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Honey, I shrunk Team Flash.

Honey, I can read minds.

Honey, hope isn’t a bad thing.

Honey, I got caught using my powers.

Honey, a really bad guy knows I’m the Flash.

Honey, this was a roller coaster of an episode.

Whoo. Okay, I need to start this off by saying Flash is one of my favorite shows to watch because it’s a casual enjoyment. What I mean by this, is every episode when it airs is fun to watch. It never gets too stressful, too full of itself, and keeps the story moving at a fairly good clip but it also recognizes any filler episode can be useful.

I’ve loved watching Flash from the beginning because it’s much lighter then some of the other DC shows. It’s not afraid to poke fun at itself.

Like why do all these guys sound like comic book characters? 

It’s not afraid to have a silly episode featuring someone reading minds. While keeping it grounded in a real world issue. Couples have trouble being completely open and honest with each other. They worry about looking bad in front of their other half. But at the end of the day if you really love each other nothing someone thinks is going to change how they feel.

I must admit I love that Team Flash isn’t totally helpless without Barry around to save the day. Although, I am wondering if anyone in Central City has noticed an extreme lack of the Flash lately. I know they feel a little helpless at the moment but they’ve still taken down two baddies without Barry.

I love Harry worrying about letting Barry down. He’s been the smartest guy in any given room for so long so being outsmarted isn’t something he’s used to. He doesn’t know how to take down the Thinker. He feels the weight of the world crushing him because he can’t help a friend who has helped him on more then one occasion. He’s scared he’ll let Barry down when he needs him the most.

It’s a nice sign of how far Harry has come. He’s gone from worry about nothing but his daughter to worrying about his friends, his family.

It provided a nice glimpse into how close Harry and Cisco are. Cisco snapped him out of his slump and reminded him he might not be The Thinker but he’s still smart.

The Flash balanced humor and seriousness perfectly. What with Iris stepping on Dibney. His trips to the bathroom with Caitlyn. Dropping them into the Lego set of how Iris was supposed to die. The humor in Cecile’s powers. Cecile reveling in them. With real problems like Harry’s feelings of inadequacy. Cecile wondering what’s going on in Joe’s head. Joe worrying Cecile won’t like him if he’s not perfect all the time. Barry feeling saddened about breaking his promise.

The metahuman was subpar at best. He wasn’t too frightening or too powerful for the team to take on without Barry or without Dibney and Cisco. His introduction as one of the metas on the bus hit harder.

Honestly, none of these new metas need to be all that frightening or interesting because The Thinker’s overall plan for them is worse then anything they could do. If they’re all subpar metas I really wouldn’t care.

The Thinker has carefully planned all of this out. Even with Big Sir. What does he need these particular metas for? Why hasn’t he made a move now that Barry’s locked up? Was he waiting for Barry to get caught on that camera? Did he know they’d never get a confession so he break Big Sir out? I’m sure he did.

So, that means he wants Barry sold off. He knew about the Warden. What’s he need Barry for? Maybe this has nothing to do with getting Barry out of the way and into jail but something more. Something he needs to force Barry into doing. Some piece of the puzzle everyone is still missing.

Back to last night’s episode. Hope.

Hope is a theme not played too frequently enough on TV. A lot of TV shows are completely devoid of hope. Watch Arrow some time. That show hasn’t felt very hopeful over the years.

Once Upon A Time in it’s prime played with the theme of hope quite often. In fact, it’s main character is often seen as the hope, Emma Swan. The hope for a brighter tomorrow. They often insisted on the show that it can be a powerful ally. After all, fighting against someone filled with hope for a better future is harder then fighting someone who has given up.

Although, again consult Arrow. Oliver Queen became a tougher opponent when he stopped fighting to die and fought to live. Emma Swan became a far more terrifying foe when she started to fight for whatever she believed in, her son, her family, her own happy beginning.

Yes, Barry made a promise to Big Sir he would get him out by finding the real killer. He couldn’t deliver. In a truly stunning moment Barry seemed hopeless. And Big Sir reminded him it wasn’t a bad thing to be hopeful. In turn, it sparked Barry’s big jail break where he gave Big Sir the chance at a new life.

No, it didn’t work out well for Barry in the end but I doubt he’ll regret it. It was a little foolish to think he could keep using his powers in such a confined space without getting caught. But Barry is nothing if not a hopeful fool whose biggest problem is seeing the good in everyone. I hope he never loses it.

I keep wondering how long they’ll keep him in jail for but so far it has not been as boring as I thought it would be. They’re not my favorite episodes but I love the dynamic it brings.

Everyone on Team Flash feels the need to step up. Fill in for Barry. Help Barry. Bring him home.

At the same time, they’ve admitted they have hit a wall until something new turns up. They can’t appeal without new evidence. The Thinker hasn’t made a new move yet. Nothing new in this overall plot and case have happened. Until they do, Barry is stuck where he is, and they know it.

It’s a refreshing take for the characters themselves to acknowledge the wall they’ve hit. At this point in most shows in DC we’ve hit the wave of filler as we buy time to fill up the season and don’t take the big bad down too soon but we have to keep things moving and real. How do we do it?

Flash answers it best by stuffing in the little moments. Moving Dibney along. Moving Cecile and Joe along. The pregnancy along. Giving Harry something to do. Giving Cisco and Caitlyn something to do. This show takes the opportunity to go for character moments instead of plot moments. So even if nothing serious happens there’s a moment for them to catch their breath before the next fight.

I’m sure Barry will be out soon enough. The Thinker will make his move soon. The next episode suggests we’d heading into the thick of it now. So, I hope it’s a good one.

Those are my thoughts on the latest episode! Let me know what you thought!

Read on!