The Flash 90s – Ep19 – Done With Mirrors Review

You may have guessed who the villain is by the title of the episode but you might not know who played him. Sam Scudder/Mirror Master was portrayed by singer, song writer and actor David Cassidy who is also the father of arrowverse royalty Katie Cassidy. It is always really cool to see connections between the 90s show and the content we have today.

Sam Scudder and his partner Stasia Masters have broken into the west cost branch of S.T.A.R Labs. They steal a battery that could easily power a house for 10 years. He places a disk in the battery’s place and it projects a perfect hologram of the battery. He plans on selling it for a fortune. As they are about to leave Stasia tries to hit Scudder from behind but her hand goes right through him. It was another hologram. Stasia turns around to find the real Scudder behind her. He knew she would try to betray him but before he can grab her she sprays knockout gas in his face. Stasia grabs the battery, sets off the alarm and leaves the unconscious Scudder to take the fall.

A very nervous Tina has brought Barry to pick up her mother from the train station. Tina has a strained relationship with her mother (Jocelyn) as she stayed with her father when Jocelyn left him. The only reason Jocelyn is in Central City is due to an art show she is hosting in the area. As Tina is introducing Barry to Jocelyn Stasia (who is trying to avoid on of Scudders lackeys) appears and gives Barry a kiss on the lips. Roll Titles.

Kissing Barry has worked as the lackey has gone. Barry remembers Stasia from high school, Tina who is slightly annoyed tries to get Barry’s attention but she only gets it after Stasia has left. As Barry helps Jocelyn with her luggage he notices that his wallet is gone. Meanwhile Stasia looks at Barry’s wallet and discovers that he is a cop.

Tina shows Jocelyn a very rare crystal that can focus a laser beam more accurately than any other crystal in the world. It is on loan from the government, if anything happens to it Tina would probably get fired (I wonder what will happen to it in this episode?).
As amazing as the crystal is Jocelyn seems bored of it instantly. She is more interested in the lack of colour in Tina’s lab. She doesn’t know how Tina can work in such dull conditions.

The next day at a cafe Stasia is on the phone to a business associate (Fletcher). She is unhappy as Fletcher is two days away from Central City, she knows the longer she is there the more chance one of Scudders lackeys will catch her. As she finishes her call two lackeys happen to appear and sit next to her. One of them tries to grab her bag but Stasia trips up a waiter and in the confusion she makes a break for it. As Barry, Bellows and Murphy are enjoying corndogs Stasia and the lackeys run past them. They notices that the lackeys are packing heat and they start chasing them. Stasia uses one of Scudder’s disks to project a cowboy in the middle of the street and as one lackey is distracted by this and the other has been arrested by Murphy Stasia gets away in a cab.

Stasia decides that the only way she can stay out of trouble for two days is to find a boy scout who can give her a place to stay. As Barry and Julio arrive at work Stasia is already there waiting for Barry. She gives him back his wallet claiming it must of fell into her bag at the train station. Julio leaves Stasia and Barry to catch up. She tells Barry she is stuck in the city for a few days but has no place to stay. Barry offers her the opportunity to stay to his apartment and obviously Stasia jumps at the chance.

Scudder meets Tallent, his head lackey. He shows off a special device on his wrist, it projects a moving image of him anywhere he wants. Tallent informs him that Stasia got away and The Flash could be a thorn in their side. Scudder tells Tallent to find Stasia and the battery, while he goes on a little errand himself. Scudder is going to S.T.A.R Labs. At the lab Tina is disappointed that her mother is going out as Tina had planned to make her dinner. As Tina leaves the lab in a huff Scudder sneaks in. Tina has forgotten her keys so she returns to the lab to get them. The only problem is the lab is engulfed in flames. Tina uses a fire extinguisher to put it out but it has no effect. Scudder who is hiding in the lab projects a mime by mistake and then a team of fire men. Now even though Tina must have seen the fire men appear out of thin air she still starts to talk to one. Scudder takes his leave with the super rare crystal that Tina was bragging to her mother about earlier. Back in the lab the fire men, the mime and fire all disappear. Tina thinks she is losing her mind.

Barry and Stasia return to his apartment after dinner, Stasia thanks Barry again for letting her stay. Barry thinks they are about to kiss but Stasia asks if The Flash was built by some mad scientist, Barry says like “Professor Zoom”. (Wow Professor Zoom what a crazy name.) Stasia goes to kiss Barry but this time the phone rings and Stasia picks it up. It’s Tina and she needs Barry to come over to her lab right away. Barry leaves Stasia in his apartment; she hides the battery under a lamp.

