On this week’s episode of The Flash titled, “Power Outage,” Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) runs into an electrically charged foe who has the ability to drain The Flash of his super-speed. Allen’s loss of powers results in a crisis, since he is unable to protect his friends from a villain on a murderous revenge spree. This leads to Dr. Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanaugh) revealing a little bit more of his callous nature to Allen, which will certainly prove to be a turning point in their relationship. Meanwhile Joe, Iris, and Eddie, are held hostage by a criminal fascinated by time and numbers. They will have to fend for themselves, as Allen is powerless to help them.
The show is at its weakest when its super-powered villains are at the forefront. This week’s freak du jour is played by Michael Reventar and he has tragically acquired the ability to harness electricity. Unfortunately for him, he has a vampiric thirst for fresh sources of power to recharge. If you have ever played the videogame Infamous, essentially this is the lead character in that game, when you make all of the evil decisions. He is out for revenge against Dr. Harrison Wells whose particle accelerator gave him his deadly powers, which resulted in the death of his friends.
However on the other side of the coin, the Clock King made his first appearance on the show. His appearance felt real and threatening without glowing hands or super powers. He holds the police precinct hostage and it allowed the non-superpowered humans the opportunity to show that they can be heroic on their own. The Flash is at its weakest when it is simply Allen versus the freak-of-the-week. With the first superhero teamup between The Flash and Arrow right around the corner, the writers sailed directly into the eye of the storm by including three villains in one episode. In films such as Spiderman 3, including multiple threats has led to disastrous results. However a hero like the Flash is tailor-made for such a challenge, because his only real enemy is time. That is why introducing a notable DC Comics’ villain like the Clock King will surely be a crucial addition to the story later in the season.
This episode employs the overused superhero plot device where the hero temporarily loses his powers. Barry Allen is not conflicted by the abilities that he has been endowed with. He innately wants to help people and and gets a visceral thrill from using his speed. What was interesting about Allen losing his powers was how it affected Dr. Wells. Throughout the course of the show, Wells has slowly been revealing that there is more to him than meets the eye to various characters. In this episode, he reveals that he can walk to the entire population of the super-prison and for the first time showed Allen a glimpse of his dark side. He made his intentions very clear to Barry and the group. No matter what happens, Barry must live and fulfill his destiny. He even explains that Allen’s survival is personal. This episode gave the clearest sign that there is a strong connection between the two. Whether Allen realizes it yet, or not.
The most important thing to take away from “Power Outage” is the depth of conviction in both Allen and Dr. Wells’ commitment to doing what is right for their personal missions. The writers are having a fun time using Wells character to play with the audience’s perception. Next week will begin the team-up between the Arrow and the Flash. It will be interesting to see how Wells will interact with Oliver Queen, who has shown the ability to judge people’s character pretty accurately. This episode also served to add another layer of superhero and super-villain action. While the hero vs bad guy battles can be slightly corny at times, this show is not ashamed of what it is. It is consistently colorful, loud, and fun.
