TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 9 Episode 2: Hear No Evil

After a very lackluster season premiere, I was really hoping that “See No Evil” would take things in a better direction. But it didn’t. If anything, it made it worse and made some of the most inexplicable stuff happen just for the sake of the plot.

Let’s start with the big thing. There’s a new “Snow Sister.” I’m not calling her by that new name because it’s REALLY dumb, so let’s just call her “Snow.” Snow was the result of the accident gone wrong at the end of the last season. After being introduced to Team Flash, Mark convinced them that they needed to get her back into the SRS machine to get Caitlin back…and they believed him, without issue. And they did the experiment, without questioning anything. Do I really need to explain why that’s wrong?

First, they took Mark at his word, even though he’s never proven to be fully trustworthy. Second, they disregarded the fact that this was a “new person” in front of them and that they were basically sacrificing her to get Caitlin back…and then Frost back as they would discover. And third, they didn’t think for one second that the experiment could go wrong. Which it did, and then they found out that they could “only bring one of them back” if they wanted to…because of course that would be the choice. Naturally, they “resolved” it when they realized that Snow needed to make the choice for herself…and, of course, she chose to be herself and not Caitlin nor Frost.

It took WAY too long to get to that point, and it was oh so obvious that this was the end result because they wouldn’t introduce the “third sister” just to ditch her in the same episode. That’s not only patronizing to the viewer, that’s insulting to the characters who just LAST EPISODE had Barry learn the power of giving people a choice about their future…and then almost robbed a new person of theirs. What’s more, Snow…IS FREAKING ANNOYING!!! Any issues you had with Caitlin and Frost in the past (and they both had issues) pale compared to what Snow is. Or is at least trying to be right now. She’s WAY too over the top and naive and exposition-heavy. That speech at the end where she talked about her “choice of living” was so cringe and wooden that it made you think you were watching Season 1 of a show, not Season 9.

And that brings us…to Hartley. Of all the characters to bring back for Season 9…they choose one of the most annoying in history? The one that was so terrible they had to do time travel shenanigans (which if you go back and rewatch that episode they actually broke the timeline and didn’t realize it) to make him seem good…and then when he’s here he’s back to Season 1 level of jerk. His story was basically an afterthought to further the Red Death storyline…and it was over in no time flat after they finally dealt with it. It was filler times ten and you don’t have time for that! Or at least you could’ve made it more meaningful.

Speaking of which, Joe “revealing” that he wants to leave Central City…because of his fear of losing Cecil? No. Just…no. My friend (who I’ve reference in reviews before) noted when we talked about last weeks “bombshell” that they could spin it that Joe has “had enough” and just wants to get away to have some peace with his wife and child. You could sell that somewhat easily. But NOW, they’re painting it that Cecil is “everything to Joe” and that the “family can’t afford to lose her.” Really? She fought the Negative Forces last year, and now she’s “an even more powerful meta” and NOW he’s worried about losing her in full? Oh, and she can’t die, but Barry, Iris, his future grandchildren, and the others he’s bonded with over the years can…? That’s not just dumb. It’s wrong. Joe would never abandon Barry and Iris just out of “fear for his wife” and more importantly…CECIL IS NOT A VITAL MEMBER OF TEAM FLASH!!!

The show has TRIED to make it feel that way, but it’s not true! It never was! So potentially making her the reason for Joe’s departure will make the fanbase hate Cecil more than they already do.

In the end, “Hear No Evil”…did nothing, really. I can seriously think of very few positive parts of this episode. It was that bad. And that teaser of the Red Death at the end was…meaningless, really. I’m not excited for this villain, and the showrunner has already said they aren’t the “only big bad” this season…so that means they’ll be dealt with soon and that’s just as bad as what I fear will come next.

1/5