Tina explains to Barry about the fire that wasn’t a fire. She thinks her mother is pushing her over the edge. Barry finds a disk on the floor and as he picks it up the mime appears again. Tina is surprised at the sophistication of the projection disk. Barry thinks the fire and everything else was a distraction for a theft. Tina hasn’t noticed anything missing, Barry looks at the crystal and tries to touch it; his hand passes though the projection of the crystal. He finds a disk nearby. Tina mentions that S.T.A.R Lab has had a bad time lately with this theft and the one at the west coast site. She realises that if they don’t find the crystal she will lose her job. They deduce that to sell the crystal the thief will have to cut it. Tina believes it would take a lot of power to cut that particular crystal. They search for any power surges in the city and they find one at the hotel Infantino (Hey I know a guy with that name).

Scudder and Tallent are having no luck cutting the crystal. Scudder tries to think of another way to cut it but Tallent pulls a gun on him and wants to sell that whole crystal for one big score. Scudder opens a door and discretely drops a disk; all of a sudden three large police officers walk into the room and go for Tallent. He backs up too far and falls through a window. The officers disappear and Scudder looks out of the window at his deceased former associate. The Flash runs into the room and asks for the crystal. Scudder tries to bribe The Flash but that isn’t going to work. The Flash goes to grab Scudder but that isn’t going to work either as he has been talking to a projection. The real Scudder turns the light off and vanishes. The Flash looks for him but Scudder is no longer in the room he is actually getting the crystal from Tallent’s body.

Stasia gets a call at a pay phone from Fletcher, she says the longer she has to wait in the city the higher the price of the battery. As she hangs up Scudder whistles at her and grabs her. He wants the battery but Stasia claims that she has sold it, he doesn’t believe her but then Stasia says she can get him The Flash, now Scudder starts to listen. Stasia tells Scudder that she sold the battery to a scientist called Professor Zoom, he created The Flash and he can make more. So he gives her 24 hours to set up a meeting with Zoom.

Barry turns up to work tired and mad. He tells Julio that he got no sleep and Stasia disappeared. He thinks she is playing games with him and she is up to something. Julio suggests they look her up on the crime lab computer. They discover she hooked up with a guy named Scudder who used high tech holograms to steal a lot of things. I think Barry is starting to figure things out.

At Garrick Gallery (they so many good references in this episode) Barry fills Tina in on the Scudder Stasia connection. He promises he will get the crystal back. Jocelyn who is helping sell some of the art at the exhibition has an argument with Tina. Tina bemoans the fact that Jocelyn never knew her dead husband David or came to his funeral. Jocelyn said she was in the middle of something and Tina says Jocelyn was always in the middle of something and never had time for her. Barry tells Jocelyn to go after her but she refuses as she is busy. Barry tells her about the stress Tina is currently going thought and she could use her mothers support, Jocelyn almost takes his advise but she sees another piece of art is being sold and walks away from Barry. Stasia walks up to Barry and asks for his help. Barry knows helping Stasia will get him close to Scudder and the crystal.

Barry and Stasia arrive at a seedy bar. Barry is dressed quite differently to his normal attire. He is wearing a pair of dark shades, a long overcoat, a horrible shirt oh and he has spiked his hair. Barry is not thrilled by Stasia’s plan or choice of location. Stasia tells him he has to pretend to be Professor Zoom and convince Scudder that he can make him his own version of the Flash. Stasia leaves Barry at the bar while she finds Scudder. But before she finds him she calls Fletcher telling him she may have something that sparkles to sell him. Nearby Scudder hears Stasia’s conversation. As Barry chokes on a drink Julio and Sabrina see him and ask him if he is leading a double life or is he undercover. He tells them to scram so they won’t blow his cover.

Stasia grabs Barry and takes him to a private table. Scudder shows up and Barry er… Professor Zoom starts to talk with a bad German accent. He zooms off and brings some drinks from the bar at super speed. Both Scudder and Stasia are shocked by this. This was Zoom’s way of showing Scudder that he was legit. Zoom lays out the deal, the crystal for the secrets of the Flash. Zoom wants to see the crystal but Scudder wants to see the battery he thinks Stasia has sold to Zoom. Breaking his accent a confused Barry looks at Stasia and says “Battery?” She runs off and before Scudder can go after her Barry drops the act and tells Scudder that he is under arrest. Scudder projects a hologram of snakes on to Barry’s chest and feet. Barry freaks out and Scudder makes his escape. After the hologram fades Barry thinks he has caught up to Scudder but you’ve guessed it another hologram. As Barry rushes off to find Scudder he drops his invite to the art exhibition which Scudder finds.

Barry returns to the gallery looking for Tina as he can’t find her anywhere. Jocelyn informs him that Tina isn’t there and she starts talking about how well the exhibition went. Jocelyn then regrets how she acted around Tina so Barry suggests she talks to her. Before she can respond they see a priest who is admiring a painting. Barry walks over to him but he disappears and Scudder knocks Barry out from behind. Scudder takes Barry and Jocelyn to the hotel and ties them up. Scudder thinks Jocelyn is in on the deal with Stasia; Barry tries to explain that she is not but Scudder isn’t buying it. As usual the bad guy divulges his plan to a good guy. Scudder will catch Stasia at the train station so he will end up the battery and the crystal. He leaves Barry and Jocelyn a present, a laser cutter which is wired up to a timer and when the timer reaches zero the laser which cut right through Barry and Jocelyn.

