The Flash season 7, episode 8 review: The People v. Killer Frost

“I didn’t just turn myself in to break the law again.” Spoilers for The Flash season 7, episode 8 follow.

Frost is in the hot seat in the courts of Central City in the latest episode of The Flash season 7 and Team Flash is hellbent on helping her, even if she doesn’t want their help.

Meanwhile, Barry and the Speed Force head out to try and neutralize the Strength Force and run into some unexpected obstacles.

Strength in numbers

Learning from his past failures has always been the key to The Flash’s success against his villains, so one of the best things about this episode is the fact that Barry doesn’t push back at all when the Speed Force offers to help him find Fuerza. It’s something so small, but it’s so nice to see as forced friction between members of the team has become such a trope of the show by this point – and a really bad trope at that. It’s also nice to see the character development that Barry and the Speed Force underwent in the previous episode isn’t automatically reset back to square one here – something that is also a trope on this show.

The actual friction between the two in this episode actually feels earned. It’s not just differing personalities that they can learn to live with, it’s entirely different philosophies on how things should be done, specifically when it is in regards to figuring out who Fuerza is. The debates they have aren’t just drama, they are legitimate character differences, that authentically speak for both Barry and the Speed Force.

As for Fuerza herself, the depiction of the character is one of the least comic-accurate adaptations to ever exist in the show. Straight up, the version that exists in The Flash season 7 is an adaptation of Rampage, a Superman antagonist/ally, not Fuerza. It’s incredibly disappointing and just feels like a completely missed opportunity.

However, ignoring that it’s a terrible adaptation, how is the actual character on the show? Well, so far, she’s just, bland. That’s really all she is. There really should be more to say at this point, but there’s not. There’s definitely beginnings of some real depth in terms of who she really is and that allows for a really solid scene between The Flash and Alexa, Fuerza’s human form, but not much more.

Cold justice in The Flash season 7

Alright, that brings us to the episode’s main plot and, well, this is just going to be blunt. Almost everything about the courtroom scenes and Frost’s subsequent punishment is undermined by poor execution. In fact, the only redeeming quality in the entire storyline is Danielle Panabaker’s performance. That’s literally it. This may be the worst A-plot that the show has had in seasons, if not the entire series. And it’s not through the storyline but the awkward execution of it.

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Though the episode does attempt to be something of an allegory in multiple aspects, admirably taking a stand against the practice of forced sterilization and the prejudice towards individuality, much of the execution of the story once again falls on its face. Frost’s situation presented viewers with a just punishment for the actual crimes wrought by her in imprisonment and then there was the absolutely unconstitutional punishment of forcefully taking away her powers permanently – which didn’t feel like something the court would even consider given that there was, again, a just punishment already on the table.

As for the actual courtroom scenes throughout the episode, they are truly mind-boggling. Poorly executed in every manner with little compelling or sensical happening at all within them. This is the dumbest judge ever. Probably the dumbest bailiff too for not arresting Caitlin for admitting to obstruction of justice inside a courtroom! Everything about these scenes defy logic, resulting in little to nothing redeemable about them.

This week’s episode of The Flash had a couple of good moments, but all-in-all, it’s one of the weakest episodes in recent memory, which is a real disappointment as there was so much potential heading into this storyline and it feels like it ultimately failed to deliver on any of it.

What did you think of this week’s episode of The Flash season 7? Let us know in the comments below!