The Flash Review: “King Shark”

It’s Shark Week on the Flash.

We also have the emotional repercussions of the previous episodes, some movement towards the inevitable Barry/Wally team-up, and a revelation regarding Zoom’s identity.

Title: “King Shark”

Director: Hanelle Culpepper
Writers: Benjamin Raab and Deric A. Hughes

Grant Gustin as Barry Allen / The Flash
Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon / Vibe
Candice Patton as Iris West
Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow
Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells
Jesse L. Martin as Joe West
Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West
John Ramsay as Diggle
Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla
Teddy Sears as Surprise Reveal
Violett Beane as Jesse Wells/ Jesse Quick
Tony Todd as the Voice of Zoom
David Hayter as the Voice of King Shark
Haley Beauchamp as Dr. Tanya Lamden

Premise

Team Flash deals with the events of the previous episode, Barry tries to bond with Wally, and King Shark shows them, pearly white.

High Points

It takes a certain dedication to the source material to even consider introducing King Shark, and they rendered him effectively and made his (comparatively few) appearances work.

Low Points

King Shark escapes during a commercial break, despite being a giant man-shark who leaves a trail of carnage, and he has the Fastest Man Alive pursuing him.

The Scores:

Originality: 2/6

Effects: 6/6 While some of the effects remain stylized/uneven, they did such a great job on the King Shark CGI I’m going to award them a bonus point this week.

Acting: 5/6

Story: 5/6 The story balances the different elements and tones fairly well. Cisco’s concerns about Caitlin receive remarkably light-hearted treatment, given the sadness she must be experiencing.

I recognize one must accept series premises, but I still stumble over the fact that the characters know they necessarily can find a dopplegänger of every character, despite the radically divergant histories of the two Earths. I mention it again because, this week, the fact becomes a plot point. Shouldn’t they at least question the fact, in-world?

Emotional Response: 5/6 The villain poses a threat, but since he’s one of the sillier members of the Rogues Gallery, the episode lets him be comic-book entertainment, and focuses its emotional moments on smaller character interactions. They’re fairly well handled.

Production: 6/6 The episode has been well-produced. On another note, rarely has Central City looked more like Vancouver.

Overall: 5/6 This episode achieves a good balance between comic-book silliness and plausible character exploration.

In total, “King Shark” receives 34/42

5 replies on “The Flash Review: “King Shark””

  1. King Shark was great! I’m not sure they could have done those effects any better on a TV budget and the parts we didn’t see were probably done for budget reasons. He probably got some trouser advice from Dr. Banner, Kingpin, and Killer Croc.

    I loved Caitlin’s reaction to learning about her E2 counterpart. Cisco’s an easy mark for that :-)

    As for the big reveal, I’m kind of sad my guess wasn’t true, but they did make it interesting. Here’s the best theory I’ve read so far:


    Zoom = E2 Hunter Zolomon
    Dead Jay = E2 Jay
    Guy on Park Bench = E1 Hunter Zolomon
    Man in Mask = E1 Jay

    I think the similarity of dopplegängers in both earths is more of a convenience/plot choice. Sure the tech has diverged but it’s easier for the audience to relate when there are good/evil/different copies of people in alternate realities. I grew to love how Fringe handled this aspect.

    • I think he might be the Earth-3 Jay

      As for the duplicates– I understand why they do it. I just wish they’d address it, if they’re going to go that route. At least with Fringe, if I recall correctly, the timeline had only recently diverged.

      And few shows. if any, have handled alt-earths as well as Charlie Jade.

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