While "The Death of Vibe" does not quite reach the quality of the season 5 premiere, it is definitely a notch up from the preceding episode last week. As expected, "Blocked" functions as a set-up for the real deal in this episode.
Nora is such a welcome addition to the show, not just because she's a great character in her own right, played beautifully by Jessica Parker Kennedy, but because she has effectively re-centered the show around Barry Allen and around family. The Flash is at its best when it embraces heart, heroism, and a bit of humor. Nora, for her part, is impulsive and is desperate to keep the timeline in tact, and her guilt about the changes to the timeline feels raw and natural. Barry has taken to fatherhood well, but for the first time we seen him get frustrated with Nora's impulsivity and hot-headedness. Like father, like daughter, and Iris expresses as much to Barry, which in turn gets him to see things from Nora's perspective. Barry and Nora's similarities are offset by Iris' cool-headedness, which makes for a really effective family dynamic. Now if only we could get to the bottom of Iris and Nora's tension, and it looks like next week we're delving into that.
In three episodes, season 5 has allowed Cisco the range to deal with his break-up wth Cynthia and to develop his powers and abilities in new ways, giving him a far larger emotional quotient than season 4 ever allowed. I suspect Vibe is out of commission for the time being, though, seeing as the Team has faked his death through Iris' blog, but hopefully that will mean Cisco gets time to hone his abilities in his workshop.
Although I have never been a fan of the constant rotation of Wellses, Sherloque is not a bad addition to the Team, by any account.
As for the subplot, I am still not particularly interested in Caitlin's family story-line, because family members lost and found is already a story-line done on this show multiple times. Having said that, I am enjoying the partnership between Caitlin and Ralph, a duo which surprisingly works.
Nora is such a welcome addition to the show, not just because she's a great character in her own right, played beautifully by Jessica Parker Kennedy, but because she has effectively re-centered the show around Barry Allen and around family. The Flash is at its best when it embraces heart, heroism, and a bit of humor. Nora, for her part, is impulsive and is desperate to keep the timeline in tact, and her guilt about the changes to the timeline feels raw and natural. Barry has taken to fatherhood well, but for the first time we seen him get frustrated with Nora's impulsivity and hot-headedness. Like father, like daughter, and Iris expresses as much to Barry, which in turn gets him to see things from Nora's perspective. Barry and Nora's similarities are offset by Iris' cool-headedness, which makes for a really effective family dynamic. Now if only we could get to the bottom of Iris and Nora's tension, and it looks like next week we're delving into that.
In three episodes, season 5 has allowed Cisco the range to deal with his break-up wth Cynthia and to develop his powers and abilities in new ways, giving him a far larger emotional quotient than season 4 ever allowed. I suspect Vibe is out of commission for the time being, though, seeing as the Team has faked his death through Iris' blog, but hopefully that will mean Cisco gets time to hone his abilities in his workshop.
Although I have never been a fan of the constant rotation of Wellses, Sherloque is not a bad addition to the Team, by any account.
As for the subplot, I am still not particularly interested in Caitlin's family story-line, because family members lost and found is already a story-line done on this show multiple times. Having said that, I am enjoying the partnership between Caitlin and Ralph, a duo which surprisingly works.
