One of the things I love about The Flash is sometimes they’re able to make things really interesting with the most simple of plotlines, much like they did with “The Speed of Thought”. However, they also have a tendency to go to the other side of the spectrum and do things for the sake of slapstick and “hilarity” and the results usually don’t end well. “The One In The Nineties” is a great example of that.
Because the premise of Team Flash needing to find the other “forces of nature” in order to save the Speed Force/Nora is a good one, but for whatever reason…the writers behind team Flash are trying to go to the extreme with the “forces of nature” that go beyond what they actual are from their comic origins.
As I noted last episode, Fuerza isn’t a hideous monster in the comics, far from it. Psych and the Sage Force could be considered fair given how it was used and it did make for a nice visual (despite the bad storyline of Barry STILL needing to overcome his past fears). However, with the Still Force…they really went for the “easy out”.
In the comics, the Still Force was a force of the universe that was found by Lex Luthor within the son of The Turtle. It has the power to stop the acceleration of anything, even someone powered by the Speed Force. Gorilla Grodd even used it once to stop the entire movement of the universe!
So for them to go from that to…a time traveler storyline…was kind of lame. Furthermore, how they tied it all to Chester and the “entity” of it in Deion was just…lame.
Chester has honestly been a weak link in the team since he arrived, and it’s because they’ve made him so comical and over the top that it’s just not fun to watch him do…well…anything. And they went REALLY trope heavy with his story here and it didn’t do him any favors.
From the storyline of his dad, to how he got Deion to “move on” and everything, it was just…predictable, and kind of boring.
In contrast, the storyline with Nora/Speed Force bonding with Iris was very nice. And Iris making key presumptions about Barry’s feelings about her seem to be the catalyst for the next episode and that one could be fun if they don’t rush into things (pun intended).
Also, what was up with that Caitlin/Frost storyline? It had like one scene and no follow-up outside of the time jump? That seems like a waste.
In the end, “The One In The Nineties” had a main plot that was basic to a massive extent, side plots that should’ve gotten more time, and an overall feel that they’re really taking liberties with the comic lore in a way that doesn’t benefit anyone.
Todd Black
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!
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