The Flash Season 2 Episode 1 "The Man Who Saved Central City" Review and *SPOILERS*

Lightning Strikes Twice

There are some 

MAJOR SPOILERS in this review

About one year ago, I started out writing for the site. My very first review for Weird Science was the first half of The Flash's first season. It warms my heart that I finally return to the TV show I love with a brand new season as I think back at how many more posts I made...god I have no life. Jokes and reminiscing  It has been a long time coming for the show's return, and after the heart stopping conclusion to the last season's finale, I couldn't wait for the return.

Last we left our Scarlet Speedster, he had a final battle with the Reverse Flash, which ended when Eddie Thawne, one of Barry's closest friends and allies, shot himself, causing the Reverse Flash to disappear from existance. Unfortunately this lead to creating the singularity above Central City. The Flash ran up and began to run around it to equalize it, just like the tornado in the first episode. The question remains though...Did it work? Lets dive in and find out...

We open up with a kick ass fight between Captain Cold and Heat Wave. While Barry is able to disable Heat Wave, Cold gets him cornered, only to have Firestorm come in and help him take down the Rogues. It was great to see the Nuclear Man again...then Eddie Thawne....then Harrison Wells...

Turns out all of that opening sequence was a daydream, and we see the truth: Six months after the Singularity, the team is broken up and Barry is working solo, as to keep his friends and family safe. The Flash is now the beloved hero we have seen in the comics, but Barry doesn't think he is a hero. The reason for this is the fact that, while he was able to stabilize the black hole, it was actually Firestorm that closed it, by ripping out his matrix. This caused the death of Ronnie and the separation of Caitlin and the team.
First few minutes in and it is already more dark and depressing than the first season. That being said there still isn't humor. Cisco now works at the CCPD as a tech wizard, making tech in an attempt to make Anti-Meta  weapons and gear. His personality, in contrast to Director Singh, is just comedy waiting to happen.

The next day, The Flash is given the key to the city and we are introduced to the Meta-of-the-Week; Atom Smasher(being named by Professor Stein, much to Cisco's joy). Theres a very specific reason why I say it like that; Theres no real character to him. He's just a tool for the Big Bad hidden in the shadows. He's not even that impressive on a technical level. He looks like a clay figure whenever he grows and shrinks. Does he fill the role of peon? Absolutely, so I suppose he's not so bad.

After getting his loner rear handed to him, Barry has a heart to heart with Joe saying that he can no longer work alone, and that Ronnie and Eddie made their decisions that day. The were all heroes. It leads Barry to talking Caitlin into coming back to working with the team. This leads to one of the most shocking things I've seen on the show: Harrison Wells recording his confession of killing Nora Allen. I find this shocking because this would release Henry Allen, the thing he's always strode towards, both in show and in comics. So to see Barry finally get what he wants is a sweet moment.

After defeating Atom Smasher(who revealed his boss with a single word; Zoom), Barry gets his Father from prison, which leads to another emotional heart to heart, with Henry telling his son that he's leaving the city, but that should not stop Barry for being a hero. As I said above, this is what Barry has been trying to do since he first saw the Reverse Flash return to Central City, and now that he finally has what he wants, and to see it ripped away from him actually almost caused me to cry. It was a beautiful way to end not just the episode, but the conflict of Henry's incarceration as a whole. I doubt Henry will be gone forever, but if he is, I will say  I will miss John Wesley Shipp as the character, bringing handfuls of scenes full of emotion.


KEYPOINTS:
+ Sweet Action scenes
+ Emotional moments between father figures
+ Dark moments balanced with Humorous ones
- Atom Smasher falls flat

7.5/10