FLASH SPOILER Review: Episode 7×18- “Heart of the Matter, Part 2”
The Flash (7×18)- “Heart of the Matter, Part 2″
Written by: Eric Wallace & Kelly Wheeler
Directed by: Marcus Stokes
So let’s start off with an explanation. Today is the sixth of September, this episode aired on July twentieth so the obvious question is: “Jason, where have you been?” I’ll tell you where I’ve been! I have not had a day off from work since July eighteenth. And these haven’t been half days either, I’ve worked nine to twelve hours a day, every day for over a month and a half but still I am truly sorry for the delay.
So this episode picks up with Bart unconscious and Nora’s falling apart over it meanwhile the Godspeeds are making that happen across town while Joe and Kramer can only watch in terror.
Within August Heart’s mind, Barry and Heart are having a chat about what it is that Heart wants… Even if this should be obvious, Barry hasn’t met the original Godspeed before now but they have figured out that he needs organic speed a long time ago. But I’ll be fair to Barry, it’s possible that wanting the organic speed is a means and Barry is asking about Heart’s goals. Our villain takes this as an opportunity to grandstand and pontificate and credit where credit is due, he has the voice for it.
Heart ties it all together, he created his speed formula to be as fast as Barry but after confrontations with Bart specifically he realized it will never make him fast enough so he’s been coming back in time to steal Barry’s Speed and get himself over the top. The only hiccup in this plan of creating dozens of copies of himself on top of traveling back into the past wiped his memories but in what can only be described as “Failing Successfully” he’s found himself with the chance to get what he wants out of Barry anyway.
With all the cards on the table, Heart ends their Speed Force skype call and sends him back out into the world. During the commercial break, Barry explains the situation to everyone and it’s not surprising that Nora is pretty much willing to give Heart what he wants while Barry and Iris are taking the hard line but if they’re not going to give Heart his prize they’ll need a plan.
In the lounge, Cecile tries to explain to Heart that there still is good in him and at the Citizen Chester tries to help Allegra through her own crisis of faith. It’s a whole “Pep talks on Parade” situation.
Barry calls his mom in for help… metaphorically. Welcome back, Speed Force Nora and she decides to give everyone, including Iris and Bart a Speed Force booster shot. Which allows for Jay to meet Bart once again for the first time. Now it’s time for the whole Flash Family to put Godspeed down!
Well… Almost the whole family. Some of our friends are missing…
Now’s a good time to check in with Joe and Kramer, a real good time cause Joe’s about to get murdered. Fortunately for Joe, Kramer seems to get a brief taste of Godspeed’s speed and she races them out of danger before passing out. Hmm, what could be going on here?
The Flash family takes the fight to the Godspeeds and every gets a little moment with their powers before they realize there’s a downside to bringing Speed Force Nora into the fight, that problem is that it’s almost exactly what Godspeed what he wants. So Nora has to bail out but that just means it’s time for Allegra to step in with the SEE and it wipes out all the Godspeeds.
Well done everyone! The problem is, Heart’s got an infinite supply of clones. So we’re back at square one, their choices are fight Heart or give him what he wants. So they decide that the only way forward is giving Heart what he wants.
They fit Heart with a tech harness and say their goodbyes to him before Barry gives him some organic speed and Godspeed is reborn. He reclaims all his clones and goes on the attack but it turns out SFNora and Iris had an ace in the hole. The most horrible ace in the hole possible, Thawne. Then things get a little…
… crazy as the three have a Speed Force Lightsabre fight. Barry and Thawne’s partnership goes well, for about as long as it takes for Thawne to run Godspeed through and then it’s time for the main event of the evening. Flash vs Reverse Flash! But it turns out while Barry’s spent the last seven years getting fast, Thawne was resting on his laurels and Barry makes quick work of Thawne before he bails out with a “Next time, Flash!”
The city is saved! All that’s left is a quick recap at STAR Labs and for Barry to ask Iris to renew their vows with him.
A few days later, Kramer visits Joe at the West Home and explains how she did what she was able to do the night Adam turned on their team and to rescue Joe. It seems her meta-ability is to copy powers from other metas and as a result she’s pretty eaten up with guilt since she almost led the CCPD on an anti-meta crusade. She’s taken a leave of absence from the Force to go and get her head right but she had to stop in and thank Joe for saving her from herself. Don’t worry Kristin, that’s Joe’s thing.
Then there’s a big, drawn out vow renewal ceremony complete with TV wedding clichés and singing and even a little Flashtime for Barry and Iris annnnnnd…
And?
And that’s it. That’s how the season ends.
Okay then.
Hmm, that was fine I guess. In fact, this was a pretty good microcosm of the season as a whole. It had some really good stuff, really powerful moments but it was presented in a real shaky manner that took away from the good things they did. I liked the Heart vs Barry stuff at the start a lot, Karan Oberoi was good at chewing up the scenery and being an over the top villain so I’m hoping we get more of him before too long. Gustin and Cavanagh as always have good chemistry and hopefully they’ll tear things up next season but everyone else was pretty cartoonish and silly most of this episode.
The fight scenes were a mixed bag, some cool stuff: Jay using his helmet and Barry being visibly faster than Thawne specifically. Other things like the Speed Force sword fight and Speed Force Throwing Stars were not. (They might have worked in a comic book but there’s lot of things that work great in comics that just don’t translate.)
There’s some good hooks for next season; What’s going on with Iris being unstuck in time? What will Thawne do now that he’s been returned to the fold? What happens when Godspeed gets loose? Will Kramer return and what will happen with her powers? The ability to mimic other people’s powers can be a complete game changer. That was literally the whole point of the first season of Heroes.
I won’t lie to you, this season has been pretty bad for the most part. How can I say anything else when I literally worried the show was on the brink of cancellation due to a decline in quality? That being said, there’s still a lot of good things about this show that can easily be fixed with better writing. I still believe in this show and I still think they can deliver next season but they will have to put in the work to do it, here’s hoping that’s what they do.
Things We Learned:
- August Heart has received organic speed from Barry but he’s been defeated and put in prison with his knowledge of Barry and company altered.
- Barry and SFNora have returned Thawne to a physical form and he has escaped to get powerful enough to attack Barry.
- Kramer has the ability to mimic other metas powers.
Questions:
- Where has Thawne gone and what will he do when he returns?
- Will Bart and Nora have a part to play in next season?
- Will Jay’s returned powers remain or will they fade?
- Has Wally regained his powers ?
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