The Flash - The Nuclear Man - Review

This weeks episode of The Flash proved that not every episode needs a villain to hold itself up. Barry and the others had their own challenges to face and they took them head on! This episode involved the culmination of weeks of build-up for the Firestorm character and it lived up to all the hype and so much more.

For the past few weeks we've had small pieces of information handed to us in regards to Firestorm (or Project F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. if you prefer). We've also seen Robbie Amell skulking around as what appeared to be a super-powered homeless man. The twist? Martin Stein was in control of Ronnie Raymonds body. While Robbie Amell's performance in The Tomorrow People was very hit or miss, his performance here really stood out.

He played the duel personalities of the character superbly and brought forth some very dramatic scenes with both Caitlin and Barry. Caitlin herself had some choice moments as she struggled emotionally with what has happened. I wasn't expecting the episode to end on such a cliffhanger (especially with Caitlin bringing on the emotion moments before), but it was a nice change to have the cliffhanger before the pre-credit teaser.

Firestorm also gave us some amazing visual sights with his inferno form, especially during his battles with Barry. I was kind of expecting Barry to discover his helicopter-hands-flight-power when he thrown off, but part of me is glad that they aren't completely rushing all of Barry's powers.

Moving away from Firestorm, we got to see more into the lives of the other cast members, especially with Linda Park. I personally found the Barry/Linda dynamic fun and while I'm curious as to what Linda actually see's in Barry I'm liking that we're getting to see this other side of him. It's also to an extent giving us another look at Iris.

Grant and Candice have fun chemistry but I'm not the greatest fan of how they're treating their relationship. One day they're speaking, the next they aren't, the next they're BFFs again, the next Barry tries to move on. Now we have Iris getting second thoughts and cutting Barry at the knees. It's starting to feel like a teen high school drama to me. Iris deserves so much more then this, instead her actions (which seemed really out of character to me) make her seem like a really ugly person which goes against how she's acted in previous episodes. I'm glad that Barry called her out on it in the same episode rather then dragging it on too.

Thankfully Joe and Cisco had a more entertaining subplot with the re-investigation into Nora Allen's murder. It was funny to see Sherry making attempts at Joe while Cisco went about his work, expanding the case much further with an important revelation that is sure to get many theories running.

Something else that I feel is worth bringing up from this episode is the comedy. While the show has had it's fair deal of comedic moments, this episode was really on the ball. Grant Gustin nails the comedic awkwardness of Barry Allen.

Lets not forget the age old question that was touched on too, can superheroes do 'stuff' considering their powers? (Please tell me i'm not the only one that was surprised they went there).

Overall Feelings:
After so many teasers we finally got the story of Firestorm that was both emotional and and sight to behold. Barry and other cast members all had their own plots to explore that pushed this amazing show even further. Here's hoping next week holds up and continues to show us the fury of Firestorm!

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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