The Flash "Infantino Street" Review: 'Til Death Do Us Apart
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| The show heads into the finale with the strongest episode of the season, probably the entire series. |
Oh boy, was I wrong.
In my initial write up for Season 3, I mentioned how if there was a show that had the potential to pull itself out of its funk, it was this one. The last three episodes, "I Know Who You Are", "Cause and Effect" and this week's "Infantino Street" have served as a well deserved reprieve to the questionable choices made this season and in turn provide the show an opportunity to reverse its fortunes going into the finale next week.
In fact, "Infantino Street" may even be the strongest hour this show has put out since the benchmark Season 1 finale "Fast Enough".
Savitar had been such a blight on the show for this whole season that something big needed to happen with this villain if the show hoped to make any sort of impact this year. Revealing that Savitar was no other than a twisted, demented, scarred time remnant of future Barry Allen was exactly what the villain needed. Savitar being Barry fixes so much in considerable ways. For one, it pays off a main theme of this season that at times Barry Allen's recklessness made him his own worst enemy. Making Savitar the complete embodiment of this theme provided the villain enough emotional resonance that somehow justified why he was kept offscreen for so much of the season. In short, we’ve seen the season’s villain this whole time on a technicality. Most importantly, the ultimate scene of Iris' impending doom suddenly takes a more twisted turn with that reveal. Yes, the actual explanation of how this time remnant of Barry became Savitar is a little nonsensical (almost a reminder of the Hunter Zolomon/Zoom explanation from last year), but overall, being able to fill in the blanks for this villain with our own understanding and emotional investment of our hero gave Savitar the weight and pathos he desperately needed.
While the show did a considerable effort in fixing its villain, the efforts to restore tonal balance have been more palpable. "The Once and Future Flash" was an example of why the show needed to desperately move on from oppressive darkness because it is at its best when it balances darkness with fun, hope or joy (or all of those combined). These last couple episodes recovered a lot of that fun, particularly "Cause and Effect", probably the show's most pure fun episode and also its most self aware. The episode felt like the writers were acknowledging the criticisms of this year's gloomy tone and making considerable effort to change that perception.
In fact, "Infantino Street" may even be the strongest hour this show has put out since the benchmark Season 1 finale "Fast Enough".
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| Good to have you back for a bit, Leonard Snart |
Everything that makes "Infantino Street" such a strong hour for "The Flash" owes a lot to the great work done in the previous two episodes. While "I Know Who You Are" was mostly a great showcase of the potential of Killer Frost as a main threat to Team Flash (with all the emotional baggage that it brings), that episode provided important legwork by finally delivering on the much maligned Savitar reveal. A reveal that, I may add, was surprisingly well done considering its long gestation.
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| Barry Allen as Savitar finally gives the villain much needed depth |
While the show did a considerable effort in fixing its villain, the efforts to restore tonal balance have been more palpable. "The Once and Future Flash" was an example of why the show needed to desperately move on from oppressive darkness because it is at its best when it balances darkness with fun, hope or joy (or all of those combined). These last couple episodes recovered a lot of that fun, particularly "Cause and Effect", probably the show's most pure fun episode and also its most self aware. The episode felt like the writers were acknowledging the criticisms of this year's gloomy tone and making considerable effort to change that perception.
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| WestAllen. Always and forever. |
"Infantino Street" represents the culmination of not just the promises established in its previous two episodes, but also the culmination of a lot of things that make this show unique and strong in a way its other "Arrow-verse" siblings aren't. This episode was fun, wacky, touching, heartwarming, and quite gut wrenching in a way the show has not been for quite a while. Some of this year's stronger episodes like "The New Rogues", "Killer Frost", "The Present", "Attack on Gorilla City", "Duet" and "Cause and Effect" were standouts for either being particularly funny or particularly dramatic to great effect. "Infantino Street" is the one episode this season that hits all the right notes.
It is hard to believe that the same episode that featured (for more than half of it) Barry Allen teaming up with the returning Captain Cold to take on King Shark during an infiltration at an ARGUS facility (which is as fun as it sounds), would also include the show's most gut-wrenching moment since the goodbye to Nora Allen in the Season 1 finale. At a glance, that sounds like the most incoherent episode to put out this close to the finale. But that is exactly what makes this episode such a standout. It was able to make every disparate element feel fully coherent. Nothing was filler. Everything mattered. It was all a buildup to the conclusion of the story that's been brewing since the midseason finale, and it lead to the most emotionally impactful climax this show has ever done.
