The Flash (TV Series) Hear No Evil (2023) User Reviews

This was disappointing to say the least

[b_yocum · 6/10 · 16 February 2023]

After last weeks premiere which I thought was amazing, this week was a total letdown and that's being generous. I genuinely cannot believe you can go from the quality that was the first episode this season to this one. We first are introduced to this new character played by Danielle Panabaker. She was called Snow in the beginning and was then named Khione. What happened to Caitlin you might ask? Oh she's dead apparently. Oh so I assume Barry and the rest of the team are in anguish and truly upset over it right? Wrong! How can anyone with a functioning brain write off a character who's been with the show for almost 10 years and have the rest of the team have little to no reaction to her dying. Hell Frost had an entire episode dedicated to her funeral, granted it was terrible, at least she got an episode for her death! I have no idea how Eric Wallace sleeps at night knowing he's completely butchered half the characters on this once fantastic show. I really want to sit down and watch this show but I cannot ignore how badly written this episode is. One positive is we get to see more Red Death who seems like a promising villain, but who knows af this point. All in all this was not a good episode AT all and i'm begging it doesn't get worse from here.

Rating 5.5/10 but i'll be nice and round it to a 6.

Decent.. but a step down from the final season premiere

[RK_123 · 5/10 · 16 February 2023]

This episode was decent. But there were some huge mistakes which have really brought down its rating for me.

First off I loved seeing Hartley return. He is a great addition to team flash. It brings me back to the legendary times of season 1. The new post-crisis fiddler was kinda cool, but it felt lazy and out of place to simply give her Black Siren's sonic scream in the second half of the episode.

Secondly, they spent wayyyy too much time on the "Snow" arc rather than simply focusing on THE FLASH! Instead of a completely new character in the final season, everyone would have been far happier if the writers either... 1. Made the evil Killer Frost return.

2. Simply gave Caitlin a happy ending.

I was livid with how Caitlin, a character who was present from the start of this show was simply erased from existence. Following which team flash just went dancing???

That being said I was happy to see Flash and Pied Piper team up against the Fiddler where Captain Boomerang returned for a small segment. The Red Death scenes were epic as usual and I am hoping that the show advances the Rogues arc in episode 3. This episode was not a filler but it was still too slow for the final season.

5/10.

Decent Filler Episode

[panagiotis1993 · 7/10 · 17 February 2023]

So they wanted to bring back Frost in Caitlin's body but Caitlin died in the process and now we have a 3rd version called simply ''Snow''. Kind of confusing. Once again we have Iris being involved in Team Flash business. Like don't you have to be at your office at CCC? Stay there more, thanks. I don't care at all about the romance between Allegra and Chester. I wonder how many villains work for Red Death, first Captain Boomerang, now the Fiddler. So now the team has to choose to bring back Caitlin or Frost? That's messed up. The Fiddler is such a cringey character, I don't really like her.

Iris leave Star Labs and go back to CCC, let Team Flash do their damn job for once. So they destroyed the machine, Snow chose to be herself and both Caitlin and Frost aren't coming back, that sucks. I wouldn't be surprised if Mark comes back in the future for revenge. Lol, Barry's reminded me of Tobey Maguire Spiderman, really funny. It felt like this episode has a lack of direction, definitely a bit filler-ish. While not much happens storywise it's still a fun episode, I expected more though, I mean it's the final season, they should do only amazing episodes. My rating is 7.2/10.

A Whole Lot Of Nothing

[benjermun · 2/10 · 17 February 2023]

It was a beyond boring episode having me wishing it was over about five minutes in. 90% of the episode was about Caitlin's new personality which ironically has none, you know it's bad when Cecile of all characters isn't the worst thing on screen. Feels like they've had no clue where to go with this character for years but this is just beyond terrible, basically most of the episode is trying to get her back to Caitlin or Frost which ultimately they do neither. There's also a side plot (which should have been the main plot) about The Fiddler trying to get tech from a old Flash villain turned hero The Pied Piper, while it was nice seeing that forgotten character after all this time it felt like he was WAY too familiar with the crew to the point of knowing where a very particular piece of medical equipment was in the med bay. Overall it just felt a complete waste of time and the only reason I give it two instead of one star is cause they brought back a character that I genuinely wanted to return but with that being said you can easily skip this one.

Boring

[siggy03 · 2/10 · 16 February 2023]

This episode was simply boring. The fact that this arc is five episodes long and that they already wasted two is really frustrating (and from what i've seen in the promo, the next one will not go further). I understand they didn't want to start from the first episode which I pretty much enjoyed (it's actually pretty normal from my point of view). And I just feel this show barely learns from its mistakes. Stop focusing on some characters we don't care about, like Chillblaine. And I don't know why they killed off Caitlin just to add a new character (I'm still looking forward to see what they will do with Khione). However, I'm still happy to see Hartley back. And Barry actually didn't get destroyed by the meta of the week (which is just a copy of what we've already had in season 4) Giving this a 2/10.

