The Flash: “Elongated Journey Into Night”

Panic, screaming, and puking. As it should be.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT, THE FLASH?!


Was that what I think it was? A sharply, smartly written episode of The Flash, silly without being wacky, ridiculous without being stupid, and actually, no-grading-on-a-curve, entertaining? Who was responsible for this, and can they be responsible for everything else?

This episodsintroduces Ralph Dibny, The Elongated Man, tweaking his comic book version from an expert detective with impeccable morals to an expert detective with good intentions but a questionable attitude towards ethics, sexual harassment, and snack cakes. Which is fine with me, because that works way better in the current mix of characters on the show.

Dibny is, of course, one of the twelve Bus Metas created by The Thinker’s manipulations. His powers are revealed to Team Flash, and Team Flash responds the way they
 probably should have responded to everything else that’s happened over the past few years - panic, screaming, and vomiting. It’s awesome.

While all this is going on, Overprotective Dad Danny Trejo wants to hunt and kill Cisco for trying to bang his daughter, Gypsy. I’m on record as objecting to nearly every way the Cisco-Gypsy relationship has been portrayed to date. I also hate this trope with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. So kudos to this episode for handling it in as palatable a way as possible - by making Danny Trejo completely over the top (not hard) and moving through the obvious beats quickly and deftly over the 20 or so minutes of screen time it gets.

Seriously, this was the best episode of The Flash in at least three years. This is what I want the show to be.