The Flash - The Sound And The Fury - Review

Continuing on from last weeks introduction of Heat Wave, the Pied Piper has now made his glorious debut. Overall this episode was fairly good. It had some minor issues but overall it was a total enjoyment. I liked seeing Iris try taking that step in her career and the mystery surrounding Harrison Wells grows even deeper.

Let's start with the Pied Piper. Compared to the comics, Pied Piper received a lot of changes but overall I loved how they tied in his origin and motive to STAR Labs. I did take issue at how we never saw another side of Hartley however. Being betrayed by his family and mentor should open a whole can of worms in regards to exploring the character. Instead, consistently he was a jerk. I would have liked a flashback to have shown how he was before he came out to his parents. Did all these events turn him into what we saw in this episode? Or was he always a jerk.

Hopefully Pied Piper will have repeat appearances so this can be explored further. Andy Mientus I felt really nailed the material he was given. His one liners came off strong and he did make me laugh more then once. I also liked how he could be intimidating both with and without powers. It's one thing to be all fearsome with gadgets, superpowers and special effects. But its a whole other ballpark when someone can sound just as intimidating through mere words alone. In a world filled with superheroes, its easy to forget just how much power words still carry.

The fight sequences during the episode were a mixed bag for me. I liked the sound blasts that Harley used against the buildings but compared to last week the climatic battle seemed weak and unimpressive. I'm not that concerned with that however as I feel the episode was more concerned with the development on the characters rather then a splashy fight sequence.

Harrison also got a lot of material in this weeks episode and it's fascinating to see his character change from week to week. He's so difficult to pin down and so hard to get a clear reading from. This wasn't just through his actions either, the way he phrases everything seems to hold some hidden meaning or reference. Each week my personal theories change so much but its such a fun ride. We also saw him use his speedster powers, confirming (in show) that he really does have powers similar to (or possibly exactly like) The Flash. He also referenced and introduced an important concept from the Flash's comic mythos, the speed force.

Iris also enjoyed some solid material this week. I loved seeing her attempt to establish herself as a reporter, rather then just a blogger with ties to The Flash. She's shown signs of having spunk during the first part of the season, and here the writers tried to bring that out again. Candice Patton played it to her strengths which worked well.

Harrison's press conference I felt could have been handled better though. I can see what the writers were trying to go for but having Harrison deflect to Iris just made it seem cheesy and weak to me. I wouldn't really call that gumption either. Iris didn't pull any resources or assert herself during the conference. She got lucky that she knew Harrison beforehand and that he deflected to her. In the end I felt it cheapened what could have been a very important character defining moment for her and should have been handled much better.

The ending scene between Joe and Barry once again hits all the right notes. I've mentioned before how well Grant and Jesse play off each other, and that still continues here. It looks as though Barry's father figures are going to clash soon and the result from that has me both worried and intrigued.

That said, throughout the episode there were some minor issues. I've touched on the handling of an important Iris moment above along with Pied Pipers characterization. The starting sequence with the Royal Flush Gang was slightly confusing. Were they meant to be the same Royal Flush Gang from Arrow or a copycat? Because I believe they were either dead or in jail. Iris being offered a job in 5 seconds also seemed really rushed, did she already know she had the job and just walked out of the room to humor Joe? None of these really detract from the episode that much and I'm mainly just nitpicking.

Overall Feelings:
The episodes goal was to shed some light on Harrison and I feel it succeeded. The villains material, along with putting some of the spotlight on Iris really proved to be an enjoyable episode. While it had some minor issues, they didn't really detract from the overall experience.

Note: I'll be out next week and another reviewer will be covering episode 12.

About the Author - Christopher DeBono

Australian Student. Addicted to TV, novels, comics and all things video games.

Watches everything on The CW and many Australian shows.

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