The Flash (TV Series) Shade (2016) User Reviews

Savitar

[ThomasDrufke · 9/10 · 15 November 2016]

There were plenty of parallels in this episode to last night's Supergirl episode. Mostly due to the numerous characters going through "changes" (now I'm just thinking of that Eminem song of the same name), but I also saw shades of last years "Enter Zoom" episode. If this wasn't Alchemy's coming out party, it most certainly was Savitar's. AKA Godspeed.

Tonight was the inevitable Wally centric episode as he continued his complaining about not being a speedster. Look, I get that Wally feels like he's not helping, but I'm just getting tired of this angle when it comes to side characters in superhero stories. Is this not the same thing James is going through on Supergirl? I didn't care for Wally all that much before, and I still don't now that he presumably has his powers. I'm not sure if it's Lonsdale's delivery or the writers, but his dialogue never sounds right.

But luckily that was just about the only thing I had an issue with. After last episode's questionable execution with Caitlin's power struggle, the writers did a great job at tackling it this week. She's been a part of the show from the beginning, so it was difficult to watch her feel so helpless and hopeless concerning her future as Killer Frost. Because of that, her scenes with Cisco and Barry really solidified just how much I love that trio, and would hate to see anything change that. With that said, I think that's about to change next week with the episode titled "Killer Frost."

The throwaway villain from this week was 'Shade', another ruse set up by Alchemy. Because he was deliberately made to be throwaway, I wasn't bothered with how little I cared about him. I think we all knew this episode was headed towards an Alchemy showdown. Meanwhile, the crew got to somewhat enjoy a night at the movies, which happened to be a showing of The Shining. Bonus points for HR flirting with Joe's date. Seriously, can Tom Cavanagh do any wrong?

It was one of the better episodes of the season, full of exciting new material and rapid pacing. We've only scene a few episodes with Alchemy, and now one with Savitar, but I simply cannot wait until these story lines progress to the point of big reveals. I've always said Tom Felton is in some capacity playing Alchemy, and this episode seemed to drop a few more subtle hints that his character is up to something secretive. As always, The Flash is killing it.

+Caitlin's arc much improved since last episode

+No more secrets

+Enter Savitar

+HR

-Wally needs to stop complaining

9.4/10

Enter Savitar

[tauseef-41130 · 8/10 · 18 November 2016]

This episode was much hyped since it was an alchemy centered episode and Wally would get his powers. I had a lot of mixed feelings with this episode. It had a 4 minute throwaway villain "Shade" but I wasn't much disappointed since this was well an alchemy centered episode. This episode had really little substance which kinda disappointed me but it teased a lot of promising good stuff for the future episodes. Acting and chemistry among characters was fine as always. H.R flirting with Joe's date was hilarious. Caitlin's arc is improved a lot. Wallys complaining of becoming a speedster was annoying but well, maybe it was reasonable. Savitar : Beast! BADASS! AWESOME!!! Awesome CGI. Smart to use special effects only in some scenes making them better since he's only seen by speedsters apparently. Scene not as big as last season's "Enter Zoom" but since it was an early reveal, I'm satisfied.The cliffhanger tho ^

What's ahead : Killer frost must be fun next week. Plus teasing of "Invasion crossover". Im stoked and in.

Ending this review with a joke : "When Barry fkkks up the time line so much that the Jesus Christ of the evil speed force has to himself come up to punish Barry with a middle finger blade" ^^

This series is better than most of the summer blockbuster movies

[asb_deutsch · 9/10 · 7 August 2017]

It lives up to the hype and is much better than recently watched Dunkirk in IMAX.

This episode makes you care about all the characters, even H.R Wells, when he says "If a string is a knot, patience wants to untie it..."

I must add, there was one line that Cisco Ramon said in this episode "Never helps when we keep things from each other" I am very sentimental that Caitlin Snow is now going to become Killer Frost and how will Barry Allen will face it.

And Savitar was cool.

Well, what do you know..Wishes do come true...

[Akshaykumar322 · 10/10 · 16 November 2016]

I wanted an evil speedster..and I got 1 now... Time will tell whether it's a good one or not... He calls himself "Savitar"... Now I haven't read the comics.. So, I don't really know about him.. But he does sound promising... He doesn't look human though... Looked more like an alien... As it didn't look like he was wearing a suit... But then again, I don't know a lot about him... Really excited for the rest of the season.. Have a feeling that they're back on track now.. Last episode was a good one too... And this one has been the best so far. I didn't really see this coming.. They took me by surprise.. That's why I love this show.. Never ceases to amaze you.. Hoping for a great season now that we've got an Evil Speedster... And the mega crossover is gonna happen too..2 weeks from now... Looking forward to that too...

