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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 7 Episode 17: Heart Of The Matter Part 1

July 14th, 2021 by Todd Black Comments

So…that’s a lot to unpack, and thankfully, most of it was good! “Heart Of The Matter” is a rare two-part finale for The Flash and in Part 1 we get a lot of showcases for the future in ways that will make fans happy no doubt.

First and foremost, XS and Impulse are GREAT together. Chemistry is crucial when it comes to siblings and these two feel like they’ve been brother/sister their whole lives. From Nora being the overbearing sister trying to knock some sense into her baby brother, to Bart going and doing what he wants because it makes him look cool, and more, it was great. I saw someone joke last week that Bart and Nora should get their own spinoff series in the future and honestly…I’m not opposed to that.

Furthermore, seeing the true Flash Family together and the kids reacting to all of their family members was a truly heartwarming moment. As was Barry just watching his kids be kids and not have to worry about all the dangers that were around them.

The misstep in that formula though was two-fold. First, the “we must protect the children!” thing you knew wouldn’t work because…it never works, they should know better by now. Like seriously…they should know better. And second, while they did make the idea of Godspeed being “Bart’s Thawne” (with an appropriate reaction from Barry at that statement) it’s still unclear why BART is “The Adversary” and not both him and Nora. Sure, we might not have the whole story but something more has to be going on there and we definitely need to see it to “sell” this rivalry.

That being said, seeing all the speedsters in action more or less was fun, especially as Godspeed’s clones continued to wage havoc on the city, and getting deadlier by the second.

However, while I love that Jay Garrick was back…how was he back? Remember, he was the Earth-3 Flash pre-Crisis and then the Multiverse folded in on itself and then expanded again. They definitely didn’t mention him post-Crisis via Season 6’s Mirror Mistress arc…so how did this happen? Yes, the obvious answer was that Oliver’s will “restored him” and Joan to Keystone City but…why?

And to have him ‘suit up’ and then immediately get taken by the Godspeed’s was honestly sad because Jay deserves better. It appears he’ll get his due next episode but come on, at least let him get taken in a fight!

The other side stories really didn’t help things and definitely brought it down sadly. Allegra not telling anyone about Esperanza was infinitely frustrating, and of course, because she’s in a “negative mood” she can’t use her powers in a way that can save everyone…convenient.

And the Kramer storyline is just dragging and I can’t wait for her to be gone.

Even with those down plot lines and the questions in logic, “Heart of the Matter” did go and do a lot of things right. From Vibe coming back in epic fashion, to going into August Hart’s mind, and setting a potentially epic final battle next week, there’s a lot to look forward to.

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!