Stasia grabs the battery in Barry’s apartment and is about to skip town until Tina walks in on her and demands to know where Barry and her mother are. Stasia pulls a gun on Tina but Barry’s dog Earl (who is a very good boy) jumps at Stasia and knocks her over. Tina grabs the gun. Stasia convinces Tina not to call the cops because if she does she will never find Barry or her mother. They go off to the train station as Stasia thinks Scudder will be there.

At the hotel Barry bites a button off his shirt and spits it at a lamp. The room goes dark and under that cover of darkness Barry frees himself and Jocelyn using his speed. She asks if this sort of thing happens to him a lot, he explains that Tina is usually about to help him. Barry asks her to call the police while he heads for the train station.

Stasia meets Fletcher at the station and Tina pulls the gun on them both. Scudder interjects and holds them all up. Tina is about to give him the battery but the Flash shows up and grabs the battery first. Scudder projects multiple copies of himself to confuse the Flash. Flash gives the battery to Tina who plugs it in to a small lighting rig. The light shines bright and all the Scudders apart from the real one fade away. The Flash quickly knocks him out and takes back the crystal. In all the action Stasia and Fletcher run outside and catch a cab. They talk about all the places they could run off to but the only place they are going is prison. The cab driver is Barry and it is surrounded by the police.

Tina and Jocelyn reconcile and decide to make an effort to see each other more often. Barry rushes in and tells them to stop being so cold to one another, Tina explains that they have sorted out their issues, they all smile and live happy ever after, well until the next episode at least.

This was yet another top episode. It had a strong B plot with Tina and her mother and we saw a different take on one of the Flash’s most well known rogues.

The Flash 90s – Ep18 – Twin Streaks Review

It looks like Central City has a case of double vision.

Doctor Jason Brassell and his associate Ted Whitcomb are seeing how fast their test subject can run. The test subject reaches a speed of 347 miles per hour and he evaporates into thin air. Ted is distraught at seeing the man disappear but Jason is only angry as his experiment was a failure. A few days later Ted tries to convince Jason to stop the experiments before they loose anyone else. Jason will not give his work up; he didn’t care about the test subject as it was a clone. He is determined to try again but with a test subject who can withstand high speeds, he decides that they need The Flash.

Tina is testing Barry’s mental speed, physical speed and heart rate. She asks him to place a few hundred books on to some shelves and put them in alphabetical order by author. Barry does it but he is 20% slower than last time, his heart rate is faster than normal and he made three mental errors (his first errors ever). Tina is worried that Barry is pushing himself too hard by responding to every little emergency that the police can deal with and she feels that he will burn himself out one day very soon. Barry dismisses the notion that he is working too hard. Before Tina can finish explaining the damage Barry is doing to his body he hears a police alert (thanks to an ear piece he is wearing) about a bomb warning at the Central City railway station and he runs off.

At the station The Flash searches everywhere but he finds no sign of any bomb. A small toy robot appears and rolls over to The Flash, he goes to touch it but the robot cuts him with a hidden blade and his hand starts to bleed badly. He picks the robot up and runs back to Tina. We see a small pool of his blood on the station floor; Dr Jason Brassell walks over and takes a sample of The Flash’s blood.

Jason puts the blood sample into a chamber and within a few minutes the blood is now a baby, a few minutes more a small child and just over an hour later a fully grown clone of Barry Allen/The Flash walks out of the chamber.

Tina has treated Barry’s hand and she notices that it is healing slower than normal. She finally tells him that he is suffering from stress and eventually it was cost him more than his ability to heal fast.

Jason and Ted have been teaching the clone to read and Jason notes that the clone is learning at a hundred times the speed of the previous clones. Ted is concerned that the clone has the mind of a child in the body of a powerful adult and it has no morality and no sense of right or wrong. Jason yet again doesn’t care about the ethical side of things as all he can see are dollars signs. Jason wants to create another thousand clones of The Flash and sell them to the highest bidder. Jason names the clone Pollux after a twin in Roman mythology. He asks Pollux to stack some blocks as fast as he can. Pollux struggles to do so and every time the blocks fall over he gets more and more frustrated. He starts to throw the blocks around Jason’s lab and he breaks a few windows. Calmly Ted walks over to Pollux and he asks him nicely to try and stack the blocks again. This time Pollux does it in seconds. Jason notices that Pollux skin is burning up from moving at high speed, so he decides to build him a protective suit.

Julio is try to calm a very annoyed Lt Garfield as it seems Barry has sent the wrong case files to an archive facility 20 miles away (due to stress). Garfield tears into Barry when he arrives but Barry hits back and if it were not for Julio and Tina Barry would have been looking at a very long suspension. Tina takes Barry for a walk.