The Flash - S03E06 Shade

[j_forbesy · 10/10 · 16 November 2016]

The Flash is one of my favourite TV shows of all time. There is something about this show that manages to blow me away so often and leaves me wanting so much more each and every week. This episode was amazing. While it didn't reach the heights of a premiere or finale, for what is getting to a mid season episode, this blew me away. I think this episode was a large contrast to what we got with Supergirl this week. In Supergirl we had all these characters facing their problems in what was a slower more emotional episode. This episode of the Flash up the intensity but still had many characters facing these season 3 problems.

A large part of what made this episode fantastic was that every draws back to Flashpoint. Like many, I would of liked the Flashpoint timeline to of played out a bit longer, but it is episodes like this when they are dealing with the direct results of Flashpoint that makes the single episode Flashpoint sit alright with me. I know all of this season is a result of Flashpoint, but this is pretty much the only episode apart from episode 2 where we are seeing Barry feel so guilty because he is seeing what he has created. The scene with him and Caitlin was great for me because we got to see Barry realising that Flashpoint is not over and the ramifications are going to be so much bigger than he thought they would be.\

There were two main focuses I took coming out of this episode and it was Caitlin revealing her powers to the team and the main arc of Wally having his dreams from Dr Alchemy. For me, everything with Caitlin really sets up what we are going to get next episode titled Killer Frost. While I also have that episode circled because Kevin Smith's last Flash episode was one of my favourites, I'm really excited to be diving in deeper to Caitlin as Killer Frost. I really liked what we got with her last season on Earth 2 so it has me interested to see how they are going to handle her on Earth 1. My guess is she will head towards the evil side before turning into a form of anti-hero.

The other main focus was Wally. We knew that at some point, Wally was going to be the target for Alchemy and knowing what Wally is like, we knew he would probably embrace it. I thought that the Wally stuff really kicked into action in the final part of the episode. While I loved what they did with the start with Wally having one of his visions and having a voice over similar to what Barry does in the opening title, more visions is all we really got until they decided to hatch the plan to take down Alchemy. What I really loved about this was Wally's need to become a Speedster. We have seen it all season and it was really magnified when the Philosopher stone was just sitting on the ground, continuing to call to Wally, and Wally embraced it. Obviously this means that Wally will become a form of Speedster, buy my question is he going to be fighting along side Barry or along side Savitar.

Which takes me to something big I want to talk about which is Alchemy and Savitar. As far as Alchemy, they are really pushing the thought that Julian is Alchemy. I'm not sure if they are pushing it so hard because he is Alchemy or because they want us to think that and pull a sneaky reveal. My thoughts on who Alchemy is was really effected by the stone calling to Wally. For me, I think physically, Alchemy is Julian, however I think the stone is in control. I know we haven't seen him do too much but whenever we see Alchemy, the stone is always close by.

This episode we got our first official reveal of Savitar. While many assumed it was him who killed the Rival in episode 2, this was the first time we properly got to see him on the screen. All we really have to go off from him is some blue lighting, a metal arm and face and a deep muffled voice. At this point I don't know enough about him to make a judgement other than off these bases, he really has the potential to be an even scarier villain that what Zoom was last season.

There was something about this episode that shone and remind me why I love this show so much. At this point I care about all the characters, even H.R Wells, and when episodes like this happen and you see these characters going through changes and problems, you feel that. This episode captured what makes this episode so great and is now marked down as a highlight for the series.

I must add, there was one line that Barry said this episode that I know so many people including me loved hearing. "There is no Flash without Iris West."

10/10

Shades of people

[athenabvb · 10/10 · 16 November 2016]

"Shade" is a very satisfying episode, one of my favorites so far. Cisco is so much fun, i love him and H.R., although he's kind of humorous and refreshing from the other versions of Harrison Wells, i find myself wanting to punch him in the face more than one time. Wally frustrated me a little. His jealousy of Barry and mean words towards both him and Joe is getting old. I thought they were past that. And he just never listens to what they tell him. He's so stubborn. Cailtin's story line is awesome!!! I'm very excited to see Killer Frost in the next episode, although i don't want her to be permanently evil. I like how she asked Cisco to vibe her, she seems really concerned about becoming like her Earth-2 counterpart. And YES! The team Finally knows about her powers!!!