It is hard to believe that the same episode that featured (for more than half of it) Barry Allen teaming up with the returning Captain Cold to take on King Shark during an infiltration at an ARGUS facility (which is as fun as it sounds), would also include the show's most gut-wrenching moment since the goodbye to Nora Allen in the Season 1 finale. At a glance, that sounds like the most incoherent episode to put out this close to the finale. But that is exactly what makes this episode such a standout. It was able to make every disparate element feel fully coherent. Nothing was filler. Everything mattered. It was all a buildup to the conclusion of the story that's been brewing since the midseason finale, and it lead to the most emotionally impactful climax this show has ever done.
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| You. Will. Feel. The. Feels. |
The prophecy of the death of Iris West at the hands of Savitar has been teased since last December. Ever since then, the show returned over and over to that scene with its focus on "changing the future", it was hard to predict if there was any way for that scene to ever have any sort of emotional impact. Color me surprised that they actually pulled it off. The show had thrown so many red herrings with the newfound hope of creating a trap for Savitar and the constant hammering of "May 23rd, 2017" as the day Iris West dies (coincidentally the same real date as the airing of the Season 3 finale, "Finish Line"), that it was an actual shock that the scene actually happened this week in its unaltered form. No copout. No last minute saving. It was a perfect example of why it is important for this show to keep tonal balance, as it allowed the final moments of this episode to hit as hard as they did. Even while writing this, the final scene has stuck with me. Trust me, as soon as you hear the song, you won't stop thinking about it.
As to where the show goes on from here, it is a complete wildcard. Leading into next week, it is quite possible the show could regress back to old habits and just wallow in misery and doom. Also, there is some danger in potentially undoing the emotional impact of the final scene given the nature of the show. However, if the last three episodes have shown something is that the writers may actually understand now what leads to the best version of the show. It is the only way to explain how the show recovered its groove and has been on such a roll leading into the season finale. Things could still fall apart at the very end (looking at you, Arrow Season 4 finale), but as of right now, the show is in particularly strong shape going into next week.
One thing is clear: as middling and insecure as Season 3 may have been at times, it surely has picked itself together in a way that has provided the best late run of episodes yet, with "Infantino Street" potentially being the show's best episode yet. As almost perfect as the Season 1 finale was, the episodes leading up to it were not all timers. As strong as Season 2 was for most of its run, "The Runaway Dinosaur" aside, the last third of that season was very hit and miss, with its two last episodes some of the show's weakest to date. How Season 3 will stack up looking back will be interesting come next week, but at least it has this particular advantage going for it compared to its predecessors.
Because of no individual review for the previous episodes, here's my individual score for each one:
As to where the show goes on from here, it is a complete wildcard. Leading into next week, it is quite possible the show could regress back to old habits and just wallow in misery and doom. Also, there is some danger in potentially undoing the emotional impact of the final scene given the nature of the show. However, if the last three episodes have shown something is that the writers may actually understand now what leads to the best version of the show. It is the only way to explain how the show recovered its groove and has been on such a roll leading into the season finale. Things could still fall apart at the very end (looking at you, Arrow Season 4 finale), but as of right now, the show is in particularly strong shape going into next week.
One thing is clear: as middling and insecure as Season 3 may have been at times, it surely has picked itself together in a way that has provided the best late run of episodes yet, with "Infantino Street" potentially being the show's best episode yet. As almost perfect as the Season 1 finale was, the episodes leading up to it were not all timers. As strong as Season 2 was for most of its run, "The Runaway Dinosaur" aside, the last third of that season was very hit and miss, with its two last episodes some of the show's weakest to date. How Season 3 will stack up looking back will be interesting come next week, but at least it has this particular advantage going for it compared to its predecessors.
Because of no individual review for the previous episodes, here's my individual score for each one:
I Know Who You Are: 8.0/10
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Cause and Effect: 9.0/10
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Infantino Street: 10/10
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