THE FLASH "THE GIRL WITH THE RED LIGHTNING" REVIEW

Season 5 Episode 21:

Hey everyone, we are back with a brand new episode of the Flash, directed by Stefan Pleszczynsk, where we see team Flash trying to stop Cicada’s plan to kill every meta-human in the Central City. So spoilers ahead for the episode lets recap.

Cicada is on the verge of completing her meta-killing weapon device, however, needs a few more pieces. Ralph has the thought that the team should investigate the Reverse Flash’s plan and his role in this Cicada plot. Cisco tests out the mirror gun on the broken STAR Labs satellite and it disappears- the key to destroying the Cicada dagger.
Sherloque goes on a walk with his girlfriend(?) Renee who is a meta-human herself. The two are ambushed by Cicada, who tries to kill Renee. Nora has a vision into Cicada’s eyes as she and Barry are running towards Cicada before she leaves. Caitlin is at the police station where Joe is in charge and starts to take charge of giving everyone the metahuman cure. Sherloque learns that Renee does not want to take the cure, so he sends her to Earth-19 to be safe from Cicada.

Back at STAR Labs, the team finds a component that Cicada may need (thanks to Cisco). Barry runs to find the component, however, it is stolen and a bomb is stolen. Nora tests Caitlin's cerebral inhibitor and gets into Cicada’s mind, which is possible because of that time she jumped into her mind. Nora starts to manifest Cicada’s rage through red lightning, so Barry pulls the inhibitor off Nora’s head stopping the connection.
Cisco builds the speedster trap (from the season one mid-season finale) for Nora where she can safely contact Cicada with the inhibitor. Barry, Iris, Ralph, and Cisco stand by as Nora telekinetically contacts Cicada. Nora tells Grace that her rage will not be shared between them and that Grace not wanting to help Nora shouldn’t hold her down. Nora sees that Cicada is heading towards the police station, so Nora tells Barry as he takes the mirror gun and runs to the station.

At the police station, Cicada uses the dagger to siphon the powers of every meta-human in the building as she powers up the device to kill all the meta-humans in the city. Joe fends off Cicada and is saved by Barry. Cisco sees that the dagger cannot be destroyed yet because it is plugged into the cryo-atomizer. Barry, Ralph, and Killer Frost fight Cicada, who still has some levitating powers. Cisco starts uses Nora’s gauntlet to deposed the dagger and the meta-killing device before sending it to Earth-15 to detonate. Cisco manages to separate the dagger, and Barry is about to use the mirror gun to destroy it. However, the clues click together for Ralph, as he realizes that the dagger is the Reverse Flash’s and is embedded in him in the 2049 prison. Ralph tries to stop Barry and the episode cuts.

Overall, this episode was an exciting episode, I did feel the episode could have felt a little more concise, especially with the captain Joe plot not being stretched out for as long as it was. The plot was a great development for Joe and Cecile, however, it felt like it went on for a little too long. Nevertheless, the rest of the episode was great and was tightly packed. The plot with Nora and the team tracking down Cicada was really exciting as there were some serious stakes on the line, and a real treat at play. I did feel like the city was in some genuine danger, and it made the characters feel like they need to step up which was seen in the episode.

The team playing cat and mouse with Cicada was really great, and it showed how Cicada was somewhat a few steps ahead of the team and was prepared to execute her plan. The end fight at the police station was well orchestrated and something which this whole season has been building to. The fight was gritty, there felt like stakes, and the characters were well matched against Cicada. It was really on edge, especially when Cisco was right in the other room trying to deactivate the dagger and the meta-killing device.

The cliffhanger that the episode ended on was great, and something which raised a lot of questions. I did like how Ralph was the individual who discovered this larger plot which makes sense considering that he is an investigator himself. So what is going on is that the dagger ends up with the Reverse Flash who gave it to Grace in the future who came back in time. It seems like Eobard has been double-crossing Nora as he has set up the team with another villain in 2019. It all seems a little unclear on what the endgame here is, however, it seems like it will all be the same in the next episode which is the finale.

Starring in the episode we had Grant Gustin (Barry Allen/ The Flash), Jessica Kennedy Parker (Nora West-Allen/ XS), Candice Patton (Iris West-Allen), Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramone/ Vibe), Hartley Sawyer (Ralph Dibny/ Elongated Man), Jesse L. Martin (Joe West), Danielle Nicolet (Cecile Horton), Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow/ Killer Frost), Tom Cavanaugh (Sherloque Wells/ Eobarde Thawne), Kimberly Williams-Paisley (Renee Adler), and Sarah Carter (Grace Gibbons / Cicada).

In conclusion, this episode of the Flash was really intense with everything from this season culminating in this one episode. I did love how the episode paid off a few things with the Cicada character, and the team spreading the meta-human cure to save everyone. This episode also did set up a larger plot with the Reverse Flash and his plan with the dagger which seems gets me excited for the finale next week.

Rating: 8.8/10

What did you think in the episode? Comment below your thoughts, opinions, or theories down in the comments below. You can click on the left for more of the Flash, or the right for Avengers Endgame, and also subscribe. As always thanks for reading, take care.