The episode “So Long and Goodnight” belonged solely to Jesse L. Martin’s Joe West. Jesse shone in this season of The Flash. His accurate portrayal of Joe helped the show climb out of the debris of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Joe and Barry are the men of the hour here–everything from their arguments and our shifting judgment meant both Joe and Barry were damn well in their own right when they said what they had to. Did you not see what Joe did at Carver’s home? With saving Cecile and himself, both from the bomb. Let’s head into Barry’s second important confrontation this episode– with Ragdoll. First Barry failed to stop the bullet meant for Joe West. But when Barry decided to nail Ragdoll, we knew he was back. Special mention must be made of the special effects team and their role in that one. Chasing bullet in thin air, meticulous lighting and play–welcome back The Flash. A lot of the fans would say Barry was out of gas, losing his abilities and powers when he failed to pick the bullet. But all we were being told was that our favorite superhero was getting there, slowly. Thank God for Barry and his team paired opposite Carver this season. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, a lot of the fans felt that the creative genius of the show was over. Especially, by “The Exorcism of Nash Wells” bit. The audiences needed a month-long hiatus and this episode to change that thought. The after-effects of Crises loomed large on The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow. Whilst the latter two got out of it successfully, with fresh starts for all intents and purposes. For a while, it seemed that The Flash wouldn’t. It was difficult with Arrowverse shows to be renewed after Crisis—The Flash took the longest time to do so. Carver saved the entire show, by making him the villain, The Flash seems to be making most sense, now. It’s an exciting chase–Barry and his team against Carver this season. He’s doing everything he can to save the show. From hiring metahumans to plunging all his resources, money, and technology to see Joe West dead. Joe is after Carver since episode 10, nitpicking the shreds of evidence against him. Right now, it is in Carver’s best interests to see Joe dead. For starters, we saw Ralph, Sue, Cisco, and Sue in “So Long and Goodnight.” And heck– Barry Allen was all decked up! What we loved the most was Ralph and Sue’s inclusion in the episode. Crisis was hard-hitting, all of us admit to that. Ralph and Sue’s combo was the need of the hour. It was a breath of fresh air, to others it may feel gratuitous. But to us, it felt necessary. Having said that, let’s come back to Joe. Our only complaint from the show was Iris’s plot. It felt like Iris was cast away, yet again. What is with Iris and Eva’s plot? Every time we feel like she may make an important point, she’s waiting out the storm. We know Iris isn’t going anywhere, she’s here for the long haul. But when? Given that the episodes (season) are cut short, we cannot wait for Iris to get back in the swing of things. As Barry continued to feel the need to monitor his speed, Iris is adopting methods to converse with Barry, somehow and anymore. She’s trying to make the most out of monitors and Eva’s company. It’s exhausting to watch, for Eva and the audiences, both. Gotta talk about the crash, next. As Barry inspects the events from the crash, he very quickly deduces that Rag Doll is behind it. Ir wasn’t so difficult to deduce that, considering the amount of evidence Barry had on hand. The promising thing about this episode is that every little detail seen in the first half of the season is coming together. As soon as Joe confronted Carver, it was clear how cruel and vicious this man can be in the coming time. We certainly think Carver has more layers to his existence. He isn’t just the pompous vane guy that we were introduced to. His presence on the show is going to get more complicated than we thought. It’s clear he isn’t a saint, but there are way more surprising elements in the story. Carver and Eva’s backstory is going to be one huge plot twist that we are looking for. Joe should listen to Barry more. Had he gone into witness protection, the whole ambush wouldn’t have happened. Barry failed to protect him on account of his speed, nevertheless, Joe was saved. Joe’s death was an overstretch, but it was happy to see him alive and well. The most exciting prospect of the coming episodes will be to see Barry and co. fight Carver and Black Hole, the rescue mission of Iris from the Mirrorverse. For now, let’s hope a new Speed Force is built at the earliest. Barry gains his speed powers as soon as possible. Him losing his speed is not a treat to watch, especially with what the Crisis had in store for him. Many of the viewers were blaming Barry’s dropping speed for Joe’s disaster. Poor guy has lost a father figure, his speed, cost Joe his life, brought his own downfall in the process. Okay, maybe downfall is a strong word–but Barry did suffer a major setback in “So Long and Goodnight.” The Flash airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