Jason has made Pollux a blue version of The Flash’s costume with the logo of the lab instead of a lighting bolt. As Jason and Ted are discussing what to do with their creation Pollux escapes the lab. He finds a playground and starts to play on a roundabout. He is going so fast he causes a series of high winds which cause chaos on the Central City streets. Barry and Tina see the aforementioned chaos and Barry tries to stop the roundabout but he is knocked off. Pollux sees Tina and tries to play with her but she tells him no. Jason and Ted find Pollux but he refuses to go back to the lab with them. Jason shoots him in the back with a tranquilliser dart and he collapses.

Ted tries to convince Jason to destroy Pollux as he is too dangerous. Jason says no and is determined to make more versions of him. Pollux wants to know who he is, where is he from and who his parents are. Jason tells Pollux that he is nothing but an experiment. Pollux is about to leave the lab but before Ted can shoot him with another dart Pollux swings him round and throws him into some shelves killing Ted instantly. Shocked by this Pollux runs away from the lab.

Thanks to the logo on Pollux’s suit Tina locates the lab he came from and Barry goes to pay it a visit. Pollux is wondering the streets and steals some fancy clothes from a shop. Later he finds a newspaper with Tina’s picture on it. He seems infatuated with her and decides to get her flowers. Barry reaches the lab and finds Jason who is packing up his equipment. Jason is shocked as he thinks its Pollux at first but he quickly realises that the man standing in front of him is The Flash. Barry asks him a few questions but gets no real answer to any of them. Barry finds a bin with shredded files, he takes them home, puts them all back together again and starts to read the files.

Pollux turns up at S.T.A.R Labs with a lot of flowers for Tina. She quickly calls Barry to meet them. Barry has read all the files and knows everything about Pollux and all the failed experiments. Pollux sees Barry and realises that he came from Barry’s DNA. Barry shows him his police badge which Pollux takes along with Barry’s keys and wallet after he smashes a vase on Barry’s head. Pollux tells Tina that he is now Barry Allen.

At the station Pollux runs into Lt Garfield and immediately has an argument with him. Julio tells him to chill out and get some rest at home. Pollux goes to Barry’s apartment and looks though his photo album. A few hours later Barry and Tina arrive there but Pollux is gone, they deduce that he is going to his old lab to see Jason.

Pollux finds Jason who is trying to leave the lab for good. Jason tries to shoot Pollux (this time with a real gun) but Pollux catches the bullet and throws it back at high speed right into Jason’s heart. The Flash and Tina arrive and ask Pollux to come with them but Pollux refuses and starts to fight with The Flash. The fight is even until Jason with his last breath shoots his gun at The Flash in that moment Pollux jumps in front of the bullet and saves The Flash’s life. The Flash holds Pollux in his arms as he sees the clone fade away into nothingness, the only thing left is the suit. Tina believes that due to Pollux’s metabolic level accelerating so fast he literally burned himself out. Barry takes this as a sign and decides to take things a bit easier so he can de-stress and not burn out himself.

This is probably John Wesley Shipp’s best performance in The Flash. He played Pollux with such innocence and misplaced anger when the role demanded it. The emotion he conveyed as The Flash when he held the dying Pollux in his arms must also receive high praise.

The Flash 90s – Ep17 – Captain Cold Review

Central City is in the middle of a heatwave but there is someone who can cool things down, the only problem is his name is Captain Cold.

It’s a hot summer’s night in Central City and four of the city’s top crime bosses can’t take the heat. That’s probably because the air con is not working in the St Diogenes Social Club. Inside the club the bosses are worried about Jimmy Swain a crime boss who is muscling in on their turf. They are interrupted by a person claiming to be the air con repairman. They ask him to make it cool in the club he reassures them by saying cool is his speciality.

Barry is awoken by his phone, its Julio asking Barry to meet him as there’s been an incident at the social club. Once Barry arrives Julio shows him all four crime bosses frozen to death. Neither Julio or Barry know how this type of freezing could happen but as Lt Garfield reminds them, it’s their job to find out. Outside a journalist named Terri Kronenberg is trying to get the scoop on what happened in the club but officer Bellows isn’t letting her in. As soon as Bellows leaves her she crosses the police tape. Barry is getting some equipment out of the crime labs van and as he gets out he manages to step on Terri’s hand that just happens to be under the van. Terri tells him off so Barry decides to call over Bellows who gladly removes Terri from the crime scene as she leaves Terri stamps on Barry’s foot.

Jimmy Swain is extremely happy as his rival crime bosses are out of the picture. He gets some money out of his safe and gives it to the air con repairman who happens to be Leonard Wynters aka Captain Cold, a professional hitman with an icy demeanour. Swain has another job for Cold but he isn’t interested until Swain tells him that it will be a challenge, he wants Cold to put The Flash on ice. Cold gladly accepts the job.

