The Flash Review: Mixed Signals (Season 4 Episode 2)

“Mixed Signals” is only the second episode of The Flash Season 4, but it’s the series’ best outing in a long time — possibly even since its first season. Why? Because the show figures out how to be fun again.

Season 4’s premiere, “The Flash Reborn,” clearly defines new goals for the show’s return. Namely: Stop brooding so much. Ditch the time travel. Remember that these people are all actually friends. And, most importantly, have a good time. (That goes for both the characters and the audience!)

“Mixed Signals” takes all this in and runs with it, both literally and figuratively. The episode is charming, entertaining, and generally feels like a breath of fresh air after a gloomy Season 3.

At the same time, The Flash still manages to really dig in to several meaty character issues this week, without sacrificing its rediscovered lighter, more playful tone.

The episode kicks off with Barry mimicking Tom Cruise’s famous dance sequence from Risky Business, making breakfast, handling wedding planning, and speed-watching six months’ worth of all the TV he missed.

The scene is generally a microcosm of the way “Mixed Signals” will handle everything else going forward: A deeply charming moment that nevertheless manages to provide weight to developing storylines.

(Also, Grant Gustin can actually smile! I almost forgot!)

This week, the team must battle a metahuman whose powers allow him to control technology. As villains go, Kilgore is a pretty paint-by-numbers foe and not all that interesting to watch in his own right.

However, his specific powers allow for a lot of laughs, particularly when it comes to Barry’s new Iron Man-esque Flash suit.  More importantly, he’s the least important part of the episode, so much so that you can almost erase him from the story entirely and still be okay.

The bulk of “Mixed Signals” focuses on Barry and Iris’ relationship and the fallout from his time in the Speed Force. But The Flash plays Barry’s readjustment for laughs, not pathos, and that makes all the difference.

Plus, it still manages to acknowledge some of the biggest issues that Season 3 raised. (This is, admittedly, something I did not really expect.)

Immediately post-return, Barry behaves as though his extended absence changes nothing for himself or his team, when that couldn’t be further from the truth.

After thoughtlessly cancelling training sessions, ignoring Iris’ guidance, and making in-the-field decisions based on old information, the couple decides that it’s time to work out their communication issues with a therapist.

Their couples’ counseling visit is, as you might expect, hilarious. The jokes come fast and furious as the pair reflect on their unconventional courtship and the frequently bizarre nature of their daily lives together, including how many people they know who are dead.

Eventually, Iris reveals that she’s angry at Barry for leaving her and for choosing to walk into the Speed Force without even asking her opinion about it. The scene reinforces Season 4’s decision to not only give Iris more to do generally, but to give her a more clearly-defined perspective on all that’s happening around her.

This shift provides a much-needed counterbalance to the events of last season. Even though much of Season 3’s back-half centered around Iris’ prophesied death, the show somehow didn’t really make her a central figure in that story.

For all that the Savitar storyline was about Iris, we never really see her feelings on the subject of her own mortality, and she has little agency in the situation. We just watch her die over and over again.

Allowing Iris to criticize Barry’s choices at the end of Season 3 doesn’t magically undo all of that, but it does go a long way toward properly re-positioning Iris within The Flash’s larger narrative, as well as in her relationship with Barry.

The two feel much more like equal partners after this, rather than a hero and his damsel-in-distress. Iris even gets to come up with the solution that saves the day at the end!

The WestAllen counseling sessions are also a good way to provide emotional conflict for Barry without making him all dark and brooding once more.

These are conversations that the duo needs to have. But they don’t feel like a lecture, or as though the show means to prime us for a breakup or some other drama. It’s just… normal.

(See, not everything has to be constantly emo! You can learn from mistakes and laugh at the same time.)

Nor does The Flash sacrifice its own internal continuity or character relationships in the name of undoing a rocky previous plot. Barry’s time in the Speed Force didn’t serve as a reset. There’s no easy time-travel solution, and the show didn’t undo its previous choices.

However, part of what feels so different about this season thus far is that it’s willing to address the problems left over from Season 3. This episode doesn’t sweep Barry and Iris’ issues under the rug in the name of a “fresh start.” It faces them head on, and their relationship seems that much stronger for it.

If The Flash can manage to keep doing that? Season 4 will be its best yet.

Stray thoughts:

• I’d honestly forgotten how much fun it was to laugh with this show.
• FLOTATION. MODE. OMG.
• It’s very unfortunate that despite all the great things this episode does, Caitlin is largely left out again. (Maybe she’ll get her own Killer Frost-related “fix it” plot soon?)
• Gypsy and Cisco’s date is extremely adorable, but I must admit I have no idea how their relationship is this far along, romantically speaking.
• The Thinker is probably going to be real irritating until he inevitably reveals his big, evil plan. I’m already tired of his vague pronouncements.
• That said, I guess The Thinker’s constant string of metahumans for Barry to fight is as good a monster-of-the-week plan as any. The other stuff is more important right now anyway.

What did you think of this episode of The Flash? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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