Okay, short answer of my review this week is that a course correction has been made. A VERY WELCOME course correction after the trash fire that was last week. Is it enough to save this season? Remains to be seen. As for my thoughts on the season as a whole thus far, I'm lukewarm on it. Episodes one and three were terrible, and episodes two and four started off good, but then did something right at the end that almost made the entire episode look terrible by proxy of being in the same episode as those scenes. If next week's episode ends up being bad again, I'm really gonna start thinking this season's just cursed or something.
For starters, Candice Patton showed up for work this week, and it was absolutely welcome! I always like it when the writers, you know, try to give Candice something to work with. I've always had respect for her for sticking with this role despite the backlash from fans, present company included. When she has something she can actually work with, she sells it! Her speech at the end of the episode was pretty great all things considered. I'm glad that something good has come from the Mirror Monarch bullcrap that's been going on this season. Who knew that all it took to fix Iris West-Allen was her getting kidnapped and sent to an alternate universe? Had I known, I would've asked the writers to do that ahead of season four. In all seriousness though, this was Iris's best week in a while, and that's definitely welcome. She acted like a human being and was nice to people this week. For once, Iris wasn't beyond basic human decency, and it was great!
Abra Kadabra was... Weird. Look, at least they tried, alright? More than I can say for what they did to Eva. Abra's death was underwhelming, but it was nice seeing David Dastmalchian again. He's always a fun presence on screen whether he's Abra Kadabra, or Murdoc on the MacGyver show. Not sure why he needed the wand since it's already established that he's basically magic, but it served its purpose so that in the third act he wasn't just doing vague hand-wavy stuff. It served its purpose. His plan overall was nice though, and I especially liked in the third act that Barry DIDN'T try to stop him. Barry already knows he can't beat him in a fight, so he didn't fight. I can see a lot of people not liking how that third act was handled, but I enjoyed it. It made logical sense, and CW sense. Plus, the idea of him being mad at Barry for Crisis taking away his family makes a lot of sense, and I like how Barry and Abra bonded over losing people, with Barry bringing up how he lost Oliver. That scene almost had me tearing up if I'm being honest. It worked.
Also, I don't think anyone expected that Killer Frost ending. Just... What even? I mean, I'm about it, but if this goes where I think it's going, which is Caitlin leaving and Frost being the one to stick around, that could turn me off of this twist very fast. It's cool for now though. I won't say I'm optimistic just yet, but I will say that I'm not completely dreading it.
This one was alright. Nothing amazing per se, but nothing completely terrible. Everyone got a moment to shine this week, even Chester with the "Jitter's Run" line, which was just enjoyable, and Allegra standing up to Iris. Someone has to stand up to her and make her develop. It's not gonna be Barry, and it's definitely not gonna be the writers. Even Barry had a moment to shine with that scene of him and Iris in the cortex. He really blames himself for the "Mirror Iris" thing, and it was great seeing that side of him. We haven't seen the self doubting Barry Allen since season three, and I'll welcome it back anytime. It makes him a more three-dimensional character.
I'll give this a 7/10 for the time being, may change down the road. Gotta give myself a while to process everything, ya know? Might have to move it down to a 6 just for the Abra Kadabra death just being completely glossed over though. Solid episode overall, but not perfect.
For starters, Candice Patton showed up for work this week, and it was absolutely welcome! I always like it when the writers, you know, try to give Candice something to work with. I've always had respect for her for sticking with this role despite the backlash from fans, present company included. When she has something she can actually work with, she sells it! Her speech at the end of the episode was pretty great all things considered. I'm glad that something good has come from the Mirror Monarch bullcrap that's been going on this season. Who knew that all it took to fix Iris West-Allen was her getting kidnapped and sent to an alternate universe? Had I known, I would've asked the writers to do that ahead of season four. In all seriousness though, this was Iris's best week in a while, and that's definitely welcome. She acted like a human being and was nice to people this week. For once, Iris wasn't beyond basic human decency, and it was great!
Abra Kadabra was... Weird. Look, at least they tried, alright? More than I can say for what they did to Eva. Abra's death was underwhelming, but it was nice seeing David Dastmalchian again. He's always a fun presence on screen whether he's Abra Kadabra, or Murdoc on the MacGyver show. Not sure why he needed the wand since it's already established that he's basically magic, but it served its purpose so that in the third act he wasn't just doing vague hand-wavy stuff. It served its purpose. His plan overall was nice though, and I especially liked in the third act that Barry DIDN'T try to stop him. Barry already knows he can't beat him in a fight, so he didn't fight. I can see a lot of people not liking how that third act was handled, but I enjoyed it. It made logical sense, and CW sense. Plus, the idea of him being mad at Barry for Crisis taking away his family makes a lot of sense, and I like how Barry and Abra bonded over losing people, with Barry bringing up how he lost Oliver. That scene almost had me tearing up if I'm being honest. It worked.
Also, I don't think anyone expected that Killer Frost ending. Just... What even? I mean, I'm about it, but if this goes where I think it's going, which is Caitlin leaving and Frost being the one to stick around, that could turn me off of this twist very fast. It's cool for now though. I won't say I'm optimistic just yet, but I will say that I'm not completely dreading it.
This one was alright. Nothing amazing per se, but nothing completely terrible. Everyone got a moment to shine this week, even Chester with the "Jitter's Run" line, which was just enjoyable, and Allegra standing up to Iris. Someone has to stand up to her and make her develop. It's not gonna be Barry, and it's definitely not gonna be the writers. Even Barry had a moment to shine with that scene of him and Iris in the cortex. He really blames himself for the "Mirror Iris" thing, and it was great seeing that side of him. We haven't seen the self doubting Barry Allen since season three, and I'll welcome it back anytime. It makes him a more three-dimensional character.
I'll give this a 7/10 for the time being, may change down the road. Gotta give myself a while to process everything, ya know? Might have to move it down to a 6 just for the Abra Kadabra death just being completely glossed over though. Solid episode overall, but not perfect.