At the police station Lt Garfield informs Julio and Barry that Terri has been assigned to the station by the Daily Clarion to write reports on how the police do their job. Barry isn’t thrilled with this and leaves to see Tina at S.T.A.R Labs. Barry asks Tina to look at a tissue sample from the crime scene and run it through the labs analysis equipment.

Back at the crime lab Terri apologises to Barry. She tells Barry that she has a theory about The Flash; she thinks he works at the police department. Terri thinks it could be anyone at the department apart from Barry as he doesn’t look physically strong enough to pull off being a superhero. Tina arrives with the results from the tissue analysis. Tina picked up some radiation on the tissue sample, she believes whatever froze those men was powered by a nuclear energy, Terri hears all this information. Barry hears a commotion outside, he meets Bellows who tells him that three bombs have been left around the city and they are due to explode in five minutes. If only they knew someone who was fast enough to stop all three bombs in time.

The Flash defuses all three bombs in time but all that rushing about has taken a toll on his body and he is feeling weak. Inside the shop where he found the third bomb an exhausted Flash is confronted by Captain Cold. Cold has some type of hi-tech gun and he tries to shoots The Flash but he is still too quick for the freeze gun. Unfortunately The Flash runs out of steam and his feet are frozen by the gun. Cold is about to finish the job but the sound of police sirens hasten his departure and he leaves The Flash in pain.

The next morning Barry is slowly recovering at S.T.A.R Labs and Tina has a lead on where the freeze gun comes from. The gun came from a company researching biological cryogenic and they had developed a portable freezing unit with a small nuclear battery to power it, but it was stolen six months ago. Tina warns Barry against taken Cold on as the gun could kill him. Barry won’t back down so Tina gives him a mini transmitter that will let her keep track of him just in case things get chilli again.

Barry’s contact Fosnight lets him know that Cold is working for Swain. Barry notices a story about a nuclear powered freeze weapon in The Inquisitor (a garbage newspaper) that only one reporter could have had knowledge of and that reporter was Terri. Barry confronts Terri and tells her that the Daily Clarion has never heard of her and she has lied to the police so she could get a story about the crime boss killings and The Flash. He gets Terri to tell Lt. Garfield the truth and just like that she is no longer welcome at the police station.

Swain is furious with Cold as he didn’t kill The Flash so he sacks him. Cold takes it well and before he leaves he gives Swain a snow globe as a gift. A few seconds after Cold has departed the globe explodes, freezing Swain to death. Cold re-enters Swain’s office and takes all the money from the safe. Julio tells Barry about Swain and about another frozen body at a warehouse, Julio goes to Swain’s office and Barry heads off to the warehouse.

As The Flash speeds through the city Cold sees him and tracks him with a device in his car. The Flash finds that the frozen body is just Terri made up to look like she was frozen. She handcuffs herself to him and demands an interview. As they argue Cold shows up. The Flash tries to escape with Terri but Cold freezes the floor; The Flash falls and knocks himself out. Terri unlocks the handcuffs and runs off leaving The Flash to face an icy demise. Cold freezes him stone cold solid. At S.T.A.R Labs Tina sees that The Flash’s life signs have slowed dramatically and she rushes off to find him.

When Tina makes it to the warehouse it is swarming with cops. They put The Flash’s body in the back of an ambulance which Tina promptly drives away in (seriously what would Barry do without her). In the meantime Cold tracks down Terri’s address as he does not want any witnesses. Tina thaws out Barry’s body and shocks him with a defibrillator until he regains consciousness. Barry is the only human on earth that could of survived being frozen that long. As soon as he gets his head together Barry remembers that Terri is in danger and he correctly deduces that Cold will track Terri to her apartment. Cold knocks on Terri’s door claiming to be a courier for a newspaper, Terri opens the door, and she screams at Cold and slams the door shut. Cold freezes the door and bursts in. Terri has hid but the only person Cold finds is The Flash who for once has the advantage of surprise on his side and he quickly knocks Cold out. The Flash gives Terri a dressing down for putting her and The Flash’s lives in danger and only caring about her career.

Garfield asks officer Murphy to put Cold in a cell. Murphy asks Cold for his glasses as he isn’t allowed to have anything in the cell with him. Cold takes them off revealing two pure white pupils; Murphy has second thoughts and let’s Cold keep them. When he is alone Cold removes two small balls from his shoe. He then removes a piece of his glasses and puts it in the lock of his cell door. The lock freezes and Cold kicks the door open. He throws the balls to the floor and they turn the inside of the station into a blizzard. In all the chaos Cold calmly walks out of the station.

Tina fits The Flash suit with a device that will warm The Flash up if he gets shot with the Freeze gun again but it only works once. Later at Barry’s apartment Julio tells him that Cold has frozen a bus with passengers inside and if The Flash does not meet him he will let them all freeze to death. Barry tells Julio that he will meet him there.

