The Flash (TV Series) Lockdown (2022) User Reviews

Got what I expected, and what I expected was not much.

[prometheus19870 · 7/10 · 17 March 2022]

After seeing the promo and reading the synopsis, I knew this episode was going to be bad to average. And i was correct. There were some good aspects but there were more boring and cringy ones.

I liked the interactions between Barry and Kramer. It added character depth and perhaps adds an importance to upcoming episodes.

Goldface is a poor villain. All cringe, no sense.

I understand that the flash is trying to make the interlude episodes lighter and funnier, but this is absolutely pathetic. What is the point of these interlude episodes if they are not entertaining to watch. When there are problems in the main storylines ,such as pacing issues ,why make interlude episodes?

Clearly Eric Wallace hasn't learnt his lesson from last season and i wonder if he sees the ratings of the flash and reads the reviews which the audience give.

Back to the episode, and NOT coincidentally, back to the drama couples of Allegra and Chester, and Frost and Chill-lame. Like why are these 2 couples even a thing? It's just so..... Yuck. Frost has lost her meaning in the show. The name "Killer" has officially become a joke. Frost should be written out of the show, where she and chill-lame take off and live their lives in a non flash world.

Allegra and Chester are alright (not great) as individual characters if they work in their respective fields. But being a couple is thrash. I don't know why the writers are shipping them when the audience is literally crying that they are together. The couple should just end. I don't care how, even if it is illogical, it should just end.

I'm not deeply interested in Caitlin's dating story, but i have a feeling it's tied up to Ronnie returning, so looking forward to that.

Iris's time sickness is intriguing, with that time jump cliff hanger at the end. I hope they take this story in a positive direction.

Overall: very average episode- 7/10.

I'm excited to see next episode as it looks like it involves mainly Barry and CSI stuff. Also more development into Iris's time sickness is expected. I have good vibes about it but Eric Wallace can bring that crashing down just like the previous episode.

I said this in my previous review and I'll say it again until it becomes reality: Fire Eric Wallace. He's just a worn out showrunner who is all talk and doesn't execute his ideas to a good level. He makes the same mistake, season after season.

I'm not gonna lie... I kinda liked this episode.

[demigodshmurda · 6/10 · 20 March 2022]

I know, right? Me? Liking a Flash episode? That hasn't happened in a long time. Maybe this show's whittled down my standards to almost nothing, but this episode wasn't nearly as bad as some reviewers are saying it is.

No bingo this week. This makes my current record 2 and 5.

What immediately jumped out about this episode to me was the talk about how the Flash makes the police's jobs a lot harder. Of course, this turns out to just be a front for Kristen Kramer's real problem, but it did get me thinking about this. None of the Arrowverse shows have ever touched on how the resident vigilante stopping criminals makes the cops job harder, at least not from what I can remember, so it's actually kinda refreshing to consider it as a concept. Plus, the Flash is probably the most well renowned and high profile hero left to consider a storyline like this with, and if Barry just speeds the criminals into the precinct without any evidence, the cops are gonna have to work overtime trying to pick up the pieces. On the other shows, and even on this show in the past, the cops really only exist to arrest the people that the heroes stop, but if they don't have the evidence then the hero can be more of a hinderance than a help. Barry and Joe even have a conversation about this early on in the episode, and the reason that Joe got away with Barry helping as the Flash for so long was because Joe was family and Barry told him everything. It's a great proposition that I wish actually went somewhere, but I'm glad that the episode made me think about it. The sad part of it is that the Flash is the only show that can explore this concept because Superman and Lois and Stargirl take place in small towns without a dedicated police force, Naomi isn't a superhero yet, the Legends are time travelers, and I haven't watched Batwoman since season 2 (is that show still on?), so none of the other shows can tackle this concept in any meaningful way, and I don't think this show will anymore. I mean, yeah, now the CCPD has a direct line to the Flash, but I guess that's the last we'll be hearing about this concept.

Outside of some pretty good food for thought, we have the episode's main plot with Barry and Kramer being trapped in the CCPD with Goldface. I'm not gonna lie, Goldface was pretty fun this week. Not necessarily intimidating, but definitely fun. Damion Poitier stole the show whenever he was on screen, and his character Goldface had some genuinely pretty great moments. For example, I was shocked at how the writers allowed Goldface to remember that Barry invaded his criminal underground during the season 5 episode "Goldfaced", something even I'd forgotten about until watching this episode. Plus, his ringtone for Amunet Black is "Love is a Battlefield", and that is just hilarious! Plus, it's a pretty clear callback to the season 6 episode "Love is a Battlefield", which has some very... Shall we say, "Mixed" reviews. It's the little things that make the episodes better sometimes.

