The Flash The Flash Season 1 Episode 19: Who is Harrison Wells

[Spider-Aziz]

Either Wells naively thought that no one would be smart or clumsy enough to find that press print on the wall during his time there, or the door opens to anyone who's connected to the speed force.

I'm leaning more toward option 'A', cause Thawne was trapped in a time before the Speed Force.

Barry vibrating through the wall would have been a better solution. But apparently the guy who tries everything to keep his secret, didn't think any security measures were required to keep people out of his secret room.

My guess is he didn't think the room will appear in the schematics.

 

[Cybermaxis]

Good episode. Everyman looked creepy in the end, kinda like Slenderman.

 

[Herolee10]

For a guy without any established history of combat training, the Everyman definitely came off as a competent fighter where he gave the likes of Barry and Eddie a run for their money at times.

 

[Slade W]

Great episode. I really enjoyed it. Everyman was a great and interesting villain and provided a unique challenge for Barry and his team. The main plot of the series moved forward as well which is good.

 

[Loki882]

The end was definitely a plot-contrivance. Not only because apparently just anyone can open the fancy futuristic door, but there's no alarm system to set off in case anyone who wasn't Thawne/Wells entered the room.

 

[chamber-music]

I liked the Coast City cameo and Cisco creating a new Canary Cry machine.

Lance and Laurel like Felicity were so much more likeable and grounded on
the Flash than they are on the Arrow.

Everyman was a cool villain and rather new to comics if I remember correctly. I think he first appeared in the nu52. The Fantastic Four recently had a villain called Everyman who forgot what he looked liked and shape shifted as well.

I really like this show but they have to quit letting these bad guys get the drop on Barry. Okay so you can't touch him. then grab a 2x4 and whack him on the head with it before he can blink. ta da.

The show would be five minutes long if they didn't have Barry keep letting villains get the drop on him.

I used to read comics and wonder why Superman or Flash doesn't just charge at a villain using superspeed and punch them in the face 50 times before they have time to blink. Like the comics you sort of just have to go with it and turn your brain off.

 

[Loki882]

It's the classic problem with super-speed being a EXTREMELY oop power. It can be quite difficult to come up with serious threats to guys like that unless:

-The villains are all super-powerful themselves, which gets boring after awhile.
-You have the hero make clumsy mistakes (like Barry not just spinning around to get rid of the robot bees last episode or something).

 

[chamber-music]

I just put Barry's mistakes down to him being a naive rookie mostly on this show. Barry isn't trained in combat or tactics. Barry is a science nerd who sees the best in everyone which can make him a bit too trusting.

 

[Justin]

Really lovely cameo by Laurel who is fantastic these days and really works as a character when she smiles. Same way Felicity works as a character when she's happy.

I really love Cisco and the way he interacts with all these people, he's fantastic.

Thought everyman was good. Of all the criminals who they have locked away, this one has to be the most dangerous to be keeping around.

 

[Dninx64]

The only problem I had with this episode was the Idiot Ball that was being passed around. Also Wells you need better security.
Another than that, good episode.

 

[RivenSky]

Cisco is easily my favorite part of this CWDC universe.

And I wouldn't be terribly upset if the show turned in to a Barry and Eddie buddy cop show. Hilarious.

 

[DrCosmic]

The show would be five minutes long if they didn't have Barry keep letting villains get the drop on him.

I used to read comics and wonder why Superman or Flash doesn't just charge at a villain using superspeed and punch them in the face 50 times before they have time to blink. Like the comics you sort of just have to go with it and turn your brain off.

I think they can do better, and they have in certain episodes.

