nerd radio

Get ready for the new daily show

TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 7 Episode 10: Family Matters Part 1

May 19th, 2021 by Todd Black Comments

So, full disclosure. About 5 minutes before the end of the episode I was going to give this episode a 3-star rating. I’ll explain why in a bit but then as the Kramer/Joe final scene approached I knew that something dumb was going to happen and sure enough…Joe West quit as the leader of the CCPD. Which means (if you’ve been following along in the Arrowverse at large) that in the same weak two major African-American law enforcement officials up and quit for the sole reason that they “couldn’t change the system from the inside”. Which is bull crap. And considering that these two (Joe and Sophie) are known for their creative prowess and wisdom more times than not, them giving up is honestly an insult to their characters and what they stand for. So for that reason alone, this episode is getting a 2-star (and I was REALLY tempted to give it a 1-star rating but I talked myself out of it).

In short, “Family Matters Part 1” was doing nothing but spinning its wheels and retreading certain plotlines while also frustratingly making their characters seem weak, dumb, and emotionless at times.

For example, Barry trying to train Alexa to control Fuerza’s Strength Force was fine. And her struggling to use her Force was also fine. But Barry pushing Alexa to the breaking point? Telling her to train MINUTES after she hurt Cisco? And not even showing grief that Cisco got hurt? Who is that and why is Oliver Queen now in The Flash? That may have been a joke, but Barry went full-on Oliver there and it was so dumb for all the wrong reasons. Barry is supposed to be the compassionate one, the one who “runs towards love” and yet all he was thinking about was the end goal without thinking about the feelings of others and that’s NOT Barry Allen. Having Caitlin remind him of that and connecting with Alexa through her Frost life was fine…but she shouldn’t have had to remind Barry of that at all!

Then, there was Cisco. Who last week went from “I need to leave Central City” to “what am I supposed to once I leave it?” in…wait for it…minutes flat. Granted, leaving the life you know is hard, but they made it seem like Cisco was incapable of thinking of a way to “reinvent” himself. Including his “greatest fear” was everyone “moving on without him” while he was “stuck at Star Labs”. Does that sound like Cisco to you? This was the guy who traveled the world post-Crisis to go and see how the world was remade! And yet he can’t figure out what job to take or career path to follow? In what multiverse?

Arguably most frustratingly though was the return of Kramer. She got dealt a major blow in the Frost case, we were TOLD she was leaving…and yet she’s back, just as deluded as ever, and willing to use the “rule of law” to bend the rule OF the law in order to get rid of “metahuman criminals”. Her repeated use of the line “by the book” was infinitely frustrating because you know that they were trying to make a point about how certain corrupt officers use the “letter of the law” to override the “spirit of the law” and this is WHY we need people like Joe West on the inside because he’s the one who can fight people like Kramer and try to bring them “to the right side of the line”. Instead, he up and quits to try and “make her see the truth”? How does that work? Because now there’s no one on the CCPD who will stand up to her! She has a clear path to using those cure bullets to wipe out the entire meta-population. Thanks Joe…

Now for some speed points. The Speed Force is sounding like a child more than a “Primordial Force” in regards to how Barry “rejected her”. Bashir/Psych being a “guy who didn’t know the full truth” was kind of eye-rolling. Alexa waiting until the last second to go and “connect” with Fuerza and them merging at the last possible second was equally as eye-rolling. And it’s already REALLY old hearing the Forces call each other family…because that’s not how any of this works.

In the end, “Family Matters Part 1” didn’t do any of its characters any favors and while Part 2 might may things better…it might honestly be more hopeful to ask if they don’t make anything worse.

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!