The Flash confronts Cold and gives him the run around but Cold catches him with a shot from his gun and The Flash flies into a shop. The Flash uses Tina’s heat device and thaws out. Cold is about to shoot him again but The Flash picks up a mirror from the shop and the freeze blast from the gun reflects off the mirrors surface and returns to Cold freezing him instantly. The Flash runs round the bus and heats it back up so the passengers can get out.  Garfield asks an officer to call the coroner so they take Cold’s body away.

Terri meets Barry at the crime lab for lunch; she tells him that thanks to The Flash and Barry she quit The Inquisitor and now works for the happy times greeting card company. Terri says she has figured out who The Flash really is and she thinks its Julio. As he walks in Barry asks him where has he been, Julio replies “Oh, you know. Just running around”.

This was a great episode with an interesting take on Captain Cold. The Arrowverse version of Cold was obviously still a criminal at heart but he had a code which made him more honourable. This version was basically a homicidal maniac who was obsessed with getting his target no matter the cost.

The Flash 90s – Ep16 – Deadly Nightshade Review

Our favourite vintage vigilante is back and he needs The Flash’s help to take down a Nightshade copycat.

The Libertorian People’s Army have kidnapped heiress Felicia Kane (played by Jeri Ryan). They call Lt. Garfield at the police station with their demands. Garfield has Julio and Barry trace the call. Before they finish the call a masked man dressed very similar to Nightshade (see episode 9 Ghost in the Machine) appears on a gang way above the L.P.A and shoots everyone apart from Felicia. Julio gets the location of the call and Barry runs off to see what happened. He finds multiple dead bodies and a hysterical Felicia, he unties her but she screams and tries to push him away. He tells her the police will be with her soon and he speeds off.

A few days later at the station Barry meets Felicia’s psychiatrist Dr Rebecca Frost (played by Denise Crosby, what a small Star Trek world we live in). Dr Frost wont let the police interview Felicia until she thinks she is ready, the only words Felicia has been saying since the incident are “The Flash”. Dr Frost thinks that as The Flash is a masked vigilante he may be unstable and indeed guilty of killing the L.P.A Barry and Garfield both defend The Flash but Dr Frost is adamant that The Flash is the prime suspect.

Dr Frost and the lawyer for what’s left of The L.P.A Chesley Keefe are guests on sleazy reporter Joe Kline’s talk show. Keefe believes that The Flash was paid by Felicia’s father to kill the L.P.A members. Dr Frost asks if Central City really needs a self-appointed guardian angel. Both Barry and Tina are watching the show at Barry’s apartment. Barry feels like they are trying to turn the city on The Flash, Tina suggests that Barry gets advice from the city’s previous hero Nightshade.

Dr Desmond Powell has a meeting with Dr Frost and asks what she was trying to accomplish on Kline’s show. They are interrupted by Curtis Bohannan who has brought over a check to help pay for a new wing at the hospital. Curtis’ dad was a mobster back in the 50s so he is trying to make up for the sins of his father. Curtis believes that The Flash is innocent and obviously Desmond agrees with him. Just as Dr Frost is about to argue her case she remembers that she has an appointment to keep. The Flash calls Desmond and they agree to meet at Nightshade’s old hideout.

In another hideout a masked man tries to ring Kline but Kline’s secretary thinks he is crazy and refuses to put him through. The masked man decides to take a more direct approach. Desmond is waiting for The Flash to arrive and is not surprised when Barry turns up without his costume. Desmond always suspected that Barry was The Flash. Desmond assures Barry that Dr Frost is wrong about The Flash. Barry decides to ask some of his street contacts if they know anything about the L.P.A killings.

At a bar run by a former criminal Johnny Dortmunder Barry’s old informant Fosnight is enjoying a drink with Johnny. Johnny used to work for Big Boss Bohannan but has served his time and is now a law abiding citizen. The masked man shows up and kills Johnny. Barry arrives just as the masked man drives off, Barry can hear Fosnight scream that Johnny is dead. Barry easily catches up to the car but gets a viscous electric shock when he touches it and the car gets away.

Barry visits Desmond at his office and they see Kline play a videotape from the masked man. The man admits to the killings and warns everyone in the city that if they commit a crime he will kill them too. He ends the video with the chilling words “Fear the wrath of the Deadly Nightshade”. Now Desmond is surprised.

The next night Desmond dons the mask once again to defend the honour of the real and much friendlier Nightshade. The Flash warns Desmond that it might be a bad idea as the police are looking for Nightshade and will arrest him if they see him. Desmond is undeterred and convinces The Flash to help him find The Deadly Nightshade. At his hideout Deadly Nightshade is revealed to be Curtis Bohannan and he is working on something to help him if he runs into The Flash again. The reason he is doing this is to atone for all his father’s crimes. The original Nightshade put his father in jail so he feels that he is carrying on Nightshade’s work but in an extreme fashion. His next victim will be Keefe as he defends criminals such as the L.P.A.

