The Flash: Season 1, Episode 9

The Flash

Episode Title: “The Man in the Yellow Suit”

Channel: CW

Director: Ralph Hemecker

Writers: Todd Helbing and Aaron Helbing

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Runtime: 43 min

Rated: TV-PG

Original Air Date: December 9, 2014

Mid-season finale time for The Flash! “The Man in the Yellow Suit” did exactly what I've come to expect from the last show going into the prolonged holiday break. Did it answer a lot of questions? Heck no, it left way more questions than answers in its wake, which should surprise no one. They have to leave you wanting more when the show comes back. What this episode manages to do is move the overall story along by a greater degree than we've seen in a while.

Most importantly, the Reverse-Flash is finally named as such and gets a significant amount of screen time. They didn't reveal his identity of course, I'm sure the ending was just another red herring; one that they're laying on too thick for it to be convincing at this point. It's pretty clear from the dialogue between Barry and the man in yellow that he has figured out a way to time travel. One oddity, the first confrontation between the two takes place in a stadium, it seems that the Reverse-Flash has someone on at the stadium on his payroll. There was a lightning accompaniment on the scoreboards while they fought it out, quite strange. The fight, if that's what we're calling it, was quite one-sided. It's nice to see someone introduced that is a legitimate threat to Barry, as he's seldom been in danger so far. Following the fight Barry realizes that he's not 'the fastest man alive.'

Can you tell who this might be? Yeah, me neither

Barry shares a couple of well-acted moments with both is biological father and his foster father in this episode. These are the types of scenes that really bring this show together, sprinkling just enough humanity into the character that the audience can empathize with him, despite his amazing powers. As a result of his conversation with his imprisoned dad, Barry finally decides to tell Iris the way he feels. I have mixed emotions on that whole aspect of the show. I know it's another aspect of the character that is intended to make it easier for the audience to relate to him, but with so many other things going on, and the fact that it was quite possibly the worse timing imaginable for such an admission, I haven't decided how I fell about it. Iris' complete and utter silence in the wake of Barry's confession was uncomfortable, which I'm sure was the idea.

One aspect of “The Man in the Yellow Suit” that just didn't fit for me was the side plot involving Caitlin and Firestorm. It felt like there just wasn't enough time to develop it properly, given the import of the rest of the episode. We're supposed to be left wondering why he seems as psychologically damaged as he is, but honestly, besides the titular hero we've only been introduced to one metahuman that seemed stable. It's not as a big a surprise to the audience as it is to Caitlin that he seems a bit off. Ronnie's sudden reappearance at the end of the episode was a bit out of place, since we know so little about the character, and he seems so unstable, it's hard to pin down a motivation for what he did.

Cisco and Joe have a moment when Cisco comes to a pretty shocking revelation; the facts of Nora Allen's death might not be exactly what we thought. The final “nefarious Dr. Wells” scene of this half season brings with it a whole host of questions regarding his role in the way things are playing out. From the past episodes we know that he wants the Flash to survive, and take part in whatever future he knows is coming. He has some kind of link to the Reverse-Flash, and it seems to be at the very least mutually beneficial.

Conclusion: “The Man in the Yellow Suit” is a successful way to cap off the 2014 run of The Flash. There's plenty of action, and some very emotion filled scenes. While the identity of the Reverse-Flash is still a secret the audience has learned enough about him to know he's a serious threat. I do find myself a trifle worried about, to borrow a term from another show, too much timey-wimey-ness making the plot of the show hard to follow, but only time will tell on that topic.

Rating: 8/10