I will say however that Barry getting knocked unconscious by gas shouldn't be possible. If you remember back to season 1's "Flash v. Arrow", Oliver hit Barry with, and I'm quoting that episode here, "2,000 Miligrams of Horse Tranquilizer". And Barry was able to vibrate his body fast enough to wear it off almost instantly.

I read somewhere that Eric Wallace was trying to make the show seem more like a comic book, and seeing Goldface reappear here actually does fulfill that idea. I'm not much of a comic reader, but from what I have read, random villains show up all the time, like how Papercut can try to start a new version of the Rogues in the same issue that The Shade shows up to help Barry save Iris from the Shadowlands, and it still seems totally believable. I definitely see this episode as a step in that direction.

Kramer's powers seem to have been changed this episode. In both "Heart of the Matter, Part 2" and "Armageddon, Part 1", Kramer says that her powers activate in times of stress. However, her powers can just spontaneously activate here, and for some reason they can work even when she's wearing a power dampening collar. Firstly, that's dumb. Secondly, if you're going to make a change mid season, here's a great idea: Don't. I know we've had a few months in between Armageddon and now, but they're both still part of season 8, so let's call it like it is. It's a retcon. However, I'm willing to accept this because it makes Kramer inexperienced in some way, which makes her a more real character. So it's a retcon, but it makes the character more interesting, so I'm pretty mixed on it.

Also, there's no way that the bracelet would be able to cause an explosin that big, and still be there for Kramer to find later. Like, I'm sorry, what? How? That explosion destroyed the entire storage room, and it was still there? How?

Then there's the stuff with Caitlin and her new boyfriend that's not gonna last very long since Ronnie's coming back somehow, and Frost and Chillblaine. First, why is Chillblaine still a character? Second, if we're gonna pretend that him growing up in a broken home excuses him being a criminal, then I'd like to remind everyone that I have "Forgiving Known Murderers" on my bingo card for a reason. He may not be a known murderer, but he is a known criminal that committed crimes less than a season ago. Redemption arcs in this show used to take time and mean something, kinda like what they're doing on Superman and Lois with Tal-Rho, and with Cindy on Stargirl. Bottom line, the developments we get with Chillblaine explain his turn to crime, but they don't excuse it, so this man should be in jail. Then again, Frost should also still be in jail, but there I go using actual brainpower to think about Frost's "living her life" subplot again!

Look, the episode wasn't the best, but it wasn't horrible. It was pretty fun in some places, mostly with Goldface, but the Frost and Chillblaine stuff wasn't great. Since the episode was half and half, I'll split the difference this week.

6 / 10

What? Not all my reviews have to be super in-depth and rant-y. I think I'm gonna review this show less overall, even though I'm playing bingo. I'll just update my record at the beginning of an episode I actually do decide to review. You know? When one of them is actually good? This episode was alright, but it didn't have much of substance outside of making me think about the CCPD's situation with the Flash at the beginning. Still alright though.

I know that iris had literally no screen time ,but

[orestisva · 7/10 · 19 March 2022]

When we have a scene of iris at the ends we know that the next episode will be focused on her and NO ONE likes her everyone wants her deleted from the show. Also they are doing episodes that are focused on 1 or 2 characters only which most times BARRY IS NOT INCLUDED which is unacceptable since the show is literally named The Flash and not Iris and the flash and their kids and their friends . So i think they should episodes focused on the team. All in all i still liked the episode ,because of all the Barry and Kramer interactions.

The Flash series is back in a Flash!!

[murkypearl-96228 · 10/10 · 23 March 2022]

This is what this series should be! Excellent writing! It started to get complacent. I was never a fan of the Flash before the show but learned to love the character. The cast is amazing! I want this show to last again!

it's just straight up boring

[chancelormayfield · 5/10 · 17 March 2022]

Literally i don't care. I don't care about goldface. I don't care about this frost chillblaine story. I don't care about chester and allegra's "will they won't they" stuff. I don't care about kramers inconsistent powers. Just give us something we actually want to see please. I'm tired of the predictable boring cliché lines. Also, i'm tired of the goofy music that plays in the background of scenes because it always completely changes the mood. I just didn't care about this episode at all and i'm tired of it.

I just want something like what we had along the lines of the first 3 seasons, that's it. Armageddon was a change of pace and it worked, for me at least. I'm just scared that this whole rest of the season will be like last time where everything was just straight up... boring. And that's disappointing. Bring back the old flash please. Thanks. You're running out of time, as season 9 will likely be the last.

Yes!

[pauli_gomez · 10/10 · 20 March 2022]

Finally a great episode!

I only think we could replace the Chester/Allegra parts with more of the other characters, but I enjoyed so much the main story, and even the Caitlin one, that I can forgive that.

