"The Flash" The Darkness and the Light (TV Episode 2015) Poster

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9/10
Blinded
ThomasDrufke3 November 2015
After last week slightly deviated from being The Flash to being a set up to Legends of Tomorrow, we got a great episode of pure entertainment. At its best The Flash and Arrow have always been great at giving the entire ensemble their moment to shine. Tonight was a prime example of that. There was so much to love about this episode and so much to look forward to.

Beginning with the big WTF from last week, Wells is back and an even bigger jerk than previously. As always, Wells has a little bit more up his sleeve than we thought, but I think this will be a much different Wells than last year. You can see the difference in Cavanagh's performance and in his motivations. This time he wants to get his daughter back. Now, how he got through to earth two without being a meta-human and why Zoom cares so much about Wells that he needed to kidnap his daughter? I don't know. But I do like this new curve on the Wells character.

On a lighter note, Barry took Patty out on a date finally. While the tone veered more into a Friends or Seinfeld episode, it worked really well for their offbeat dynamic. Patty is quickly becoming my favorite character on the show. Santel VanSanten and Grant Gustin's chemistry is as good if not better than the Oliver and Felicity relationship in Arrow. Plus, watching Cisco be the third wheel through Barry's glasses was priceless.

Speaking of Cisco, it's about time he tells everybody about his powers. That secret never made sense to me so I'm glad the writers didn't delay it any further. I was glad to see Wells' meta-human detector watch didn't go off when it came to Caitlin. I don't think she ever needs to become Killer Frost. Perhaps a visit from another earth's Caitlin but her place in the team works just fine as a regular human being. But it was funny to hear the line "I don't think any of us will become evil" come out of her mouth. I guess it's also worth mentioning Cisco's flirting was with the one and only Hawkgirl a part of the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow. Definitely glad this episode didn't focus on her as we already had last week's set up for that show.

Caitlin also had a brief little fling with Jay as the second couple of the episode. I don't know if it was because I loved the scenes with Barry and Patty so much but I never bought into Caitlin and Jay. It just seemed forced. Typical writing to have them almost kiss before the villain breaks it up. Dr. Light AKA Linda Park was decent as the next Zoom pawn. Her powers were unique enough and it gave us a first look at Barry using speed mirages. I could be wrong but I believe that is something Zoom is known for doing, so that's another interesting link. So overall, a very fun episode that brought a lot of things we were waiting for and teased just enough for the future without overwhelming the audience.

+Barry & Patty

+Wells is back

+Wells' motivations make a little bit more sense

+Vibe

+Well balanced episode

-Caitlin & Jay seemed forced

9.2/10
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10/10
So funny
amylee-0687324 October 2020
This was one of the best episodes of the show so far! I've honestly love the new Harry and I also loved Cisco's humor this episode. I laughed my head off and the plot was also very interesting
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8/10
Semi-dodgy ep
imakk20014 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The show is closer to becoming the Harrison/Harry Wells Show, not necessarily a good thing. I hope they do a better job going forward than this ep which is all set up for his return. Everyone except Caitlin got their moment with him, even Joe & Iris. De-powered Jay staying after the Speed Cannon was built. The team's easy acceptance. Dodgy motivations from everyone. It was so...by-the-numbers, I felt like I was watching a checklist for Introducing: Harry Wells.

But like all eps except S1E18, this had it good moments, too: Barry & Cisco fumbling through the blind date, Barry & Iris's convo, Dr. Light's E-2 ID, Joe's reaction to Wells (which made a whole lot more sense than everyone else's), Joe & Barry's convo, and the (probably?) inadvertent scene of Barry with his past, present and future LIs (lol).
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Harry's back!
cobi-806203 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Wow that episode sure felt long, thankfully it did because to me it was like we were back in that magical feel that season 1 had going. There's a lot to talk about in this episode so don't be surprised by the length of this review.

Picking up from last week, Harrison Wells of Earth-2 has presented himself to the members of Team Flash. I'm probably not the only one who thinks this new Wells is more amusing than last season's imposter. Like Cisco simply put it "you're just a d#&k" was laughable and Cisco does get a lot of funny moments in this episode. Joe's reaction was no surprise, it recreated the same situation as in ep 20 in season 1 but this time Barry manages to catch all the bullets. I like how Wells had to acknowledge each character that Eobard Thawne had hurt. Even Garrick has something against him but in this case it's who this Wells really is. Wells takes responsibility of creating Zoom and Garrick despises him but then Wells fires that back at Garrick and says that HE is responsible of stopping Zoom which he claims Garrick never did. According to Harry (as they now call him) it's Zoom who has been hunting Garrick down and not the reverse. This conflict was among the best things in this episode and I hope we'll see more of it. I'm really really glad to see Tom Cavanagh back.

