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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 02 Episode 21: The Runaway Dinosaur

May 11th, 2016 by Todd Black Comments

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I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Kevin Smith’s director debut on a superhero show (that’s not about his comic book store or life) was a much needed return to greatness for Flash. As “The Runaway Dinosaur” not only delivered an emotional roller coaster ride for all involved, it had plenty of fun and comedy throughout.

Let’s go with Barry to start. Having him “be in the Speed Force” was cool. Very cool even, especially when the special effects were brought in to show how far away he was. Showing the Speed Force as a living entity (with apparently multiple consciousnesses) was also good. Then when they added the “Christmas Carol” style use of figures in Barry’s life to explain what was going on, you knew what was coming, although maybe not exactly what you thought.

For Barry to still be struggling over the loss of his mother was very true to the character. Cause in the comics, he hasn’t solved her murder, and Henry died in prison. Here, Henry is alive, and Barry did solve the case, and even had the chance to rewrite history in order to save her. For him to not do that, even with him getting to say goodbye in the process, you could understand why he still had a hard time “letting go”. The scene at the grave site was very touching. Then when Nora herself showed up to help Barry get to where he needed to be, I was moved.

And yes…during the book reading I teared it. I don’t know if that’s a real story, but it should be! It’s beautiful!

Now obviously this wasn’t all about Barry, and rightfully so. As everyone had to react to Barry being “dead”. Henry’s outrage, Wells E2’s disbelief, Joe and Iris unsure of what to think, it was all spot on. Then Cisco “vibed” him and there was hope again! Although small to be fair. Then when they discovered Wally and Jesse unconscious even more tension was added. Oh, and then Girder came back from the dead.

Yeah, zombie time! Screw science here, this is pure Kevin Smith at work. And it did work for the most part. Yeah, it was cheesy, and some of it didn’t add up in full. But hey, zombies!!!

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The comedy throughtout this plotline was great. Especially when Barry returned and Cisco “greeted” him with a rundown of the situation. Add to that Well E2’s reaction to the events and this was comedy gold.

Now again, not everything worked. A big point for me was that Iris insisted that she be the one to bring Barry back. I really felt that Henry would’ve been more perfect here, and he almost did it! They keep pushing this “newfound” relationship between Barry and Iris and it’s just not working for me. And then when they go to the gravesite, they don’t kiss like most fans have wanted for two seasons. Oh, and based on what Henry said, he’s likely going to die. Thanks for that.

Zoom’s return at the end and the reveal of his army was scary. Yes, it’s kind of convenient that he has all these metahumans at his disposal. But why not? And it perfectly sets up what’s coming for the season finale. All out war.

“The Runaway Dinosaur” brought back not only Barry, but the momentum that this season needed before it heads to the end. Barry is back in full speed, Zoom has his army and is ready to make his move. Ring the bell.

4 out of 5 nerds

4 out of 5 nerds

Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!