THE FLASH “Godspeed” Review

The Flash — “Godspeed” — Pictured (L-R): Tom Cavanagh as Eobard Thawne and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW

THE FLASH “GODSPEED” REVIEW

BY JUSTIN CARTER

Our last Flash episode before the spring break finally let Team Flash learn that Nora’s been chatting with Eobard Thawne in 2049. “Godspeed,” then, has the task of pulling back the curtain as to why she would choose to do so in an episode that thankfully shines more than it stumbles.

When Nora said she took after Barry, she wasn’t kidding; she’s indeed a CI in Central City 2049’s police department and obsessed with figuring out why the Flash disappeared decades ago. A chance encounter with a new speedster named Godspeed — the first villain of the excellent Flash Rebirth comic from Josh Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico — shows up and blasts her with a bolt of lightning. And it’s there that the episode decides to just remix the very first episode, in a way that mostly works.

As expected, the bulk of the episode is put on the shoulders of Jessica Parker Kennedy, and she’s more than capable of adding nuance to Nora during a moment that seems so black and white. How much the episode works for you will depend on if you’re able to vibe with her choice to seek advice from Thawne after Godspeed kills her friend* and she learns her mother kept her powers secret from her. The interplay between Nora and Thawne hits all the right notes, and that episode number one callback where he tries to guide her through her first time phasing through a wall is heavy with the nostalgia.

All the Nora stuff in the future of the episode works, what doesn’t work is the present day shenanigans. By the end of the episode, Iris has decided that Nora can be trusted and deserves to tell her side of the story, but Barry opts to just send her back to 2049 as the ultimate punishment. And I’m sure to Barry this is the ultimate betrayal, but the problem is that it’s really…not. Nora just explained her reasoning for working with Thawne in a way that is tragically relatable and if anything makes Future Iris and the rest of Team Flash look incredibly bad, even if they were doing it because Barry disappeared during what I can only assume is next year’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. But it’s a safe bet that next week’s excursion where Iris goes to rescue Nora in the future herself will make him see the light.

Additional Notes

• Godspeed, who is voiced by BD Wong, has maybe the brightest costume I’ve ever seen in a superhero show. I can’t fathom why they decided to shoot him against white backgrounds.

• I’ve been demanding a callback to Barry waking up to “Poker Face” like he did in the pilot, and yeah, this is a fitting moment with Nora.

• I’m curious to see who else picked up on Nora and her friend Lia possibly being more than that, and if this means that the show has fallen into the Bury Your Gay trope.

• Tom Cavanaugh has done the Sherloque accent so much this season that I couldn’t stop hearing it while he was playing Thawne, and I’m certain he wasn’t able to shake it off, either.