The Flash (TV Series) Borrowing Problems from the Future (2017) User Reviews

Refreshing Direction For the Back-Half

[ThomasDrufke · 8/10 · 24 January 2017]

It's good to have the CW shows back. All 4 shows ended with a great fall mid-season finale and it seems like they are picking up right where they left off. While this episode of Flash took a little bit to really get going, the direction the back half of this season is heading will make for a different exciting run of episodes.

I've already made my voice loud about how indifferent I feel about Wally as a character, and having him officially join the team as a speedster made me even more nervous. Then, Barry not trusting him for absolutely zero reason? I thought we were in for some misplaced dramatic tension between the two. Luckily, those worries were pushed to the side as Barry assured Wally that his actions towards him were solely because of what happens to Iris in the future (hence him wanting to change the way Plunder got taken down). I'm sure this won't be the last time the two speedsters have their differences in the field, but at least this one turned out to be nothing at all.

Something I also found refreshing was just how quick Barry chose to tell Iris and Team Flash about his future vision. Of course, they chose not to tell Joe (don't we all know what happens when you don't tell your parents about something. i.e. Laurel-Quentin), but it was a big step to at least include most of Team Flash in on Barry's trip to the future. Speaking of which, special shout-out to Candice Patton, whom I have been critical of in the past, for delivering a wonderful performance tonight. I'm not sure I could have imagined her having a more fitting reaction to finding out about her death.

It sets up an interesting premise for the rest of the season as the team is looking to fix all of the headlines seen on the news that day in May. On one hand, it's frustrating because I know ultimately Barry is going to have to learn yet another lesson about not changing timelines. On the other hand, I love the refreshing direction these next set of episodes are taking. It's like Flash's own version of Minority Report, and that seems like a more interesting approach than the usual villain-of-the-week approach that most CW seasons have taken.

What does this mean for Caitlin and her inevitable transition into Killer Frost? Or Julian and his inclusion into Team Flash? Is it also safe to assume he will also transition back into Alchemy? Will the STAR Labs Museum still get shut down? Does Wally take Iris place in dying at the hands of Savitar after all? All questions still worth asking, and it doesn't seem like the show will answer them any time soon. Let's forget about the useless Plunder and look forward to whoever the heck is tracking down H.R. Wells next week. Disjointed at first, but tonight's episode turned out nicely, delivering an exciting and surprisingly poignant story.

+Refreshing direction

+The less secrets the better

+Wally didn't really bother me

-Plunder didn't really do much

8.2/10

Ranking/Reviewing every Flash episode: Borrowing Problems From the Future

[lbramson · 8/10 · 11 June 2023]

Barry and Wally go into the future to get information that could save Iris's life. The best way to describe this episode is a breath of fresh air. After the many crazy episodes we've been getting, Episode 10 slows down, and I applaud it for that. This represents the the season very well, perfectly using the season-long storyline. The whole Season is about saving Iris, and no episode does that better than this one! It may not be the most entertaining episode, but what is there is a well written slow burn. Borrowing Problems From the Future uses one of my favorite episode tropes and it uses it well. A great kick off to the second half of Season 3.

8.2/10-Good.

Paving a new Future for the show (no pun intended)

[idontquit-20930 · 10/10 · 26 January 2017]

This was a really good episode. It was a breath of fresh air and I enjoyed it a lot. The character development for Barry is going really well and Grant's acting is phenomenal. The First 8 episodes of the flash were trying to correct and live with Barry's decision in the past of creating flashpoint. It got kinda repetitive which kinda got me scared for the season, but when Savitar came, I told myself "Damn, they got a freakin 10 ft Megatron on the show, this season is gonna be lit". After seeing Savitar kill Iris in the future, the show took a huge turn from focusing on the past (flashpoint) and now focusing on the Future (Saving Iris). For some reason this has Resurged so many possibilities the show that actually makes me very interested. This means that if they are changing every event possible, we will most likely see Barry get a new suit, a Flash ring, and possibly new flash powers.

The only thing I had a problem with this episode was Wally. For some reason, his take as being a speedster isn't really feeling really good. His dialoges were very cringy and cheezy (felt like supergirl for a few seconds). Maybe we've been so spoiled with how good Barry is as the Official Flash? Wally's got A LOT to learn.

