where Caitlin and Cisco's loyalties lie very interesting. Especially because Cisco may end up being the super-hero Vibe someday, and Caitlin could still very much end up being the villain, Killer Frost..(Could this be what sets them on their paths apart?)
• Bug-Eyed Bandit's bees were experts at making horror movie style entrances. Especially coming out of the mouth of that guy's dead body... 
• I enjoyed the bromance that was forming between Ray and Cisco. Perhaps that will carry over when the Atom heads his own show?
• Cisco has memories from the alternate timeline! 
• The Atom suit was awesome this week. We have seen it do some stuff on Arrow but this was one of the first times we actually saw it in full-on action. Now we just need to see it shrink
• And it looks like we may get that sooner than later: "It seems I need to go smaller" -Ray Palmer
• We got a glimpse of the Felicity Smoak we all know and love. The one who hacks computers like a boss and is funny doing it, not the trophy in a three-way superhero love triangle
• Cisco taking the bee for Ray. In the words of The Reverse Flash, I have grown quite fond of Cisco over the course of this show and I like the attention and character development he gets. 
• That last scene did a lot to support my prior suspicions about who Caitlin and Cisco will side with. 

Low Points:

• Bug-Eyed Bandit was just another throw-away "of the week" villain who turned out to be nothing more than a disgruntled employee who is really good with tech and computers. And had a weird thing for weaponizing bees...

I like to imagine that this is how Brie presented her bee weapons to Mercury Labs 

• Barry was having a really hard time with these bees... I know bees are hard to outrun but even for the Flash? I was having a really hard time buying that Barry was getting trapped so easily by these bees

Essentially what Barry was like the entire episode

• I am still not a fan of Iris. I want to be because she is supposed to be Barry's girl but goddamn she can be annoying as hell. Granted she is literally the only person in Barry's life who doesn't know he is the Flash, but if Iris finds out about Barry's identity just because Eddie doesn't want them to break up I am going to be pretty disappointed in all parties involved

Verdict: The second Arrow/Flash crossover episode brought The Atom to Central City instead of the Arrow himself (probably because Oliver is busy being transported to jail) and the results were pretty cool. We got to see Ray Palmer interact and even mesh pretty well with the S.T.A.R. Labs team, and we got to see him do some pretty cool flying around and over-glorified bug zapping in his Atom suit. We have all been wondering when we were going to get to see the suit shrink down to microscopic size, and even though we didn't get it this week, it appears that the seed for future shrinkage has been planted. And in a decently appropriate fashion as well. Bug-Eyed Bandit is actually a villain who is mainly associated with the Atom because the Atom is able to shrink down to size to better combat his tiny insect robots. I say "his" because the Bug-Eyed Bandit is also usually a male named Bertram Larvin, so it was cool to see a female version. However, that is kind of where the "cool' aspects of the character started and stopped. Brie Larvin was another "of the week" villain who wasn't overly compelling. But who knows. Maybe she will make a reappearance when it is the Atom's turn to lead his own show and we will get some tiny Ray Palmer vs. tiny robot bee action (preferably on a children's play-set).

If you haven't seen this Ant-Man trailer yet you are gunna wanna click here

This week's episode seemed to be more about character and relationship development, which I am never overly opposed to. Sometimes you just gotta slow things down in the fighting crime department and build some character for the greater evils to come. We got some Barry development as he struggles with who he can trust. We got some Ray Palmer development as he makes friends at S.T.A.R. Labs and does some hero work. We got some petty relationship bullshit on the Eddie and Iris front that I won't waste another word on. But the characters I was very interested in this week were Cisco and Caitlin. Honestly, I have become quite the Cisco fan over the course of this show. When this show began I thought he was just going to be the nerdy, comic relief type character but he has turned out to be a lot more. We are learning about his sub-par family life, we are getting glimpses of his fighting capability, and we are getting hero-like characterizations from him. Now there has never been a point in my life where I have considered myself to be a huge fan of the character Vibe, but Cisco Ramon has definitely got me excited for his potential appearance on The Flash. As for Caitlin, this Harrison Wells loyalty conundrum is especially interesting for her. Cisco's memories from the alternate timeline help him to see Wells for who he truly is, but Caitlin does not seem very sold on the idea. Could this split her from Barry and Cisco and lead her down a path of evil with Professor Wells? Could this be the turning point in her character that launches her descent into becoming Killer Frost? Besides having a relationship with Firestorm, there really hasn't been much to hint at a transformation of character for Caitlin, so I am very interested to see if this difference in opinion leads to a rift big enough to cause her to go bad. All-in-all this episode was another fun crossover episode starring members of the Arrow gang, that will hopefully get the ball rolling on a shrink function to the Atom's suit. The villain was weak, but the tensions were left running high at the end of the episode with the S.T.A.R. Labs team being thrown into a "forced to take sides" scenario that may not go entirely according to plan. Only time will tell, but for now the "All Star Team Up" episode gets an 8.0 out of 10.