Consistent disappointment

[aparks-64053 · 1/10 · 17 March 2022]

Very disappointed with the past few seasons of the flash writing and storytelling wise. Aside from the mess of subplots and focus on unnecessary secondary characters, it's beginning to feel like i'm watching legends of tomorrow instead of flash. The leads are missing from episodes and have been sidelined on mutuel occasions; giving the secondary characters who aren't interesting enough to hold entire episodes on their own. We didn't need an entire episode of caitlin/frost on a double date because it didn't do anything plot wise. That could've been used as a "c" plot while we could've gotten more focus on iris whose been sadly underused so far this season. We always say that this show isn't good anymore but at this rate we have to ask ourselves was it EVER good or simply watchable? Because i know for certain that it's neither good or watchable now.

Great overall episode

[tj-84168 · 10/10 · 17 March 2022]

Great pacing and cool action sequences!! Giving the flash a more individual approach with out his powers and cool and good ending with Kramer and the flash!!

Once a great show, now cringe. Needs a serious change.

[DCForDays · 1/10 · 18 March 2022]

I just can't take the cringy dialogue and villains anymore. When we have the main villain of an episode talking on the phone in baby voice and just casually chatting with Barry about his relationship therapist is, I just wonder how the writers room could think this was okay for television. The dialogue writing is so bad that Chester and Allegra had a full 2 minute conversation that was nothing but babbling and awkward mumbles.

Overall, the only thing that this episode did even minimally well was attempt to show Kramer in a better light, although it's forced on us as they know the fans don't like her.

This show has taken a clear turn toward immaturity. Nothing feels serious anymore. No suspense, no darkness. It feels like it's a completely different show than it was for seasons 1-5 (and parts of season 6). Armageddon seemed to good to be true, although certain scenes were still too corny for television.

I know better than to get my hopes up for the rest of the season because I did that last year and then Eric Wallace gave us a Godspeed with absolutely zero character development because the Godspeed appearances before Crisis had nothing to do with his actual arc. The we get lines like "Come to daddy my children" and a lightening light saber battle.

I want this show to succeed so badly because The Flash is my favorite comic character and this show and Grant gave us a phenomenal Flash for 6 years. But even one more Eric Wallace written episode with dialogue, villains, or sub-plots like this, will ensure that this show ends after 8.

Daddy likes the metal

[cameronhannay-27393 · 10/10 · 17 March 2022]

Such an amazing episode with Barry actually being in it finally instead of Team Flash. Caitlin's date was also pretty good and it was nice to see her go out and drink again like they used to.

A joke purely

[Suepardon123 · 1/10 · 17 March 2022]

Honestly the showrunner should retire from the series with his dignity while he still can because the series has became to be a joke and a circus with clowns.

Horrible

[deenmiyata · 2/10 · 17 March 2022]

The only good parts literally Barry and Kramer interactions and iris at the end of the timesickness. I mean I still have hope for this season the Armageddon crossover was good just these two esposides were so bad.

Naw.

[flomilli7 · 1/10 · 17 March 2022]

Love to see Barry finally working by himself as an individual hero, unfortunately that leaves side characters like Caitlin/Frost who have not been needed for some time now taking up screentime with side stories with no weight or authenticity. The double date storyline was a cringey drag and Panabaker does not have the range to pull it off effectively.

I didn't really get anything from this episode .

[kevinholdercraze · 1/10 · 17 March 2022]

It kind of felt stagnant and I don't really like goldface . At least Barry got to be smart for a second but it felt like it took too long . I always said we need more csi Barry but we need a balance of that and him being the flash . Him staying trapped in one location always don't do too much Justice for him as the flash . The dates I didn't feel they were necessary but maybe it will mean something later in the season . Then iris time sickness at the last second . They need to explain more about it and how she got it . It added more mystery at the end I say that . But hopefully the next episode get better . Me still trying to be positive .

Thank goodness for fast fwd.

[jcome14 · 4/10 · 19 March 2022]

I can do without all the awkward relationships in this show. The reveal at the end should have been a bigger deal instead a throw away comment. Some of the action was OK, but overall kinda boring.

How to squeeze 20 minutes of action into an hour

[jp7570 · 1/10 · 19 March 2022]

As the first "real" Flash episode after returning from the break (the previous episode was NOT a Flash show), this episode had a lot to live up to. And sadly, it failed to deliver. Grant looked like he is completely bored with the character - both Barry and the Flash. And the writers continue to pad each episode with needless relationship dialog. Some, granted, is required, but this show seems more about the relationships than the actual title characters.

A review about this episode is not complete without mentioning the villain "Goldface", who is supposed to be gold! But here he has been changed to look like any other actor, probably just to save money.

And what's with the eyes? Does EVERY meta have to have eyes that glow different colors? Seems to be a cheap CGI trick instead of actually creating something, you know, "meta'.

So one can only hope this is the final year for the Flash, which started out with such promise, but has been on a slow slide downhill for the past couple of years.