An episode from S7

[juanmaprior · 4/10 · 19 February 2023]

This is the kind of episodes that I am not expecting to watch in any last season. In fact, I feel it like a S7 episode. It's a pity because the secondary plot of this one was really interesting. We saw again how powerful has become Barry in last seasons. The pied piper stuff should have been the main plot, not the Snow one. Literaly I was falling sleep while watching it lmao. They should written down in their front how to proffit and develope the MAIN PLOT, not the secondary ones. I hope they give us a decent storyline about the red death in the 3 remaining episodes of this first graphic novel. But again, I dont understand why they dont use in a propperly way the episodes to the main plot. Specially, in the last season.

I hope the rest of the season to be cool enjoying it like I did with the Arrow final season. But pretty sure we will see more.episodes like this one, focusing on Allegra or Chester for sure.. Anyway hyped to see what is coming!! Specially with the recent leaks of the last part of the season!!

Against unfair with Caitlin

[pauli_gomez · 8/10 · 20 February 2023]

The show does not know what to do with Panabaker characters. They killed Frost, they killed Caitlin and they wanted to kill new girl Snow. I can't understand why they took them so long to realize that they had to let Snow decide. She is a person! A real person. They should not be so cavalier while discussing killing her to bring other person back.

And when they finally took the obvious decision, they were like "eh, one Snow is the same than another". Well, no. Frost, Caitlin and the new girl had different personalities (and skills). We cannot exchange one for another so easily. They did not mourn Caitlin, just shrugged.

I did like the rest of the episode though. It had Team Flash doing good things, Hartley, the new threat. It was all quite good. If the writers hear the public and our complains about the way Panabaker characters are treated, it would have been an excellent episode.

Well that got dark... And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who noticed.

[demigodshmurda · 4/10 · 16 February 2023]

I struggle to say this was a *much* better episode, but it was better than last week. Is that just because of Hartley Rathaway, a character this show has *always* underutilized? Maybe. Who really knows.

What I do know is that I got bingo this week! And screw it, the only thing that happened in the premiere was that New Captain Boomerang was introduced, so I'm gonna retroactively cross off "Filler Episode" and give myself another bingo! Wow I'm already at two bingos. This does not bode well for the rest of the season.

I actually do like Khione/Snow. Danielle Panabaker brings a fun innocence to the role that really made me smile. That scene where she went and hugged everyone for letting her choose to be her own person felt surprisingly genuine. It even got me to like Cecile when she said "Okay, now my turn." I'm sure that's not gonna stick, but still. It happened.

I'm sure they retconned some stuff about Thomas Snow in order to make the story work, but I haven't watched season five in a while so I can't confirm that, but it's Eric Wallace, and retconning stuff is his favorite thing to do.

But despite the positive that Khione/Snow is a character I don't despise yet, there is a really disturbing part of this that I don't think anybody considered. They're talking about killing someone in order to bring somebody that's dead back, right? You know, the thing Caitlin was trying to do that Barry destroyed her lab for (which they show a pointless flashback of here, so thanks for that. Definitely should've put that on the bingo card). Ignore the fact that they already had the "we don't kill" argument last season during Armageddon, alright? I'm not the only one who sees the hypocrisy here, am I? They're voting about which personality in Caitlin's body is more worth saving (even though Frost died so there should be exactly zero votes for bringing Frost back), and not even acknowledging that Khione/Snow is the person they're gonna sacrifice in order to resurrect one of them. Do you see how messed up that is?

And I have several more questions that *aren't* about the morality of that situation. Are Team Flash gonna mourn Caitlin? They spent an entire episode mourning Frost last season, so is Caitlin gonna get the same treatment? How is Cisco gonna react to the news? What about Caitlin's mom? And most importantly of all, do the writers care?

And for the love of god, how many times did they say the words "Choice" and "Rogue" in this episode? We get it, writers. You're making a new Rogues Gallery without Captain Cold, and this episode is about choice. I appreciate your subtlety, and yes that was sarcasm.

And then we get to the episode's B-plot, which really *should've* been the episode's A-plot. The return of Hartley Rathaway! Hallelujah! And I really wish I could've enjoyed his return, but the episode basically has nothing to do with him! The show is *still* sidelining Hartley! You could cut him out of the episode and nothing would change! Well, basically nothing. His gauntlets are needed to save Red Death from... Wherever she was trapped. So okay, we needed a single line of dialogue saying that the New Fiddler killed Hartley in his sleep or something like that to steal his gauntlets (and for the record, it still wouldn't be the most messed up thing in this episode). Don't get me wrong, I want Hartley back. I want Hartley back for the rest of the season! He's great! But his inclusion in this episode just feels so pointless!

Did I miss something about Hartley having a heart condition when he last showed up? I know he's deaf, or at least he was when the show was still good, but what does that sonic blast even do to him? It clearly affects his heart somehow, but it's never explained what happens to him.

And why did the writers forget they gave him powers in season 6 until the very end of the episode? He even acknowledges in that very episode, "Grodd Friended Me", he doesn't need his gauntlets anymore because he has a Canary Cry.

Also, why doesn't Barry just speed punch out New Fiddler instead of letting her damage Hartley's hearing even worse?

