This week’s episode of The Flash was so twisty that the villain of the episode should’ve been Mr. Twister. There were swerves and head-fakes all over the place in this one, and while some of them were somewhat easily telegraphed, there were a few things that were genuinely pleasantly surprising.
Tom Felton is finally given more than two minutes of screen-time as we learn a lot more about Barry’s new post-Flashpoint officemate, Julian Albert. Up until this point he had mostly been there so the two could sneer at each other (well, Barry does most of his sneering behind Julian’s back), so it was nice to get to spend a substantial amount of time seeing the characters actually interact. Joe West wisely tells Barry that the situation between he and Julian is never going to change unless one of them makes an effort, which Barry then does in his typically awkward Barry fashion. The scenes between Barry and Julian are refreshing and fun, particularly once they find that they’re actually kind of a good team. There’s also some strong dramatic work from Felton in the final scene of the episode, after the climactic villain showdown has taken place. Both Barry and Julian have their assumptions about each other subverted, a common TV trope that’s executed really well in this episode.
Things do not go quite as well for our new Harrison Wells from yet another Earth (please, call him HR). HR is trying really hard to ingratiate himself with the gang, and while it’s working on most of them, Cisco’s not convinced. Sure, HR seems like he’s helping. He does come up with an idea (sort of) of how The Flash can stop the monster that’s terrorizing Central City. But beyond that, Cisco can’t think of a single thing that HR has contributed (aside from coffee and bagels!) in the short time that he’s been on this Earth. This, of course, is complicated for the viewers by a scene of HR looking all shifty while talking into a recording device about how no one suspects his real reason for being there. What sinister secret is he hiding?
Speaking of secrets, Caitlin still has a pretty big one: she’s got ice powers, and she doesn’t know how to control them. The episode separates her from the rest of the gang as she travels out of town to see her mom, Dr. Carla Tannhauser, a world-renowned scientist and important businesswoman in town on business. Caitlin and her mom have some serious issues, which Caitlin tries to put aside while her mom runs all of the same tests on her that she’s already run. This woman clearly gives her daughter zero credit as a scientist, nor is she capable initially of not thinking like a scientist long enough to realize that maybe Caitlin is scared and just wanted to see her mom. Only after Caitlin is nearly abducted by her mother’s lab assistant does Dr. Tannhauser finally ‘get’ it and give her daughter the best approximation of a mother’s love that she’s able to. It’s a heartbreaking relationship to explore, made all the more by Caitlin telling Cisco back at STAR Labs that this is her true home. With her mother having told her that the more she uses them the harder they’ll be to get rid of, it’ll be interesting to see what Caitlin does next. Will she finally tell her friends what’s going on? And why is she hiding it to begin with?
The main mystery of the episode has to do with the aforementioned gigantic monster in Central City. It shows up out of nowhere, wrecks Godzilla-style havoc for a few minutes, then disappears without a trace. Does it teleport? Hide in a building? Stand very very still and camouflage? Those are all terrible guesses, but no one else has any idea how it’s doing what it’s doing…until The Flash employs the carbon-fiber cable that HR suggests the team make to hold it, and discovers that the monster is actually just a hologram. The real culprit is using local traffic cameras to watch and guide the creature that everyone thinks is real – and that’s not really causing any damage other than causing a panic among the citizens of Central. It’s also drawn out the police in full force, who have snipers in place to take the creature down. Of course, the creature isn’t really there, but luckily Barry is on-hand to catch the snipers’ bullet before it kills an innocent bystander. Cisco (with no help from HR) is able to triangulate the source of the hologram to an abandoned building a few blocks away, and The Flash arrives in time to stop Julian (who did his own detective thing to find the place) from accidentally killing the culprit. It’s a good thing, too, since the perp is a fifteen-year-old kid who just wanted to cause some fear and feel powerful for once in his life. The feeling of powerlessness that this kid feels on a daily basis is one that Julian understands all too well as a scientist in a world of metahumans who defy all scientific laws. It’s easy to see how Julian might’ve gone on to become a Lex Luthor-type character in the fact of that, and the fact that he didn’t choose that path should tell us everything we need to know about him.
Which brings us back to HR. There’s a double-twist with him in this episode, as we first learn, after Cisco goes snooping in his bag and finds his recording device, that HR is a novelist in addition to being a scientist. He’s writing a novel about his experiences on this alternate earth, and the characters he’s met here. This explanation is put on hold by the final monster attack of the episode, during which Cisco asks HR to triangulate the source of the projection, a task that HR doesn’t have the first idea how to do. It turns out that HR isn’t much of a scientist at all; in fact, he’s the one Harrison Wells in the multiverse who isn’t a genius. His partner at STAR Labs helped him decode the gang’s message last episode, and suggested that he take this trip so he could write a book about it and finally do something for himself instead of just being the idea man. The group begrudgingly allows him to stay so he can try to prove his value to them (aside, again, from the coffee and bagels), and we are left with an entirely flipped Harrison Wells dynamic, where the ‘kids’ know more than he does and he has to try to earn their respect.
Overall, “Monster” was really strong, with some truly dramatic moments and great character interactions. The burgeoning camaraderie between Barry and Julian is a great relationship to have on the show, especially with Julian not knowing Barry’s secret. That’s something that’s been missing from The Flash ever since Iris found out back in late season 1, and while it’s likely inevitable that Julian will eventually learn the truth, it’ll be enjoyable to again see Barry having to keep his secret from a friend for a little while.
