The Flash (TV Series) The Runaway Dinosaur (2016) User Reviews

Getting to the heart of Runaway Dinosaur is worth slogging through Iris/Girder and the first 3 speedforce aliens

[imakk2001 · 9/10 · 10 May 2016]

This was yet another filler ep but at least this time there's actual meat and potato in the center: Nora/Barry. Given the info released for the ep, you'd think the impact of Nora/Barry would be meh by the time it broadcasted. Wrong. The writing/acting behind their scenes were so strong/honest/gut-deep, you can't help but feel with Barry the whole time. With 1 sentence Barry 'fessed up why he's so messed up this season, and it works/is believable because it's rock-bottom true. Can't believe it, but Kevin Smith actually wasn't over-hyping and everything he said about this is spot-on.

Other bits of goodness were Harry/Cisco comedy act and Joe capably handling crisis situations. The Barry/Iris scene in the speedforce was hilarious, but I get the feeling it wasn't supposed to be...

Iris/Girder was the fatty filler and it didn't help that it's a large part of the ep. It was so obvious why they went with Girder of all metas: because he made Iris "necessary" to the ep. And the shoehorning continues.

Random observations:

Barry: if it means believing in fate to get Iris, then so be it. At least he and Iris are finally on the same page. "Yay."

Henry Allen: the only fictional character who stood a better chance of staying alive in his cabin in the woods than going home. Unless...

Caitlin: taking the 1st step in Zoom's 12-step conversion program to becoming Killer Frost.

Despite the amount of filler content, Nora/Barry was worth it. For them: 9.3

Flash - S02E20 The Runaway Dinosaur

[j_forbesy · 10/10 · 11 May 2016]

Personally, this is an episode I've had bookmarked for a while. There was a large amount of hype around this episode as Kevin Smith directed it. I've always been a fan of Kevin Smith and the idea of him teaming up with the writer of X-Men First Class to create an episode of my favourite TV shows was really exciting.

Apart from that though I was really excited about this episode in general after the epic episode we got last week. I thought this episode started great with them picking up right where we left off. I like how the characters found out pretty early that Barry was still alive. I thought it was a smart move to make as us as the audience already knew what had happened.

I really loved the introduction to the speed force. Having read parts of the New 52 of the Flash, seeing a physically representation of the speed force was great. I really loved how they used Joe, Iris, Henry and Barry's mother as the physical representation of the speed force. I thought the way it was set up and what it actually accomplished was fantastic.

I really loved Cisco this episode, I thought he was extremely well written. Everything from the Walking Dead reference to just his short lines of humour were really spot on. "Glad your back Barry because we are about to be dead","Are you like magic now?". Also I really liked to see more of Cisco's powers. We knew he could Vibe across dimensions but seeing him Vibe into the speed force was amazing. I really hope we get to explore a lot more of Cisco as Vibe next season because they are really setting him up to be great.

For me, that taking a villain of the week aspect wasn't really needed this episode. I felt that there was so much going on with Barry in the speed force and Jesse in a coma that we had plenty of material to be explored. We did get a bit of fan service with an appearance from Jason Mewes with this however which was nice to see.

I though Grant Gustin was fantastic as always. This was one of my favourite performances by Grant Gustin. We really got to see him act to a brick wall in a sense. While it was the characters we know already, they weren't playing the ones we know. They overall were really bland and it was up Gustin to bring the performance. And he really did. We really got to see Barry as a character reflect on his time as the Flash and we got some fantastic emotional moments that he nailed. I really loved the scenes when he met the speed force as his mother and they have a conversation before Barry quotes the whole children's book in the next scene. It really reminded me of one of my favourite Earth 2 scenes when Earth 1 Barry talks to his Earth 2 mother. I thought the emotion he brought in that scene was topped by what he did in these scenes. I think that Kevin Smith would of really loved directing this scene because he loves the relationship between Barry and his mother.