*Also* also, how can New Fiddler vibrate people at different frequencies? And why didn't she just do it to Hartley at the top of the episode since she just needed his gauntlets? Because then the episode can't happen? Well crap, you got me there.

*Also* also also, how can Red Death interact with the real world (she tosses a crate at New Captain Boomerang in "Wednesday Ever After" and attacks New Fiddler in this episode) if she's trapped somewhere? How can she even recruit a new group of Rogues if she's trapped? Is there going to be an explanation for any of this? Actually, I can answer that last question myself. No.

But that scene at the end of the episode where everyone was dancing at the club put a genuine smile to my face. The last time this show made me smile like that was in "Good-Bye Vibrations" when Barry and Cisco did karaoke to "Poker Face". Granted, it was nowhere near that big of a smile, but it did make me smile. It just felt like the characters being allowed to have fun and destress, and we've gotten very few moments like that since Eric Wallace took over as the showrunner.

So the episode had two and a half things I liked about it, and nothing else made sense. In other words, the sky is blue. What do I even expect at this point? For an episode to be good? Well I shouldn't. But what really disappoints me isn't even that this season isn't very good, it's that *this* got renewed when Stargirl, aka an exponentially better show, got cancelled. I'm never not gonna be disappointed by that. I guess they still have eleven episodes to fix this season, but I honestly don't think the writers want to or care enough.

4 / 10.

Revisiting Season 9

[lbramson · 3/10 · 18 May 2023]

BORING AND PREDICTABLE! The most boring Flash episode goes to: this one! From shrugging off the death of a main character to wasting the whole episode on an obvious outcome, this was just nothing. Sheer nothingness for 42 minutes. Season 9 is the most boring season ever and this proves that point exactly! How? How do they make an episode so slow and bland? Don't even get me started on that fight scene and the new Fiddler character! Eric Wallace ruining the Flash more and more by every hour! This entire episode was emotionally draining me from boredom and emptiness! One of the worst episodes ever created! 3/10.

The Goddess of Snow

[RahulM007 · 10/10 · 16 February 2023]

"Central City, The Flash disgraced me. Now all of you will pay the price, and justice will be served."

The second episode of the ninth season fittingly titled "Hear No Evil" directed by showrunner Eric Wallace is another stellar episode that had quite a different tone, mood, and energy following the season premiere.

I think Khione's abilities will start to manifest in the coming episodes. She is a vastly different character than Frost and Caitlin, and I am enthused to finding out more of her backstory. How is she going to factor into the rest of the season? According to an interview with Eric Wallace, Khione plays a major role in the outcome of the season and the series' ending. I have a strong feeling that Caitlin isn't gone for good, and might return either in the penultimate episode, series finale, or both. Introducing a brand-new character felt necessary to Caitlin's arc and magnifies the significance of her sacrifice. The introduction of Khione aka Snow also gives Danielle Panabaker the opportunity to show off her acting chops, whilst still challenging her mental faculties. Danielle Panabaker is an extremely versatile actress, but also talented behind the camera as a director. I hope to see her in other roles in the future. I grew up watching "Sky High" and have since eagerly anticipated a sequel to relive my beloved childhood memories.

The episode concluded with Team Flash at Hartley Rathaway's club with Donna Summer's seminal 1979 song "Hot Stuff" being blasted in the background to honour Black history month. Eric Wallace always tries to have some sort of black representation, and I applaud that. It's only fitting that the song was used in an episode Eric Wallace directed. This episode marked Eric Wallace's second time directing an episode of the series, and he truly knocked it out of the park.

So far, each episode pertained to a different genre. Episode 1 leaned heavily towards the romantic-comedy genre, while episode 2 felt like a melodrama to some extent. I reckon that episode 3 is going to lean towards the action genre and share similarities with the 2010 film "The Expendables".

To conclude, the final season of the Flash is shaping up to be the most fun, action-packed, witty, drama and romance heavy entry of the series. "Hear No Evil" is a very homely, comfy, and wholesome episode that emphasises dialogue over action. To be perfectly candid, the Flash rarely disappoints and always delivers an entertaining episode.

Other tidbits:

*I loved the callback to season 4 in the end credits of the episode. Fun fact: This is the first time an episode included a brief scene in the end credits.

*Chester breakdancing is a nice callback to the season 7 "Goodbye Vibrations" episode.

*Khione aka Snow's dance skills is a nice callback to the season 1 "Crazy For You" episode.

*The ninth and final season of the Flash certainly has that finality feeling to it, but is extremely subtle, unlike the final season of Arrow which is more in-your-face.

*Post-Crisis versions of the Fiddler, Captain Boomerang, and Murmur working with Red Death to achieve a common goal certainly piques my interest. The post-Crisis version of the Fiddler is far more menacing and intriguing than the pre-Crisis iteration of the character.

*Up close, the Red Death suit looks extremely aesthetically pleasing.

*Could Red Death possibly be from the Reverse-Flashpoint timeline that Eobard Thawne created?

Final verdict: 10/10.