Thanks for reading the review! Do you think Caitlin will side with Wells over Barry and Cisco? Who was the better character: Beth from The Walking Dead or Brie the Bug-Eyed Bandit? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers and be sure to check back here regularly for more comic book related news, stories, articles and reviews. The Flash returns same time next week to ask the question we have all been waiting for: "Who Is Harrison Wells?".

Phil Lord And Chris Miller Are Developing The Flash Movie

Warner Bros. is continuing it's trend of bringing in high end talent to further it's DC comic book films. Today, Deadline has confirmed that the studio has tapped directors/writers Chris Miller and Phil Lord (21 Jump St.) to develop the story for 2018's The Flash with a possibility that they may also direct the film. The duo do a great job of mixing action and comedy so this is some great news for Flash fans. Especially for the ones who were irked by Ezra Miller's casting. 

Source: Deadline

I'm a huge fan of Miller and Lord. The guys have knocked it out of the park the last few years with the Jump St. franchise and The Lego Movie. They have qualities that work well with the Flash's universe.

The biggest plus of adding this duo is that it puts an end to that bullshit rumor that DC films will have a "no humor" policy. These bros excel at writing humor. One can easily surmise that The Flash script they write will have plenty of it.

Miller and Lord have past running credentials

Now all I can think about is ridiculous casting possibilities that Lord + Miller could make happen:

Jonah Hill as Captain Cold

Rob Riggle as Gorilla Grodd

Dave Franco as the Trickster

Ice Cube as Captain Frye

Channing Tatum as Heat Wave

Elizabeth Banks as Golden Glider

Sounds crazy, but I would be all in on that cast.

Thanks for reading! What do you think of The Flash movie? Can it be as good as the TV show? Let us know in the comments or tweet at us @Caped_Informers or me @cstrand73. And make sure to tune in for our weekly Arrow, Flash, and Daredevil reviews.

The Flash "Tricksters" Review/Thoughts

Throwback Thursday came early this week on The Flash as the man, the myth, the legend himself, Mark Hamill, descended from his DC voice acting throne to reprise his original live-action role as the Trickster from the 1990s Flash television series.

Episode Description: When a criminal starts antagonizing Central City under the name "The Trickster", Barry and Joe seek out James Jesse, a.k.a. the original Trickster, in hopes of using his help to stop the copycat. Meanwhile, Harrison Wells senses Barry's growing suspicions and reflects back on how he got to where he is today.

High Points:

• A very exciting opening to this episode! We start off with a look at the fight that happened in Barry's house the night his mother was murdered AND we get the explanation for why Eobard Thawne got stuck in the past. Plus Gideon mentioned the Speed Force! 
• When The Reverse Flash pulled off his hood in the street after learning he couldn't access the speed force and it wasn't Harrison Wells...

Eobard Thawne is going to drive me to drink...

• Much like the Spidey picture from last week's post, Barry and Joe have their own conspiracy board going on Dr. Wells
• Mark Hamill, the voice behind the animated versions of The Joker and The Trickster, and the original Trickster from the 1990s Flash, was amazing as always! And the performance was absolutely an homage to both characters he is known for. Well done sir
• The original Trickster's cell was some Hannibal Lecter level shit
• Mark Hamill told Axel Walker "I am your father". Darth Vader would be so proud
• The Tricksters' scheme was a fun change of pace this week. Usually the villains are doing something pretty straightforward like straight-up shooting a place up, or straight-up kidnapping somebody. You gotta love a good old-fashioned convoluted plan every once in awhile
• The Lesson of the Week from Professor Zoom: Phasing through solid objects! Plus his explanation of the utilizing the speed force was intense
• Eddie Thawne, distant relative of Eobard Thawne, knows Barry is The Flash. Will this decision to reveal himself to Eddie come back to haunt him later on?
• Everything about the "Harrison Wells" flashbacks! RIP Actual Harrison Wells. I feel bad for not saying it sooner because it turns out you were dead the entire show. Mind sufficiently blown.

