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FLASH SPOILER Review: Episode 4×11- “The Elongated Knight Rises”

The Flash (4×11) – “The
Elongated Knight Rises”
Written by:         Sterling Gates & Thomas Pound
Directed by:       Alexandra
La Roche
Okay, last
week the producers made the bold choice to put Barry in jail so I guess it’s
time to start dealing with that.  We
start off with pretty typical TV prison stuff since Barry’s been in the hole
exactly a week and there’s already a prison riot. Barry takes care of that
which is good because Joe’s taking care of a hostage situation with the help of
Ralph.  It’s okay, Ralph since this guy
learned about hostage negotiations by watching the original Robocop.
Unfortunately,
Ralph and Cisco haven’t worked out a name, which is a shock because Cisco loves
that part.  But don’t worry, Ralph! The
gang is always super supportive… oh that’s right they’re supportive to Barry.
For Ralph, we get the flaming a-hole version of Team Flash. 
Let’s check
in with Barry, he’s walking the yard when he catches up with a pair of familiar
faces.  First up is our old buddy, Axel
aka the second Trickster.  And over in
the corner, MY old friend Bill FREAKING Goldberg!   
He’s calling himself Big Sir.
Barry also
makes some friends with a very unlikely prison gang.  (Hate to break it to you but the prison yard
is as segregated as things get.) But whatever, they’re also being a little more
schoolyard bully than prison gang.  Barry
checks in with Iris and that’s his day.
That night
in the prison infirmary, Axel’s brought in and turns out he also has a visitor.
His mom, with an escape plan… Better hope you don’t end up back in gen-pop,
Axel.  Busted out by your mom won’t make
you too many friends.  Then again, after
Barry talks to Joe about the escape he’s going to have the same problem.
Back at the
Lab, Joe clues the gang on Axel’s mom, aka Zoey Clark aka Prank.  She was the Harley Quinn to the original
Prankster’s Joker with the added charm of being a toy company heiress.  Speaking of that, she takes Axel to an old
toy factory which he intends to turn into a brand new lair from which he can
destroy Central City and reunite with his father.  Aww!
Back in the
pen, Barry’s found himself some trouble in the gym, looking like you’re a
snitch will do that.  But much like Sting
in late 90s WCW, he’s rescued by Goldberg. 
I guess he’s not Next.

Back on the
outside, Axel’s started his big comeback tour by blowing up cabs and calling
out Ralph.  The two have a comedy
showdown before Axel takes things up a notch with an acid squirt gun that
unlike bullets and bombs takes our boy down a notch.  So, Cisco has to get him out of there.
Barry tries
to talk to Goldberg but he clearly didn’t watch Nitro in the nineties because
everyone knows; Goldberg doesn’t do promos.
Now,
remember how I said Prank was the Harley Quinn to Prankster’s Joker? Well in a
move straight out of a Batman: The Animated Series episode, they’ve hijacked
the TV signal to put on their own deadly game show with Ralph as the only
contestant.  Too bad Ralph is not
interested in putting his life on the line, so he bails out.  He heads over to the prison with the
intention of breaking Barry out, but Barry counters with the inspiring speech.
Iris sends
Harry and Cisco in to take on the Trickster with the help of Killer Frost.  Meanwhile Barry has to rescue Goldberg from a
beating that’s looking more like a murder the longer it goes.  That’s resolved pretty quick so we’re left
with Harry trying to solve the riddle of Axel’s acid while the newly emboldened
Ralph goes full Batman with a skylight entrance… Well, not full Batman. Batman
would just shatter Axel’s kneecap and be done with it.  More, Golden Age Batman, because he speeches
it up before saving Cisco and Caitlin.
The Day is
officially saved and Ralph even comes up with a name for himself… After a
fashion.  Central City, meet The
Elongated Man.  He also might even have
the respect of the Team.  Speaking of
respect, Barry’s got the respect of Goldberg and other than a weird scene in
Jitters where Cisco and Ralph meet a girl (that seems way, way too excited to
meet them while writing in her diary in Barry’s weird Speed Force language to
be anyone but a time traveler and more likely than not Barry’s daughter) that
pretty much does it.
Much better
episode than last week.  Much, much better.  Light and silly with an A plot straight out
of the 90s Flash show? Sure. But I enjoyed it. 
Barry’s prison escapades are a little silly as well, (like I said a
prison yard is not a place where you’ll find white guys and black guys are
friends) and I’m still waiting on the warden’s evil plan but the inclusion of
Bill Goldberg as Big Sir was enjoyable.
What I loved
most of all is Ralph journey from scummy private detective to hero and member
of the team.  I really love that the more
heroic Ralph becomes the more the gang warms up to him.
Not much to
say about Trickster jr and Prank, so I’ll just say that they were fun.
Let’s see
how they follow it up next week.
Three Things We
Learned This Week:
1)     
Barry’s found someone to watch his back in the
yard.
2)     
James Jesse escaped prison and is at large.
3)     
Ralph has found his superhero name.
Three
Unanswered Questions:
1)     
What’s Big Sir in prison for?
2)     
Where’s James Jesse gone to? (Hopefully nowhere
with weird space cows.)
3)     
Who’s the girl in the coffee shop? (He asked as
though it wasn’t obvious.)

Just another guy on the internet.