THE FLASH continues its trend of building a strong season-long narrative with Nora and Cicada. “News Flash” is all about Fake News, as the team faces off against a fame-thirsty blogger. It’s a fun one-off premise that helps move the actual plot progression forward. The episode does a great job of keeping its Nora-Cicada story moving forward.
The attention-seeking blogger is an interesting angle. It’s not exactly political, but obviously “fake news” is a phrase used all the time these days. It’s helpful that THE FLASH counters this attention-seeking meta with Iris, the actual seasoned & ethical reporter. There’s a clear viewpoint the episode makes, outside of one political party – misinformation is dangerous. Whether it’s spreading lies to seek out fame, or sending The Flash to Las Vegas, we should always seek out the truth.
But Iris shines as more than a former journalist this episode. We finally get the reveal of why Nora is so cold to Iris. It was clear that Nora was bitter about something Future-Iris did, but we didn’t know what. And to be fair to Nora, the fact Future-Iris subdues and lies about Nora’s powers is certainly shocking. But THE FLASH doesn’t stop there – by the end of the episode, both Iris and Barry feel like this future decision was the right thing to do. It’s layers of family drama and strange dynamics that makes this conflict feel raw and real.
THE FLASH consistently finds good ways to keep Iris in the mix. While lesser shows might write the character off as a generic love interest, Iris has consistently stepped up. From leading Team Flash, to digging into the deeper story – even becoming a speedster on one occasion. Candice Patton has often had to deal with hateful trolls because of her role. However, episodes like this prove how wrong those critics are. Patton is a huge asset to this series, and with this season in particular, as she continues knocking it out of the park.
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Where the season will go from here is interesting to see. So far, the series has done a great job balancing out its season-long arc with villains of the week. While “News Flash” moves the story forward a great deal, there’s still more to be seen. Will Nora reconcile with her parents? How will Cicada’s methods change with his newfound strength? THE FLASH seems very up to the task, with another home-run episode.
…get it? Because Barry played softball in the beginning? Look, I was gonna make a baseball pun somewhere. But I saved it until the end. You’re welcome.
