Kevin and Bixby have their marching orders. Grab some pizza and make yourselves comfortable, because it’s time to take a look at CW’s The Flash.

KEVIN

The problem with two-parters that aren’t really two-parters is that they still feel like the second half of a story. This is not normally an issue, of course – there’s nothing inherently wrong with two-part episodes – but it does bring the issue of having to make the continuation of the base storyline also self-contained, to stand on its own.

“Fallout” does a pretty good job of it, all things considered, but it really is dependent on the previous episode, more so than any other episode in a serialized drama. I feel like they should have just called it a two-parter and been done with it.

Then again, even with more obvious continuations, they still don’t do that with the titles. The closest they come is in the Season Two mega-crossover that also sets up the soon-to-be-spun-off Legends of Tomorrow: “Legends of Yesterday” and “Legends of Today,” respectively.¹

Let’s take a closer look at the fallout from last week’s episode oh I just got that.

Though this episode is old, spoiler warnings are still in effect after the cut.
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Kevin and Bixby are burning up with excitement for this week’s episode. Try not to bite off more than you can chew, because it’s time to take a look at CW’s The Flash.

BIXBY

One of the reasons that I like The Flash so much is that its characters seem very real. I have met people like Cisco, like Caitlin, like Joe, like Barry (minus the super-speed). The way Barry interacts with his friends and family and colleagues and even his enemies is believable – he acts like a real person. An idealized real person, but he feels real. When we say a character is relatable, we don’t just mean that they seem like us, but that they seem real like us.

The show doesn’t have a 100% success rate. Sometimes the characters step out of “real” into “dude, what?” Harrison Wells sometimes seems to be taking his cues from Snidely Whiplash.

The character whom the show fails the most often, does the most harm to, and treats much more like a lamp with a name tag than any other character is Iris West.

Spoilers under the cut.
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Kevin and Bixby have no bars on their expectations for this week’s episode. Sing out when you’re ready, because it’s time to take a look at CW’s The Flash.

KEVIN

People do a lot of crazy things for love. This is a known fact, proven true time and time again across the multiverse. Love is what binds the universe together. It’s the power the Dark Lord knows not. It inspires people to hide swords in rocket launchers. It lifts us up where we belong, where the eagles cry on a mountain high.

It’s a curious thing. It makes one man weep and another man sing.

There are so many songs about it that Meat Loaf decided that a twelve-minute song about what he wouldn’t do for love was, in fact, the shorter list.¹

There’s a lot going on this week, but about 95% of it comes back around to what we would do for love.

Though this episode is old, spoiler warnings are still in effect after the cut.
Continue reading →