'The Flash': 'Shade'

After an episode – 'Monster' – that was no more than 'filler for the soul' and a week-off for electoral hi-jinx, The Flash is back on course, with its foot firmly on the gas pedal. Kid Flash's dreams have come true, possibly. Joe gets his first date out of the way, mostly. And Kaitlin Frost is outed by a finger-pointing best friend. Barry attempts to solidify a 'broship' with Julien only to be swept aside for the girlfriend. Rejection! And did I mention that we've met our resident villain speedster for the current era?  Every big reveal yields new questions, as is the case with most poignant storytelling.  The Flash is no exception.  Let's begin.

Anybody order a Kid Flash well done, or columned, as the case may be?  Wally has heard the call to Alchemy, and offers himself up as bait so that the police can follow him and arrest Dr. Alchemy once and for all.  I'm sure the possibility of receiving his powers as a side effect of this plan never occurred to Wally though, because he's so selfless and only wants to help others.  Yeah, right!  But I'm not mad at him.  Who would blame him, especially if he can do something good with them? Doctor Alchemy merely awakens powers in people;once he's done his "here's your mojo back" thing, he doesn't turn them evil or control them.  So Wally should be ok.  We're just not 100% sure because we've never seen this happen before with one of Alchemy's targets.  Did Alchemy double cross Wally since he brought the police?  Since when does Alchemy have acolytes?  Is Godspeed on his leash and if so, for how long?  Will Wally emerge a speedster, as promised?

Kaitlin confides in Cisco about her frost powers.  He promptly micro-betrays her by getting Kaitlin to revealthem to the group.  This is sad because, as Kaitlin pointed out, she'll be leaving soon as her powers are corrupting her mind. I wouldn't say they're driving her insane but they definitely make her not herself.  It's like her icy abilities sap all the warmth from her heart.  This seems to be co-signed by Cicso's vision of her future, where the two of them are fighting each other, but that really could mean anything.  To me, they don't think objectively enough about the future.  They always subject to it and define it by the perspectives they currently hold.  They got to get out of that frame of mind.  Who knows? Maybe Cisco was evil.  Is one of us (Cisco, Kaitlin) under the influence of mind control again?  Oh yea, let's not forget the possible motivating factor called coercion.  So while I agree it's most likely that Kaitlin goes full-on Killer Frost, the truth (and the fun) is, in Flashpoint, anything is possible.

Shade provided a rather puzzling Meta for our heroes to deal withthis week.  He creates giant shadow forms that leave no clue or evidence behind.  Luckily, being tapped into the city's surveillance system comes in handy, as suggested by HR no less.  I mention that becausethat is his only contribution to the group this week, until he lends out or duplicates that nifty Mission Impossibleface-swapping do-hickey. But alas, Shade is undone(as with all shadows) by the light.  For where light is in abundance, shadows cannot prevail, or exist for that matter.

For sure this season of The Flash is ramping up to be the best yet.  I cannot wait to see how this unfolds.  They don't let you go too far on filler alone.  More often than not, regular episodes tend to be amazing and heavy with moral dilemmas and the familialobligations that invite drama.  Here's to The CW, whichhandles some hot button topics, in between the speed lines of thrilling Super-Hero antics. Bravo!