The ending to this episode was one of my favourite I've seen through the Flash. I think they really tied this episode up really well with providing a fantastic reflection from Barry on the episode that we just went through with Barry finally visiting his mothers grave. The final scene with Zoom was also great. I was thinking that this close to the end the episodes really had to be Zoom heavy but this one wasn't and I thought that they did a fantastic job keeping Zoom out of it for the most part while still building to the end. I also think a few hints were dropped for future episodes with Henry saying he is staying, I think his going to be dead by the end of the season.

I really loved this episode. After an extremely amazing episode last week, for me this topped it. While I'll admit that the villain of the week story was pretty weak, there was simply so much amazing aspects to this episode that this is one of my favourite episodes of all time. Last week got a 10/10 and I don't see much different this week.

10/10 - See more reviews at thenotsonerdynerd.wordpress.com/

The Runaway Feels

[SpoodermanDerp · 9/10 · 11 May 2016]

"The Runaway Dinosaur" is an emotional ride that back tracks a bit to give Barry a well done and well deserved development within the Speed Force while building great chemistry between the group and it's characters.

Right off the bat, the episode really does a great job at capitalizing and giving each character in the S.T.A.R. labs team or even the smaller characters enough time and spotlight to truly shine respectively. With a minor flaw being Tony's sudden appearance which really has no sort of relevance to the episode, and he's just there for the sake of being there. You can take out Tony from this episode and replace him with any other bad guy besides Zoom and the episode would've really played the same which is quite appalling. Now that we've thrown that away, this episode is really damn emotional and hits you right in the heart. As Barry fights to come back to the real world out of the very trippy speed force, as he does that he gets greeted by people who are special to him. This gave way to one of the most touching scenes the show has ever had since the finale in Season One which really hits hard. Barry in the speed force basically gives him the sufficient back tracking and eventual closure he needed that surprisingly wasn't explored as much to its fullest extent in previous episode. Kevin Smith also does quite a good job giving chemistry between the side characters and giving them hilarious lines and subtle mannerisms to make it all the more fun. The best way to draw a parallel to this episode to another property is probably Guardians of the Galaxy. It's weird to an extent, it balances humor and emotion, and it contains a whole lot of touching scenes involving moms and "Take My Hand" scenes.

+Emotional scenes with the speed force +Great chemistry between characters +Great subtle touches -Villain could easily be replaced with someone else and has no effect whatsoever.

Verdict: 9.3/10

Four Ghosts

[ThomasDrufke · 8/10 · 10 May 2016]

What a trippy episode directed by the king of all nerds, Kevin Smith. It wasn't the stunner that was last week's episode, but it did have some great emotional moments from Grant Gustin, and the beginnings of Jesse's journey as a speedster. As much as it felt weird to not have Zoom be the center focus, especially with only a few episodes left, there was more than enough material to hold us over till next week.

Last week's cliffhanger left us wondering how exactly Barry would get out of the speed force, but Jesse and Wally's fate were also up in the air. Of course, no one expected anyone to die, but I think we all wanted to know whether or not they would end up with speed like their comic book counterparts. While Wally was sidelined for most of the episode as usual, Jesse sure seems to have some form of speed.

While Team Flash was trying to figure out how to help Jesse and bring Barry back, Tony Woodward aka Girder was brought back as a zombie due to the particle accelerator explosion last week. Girder was the main villain of one of my least favorite Flash episodes last season, so I was less than excited to see him return. Luckily, his presence wasn't portrayed as cheesy as it was last season. Tony was after Iris and they were forced to set up a trap to lure him back into Star Labs. This was mostly just so that Barry could have someone to fight when he gets back, but it didn't logically make any sense. Tony saw Iris in the morgue when he initially woke up, so why did he leave in the first place?