The villain "Shade" is kind of boring, but i don't mind given the fact that he's just a distraction so Dr. Alchemy can reach Wally. I don't know how to feel about Julian. One moment i like him, sympathize with him, and the next i want to punch him in the face. He's frustrating and i love that. Obviously the writers have done an amazing job at that. But O.M.G. that last scene, in Dr. Alchemy's lair really caught me of guard. Really clever to have you think that they finally caught Dr. Alchemy and then SAVITAR arrives and he looks kind of out of this world. Super creepy looking and the CGI looks amazing and the cliffhanger where he holds Barry on the roof and nobody else can see him...!!!! It gave me shivers! Amazing episode! It combines so many elements. It's funny, romantic, scary and holds your attention.

Ranking/Reviewing every Flash episode: Shade

[lbramson · 9/10 · 11 June 2023]

Wally is tempted by Dr. Alchemy. Meanwhile, Team Flash's movie night is ruined by an evil shadow. The storyline with Team Flash is honestly kinda mid. Actually, very mid. But the stuff with Wally is amazing! This was the miracle this season desperately needed, it saved the past few episodes from mediocrity. This easily could've been the Season 3 preimere with how well it introduces Savitar! Those last 10 minutes are intensity examplified, they were excellent! This season finally seems to have found its stride! Let's keep it up, because this is going smoothly! Love to see it!

9.5/10-THE PEAK!!!

Ep should have been called Meh

[imakk2001 · 5/10 · 15 November 2016]

For an ep that was supposed to advance Wally's and Caitlin's arcs, it was incredibly boring/repetitive. We got yet another rehash of keeping secrets/hissy fits when said secrets are exposed/protective dad/whiny (developing) speedster/come to jeebus. All of which drowned out Cisco/Caitlin moments, Joe/Cecile/HR almost movie night, Iris making sure Joe went on his date/Barry reaching out to Julian, character moments that should have otherwise made the ep work despite itself.

I hope Iris is smarter than Barry gives her credit for. Any person with 2 working brain cells would know that "there's no Flash without you" is a sop.

The show continues its dedicated/wildly successful plan to turn Barry from hero to heel. With Wally and Caitlin taking their places as Barry's latest victims. Once again, it's up to team flash to come up with solutions while he...failed to accomplish anything.

Side note: unless it rivals Superman Returns in how not to do a superhero movie while its TV counterpart is still airing, the show better take itself off the air before the Flash movie comes out.

More ineffectual Barry as hero/friend/family, more secrets for the sake of faux drama, Alchemy channeling Palpatine, no Singh even though Joe was assembling the SWAT team RIGHT OUTSIDE HIS OFFICE: 5.9

Stepping out of the shadows

[cobi-80620 · 16 November 2016]

The Flash is back after a relatively short break and now there are more villains than ever.

There are plenty of good things in this episode and one of them were HR. I thought he was a bit over-the-top silly last episode but in this one he's more realistic, still silly but not too much. Him flirting with Cecile during her date with Joe and seeing Joe's reaction to it was hilarious. I'm sure they will find more uses for the face-disguise device, actually reminds of Human Target over on Arrow.

Caitlin reveals her secret to Cisco who then tells the others and that was good, no secret keeping so this story doesn't take break and I like that. Him vibing her gave us a glimpse of next episode and of their good looking suits. Can't wait for the next episode, mostly because of the cliffhanger but also because it's titled "Killer Frost" so that will be exciting.

Alchemy is fixating on Wally to come to him so he can grant Wally speed powers. Unfortunately everyone thinks this is bad, even Barry who could benefit from having a sidekick. Well either way, their plan eventually fails like most of the time and they have to confront Alchemy. Alchemy who is likely a telepathic somehow doesn't know that they're setting a trap for him but he doesn't give up without a fight. Whatever his stone is firing on Barry it sure works on making Barry weak enough to be fired upon again and again. Joe, like the cop he is, gets in a good shot at Alchemy and it all seems over with the bad guy getting arrested. Then the earth starts to shake and a rapid white light flies around taking out all of the SWAT-team. Even Barry appears surprised with a sense of fear and he tells Joe and Wally to get out while he chases the rapid light. In the midst of all chaos Wally touches the stone and a pillar is created around him, wonder what will come of this. Perhaps he will be trapped inside it for a few episodes? I read about Daniel West and a theory of Wally becoming an evil speedster. While it's a good theory I don't think there is need of another evil speedster when they just introduced one in this very episode. Like I said, Barry gets pushed to the roof and the white light reveals itself to be Savitar, the god of motion. To me he looks great, the fact that he's not visible to non-speedsters is clever. It allows them to save budget for the visual effects which looked awesome and it showcases his immense speed powers, so fast that he can't be seen.

All in all, thoroughly enjoyed the episode and I did not expect a cliffhanger so now I'm even more excited for the next episode.