First of all, can I just say, I'm thankful for the humorous direction this show is heading, seemingly matching that of its counterparts "Legends of Tomorrow" and "Supergirl." The show continues its streak of funny, bouncy and well-timed punchlines that truly take it in a new direction. It was nice to see that the depressing afterthought of Barry being stuck in the speed force for so long has evaporated and disappeared and the team is back to their normal selves. There also seems to be no major consequences to their actions of pulling him out (apart from the sudden creation of 12 new meta's), which leads me to believe, perhaps there is something big coming that we can't yet see.

Are these really villains?

Speaking of new directions, the opening of this episode was certainly one of them. Hooking the audience in with a backdrop story that explains the course in which this episode will go. It's a great and unusual way to start creating a more engaging approach but in no way, does it make up for the burning disregard of quality content. It’s sad to say that this week we have been given yet another disposable episode, one that features yet another weak villain. One that seems to be less threatening and intimidating than the last. Gone are the days of the main threat being presented early on, creating an idea of the overall issues and problems within the first couple of episodes.

Now we seem to have been given a tactic that prolongs an idea of what the team is going to face. Of course, there have always been disposable, weakly implemented villains to face, but they were always part of a bigger and more elaborate plan that we as the audience could grasp. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for this new mysterious villain, Thinker, and his plot against the team.

Guess who’s back

With this new sense of comedic writing, the introduction of Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) from Earth 2 back into the team couldn't be better timed. Delivering the best of teenage romance humor alongside the awkward friction between father and daughters boyfriend (well ex). It’s really nice to see him back in the equation contributing so well to the dynamics of the team, helping to shine a light on otherwise confusing metahuman science.

Becky Sharpe aka Hazard certainly spiced up the episode in a fun and charismatic way. Her characters extraordinary power is both relatable and on the different side of a criminal. It was nice to see Barry Allen face something he had no control over, something which took no physical or visual form. It’s a perfect and subtle way to tackle the beliefs of Luck and if it is self-made or a curse. Which I know most people watching appreciated.

Bye, bye Kid Flash

Something that I’m not fond of, is the apparent departure of Wally aka Kid Flash. To me, I can’t see this sitting well within the DC community as It doesn’t sit well with me. It’s too sudden to be acceptable and too out of the blue to be justified.

There has been no lead-up or indication that Wally has been fighting confliction about his role as Kid flash, so to base his departure on that alone is a weak excuse. Understandably if Keiynan Lonsdale had any confliction with the role or his commitment to the role, this should have been addressed at an earlier time, perhaps one or two episodes before this one. Allowing it to be less dramatic and not out of nowhere.

Concluding thoughts

All in all, I did really enjoy this episode, like I do every episode. I just feel as though the writers of the show could spend a little more time placing and directing the storyline into a more rational one. As the past two episodes feel as though they should have been considered as fillers to break up aspects of a much larger storyline, which unfortunately is not the case.

Never the less, I feel as though parts of this episode’s storyline were incredibly imaginative and managed to tie together the scenes seamlessly. I just hope that given the Thinker having potentially ten more villains up his sleeve, that the episodes following this one don’t carry the same disposable characteristics and actually offer some meat to the main plot.