Meanwhile, Barry spent the majority of the episode trapped in the speed force. It seemed like an undeniably difficult task to portray on screen, but I loved the way Kevin Smith and the crew portrayed the speed force. It very much resembled Oliver's journey in the Arrow episode, 'Three Ghosts'. Barry dealt with Joe, Iris, and his parents through the speed force and finally reconciled with his choices last season of letting his mother die to keep the events of the show in order, just as Oliver was forced to come to grips with the ghosts of his past in 'Three Ghosts'.

It was nice seeing Michelle Harrison return as Nora Allen as she shared a few touching moments with Grant Gustin. Much like Iris getting over Eddie in a random episode this season, Barry's moments with his family kind of felt out of the ordinary, but that didn't prevent those scenes from having an emotional impact.

It's worth mentioning that Iris and Cisco had some nice moments together in both dealing with Tony and attempting to bring back Barry. The former had her weekly romantic-tease with Barry for the online 'shippers', but I didn't mind the moment at Nora Allen's grave all that much either. I'm beginning to accept the direction they are taking Barry and Iris, even if it's not what I think is best for the show. Overall, it was a good follow up to last week's shocker, even if not everything added up the way I would have liked.

On a side note, I think Henry's "I'm not going anywhere" line all but confirms his death this season. With the man under the mask likely being John Wesley Shipp, his death would still open the door for Shipp's return down the line. Lastly, the ending shot of Zoom's villain line up was strange. Why does he think he needs all of their help? At this point, he doesn't even know Barry has his speed back.

+Trippy speed force

+Jesse gets her speed

+Cisco and Iris

-Tony's arc doesn't entirely make sense

8.4/10

Speed Force

[cobi-80620 · 11 May 2016]

This episode warmed my heart, it was very emotional, in a good way. Barry is stuck in the Speed Force and the Speed Force can apparently speak to him and he to it. While we didn't get a full explanation of what the Speed Force is it was interesting to learn that it has a mind of its own and I hope we will revisit this world in the future.

In this season's very first episode, "The Man Who Saved Central City", Barry had to accept the events of past tragedies and move on forward. The same lesson is to be learned here in this episode only for a whole different tragedy. The Speed Force wants Barry to accept that his destiny as a hero won't come without sacrifice and to be the Flash he has to be ready to live with that. I like that the Speed Force took the shape of people close to Barry, it made it seem more personal. It took the form of Nora Allen last because she is the one Barry has to let go of. I loved the added book reading and how ties in with the title. Seeing Barry let go of his mother and reach for Iris looked visually amazing and it nicely showed Barry letting go of his past and reaching for his future.

The less so interesting Girder-story at least had funny moments, of course due to Cisco. I wonder how Girder found the car from last season and it was nice to see Jason Mewes make a cameo. It was interesting to learn that Thawne may have experimented with the dead meta-human bodies. I wonder if we'll learn more of this in the future.

It was funny to see Joe wondering if Wally now had powers. Furthermore I think Jesse might have speed powers, seemed as if Barry felt that she too has the Speed Force in her system.

Lastly we get to see Zoom do his "Magneto-Mutants-VS-Humans"-speech in front of his army of Earth-2 meta-humans. I noticed a green Firestorm, a man wearing Captain Cold's jacket and icy hands, another meta wearing the purple Trickster outfit and I actually saw a woman with the same blue lightning effect around her like Zoom has. Don't know if she has speed powers but it's going to be awesome to see this army in action.

I have to point out that it was funny hearing "Sit Barry sit" as opposed to "Run Barry run" which we still got to hear. All in all I think Kevin Smith did a wonderful job with this episode and I enjoyed it a lot.

What is it about this show?

[errant-52785 · 9/10 · 30 November 2020]

No matter who writes it or directs it, it always manages to get me weepy.

Masterful at getting you invested.