Low Points:

• Henry you literally just watched half of those parachute presents explode upon hitting the ground and you are still going to go for it? The balls on you kid..

In honor of Henry: The Kid from that One Scene in the Park Who Gave 0 Fucks

•  The Chicago Cubs do not need to be reminded that they haven't won a World Series in 106 years. They literally have 106 years worth of not winning a World Series to do that for them.
• Wasn't really feeling the "New Trickster". He pretty much spent the whole episode standing in the "Old Trickster's" shadow. But then again when you put a rookie like that next to a savvy veteran like Mark Hamill, what can you honestly expect to take away from the rookie? Maybe next time we will get some more out of the new guy

Verdict: Mark Fucking Hamill ladies and gentlemen. We first see him in his Hannibal Lecter-style glass cell with his face shadowed but we know who it is. That villainous voice rings into our ears and instantly reminds us of the childhood we spent watching Batman thwart the Joker's plans time and time again on Batman: The Animated Series. Hamill has accrued quite a resume of villainous voice acting over the years, dabbling in everything from comic book villains like The Joker and The Trickster, to villains in other animated universes like Firelord Ozai from Avatar: The Last Airbender and that sly bastard Turtle from My Friends Tigger and Pooh. 

Behold the vilest creature to ever crawl out of the 7th ring of hell

Mark Hamill also played The Trickster in the original live-action The Flash that aired in the early 1990s. Tonight's episode was a fun homage to that and even came complete with little joke references to the original show like when Joe said his lair hadn't looked like it had been touched since the 90s. However, Mark Hamill's performance was also very much a nod to The Joker in my opinion. The convoluted schemes that had multiple thought-out layers were classic Joker-style schemes and even the small little quips that Hamill would make like calling Axel a "rank amateur" and his comical response of "Well that wasn't very sanitary" in response to Barry giving everyone the antidote were reminiscent of Hamill's quick-witted Joker. And if the flower on the lapel of his suit wasn't a blatant nod to the animated character design of the Joker then I don't know what else it could have possibly been. All that was missing was the laugh. Hamill's Trickster chuckled a handful of times throughout the episode and every time he did I just wanted him to break into that full-on Joker laugh. I understand why he didn't though. His laugh is the trademark "Joker laugh" and at the end of the day Hamill was playing The Trickster, not the Clown Prince of Crime. However, Hamill's reprise of The Trickster made for an incredibly fun-to-watch episode on the villain-of-the-week front, and the episode didn't stop there.

Segway into the weekly Harrison Wells Report where we got a mind-blowing look into Eobard Thawne's past this week. The episode opened up with Barry and The Reverse Flash duking it out in Barry's living room the night of the murder. We then learn Eobard drained his powers jumping back in time and can no longer harness the speed force to get him back to his own time. And when the Reverse Flash removes his hood in defeat, we see no Harrison Wells, but instead a man who actually resembles Eddie Thawne. I know we have all been saying "Harrison Wells isn't the man we think is" and boy has that been an understatement! He isn't even Harrison Wells! We thought the Reverse Flash's true identity was exposed until this episode slapped us around with the fact that he had an even truer identity that still needed to be discovered all along. I mean Jesus Christ is there another person hiding beneath this new identity? How many layers do we have to peel back to get the god's honest truth around here??

But in the best possible way

And now that Eddie knows Barry's identity are we going to see some sort evil story arc evolve around him? Eobard Thawne is from 100s of years in the future but that doesn't mean we couldn't see a present day Thawne/Allen rivalry begin to grow. And what about the already present tension growing between Barry and Eobard? The mind games that are being played between the two right now is palpable and only one of two things can come of it: An intense, season-finale worthy, clash of titans, or a mind-blowing sexual encounter. I'm more inclined to believe the first one is going to happen but I am in no way about to go on record as saying I don't want the second one to happen either. Simply put this was a great episode all around. 9.5 out of 10.

Thanks for reading the review! What is your favorite voice acting role that Mark Hamill has done? Who else should know about Barry's identity before Iris? Let us know what you think in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Check back here regularly for news, articles and reviews of other shows and movies. The Flash is taking a week break, but will return on April 14th with friends from the cast of Arrow in an "All Star Team Up" episode.