The Flash and the friendly Nightshade visit Johnny’s bar. The Flash goes in first and demands answers but the patrons (who are all small time crooks) are not scared of him as they are a lot more afraid of The Deadly Nightshade. The friendly Nightshade walks in and they know he isn’t the killer. This is where we have an interesting easter egg as Nightshade remembers bringing down Fosnight for working for GORILLA GRODD back in the day. Fosnight believes whoever the killer is he must have a few screws loose. The Flash knows a way to get a profile on just the kind of man they are looking for.

At an outdoor restaurant Keefe is having a drink; he notices Dr Frost arrive with Barry as they sit at another table. She is helping Barry work out what type of person would become The Deadly Nightshade. As she goes through her notes Barry uses his speed to grab some breadsticks as he was very hungry. Unfortunately for him Keefe notices this and confronts both Barry and Dr Frost and just as he is about to reveal The Flash’s identity he is shot and killed by guess who? The Deadly Nightshade. Barry chases after him but is stopped by tiny spikes left in the road by the killer, talk about being prepared.

Kline calls The Deadly Nightshade a fascist terrorist and he is no better than the criminals he has killed. Curtis takes offense to this and proclaims that Kline will pay for his words. Barry finds out that the spikes came from a German weapons manufacturer but they won’t help him as their clients pay for privacy. Desmond remembered that Curtis had just come back from Germany and has the resources to pay for spikes and the privacy. Nightshade and The Flash break in to Curtis’ home. Before Nightshade makes it through the front door The Flash has already searched the place twice and found The Deadly Nightshade’s hideout. The Flash sees an exoskeleton on display and wonders what it is for (you’ll find out soon enough Flash). They find a cassette which informs them that the next victim will be Kline.

Once again Dr Frost is a guest on Kline’s talk show and they wonder what drives a man to become The Deadly Nightshade. He arrives and tells Kline that he is driven by his determination to cleanse the earth of criminal filth. The Flash runs in and puts Kline and Dr Frost out of harm’s way but he is shot in the leg and Deadly Nightshade gets away. Kline tries to unmask Flash but gets shot with a tranquilizer by the friendly Nightshade.

Garfield is going through old case notes from the 50s. He discovers that the former police captain knew the identity of Nightshade but would not turn him in as he was a major help to the city. Garfield finds a photo of Desmond in the file. Desmond patches up Barry’s leg in his office at the hospital. As Barry is about to leave Garfield arrives and arrests Desmond for murder. In his cell Desmond explains to Barry that he can’t tell Garfield the truth about Deadly Nightshade’s identity as that will inform the police that The Flash broke in to Curtis’ home to gain that information and he too would be in trouble with the law.

The Flash returns to Curtis’ home and learns that Curtis has also worked out that Desmond is the original Nightshade. Barry returns to the station to find that Curtis has broke Desmond out of his cell. Curtis tries to get Desmond to join his crusade but Desmond refuses and in turn is tied up. Desmond tries to reason with him but Curtis has totally lost the plot. He shows Desmond the exoskeleton that will help him defeat The Flash. As The Flash appears Curtis bats him away with ease, the exoskeleton has given him quick reactions and super strength. Curtis has an answer to anything The Flash throws at him. While Curtis is distracted Desmond cuts himself free and shots Curtis in the neck with a tranquilizer dart. Curtis passes out but the exoskeleton keeps moving and he crashes into a telephone booth.

The next day Barry visits Desmond who is now the most famous person in the city, he admitted to being the original Nightshade, he has had book and movie offers. Barry leaves his friend and meets his date for the night Dr Rebecca Frost.

Anytime we have Desmond Powell on The Flash we are guaranteed a great episode. Even though it was 45 minutes it felt like I was watching an epic movie. The only downside (and I have mentioned this before) was the lack of both Tina and Julio who were barely in this episode.

I must say I’m looking forward to the next instalment of The Flash as we will be meeting a very cool rogue indeed.

The Flash 90s – Ep15 – Flash Forward Review

Out of all the episode of The Flash this is the one I remember the most from my childhood. I consider Fast Forward to be an all time classic.

The murderer of Barry’s brother and leader of The Dark Riders (see episode 1) Nicholas Pike has been released from prison due to legal technicalities. Pike and his attorney/lover (Monica) emerge victorious from the court house. Monica claims The Flash killed Jay Allen which obviously makes an already furious Barry even angrier and he tells Pike that it’s not finished yet. As Pike and Monica drive away from the court house in a limo Pike proclaims that he will make the city pay but first he has a score to settle…..with The Flash.

The next day Barry’s nephew Shawn asks if The Flash killed his father. Barry explains that Pike is Jay’s murderer but sometimes the law makes mistakes. While having lunch at a fancy restaurant Pike notices Barry at another table. Pike pretends to make amends but when that doesn’t work he tells Barry that he did kill Jay and that Jay begged for his life. Barry punches Pike knocking him off of his chair. Monica warns Barry that even though he is a cop the law can still punish him and it does as Lt. Garfield suspends Barry for 30 days.

