The Flash Review: “Runaway Dinosaur”

The Flash did something quite revolutionary in this ep. Barry Allen is dead, and he has been replaced by…

Okay, we knew Barry wasn’t actually dead. In fact, the Kevin Smith-directed ep reveals early on that Barry has been trapped in the Speed Force, as his associates deal with an old foe who has, zombie-like, returned from the dead.

Directed by Kevin Smith
Written by Zack Stentz and David Kob

Grant Gustin as Barry Allen / The Flash
Candice Patton as Iris West
Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon
Jesse L. Martin as Joe West
Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West
Tom Cavanagh as Dr. Harrison Wells
Violett Beane as Jesse Wells / Jesse Quick
Greg Finley as Tony Woodward / Walking Dead Girder
John Wesley Shipp as Henry Allen
Michelle Harrison as Nora Allen
Teddy Sears as Hunter Zolomon / Zoom
Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow
Tony Todd as the Voice of Zoom
Jason Mewes as Wasted Cameo

Premise

Barry, trapped in the Speed Force, must come to terms with the darkness in his past, while a cross Girder leaves Team Flash scrambling for support.

High Point

I’m glad you’re back, ’cause we’re about to die.”
–Cisco Ramon

The episode had a strong premise, unevenly realized. In the end, the strongest moments occurred after they completed with the drama that should have been the strong point, and turned back to comic-book conflict. The epilogue, with Zoom’s metahuman army is promising, and the kind of thing this show can handle.

Especially now that Barry has, almost certainly, at least one other speedster to assist him.

Low Points

Did the architects decide the STAR Lab’s Morgue needed to be especially creepy? Why does it have no lights?

Iris continues to stand where Cisco has said not to stand while he explains why it’s dangerous to stand there.

The Scores:

Originality: 3/6

Effects: 5/6 The episode brought out the standard Flash effects, which serve their purpose.

Acting: 5/6 The actors did well. If the episode did not quite create the emotional bond we needed between Barry and his mother, that wasn’t Michelle Harrison’s fault.

Gustin and Patton remain problematic as a couple.

Story: 5/6

Emotional Response: 4/6 I really wanted to like this episode more. The premise has promise. In the end, I don’t feel it earned the emotion it wanted. They haven’t done enough with Barry’s mother in previous episodes, and the actors had very little to work with in this one.

Production: 5/6 The Speed Force faux reality glimmered with an interesting dreamlike luster.

Overall: 4/6

“Runaway Dinosaur” receives 31/42