- Weather Wizard I, he was totally new.
- Being overwhelmed by Multiplex's numbers made sense. In the warehouse there weren't enough, but he was very new, and hypoglycemic and it made sense.
- Kyle Nimbus was made of gas. Hitting him was pointless and dangerous. Nice.
- Plastique wasn't a villain, Barry touched her, lost that conflict, but went easy on her from then on
- Tony Woodward could take a punch. Having the shelf fall on Barry was dumb though, but the idea of being surprised by a wall wasn't impossible.
- Farooq was using something very fast - electricity. I don't remember the confrontation, but being electrified should be a problem for Barry.
- Rainbow Raider didn't make much sense either, Barry was being super dumb/overconfident, especially knowing that others had been affected somehow. The fight with Arrow only made sense in the light of the idea that Barry was somehow holding back that Arrow got through to him before he caught that last punch.
- Reverse Flash makes perfect sense, y'know?
- Captain Cold doesn't make much sense. In his first episode, Barry could still have chased him down after that guard died. He'd have been mad too. I think that's one of the weakest parts of the series' use of his powers, that he never chases down people when he could. It only gets worse with Heatwave and Golden Glider, the showdown in the street where Flash runs past them as they spray guns everywhere was absolutely ridiculous. A couple snipers could have fixed the problem easy peasy. This is Johns' silver age addiction hurting the show. They need powers to compete with Flash. Even with the "New Deal" that Snart and Barry made, it's doubtful Barry can't disarm them.
- Pied Piper was smart, got captured, as he should, part of the plan, as was awesome.
- Peekaboo was a teleporter and though Barry didn't knock her out like he could have, it kinda makes sense for him in a way. Also, the boyfriend getting the drop on him with a bullet make sense.
- Firestorm he was taking it easy on
- Eiling with his endless boxes behind the back made little sense. You don't have underlings for that stuff. Ugh.
- Weather Wizard II was legit. But then they upped the ante, showing he can dodge lightning and grab people and drop them in jail before they know what's happening, which made the ensuing conflict with Captain Cold pre-deal so weak.
- Trickster was good, until they found out that Axel was at Iron Heights while Barry was downtown. It would have taken no time for him to get back and still catch the Tricksters. He was highly motivated too, IIRC.
- Barry being 'trapped' by the robotic Bees was ridiculous
- Everyman hitting him with a gun was dumb from both sides. He would've just shot him, like those cops. Barry recovers faster from fractured bones than he does getting hit in the back of the head. Silly.

So yeah, there's only been two or three 'powers forgetting' moments outside of the conflict with the Rogues, and now even that has a little plausibility with the deal, though there's still little reason for him not to just disarm them all when he sees them.

 

[ThePreface]

Captain Cold/Heatwave/Golden Glider should use their weapons to change the terrain. If the ground is frozen or molten and Barry can't run on it properly that's their advantage right there. By exploiting the terrain they've essentially nullified Barry's bread and butter power.

 

[Guts]

 

[Primal Slayer]

I just put Barry's mistakes down to him being a naive rookie mostly on this show. Barry isn't trained in combat or tactics. Barry is a science nerd who sees the best in everyone which can make him a bit too trusting.

I feel like they give to many characters "good" fighting skills.

 

[The Shape]

I'm still waiting for the reveal that Wells has all of Star Labs bugged and he's known that Barry and friends have been on to him since the very first time they spoke about it. That would be cool.

Either way, it seems like he totally knows what's up.

 

[Lilbaz]

I feel like they give to many characters "good" fighting skills.

If you are going in for a life of crime. Then you probably know how to handle yourself and have a certain mentality.

 

[Cain]

Everyman was a cool villain and rather new to comics if I remember correctly. I think he first appeared in the nu52.

Wrong. Never appeared in New 52. First appeared in the story 52 about 10 years ago and then the One Year Later flash forward DC was doing from around that time followed by Blackest Night. Hasn't been seen since.

 

[Quinnsanity]

Are we sure Wells didn't want them to find out? I mean he's not stupid. The "proof of what" thing was just a bit too convenient. Getting the door open and finding the fully intact room was just a bit too convenient. He did say that the endgame was coming. I wouldn't be surprised if this was all premeditated.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Good episode, I like that Caitlin is conflicted as it make sense for her to be given she hasn't seen the things the others have. I also loved Cisco and Joe going to Starling to (literally) dig up some evidence, and the Cisco and Laurel scenes were a lot of fun, by the far most attractive Cassidy has been since season 1 of Arrow, and I like that she got what we thought she's get from him, a sonic blast necklace makes sense.

The villain was interesting and his shape shifting brought about some interesting events, I am glad Eddie hasn't randomly gone heel and the stuff with Barry and Caitlin was fun.

As for that finale..... It's good to feel that there is genuine logical story progression each week.

 

[Human Torch]

I think Wells obviously knows they have their suspicions at this point,particularly Barry,who has made a less than spectacular effort to conceal his distrust. Whether or not he let them into his room,remains to be seen. (I doubt it though.)


As I said before,The Flash is a character you just have to suspend disbelief at some point. Otherwise each show would have the criminal caught within 10 minutes.

