The Flash season 7, episode 3 review: Mother

“These aren’t just abductions. It’s a full-blown invasion.” Spoilers for The Flash season 7, episode 3 follow.

Iris is now out of the Mirrorverse, but while Barry was pulling her out in the previous episode of The Flash season 7, her mind was damaged in an unexpected way, forcing Team Flash to rush and save her.

Meanwhile, Central City begins to descend into chaos as Eva McCulloch continues to get more and more powerful in an episode that was originally supposed to be the finale of the Arrowverse show’s previous season.

Invasion

Throughout Eva’s time of being the main villain, there hasn’t been actually much time spent between her and Barry in a one-on-one capacity as it has mainly been fight scenes between Mirror Mistress and The Flash. This is definitely something that hasn’t really allowed for Eva to become as standout of a villain as others, such as Reverse-Flash and Zoom. However, that is rectified in this episode a bit. Early on, after Eva’s machinations begin to cause Central City to collapse when she basically kidnaps Barry so that they can parley.

How the episode gets to this scene is pretty silly with Barry heading close to a window to see his reflection, even though he should know better. However, despite that issue, the following scene between Eva and Barry is really solid. Eva very much thinks of herself as the hero of the story despite the fact that she very much isn’t. Honestly, this episode reveals an almost Thanos-like end goal of creating more resources. However, like Thanos, she is going about it in the worst way possible. As a result, Eva becomes more compelling than she has ever been, and it’s just too bad that it didn’t happen sooner.

Meanwhile, Eva’s plans have brought Central City to a standstill within the dark and the city’s residents are afraid to even leave a window uncovered. This creates for some pretty intense scenes that feel right out of a decent horror film. Despite that though, the scope of Eva’s plans are never really felt in any significant ways, which is a massive missed opportunity. It also serves as an excuse to recast Ralph after Hartley Sawyer was fired from the show last year. It’s a pretty gruesome way to deal with Ralph, but the show does what it needs to do.

The speed of love

With Iris out of the Mirrorverse for the first time in months, it seems like everything would be hunky dory, however that definitely isn’t the case. Due to Barry forcing her out against her will, her mind was basically fragmented with seemingly no way to fix it. Luckily, science doesn’t work the same way in comic book properties as it does in the real world.

As it turns out, thanks to Harrison Wells, Barry getting his speed back ties into saving Iris’ mind. As he was the Paragon of Love, his love for Iris and, in turn, her love for him (a, lightning rod, if you will) is the secret ingredient to get the Speed Force back up and running once again. It’s incredibly cheesy on every level, but it’s earnest in a way that fits well for the show and the characters.

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So, with Barry’s speed returned, this leads to a pretty fun final battle between Team Flash and Mirror Mistress (or Mirror Monarch as she’s calling herself now). It’s been so long since we’ve really seen his speed at its full potential, so its nice to see here, but there’s also something off about the fight. Some of the fight, mainly the beginning, feels very awkward. Almost like the filmmaking team forgot how to use speed in a fight scene as it wasn’t used for so long.

What’s really great about the fight though is that it’s not won by beating Eva into submission. No, it’s one by Iris appealing to Eva’s better self in seeing the damage that she’s causing. It’s a very compassionate way to “beat” Eva and one that very much feels in-line with the episode’s message of love.

Wells returns in The Flash season 7

What would The Flash be without a version of Harrison Wells? It would probably lose a lot of its charm, that’s what. Luckily, even though it seemed like all of the Wells died, thanks to comic book logic, the original Harrison Wells has come back to life. Is there a lot more going on with this Wells in regards to Reverse-Flash? Yeah, probably. However, it’s just great to have Tom Cavanagh in the show still.

It’s also fun to see everyone’s reactions to Wells being back, with the highlight being Barry introducing himself. It’s a pure joy that Barry really has felt since season 1 of the show and it’s great to see again, even if just for a couple of seconds.

In what should’ve been the original finale for season 6 of The Flash, the Mirror Mistress storyline ends in a mostly satisfying and heartfelt manner.

What did you think of The Flash season 7, episode 3? Have you been enjoying The Flash season 7 so far? Let us know in the comments below!