In the season finale, Barry’s daughter comes back from death to close a portal between Earth and the parallel universe of Flashpoint. The question is whether Jay Garrick’s arrival will permanently change things for all of Team Flash.
The “the flash season 8 review” is a review of the episode “Resurrection”, which aired on April 16, 2019. This episode was written by Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing, and directed by Tony To.
REVIEW: The Flash – “Resurrection” (Season 8, Episode 11)
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“Resurrection” accomplishes a lot for The Flash’s current season, and it’s not just because it continues the show’s stellar run. Black Flame finally comes into its own, a separate long-running motif reappears (or is… nah, I’ll keep the title pun in my pocket for a while), and another compelling moral dilemma emerges. But, maybe most crucially, this episode is all about Caitlin, which is a welcome relief after seeing her sink into the background for so long.
Caitlin thinks her conflagrating foe is really Ronnie Raymond, her long-dead (or so they thought… cue scary music) spouse of, like, five minutes, while Barry and Chester finally figure out how to control Black Flame. Caitlin feels Ronnie is pleading for her assistance and is determined to resurrect him. Sue’s lack of deft touch with Tinya ultimately goes too far, and Iris’ time-displacing problem deepens.
“Resurrection” drew me in right away since I’ve been craving more Caitlin Snow for the previous several years. She’s one of the few original gangsters, and she’s been feeling like a sidekick for a long. Part of this is due to Danielle Panabaker’s real-life kid, who then took up a lot of Panabaker’s screen time until Frost arrived. Both are reasonable — people have to survive, and a superpowered rebel strong gal sounds better on paper than a quiet scientist who analyzes before acting and doesn’t battle bad men on a regular basis. Caitlin, on the other hand, is a terrific character, real and human in her pain and affection for her pals, and she’s a lot more fun on The Flash than she would be in less capable hands. Panabaker is great as Frost, but as Caitlin, she can be slyly humorous before tearing your heart with a forlorn sigh. It’s easy to understand how Sarah and Barry got so close, since her effort to shine through the challenges life has thrown at her mirrors his. “Resurrection” is the ideal Caitlin episode because it tackles not just what a chance at happiness can do for someone who has experienced so much loss, but also what Caitlin naturally brings out in people who love her.
*SPOILERS*
Caitlin starts “Resurrection” where she left off in “Reckless,” with a visit from Black Flame disguised as Ronnie. Our Spidey Senses begin to tingle as we recall that Black Flame can assume the shape of a deceased person and has used this ability to torment Chester. (Are there any other Buffy fans out there who are getting First Evil vibes?) But the program recognizes that, despite her anguish and want to see Ronnie again, Caitlin isn’t naive enough to fall for a lie like this with no evidence. So she discovers the proof: Black Flame is made up of the same particles, stuff, atoms, or whatever sciencey-sounding thing the Singularity – the event that killed Ronnie – was made up of in the season 1 finale and season 2 premiere. She also discovers that every single one of Black Flame’s victims is linked to her in some way. Ronnie has been transformed into Black Flame, according to Caitlin, and now he needs her to make him complete again. The others see the logic in her conclusion as well, so the scene is set for her to rescue Ronnie and be happy at long last.
Barry is right there with you if this all seems much too handy. Caitlin’s notion is quickly debunked by him. Why would Ronnie wait until now to reappear and seek for Caitlin, if he survived the Singularity — albeit in the shape of black sci-fi fire? Why did he go up to Chester, whom he had never met before? Why is it that he is murdering people? Later, Black Flame/possibly Ronnie pays Cecile a visit, and her empathic talents detect something different: although she thinks it’s Ronnie, she believes he’s attempting to help him pass on, stopping the misery he’s going through by being stuck in a pillar of flames. Furthermore, Chester explains that if Ronnie refuses to utilize the upgraded version of the chest plate that enabled Ronnie and Dr. Stein to cohabit as Firestorm and opposes the bonding procedure, it will result in a nuclear explosion. It’s not as easy as guessing incorrectly; if Caitlin misunderstands Ronnie’s desires, a lot of people will suffer.
The subject of letting go of one’s previous suffering is revived by presenting the choice in this manner. (See? I was almost there.) Barry has learned the hard way that refusing to let go of the past may wreck everyone’s future, and he believes that Caitlin should accept Ronnie’s death. Caitlin, on the other hand, is given the chance to rescue Ronnie, and she really feels that this is not just a choice for her, but also what Ronnie desires. She also accurately points out that when Barry made errors – or nearly made them, in the instance of the season 1 finale – they all stood by him, and his apprehension when the shoe is on the other foot seems a little hypocritical. And, as last week, they’re both right; Barry’s experiences allow him to understand Caitlin’s pain more vividly than anyone else, but he was also given the opportunity to rescue his parents. Frost also informs him that if Iris’ life were on the line, he’d be singing a different song, and Barry doesn’t answer since he knows she’s probably definitely correct. That doesn’t imply he’s incorrect; it just means he’d behave differently if he couldn’t think logically, which Caitlin may not be right now.