One of the best episodes

[abhijnvb · 10/10 · 11 May 2016]

I have been apprehensive about the show since the beginning. At the end of The Flash's first season I was so disappointed that I stopped watching the show for quite some time. Then I watched again for one reason or another and to my surprise the second season got interesting. I was hopeful that the season and the show would become better. This marvelous episode just reduced my apprehension a lot. This gives me hope for a better DC TV universe. Hats-off to Kevin Smith for this enchanting episode. For all superhero Nerds out there,this is a must watch show, better than Arrow, as good as Constantine and Jessica Jones. Although it is not on par with Daredevil, it is different and refreshing. Best episode of the show without doubt. Live long and Watch.

Strong stand-alone episode, decent 21/23 episode

[valpaskankaristo · 8/10 · 11 May 2016]

Continuing from last week's epic cliffhanger we find Barry being trapped inside the Speed Force; something a lot of fans speculated on actually. Barry's internal struggle shown via the shadowy figure makes for good TV and I think the director Kevin Smith did good job. But...

This ep is really stretching my nerves by being the third last episode this season but so majorly disparting from the main narrative they finally got the hang of few episodes ago by even leaving Zoom, our main foe this season, to appear only in the pre-credits scene.

I'm now worried about how the two final episodes will play out when almost no ground-work was made to those. This season has had so much filler. Even Arrow has made everything lead up nicely to the finale every single year. This is really shaking my interest in the show as a whole.

Hopefully they will fix these issues in Season 3 and hopefully they won't create another speedster villain. Or at least make him or her appear more; The team found out Eobard's real identity in episode 19 or so -- opposed to them finding out about Zoom in episode 15.

We also had yet another "Villain of the week" in this episode to fill in screen time, this time Iris's ex-boyfriend from Season 1 who came back from the dead... Uggh

+ emotional scenes with Barry / + well done execution of somewhat cliché message / + Iris and Barry / - villain of the week / - Distraction from the Zoom story / - Cisco's powers and how they were used to interact with Barry

Ranking/Reviewing every Flash episode: The Runaway Dinosaur

[lbramson · 10/10 · 11 June 2023]

Kevin Smith truly is the king of nerds! After dying in the last episode, Barry goes on an adventure through the Speed Force to get back home. Remember when I said Enter Zoom wasn't my favorite episode of Season 2? That's because this one is! You might be disappointed to find out that there are no dinosaurs that runaway, but what you do get is an emotional, trippy, complex, thematic masterpiece! The Runaway Dinosaur deals with relatable themes of love, loss, and childhood. This episode reminds me a lot of "Three Ghosts" from Arrow Season 2. I am still at a loss for words at how good this episode is! I think it's even better than 1x15. Out of Time was more shocking and well received, but this one is too tearjerking to not think it's the best episode ever!

100/10-THE PEAK!!!

Is the joke parade done yet?

[Hankhilington · 1/10 · 10 May 2016]

The third episode in the joke saga. Hopefully better episodes can be brought back. This episode was plain tacky bull to take up 44 minutes. Hey did you know Starlab has a really extensive morgue in the basement? Yeah turns out nobody knew until it was needed for a plot hole. Store your dead mutants in your jail cell?

Also where the hell was Zoom? This show really needs the audience to just forget about the plot... I mean common he can start an evil army of mutants and take care of Mr.Flash. He has done so this whole time at least. I'm hoping this was just the joke three episodes as predicted and hopefully we will get higher quality episodes again.

the flash

[golavoda-77-668237 · 1/10 · 11 May 2016]

i will just say how low can you go from superheroes to zombies omg wtf this show is going from great to very very bad il give it a go for the fame of the old episodes hope something will get better soon or this show is going to air max 1 season more..... .. .. .. .. .. Last week's cliffhanger left us wondering how exactly Barry would get out of the speed force, but Jesse and Wally's fate were also up in the air. Of course, no one expected anyone to die, but I think we all wanted to know whether or not they would end up with speed like their comic book counterparts. While Wally was sidelined for most of the episode as usual, Jesse sure seems to have some form of speed so from now on this show should not be called the Flash