The Flash’s 15th episode (“The Wrath of Savitar”) started off fun and lighthearted (the race! The billboard!)—and then quickly took a nosedive into Terrible Life Choices, a suburb of Nopeville. From discovering Barry’s proposal had other (albeit life-saving) intentions to Wally finally revealing he’s been hallucinating Savitar, nearly everyone suffers a setback, emotional or otherwise.
Caitlin kept a piece of the Philosopher’s stone (did they steal it from Potter?), and Julian feels understandably betrayed. And I’ll say it again: I really like Julian (and HR’s silly British accent). He sympathizes with Wally about the Savitar mind—uh, frakery: “I’ve been there, done that. It’s miserable.” And yet, he still puts himself in a terrible position (twice) of being Savitar’s puppet mouthpiece—all in the name of helping the team and saving Iris.
But he finally gives Caitlin a (moderately fast) kiss (“Sorry, I just wanted to do that in case you…change your mind later.”). And y’all. Sweethearts. To quote Spike from Buffy: :You’re not friends. You’ll never be friends. (And yes, I can actually recite that whole speech, complete with accent. You know, in case you’re wondering.) Despite the road bumps these two stumble over, they have a sweet, tender dynamic. They’ve seen the worst of each other, but they still believe in each other. It’s more powerful than you’d expect from a somewhat fluffy show. Oh, and Tom Felton’s delivery of these lines was pitch perfect: “I’m not a human Oujia board. … I’ll see you downstairs.” Hilarious phrasing and an echo of Joe’s tone/inflection from last week, when he agreed to wear a magnet helmet.
Now, let’s talk about Wally. In this episode, I vacillated between feeling bad for him and wanting to yell at him. HR tried to rally him (“You’re afraid. I totally understand. … But you can’t run from a place of fear.”), but the demons (ha) in his head were too loud. He committed the cardinal sin of this show, which is going up against a Sicilian when death is on the line. Sorry, I meant he went off to save the day alone: “No, I can do this by myself.” No. No. No. Bad. Very bad. Such foolishness, manipulated or not, gets you sucked into the speed force, dude.
Also? Because Barry rushed the proposal, didn’t ask Joe for permission (Barry: no), and may not have had purely romantic intentions, his relationship with Iris is on the rocks. To wit: “I’m not angry at you. … But I thought you were asking me purely out of love, not fear. … I don’t want to be someone that you’re trying to save for the rest of eternity.” In the end, Iris rejects his proposal/stops wearing the ring, and I’m honestly not sure how their relationship is going to shake out. Are they breaking up? Who knows.
Wally’s trapped (it’s not possible Wally is Savitar, somehow, right?). Joe’s grief stricken at the loss, but bless him: he doesn’t blame Barry. And that was the truest note. Joe doesn’t throw stones. He doesn’t lash out. He wants his son back (“We have to bring him back. We have to save him. I can’t lose Wally, Barry.”), but he doesn’t punish anyone for the loss. Jesse L. Martin brings such gorgeous depth to the part, and I cannot wait to see him sing in the musical episode.
Yes, yes, I am also a theater nerd. The next episode is so my jam. Until then, stay frosty. Well, unless you’re Caitlin. *wink*
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