At his secret hideout Pike reveals to Monica something even The Flash can’t outrun. Barry has become disillusioned with the law and being The Flash. He tells Tina that he wants to leave the city and they have a massive argument. Barry asks Julio to look after Earl before he leaves and they both watch on as Barry drives out of their lives.

Pike anonymously tells the police and that he has planted a bomb at the Devils Gate Reservoir Dam and he wants $10 million by midnight or he will blow the dam and flood the city. As Barry picks his stuff up from the station Garfield tells him about the bomb threat. He decides to make one more stop before he leaves the city.

The Flash runs over to the dam and he finds a surprise waiting for him. It’s not a bomb waiting to blow the damn but a missile. Pike appears on a screen and he wonders if The Flash can outrun the missile. The Flash gets a head start before the missile launches. He tries to lose it but it’s locked onto his heat signature, despite this The Flash still manages to keep his distance from the missile. Pike is not a very patient man so he detonates the missile. The blast combined with The Flash’s speed throws him (Buck Roger’s style) into the future.

A very shaken Flash emerges from an ally to find Central City in disarray, abandoned cars fill the roads, and the majority of the people are out on the street. He picks up a paper and realises that he has travelled 10 years into the future and the city has been renamed Pike City.

The Flash sees the police raid a shop. They drag out and arrest former officers Bellows and Murphy for selling contraband (A Flash action figure). The Flash tries to intervene but his speed fails and he slows down, the police easily restrain and unmask him. They scan his finger prints and a computer tells them who he is, that he disappeared 10 years ago and they should take him to Mayor Pike immediately. Before they can a teenage boy cycles past and throws a grenade at their police car. In the chaos The Flash gets away but is nearly run over by a dustcart. It pulls over and the driver recognises the unmasked Flash, the driver is Julio. He hides Barry from the police and sends them the wrong way.

Julio and his wife Sabrina now live in Barry’s old apartment where they look after twins and Earl Jr. Julio fills Barry in on how Pike took over the city with bribery and corruption. Barry needs to find Tina so they can work out how to get his speed back. As S.T.A.R Labs was taken over my Pike’s police force Tina moved into an old shop and turned it into a free clinic to help the poor. Tina kicks Barry out as soon as she sees him. She blames him for the mess the city is in as he didn’t come back and save them from Pike.

Barry tries to explain to Julio that he was thrown through time due to the missile explosion. It looks like Julio believes him but as they ponder their next move the police grab Barry and Julio and they are taken to S.T.A.R Labs. Pike reveals that he had Julio under surveillance and he knows that Barry has lost his speed. Pike starts to torture Barry with electric shock treatment (I think you can see how this is going to go). The machine overloads and a rejuvenated Barry takes care of Pike’s guards and straps Pike to the machine. Unfortunately for Barry his speed fails again but both he and Julio escape the lab.

Julio takes a weakened Barry to Tina and fills her in on why Barry was gone so long. She explains to Barry that any effort to get his speed back permanently could kill him. He asks for her help but Tina doesn’t want to see Barry kill himself. Julio leads them to The Liberation Underground, a group who are trying to end Pike’s reign of terror. Barry notices that everyone is looking at him, Garfield informs him it’s because they know he is The Flash and they basically worship him. Julio shows Barry The Flash Museum they created. The teenager who threw the grenade at the police car earlier introduces himself to Barry, it’s his nephew Shawn. Shawn and the rest of The Liberation Underground never gave up on The Flash as they believe he will save them from Pike.

Pike demands that The Flash turns himself in or he will execute every member of The Liberation Underground that are in police custody. Barry doesn’t know how he can help without his speed but Tina has a theory. She believes that Barry was sent through a tear in the space time continuum and she has a plan to send Barry back through it and stop Pike from taking over the city.

Tina, Julio and The Flash break into S.T.A.R Labs; luckily Tina knows how to override the security system. As The Flash walks down a corridor an armed guard sneaks up behind him, Julio calls out to warn him but the guard shoots Julio instead. The Flash drop kicks the guard and runs over to Julio who dies in his arms. Tina locks Pike and the police out of the lab. She injects The Flash with a booster injection to accelerate his metabolism but if it doesn’t work it could kill him. It doesn’t take long for The Flash to feel the electricity flowing through his body. To send The Flash back to the past Tina decides to blow up the labs reactor. Barry warns her of the risk but she is sure (and very brave). Just before the lab blows Barry kisses Tina (about time) and runs off and the explosion sends him back through time.

Back in present day the returning Flash meets the pre time travelling Flash just before the missile is launched. The Flash deactivates it and merges with himself. He finds Pike ties him up and threatens to blow him up with his own missile if he doesn’t confess that he killed Jay Allen and tells the police where he dumped the murder weapon. Obviously Pike gives in.

Barry drives back to Central City where he finds Julio and gives him a big hug. That night Tina asks Barry why he didn’t leave town, as he looks into her eyes Barry tells her that he realized that what he had in Central City was more valuable than what he thought.