The Flash Review: The Flash Reborn (Season 4 Episode 1)

With “The Flash Reborn,” The Flash not only launches its fourth season, it attempts something of an internal rebrand for the series.

Following a third season which featured an overly dark and dour Barry, depressing storylines and way too much time travel mumbo-jumbo, the show attempts to find its joy again on The Flash Season 4 Episode 1.

For the most part, it works. The episode features some “convenient” plot points, of course — and all of the Speed Force business makes less sense than ever. However, the core of the hour is built on hope, heart, and friendship — the three things at which The Flash always excels.

Barry, once free of the Speed Force and back in the Flash suit, seems like his old self again: sparkling, heroic, and sporting his signature big, dorky grin.

The core supporting characters get plenty of screen time and a chance to interact in ways we haven’t seen in quite a while. (Caitlin and Cisco’s friendship, in particular, gets a solid rebuild.)

And, best of all, The Flash makes a considerable effort to really use its female leads in new ways.

This is a big deal, inasmuch as the show frequently struggles with what to do with Iris and Caitlin. It’s why both women often end up stuck on the sidelines in “love interest” territory, with little agency or direct impact on the series’ narrative.

Season 3 stories involving Iris’ prophesied death and the emergence of Killer Frost brought both women increasingly to the forefront. And it looks as though Season 4 will continue that trend.

As “The Flash Reborn” opens, it’s six months after Barry’s disappearance, and Iris is the new de facto head of Team Flash. She’s as smart and capable as we always knew she could be, directing Cisco, Wally, and Joe around town.

Iris takes her duty to “keep running” (as Barry puts it) very seriously. While her sudden technological know-how pretty much comes out of nowhere, Iris is a natural leader and watching her run point for Team Name TBD makes you wonder how it’s possible she wasn’t doing all of this before already.

At the same time, Iris still suffers from Barry’s absence, throwing herself into work to forget about her loss, sleeping on her sofa, and refusing all her father’s attempts to talk about her behavior.

Her argument with Cisco about the prospect of pulling Barry from the Speed Force is fantastic. Not only does it highlight Iris’ own fears, but the moment stems from a natural conflict in their relationship. More of this, show!

However, Iris’ decision to hand herself over to the super-powered samurai threatening the city on blind faith that Barry will snap out of his Speed Force-induced insanity and save her is… a bit less awesome.

Sure, it’s wonderful to see Iris so active in her own story. After three seasons of serving as an off-and-on damsel in distress, she deserves a proactive role. But… did that role need to involve getting kidnapped again?

On one level, her faith in Barry and their love for one another is charming and sweet. Of course he’s going to rescue her. That’s what this show does.

However, is having Iris get kidnapped for the sole purpose of allowing Barry to rescue her a better story just because she’s the person who chose that fate for herself this time? Maybe. I don’t know.

Meanwhile, the series’ other female lead, Caitlin Snow, returns to the team after a six-month absence spent tending bar and ostensibly learning how to control her inner ice queen, Killer Frost.

We don’t see her Killer Frost abilities manifest until the very end of the episode, an interesting decision which reminds the audience that Caitlin brings plenty of value to Team Flash on her own.

For the first time in what feels like a year, Caitlin not only gets a significant amount of screentime, she actually helps the team. She does science with Cisco, patches up both Barry and Wally after injuries, and gets a ton of dialogue.

However, the decision to give Caitlin what appears to be multiple personalities is a confusing and somewhat disappointing decision. In fact, it almost feels like a step backward in her story.

The Flash struggled to explain how Caitlin’s Killer Frost connection works in Season 3. But by the time the finale ends, she seems to be someone new.

This woman is a person who lives at the intersection of Caitlin and Killer Frost, and the logical next step in that character’s story would focus on figuring out her new identity and making peace with herself.

That’s literally what Caitlin says she’ll do at the end of Season 3. But that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening.

Instead, The Flash doubles down on the idea of Caitlin and Killer Frost as two separate entities sharing the same body. Which, sadly, robs Caitlin of so much of her power within her own story.

Sure, Caitlin seems to have some sort of new control over her dark side now. But if Killer Frost is merely her crazy second personality and not actually part of her core self, why refuse Julian’s cure?

Perhaps these are questions we’ll find answers to as the season goes on. I hope so. Caitlin deserves better than this. (Why can’t she just be a person with metahuman abilities like literally everyone else on this show?)

In the end, “The Flash Reborn” does feel like a major step forward for the show, particularly when compared to last season.

The episode is bright and hopeful. Its story is much more balanced, and characters who aren’t Barry finally seem to have their own narrative purpose. More importantly, The Flash feels fun again.

Some of the show’s narrative choices — particularly those involving Caitlin — may turn out to be problems down the road. But for now, it seems enough to just enjoy the ride.

Stray thoughts:

• Where is any version of Wells? I’m not sad HR is gone, but I miss Tom Cavanagh.
• That said, things really are so much better with a smaller core team to work with.
• Julian getting unceremoniously shipped off to London is kind of hilarious.
• It’s so exciting to realize that this season’s Big Bad won’t be a speedster. At least The Thinker will be something different — watching Barry struggle to run faster just isn’t fun as a plot point anymore.
• Fun fact: Caitlin and/or Killer Frost’s new boss? That’s Amunet Black, a DC villain known as the Blacksmith.

What did you think of The Flash‘s season premiere? 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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