“It doesn’t matter what I try to do, nothing works!” Minor spoilers for The Flash season 5, episode 14 follow.
The cure has been synthesized, with the only problem being that it needs a month to stabilize. Barry decides to go into the Speed Force to quicken the stabilization, leaving Team Flash without him for only an hour.
But in that hour, Cicada kidnaps Iris, sending Team Flash into distress mode.
Cicada kidnaps Iris
The majority of this episode centers on Cicada kidnapping Iris, leading to his plan that ends up killing Caitlin. The shock causes Nora to run back in time by accident, which gives her the idea to save Caitlin from dying.
Nora continually tries to change what happens, but everything keeps going wrong completely, with the same scenarios playing out in slightly different ways. This is obviously a play/parody of Groundhog Day, which would seem novel if it hadn’t been done recently in Happy Death Day and its sequel (which ironically comes out this week too).
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It’s funny that an episode parodying Groundhog Day hasn’t been done on The Flash yet given the propensity for time travel on the show, but maybe this episode is the reason why. It doesn’t work at all. There are some fun visuals, but those cannot make for what is a lackluster execution of the story. It’s understandable what the writers were trying to do with this episode, it’s just too bad that the loop became very uninteresting after the second loop. Nothing happens differently, and each loop ends in the same exact way. Jessica Parker Kennedy gives a good performance in the episode, which makes it more frustrating that the rest of the episode can’t hold up.
Somehow this episode also makes Cicada less intimidating. He’s able to kill members of Team Flash over and over again and yet, he also now spouts one-liners? It really hurts the intimidation factor of the character.
Just in time, West Coast. New episode of #TheFlash NOW on The CW! pic.twitter.com/nOSN3svJM7
— The Flash (@CW_TheFlash) February 13, 2019
Cisco goes on a date
Cisco is the absolute worst on dates. He’s already a very awkward person, so to see him try to impress someone is even more so. Like, it’s so awkward that it’s not even funny. It’s actually sad to see Cisco like this given how he normally is.
Every time a version of this scene comes up, it tries to play Cisco’s déjà vu knowledge as funny, but nothing works and everything falls completely flat. Cisco is often an extremely fun character, especially in his awkward situations because he’s still charming, but here, none of that’s the case.
The cure is finished
With the cure finished, it’s only a matter of time before Team Flash can use it on Cicada. Who knows if it will actually work though, given the problems that Cicada continues to cause in the future. The worst part about the cure being finished in this episode though is that it’s the most interesting thing about the episode.
No episode of The Flash should have a goober (term taken from Into the Spider-Verse), that isn’t even used in the episode, be the most interesting part of the episode. It’s not even interesting because it’s present, but because of the potential that it provides going forward now that it exists.
The Flash flubs an interesting homage in what is possibly the worst episode of the season so far.