Otherwise everything was AMAZING and after seeing next episode's promo, I'm Very hyped up

Verdict: 9.6/10 (Breath of Fresh air after a long break.)

The Flash - S03E10 Borrowing Problems from the Future

[j_forbesy · 10/10 · 24 January 2017]

The Flash is back and thank god for it. This is one of my favourite shows I am currently watching and this episode showed why. I loved everything about this episode and I thought it was a perfect return to part B of season 2.

What I loved about this episode was how smoothly it felt sliding back into the show. After a fair bit of time off, I felt like they did a seamless job reminding us where we are at with the show without spending too much time revolving around a recap. I think most of this credit should go to the new opening. I thought it summed up the first half of the season perfectly and set us up for what we are going to happen in the second half.

Going into the second half of the season, I'm really liking the angle they are taking at it. I really thought the idea of trying to achieve their end goal by changing one event at a time. This is largely different from what we are use to in other season where the team has a problem they have to overcome but they don't know how. I like the idea how we are going to see some form of progress being made towards taking down Savitar. Regardless if they actually stick to that plan for the whole second half of the season, from an audience point of view, it shows a path they are planning to take which will excite the audience.

My favourite moment of this episode was between Barry and Iris when Barry is tell her what happens in the future. It is emotional moments like this that makes this show what it is. This is first episode back from it's break and they are hitting with their emotional punches. Like most emotional scenes, Gustin brings the acting chops and he is proving to me time and time again that his an actor I'm going to be looking out for in any TV show or film after The Flash is over.

There was a few side story lines they introduced or added on to this episode that will be played out during the second half of the season. I've been excited to see how the STAR museum is going to play out some it's good to finally see it happening. Similarly, Kid Flash has been a character I've been waiting for ever since we first got Wally West last season, so it was great to finally see him being recognized as Kid Flash. Finally, the tease at the end where someone is coming for HR, we all knew something more was going to come from him coming to Earth 1 so I'm interested to see where this will be going.

On a side note, the hints towards the musical crossover, more Killer Frost and Gorilla Warfare gave me the biggest smile during the future scene.

Overall a fantastic start to the second half to the season. They set up so many story lines that are going to be played out and they isn't one I'm not the slightest bit excited for. Hopefully they can keep up this quality and continue onto the great start to the season I thought this show had.

10/10

Good episode, but hate the greeness

[kecman_hsu · 6/10 · 22 April 2020]

The episode is good, but hate that Caitlin is naive with her non functioning handcuffs and that Wally is forcing to fight as quickly as possible and thinks that he is already better than Barry. Thats so annoying. Especially because they know that every little thing could have an outrageous outcome .. 😑

Problems and Solutions

[cobi-80620 · 25 January 2017]

The mid-season premieres in season 1 and 2 were pretty weak and never really expanded upon the mid-season finales of those seasons so that's kind of what I expected from this episode, I was wrong. This episode (which has a great title) took the revelations of last episode and used them to boost itself.

Barry's fear of the future played so well throughout this episode. It stirred up some suspicion from Iris, caused tension between the Flash and Kid Flash which lead to the villain gaining the advantage. The villain was in fact better than I had anticipated, I mean, heat-seeking bullets? Nice indeed. Plunder had some great gear with him and it was just a little weird that he waited so long to use them and seemed to be throwing everything out when he was escaping on his bike. Either way, he worked as a low tier villain to add some action into the episode and honestly he looked pretty darn cool.

HR found problems with his launch of the STAR Labs museum. Everything about the STAR Labs museum in this episode was funny. Like Cisco's hologram, HR's reaction to hearing the museum closes in the future and HR just waving away Cisco's question about who's paying for all of it.

Caitlin continues to have a problem with her Killer Frost powers. I would have thought a meta-human expert would want to learn how to cure meta-humans. Wouldn't that solve a lot of problems and save the city money paid to restore damages? Guess Julian is just too afraid to be working on Killer Frost who nearly killed him. I'm glad that he's going to more involved in Team Flash's endeavours.

One of the best parts of the episode was the tease of a gorilla invasion, so now we know Grodd is coming back (and he's bringing an army!). War for the planet(s) of the apes? Super excited.

All in all I think this was a great mid-season premiere, all seemed to fit well within the episode and I hope the season will just keep getting better and with Grodd returning I can't see how it won't!