 

[Cain]

Are we sure Wells didn't want them to find out? I mean he's not stupid. The "proof of what" thing was just a bit too convenient. Getting the door open and finding the fully intact room was just a bit too convenient. He did say that the endgame was coming. I wouldn't be surprised if this was all premeditated.

You notice how he started speaking with his Thawne quirks when he confronted Joe at the station? dude knows. He's probably just observing them because he knows they'll give away their weaknesses that way.

 

[The Caped Knight]

I grantee that Eobard Thawne already knows that Barry knows he's Reverse Flash.

 

[dru-zod2501]

I really wanted to like this one. on the surface it had all the right parts to be a decent freak-of-the-week episode, but the more I think about it the more I feel the execution wasn't as tight as it could've been.

Cisco's initial reaction to Laurel was so much better in the previews than the final cut. The one in the episode felt bland, while the other one felt more like a "Cisco" reaction. It just throws the scene off a bit.

It's been said already but damn, they severely dumbed Wells down for the sake of the plot! Widely inconsistent from start to finish, I really hope he's just playing dumb but even that wouldn't make sense. If Wells knows they're on to him why bother letting them continue to build a case against him? I would've rather they just take Wells out of the episode altogether than what we got.

My biggest gripe, though has to be with resolution of the Everyman plot. So how did Eddie get out again? Flash brought the cops video evidence, but not the actual perp? Do the police know or care where he is? I get it the whole thing was to show how ill-equipped the law is to handle metas but if just a shapeshifter can overwhelm them then there's no chance against someone like Thawne.

 

[haephestus]

Okay. Not one of the best episodes given the number of plot holes and leaps of logic in this episode. But, I still enjoyed it.

I liked seeing Father and Daughter Lance behaving like likeable characters. I'm completely lost as to the timeline between the two shows, but Lance was a reasonable and logical character in this episode. Which was a very pleasant change to his completely illogical and unlikeable character on Arrow. IF that characterisation had carried through, then I wouldn't have been surprised to see him interrogating West about why he hasn't put a bullet through the speeding viligante in Central City.

Cisco's interactions with Black Canary were also pleasant for both characters, although I wish their interactions and Laurel's interest in further developing Sara's technology had been given a little more screen time because it seemed as though there was more to their scenes together than was shown.

I had all the same issues with Everyman, including his super-powers and abilities, that everyone else seems to have had. I'm surprised that they didn't have Wells or Caitlin attempt to provide some sort of explanation for how Everyman can change not only his biology, but also his clothes, make-up, accessories (i.e. weapons), etc. They also seemed to inconsistently show his ability as requiring some form of "contact" with his double, but at other times randomly being able to change shapes into anyone (unless he had to "touch" a person, or their clothes, to shape-shift into their form the "first" time, but after that he can shape-shift into them whenever he wants). I also completely failed to understand why Everyman chose Barry as his victim/double after escaping (unless he wanted to learn more about what the police knew about him and his abilities, but that still seems like a stretch).

And once again, I wish the show would address the morality of Wells and his team playing the role of judge and jury for the metahumans that they imprison in the particle accelerator. Sure, Everyman was at least guilty of attempted murder, but Peek-a-Boo (?) (the female teleporter) had only committed relatively minor theft, and they all receive the same imprisonment with no clear indication about how they are fed or entertained, not to mention about how they relieve or clean themselves. The cells are tiny and don't even have a chair or bed (or toilet). They don't even appear to receive a change of clothes. I know there is no "right" answer, especially as the local police are clearly uncapable of dealing with meta-humans, but they shouldn't keep ignoring the obvious. Just address it, have the characters question their roles in becoming prison wardens, but acknowledge that they don't have any other options at this time, unless they want to start handing over the meta-humans to the government/armed forces, which after their experiences with the General, they would clearly be adverse to.

Finally, Iris West. This episode demonstrated why the continued manipulation and deception is stupid and that Iris could serve a role on Team Flash. Sure, Wells came up with the idea of checking similar crimes first (or possibly not, since Iris did it herself before coming to STAR labs), but Iris showed competent investigative journalism skills which could be applied to tracking meta-humans. The sooner the "truth" is revealed to Iris the better.

I was a little confused about why Iris went to STAR labs though. Is it publicly known that STAR labs has now assumed responsibility for locating/fighting meta-humans? Or is that something that only Iris knows because of her connection to Barry. I'm surprised that a private company undertaking law enforcement hasn't been publicly debated or at least questioned by Captain Singh.