Moreover to the villain of the week, Doctor Light AKA Linda Park from Earth-2. With the ability to harness and project starlight she causes The Flash to go blind. Don't worry though, Barry gets his vision back thanks to his rapid cellular regeneration. Which makes me wonder if he can grow back body parts. But anyway, the villain doesn't really try to kill The Flash. No she decides she should rob banks to get far away from Zoom? Not sure how that would work with Zoom's power being able to move long distances in very short time. Didn't really think that one through did you. When discovering that there's an Earth-1 version Linda Park, she goes to kill her double in public to steal her identity. Like that would fool Zoom, right..

In between all this Barry & Patty have their first (awkward still cute) date. Offering a set of eyes we have Cisco to assist the temporarily blinded Barry, which Patty figures out and is totally cool with. They kiss and our hero heads of to face the villain one last time. Playing dirty this week we have The Flash creating his first speed-mirages, something we first learned from Eobard Thawne. Seeing all those speed mirages got me really looking forward to when Mirror-Master shows up as he was teased for this season by one of the writers.

Speaking of new characters, we finally were introduced to Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl), now we're just missing Hawkman and Rip Hunter and we're set for Legends of Tomorrow. Wondering what will happen next week on Cisco and Kendra's date, maybe they bump into Hawkman along the way.

So much has happened already and as we move on Cisco (whose abilities are now known by Caitlin and Barry thanks to Harry) gets the name we've all known he'd be known as, Vibe! Pretty cool that they finally make that official, I think he's gonna make his own outfit and gear in secret and we finally get to see it when it's fully done just like Ray Palmer's ATOM suit. Now we only have to wait and see when Caitlin starts to get cold fingertips. I like how they made her be the one to say "don't think that just if we got powers we would go evil". If only she knew what were in those words.

Last clip we see Zoom without him blurring his face and body (damn I wish I had that suit!). He has Harry's/Wells from Earth-2's daughter captured at Earth-2. Great episode and I hope to see more like it and of Zoom and judging by next episode's title I will, starting to feel that spark of season 1 all over again!
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9/10
The Darkness and the Light
SpideyVerse2328 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
After the previous two episodes trying to serve as setups for Legends of Tomorrow, this episode refocuses on the main plot of the season.

Harry Wells, from Earth-2 is introduced to the team by Barry and he is met with a lot of distrust from everyone. But, this Wells seems to be very different from the previous season's Wells with him having a personal motivation to come to Earth-1.

Cisco's powers and status as a meta-human is finally revealed to the team and it ends with him getting a superhero name as well.

Barry's date with Patty was really funny and nice to see since Barry lets loose a bit.
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9/10
Ranking/Reviewing every Flash episode: Darkness and the Light
lbramson11 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Barry goes on a literal blind date with Patty after being attacked by Dr. Light. My hopes that Episode 5 would be awesome were fulfilled. Season 2 Episode 5 The Darkness and Light is one of the Flash's many classics. It's a classic not because it has crazy twists. Not because it has epic moments, which it does. It's one of the greats because of how dang funny it is! Sometimes good, old fashioned, light hearted comedy is all you need to have a good time! I love when a character loses a sense, it opens doors for comedic opportunities throughout. For example, Barry's literal blind date is so awkward that it's so funny to watch. Add on the introduction to Harry Wells from Earth 2 and it wraps this episode in a nice bow! 9/10!
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7/10
Funny but not the best
okraievskyi5 September 2022
Where this episode doesn't lack is the funny parts. From the Barry\Patty date and Cisco's LIVE reaction to it, to Cisco's line ("Our Dr Wells might have been evil, this one's just a d*ck!"). The story and characters were also interesting, with the cool ending to Cisco's arc and the gang's dynamics with the new Dr Wells. We also are getting more info about Jay Garrick and his backstory, and I think his character is really interesting and not the typical 'fearless mentor'. The dialogue in this felt weird and forced though, and Jay Garrick's actor's acting was not so great this episode. Dr Wells was awesome, though. Overall, an exciting episode that is pretty fun and builds up to what comes next. I will say though that everyone in Central City is super, let me say it, sus, in this episode imo. I suspected Patty to be a doppelganger clone, and same with the girl that Cisco asked out. Crazy tension indeed.
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4/10
Blind men tell no tales.
rwseidel27 May 2019
Aar! Let's make fun of the handicapped, since we've run out of plots, ideas, themes, memes, and way past the end of the story line. What studio exec did we have to sleep with to get these jobs. It wouldn't be so bad if we had a few more authentic characters. Of course, soap opera sci-fi doesn't need anything less superficial than a uniform. Assuming that we can get a real writer could we think of something new?
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