Frost is trapped in the center of the feuding groups, who are essentially Caitlin and everyone who isn’t Caitlin. When pressed, she concedes that Barry and the others are probably correct, and she attempts to persuade her sister to see the logic in it, not just because of the potential consequences for Ronnie, but also because of what it is doing to Caitlin. Frost has been living within Caitlin for so long that she has experienced all of Caitlin’s emotions, including her grief when Ronnie died and her delight while he was alive. She’s worried that Caitlin is retreating much further from her friends than she already has, and that her desire to reclaim Ronnie is the culmination of her failure to deal with his loss. But… Frost is very devoted to Caitlin, her sister, particularly since Caitlin backed her up last week when she thought Frost was self-destructive. So she repays the favor, against all logic and duty, since sometimes blood is more important than reason. When you love someone, sometimes all you can do is have their back and hope for the best.
What makes “Resurrection” even more impressive is how many concepts it extracts from this structure. Chester and Allegra use their usual painful “would they/won’t they” scenario to investigate if raising the dead is a bridge too far for science. Certain things are beyond our comprehension and control, and maybe they should remain thus. (Cecile’s use of the word “hell” to describe Ronnie’s incarceration in Black Flame is purposeful.) This is an unusual attitude for a program with such a strong scientific foundation to adopt, particularly at a time when we’re being urged to regard science as divine and respect its practitioners as infallible clerics, even when they contradict themselves. The Flash is implying that there are certain things outside science that it will never comprehend and shouldn’t interfere with, which is a bold statement in the present atmosphere – particularly in Hollywood.
Caitlin and Frost save Ronnie, and Barry apologizes for his lack of faith in his buddy, but the ultimate revelation of “Resurrection” throws everything into disarray. Black Flame was never Ronnie; this was just another ruse to enlist Caitlin’s assistance in giving it a physical form rather than a wall of fire. Now that Black Flame – who names himself Deathstorm (I had to rewind a few times and ultimately turn on the subtitles to understand the gravelly demonic bad guy voice) – has a body, he’s more powerful than he’s ever been, according to his self-congratulatory villain tirade. This finale, as well as the episode’s wider narrative, fulfills a few goals. For starters, it eliminates the season’s opponent being a sentient fire, which is a little tedious; we now have a genuine, physical bad guy with a personality for Barry to battle. It further exacerbates Barry’s leadership issues. This is the episode when I first saw Barry’s recent changes: he’s embracing his role as a leader and confronting difficult issues head-on rather than depending on others to tell him what’s right. He’s grown up and realized that he’ll have to make a lot of these tough decisions on his own. He’s also been mainly correct recently, which is a refreshing change. Now he’s dealing with a situation where all the evidence led to him being incorrect, but not only is he eventually correct, but Caitlin’s failure to listen to him has unleashed an evil that they may not be able to stop. It’s another step toward Barry’s goal of being a great leader; he’ll now be able to trust his instincts even more, and ideally, his buddies will as well.
However, it seems like those instincts will be put to the test next week, as Iris is in jeopardy once again. Sue Dearbon’s pleasant bedside style emerges when Iris zaps Tinya’s mother – and her phone, just before they could contact Barry for aid – and she tells a horrified and heartbroken Tinya to go away until the person who seems to have murdered her mother calms down. Of course, it is an oversimplification, but that is what occurred from Tinya’s viewpoint. Tinya, unsurprisingly, uses her abilities to exact vengeance on Iris, causing her to vanish and telling a now-silent Sue that she may expect the same if she doesn’t leave this poor girl alone. Tinya’s retribution is undoubtedly triggered by the loss of her mother (who is almost probably not dead), but if Sue had been a bit more diplomatic – not just here, but in general – Tinya may have been persuaded to calm down and aid Iris. (Seeing Sue do that silly karate position just to get absolutely owned is really worth it.) This isn’t an issue for me; it’s really fantastic narrative and character development, and it demonstrates that, even when your intentions are good, your actions and attitude have repercussions – just as Caitlin’s did. Regardless, Iris is in jeopardy, and Barry now finds himself in a predicament similar to Caitlin’s. We won’t know how similar they are until the next episode (in two weeks), but I imagine he’ll be conflicted between assisting Iris and ending Deathstorm. What’s a superhero to do after he’s married?
Plot – 9
Acting (10 points)
Progress – ten
8 – Production Design
Themes: ten
9.4
Great
“Resurrection” is a wonderful episode that finally features Caitlin and explores grieving and moving on after a loss. The moral quagmires are complicated once again, and Barry’s leadership skills continue to improve as the season’s villain matures.
The “the flash season 8 episode 2” is a review of the latest episode. The season finale had some interesting twists and turns, but it was not enough to save the series.
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