The Flash
Episode Title: “The Sound and
the Fury”
Channel: CW
Director: John F. Showalter
Writers: Alison Schapker and
Brooke Eikmeier
Genre: Action,
Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Runtime: 43
min
Rated: TV-PG
Original Air Date: January 27,
2015
“The Sound and the Fury” was
Harrison Wells' episode, which means the audience got more insight
into the most mysterious of the show's characters. When he's
attacked at his home we finally see him use some speed. Although
we've assumed it for a while, its the first visual confirmation that
Wells is a speedster of some sort. I'm not prepared to jump on any
of the bandwagons concerning Wells' identity, but the show finally
mentioning the Speed Force means that he could be one of any number
of characters. I have a feeling that the most obvious answers will
turn out to be incorrect, so instead of pondering it too hard I'm
going to sit back and enjoy the ride.
The best parts of the episode were
those involving Wells and his relationships with Barry, Caitlin and
Cisco. It's beginning to seem that he actually considers them his
friends instead of his subordinates. Of course, that might not be the
case at all. They could be instrumental in whatever event he's
trying to bring about, so he sees the necessity in keeping them
around and happy. After having just earned back their trust a
revelation like that could conceivably devastate the team.
This week's villain, the Pied Piper,
was a bit of a mixed bag. There was definitely more back story
present than usual for the villains on The Flash,
but that's due to his prominence in the events leading up to the
accident at S.T.A.R. Labs and his role in upcoming episodes. While I
liked the portrayal of the villain I can't help but feel that the
writing let the character down. The best villains are those that the
viewer can at some level sympathize with. That's why villains are so
often bullied, wrongly accused, or suffering from some sort of
affliction; they weren't really bad guys before they were dealt a bad
hand. The audience can at that point understand where the villain is
coming from, even if they don't agree with his methods.
Unfortunately for Hartley Rathaway, aka the Pied Piper, there were
precious few of those sympathy building scenes. Even before his
descent into evil he was a huge douche, there was no sign of a single
redeeming quality in his persona. By the time his trouble with his
family, and that he lost his hearing in the particle accelerator
explosion, is revealed the character is already too insufferable for
me to empathize with him.
Another
item of note is that Joe's distrust of Harrison Wells has grown to
the point that he's asked Eddie to begin an investigation into the
doctor. Eddie's involvement seems sure to lead to some important
reveals regarding who exactly, is who. Iris' new job feels like a
holding pattern while the writers figure out what exactly to do with
the character. I hope something meaningful can come from it, but
from the brief glimpses we saw it seems like a pretty standard “gets
a job due to seemingly inside info, gets no respect, and has to
figure out how to be taken seriously,” story line. Lets hope for a
curve ball because I've already seen that story.
Conclusion:
Due to the failure of the script to elicit much sympathy from the
audience on behalf of the Piper “The Sound and the Fury” was not
as successful as it could have been. The insights into Dr. Wells
help to offset that shortcoming somewhat, even if they raised more
questions than they answered.
Rating:
7.25/10
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