The Flash (TV Series) Flash Back (2016) User Reviews

Looking Back Makes Us Move Forward Further

[SpoodermanDerp · 10/10 · 30 March 2016]

"Flash Back" is a creative episode and is a breath of fresh air especially after the major call backs this season is making to its previous season. The episode makes a very intriguing decision to go back to Season 1 head-on and it makes for an interesting, jovial and ingenious episode that ties back to the occurrences this season as well.

First of all, the team dynamic in season 1 interacting with season 2 Barry was really well done and interesting to watch considering the things we know about in so far as to what will happen. The introduction to timewraiths was also intriguing and provides a pre- requisite now every time The Flash plans on going back to time. Seeing Harrison Wells back as Eobard Thawne was also fun to watch as we suddenly feel that we miss this character and his menace and makes you really remember how great season 1 was and how this character has completely changed our characters in the future. Some opportunities weren't missed as well, more development was given to the Iris storyline with the addition and comeback of Eddie Thawne once again. If there is anything this show can do well, it's providing closure and original and creative ideas that never fails to strengthen the plot. The action and the visuals aren't so bad and the characterization of the timewraith look a lot like a dementor which didn't really affect it because it looked pretty good and scary for TV standards.

In the end, this episode is a great way to lay back and relax before the show explodes with more and more revelations as the finale nears. As the show gives more and more closures, more things will be open that will surely affect the characters in whatever way in the future.

Verdict: 9.6/10

Moving Forward

[ThomasDrufke · 9/10 · 29 March 2016]

The one big thing this season has suffered from is its consistency. The consistency mainly pertains to Zoom himself as the big bad of season 2. He's had moments of greatness and even felt like the most terrifying villain a CW show could hope for, but then there have been a few episodes in which he either sits out and loses his steam as a menacing villain, or other times in which the things he does just don't make sense (as of now). This episode was the former. While this episode certainly furthered Barry's efforts into getting faster in order to face Zoom, it also made me realize how much better of a villain Wells/Thawne was last season.

'Flash back' was the first real time travel focused episode of The Flash and it didn't disappoint for me. Barry realized through Wally's engineering project that the only way to truly get faster was through Eobard Thawne teaching him. (I love how Wally does absolutely nothing anymore on this show, so at least he was good for something). The only way to do that was to travel back in time to sometime last year and gain that knowledge. It was a chance for the actors to take a step back and have some fun with this episode. It was also an episode for the fans to travel back to the greatness that was season 1 and see Tom Cavanagh play the evil Wells one more time. It was an overtly filler episode in its premise, considering we still have 6 more episodes, but at least it was an entertaining episode nonetheless.

Traveling back in time meant the reappearance of Rick Cosnett as Eddie Thawne. I had my fair share of gripes about the way his character was written in season 1, but he finished strong, and it was nice seeing him back tonight, albeit briefly. It also meant that the current timeline Barry had to be careful about past Barry and the rest of Team Flash with what he said and his motivations in certain scenes. The fight between both Flash's looked goofy with too much CGI, but I was a fan of the scenes with two Barry Allen's and they looked surprisingly flawless.

It was also fun watching Cavanagh get back into the wheelchair of Thawne again and prove to us that he's no doubt the best overall actor on this show. Of course, we had to know Thawne would find out about the time travel as Barry took a Time Wraith with him to 2015 Central City. I've always loved the show's use of time travel when they don't make things too convoluted and confusing and I thought the Time Wraith stuff was handled well and made sense.

I do wonder how much this thumb drive Wells/Thawne gave Barry will help him in his quest to take down Zoom. But I do love the fact that it was Wells/Thawne who was the one who ended up helping Barry get faster, creating a nice full arc for those two characters up until this point. It certainly had its filler moments but it was fun going back to where these characters were last year. I just hope Zoom can step it up and make this back half of the season an incredible one.

+Cavanagh as Thawne

+Thawne ends up helping Barry creating a nice arc for them

+Eddie is back

-Made me realize how much I miss from season 1

9.0/10

the best episode yet in the show!!

[YadhuDeHosure · 10/10 · 30 March 2016]

As my caption suggests this is the best flash episode indeed.. Using the concept of time travel and picking the pieces left in the past to move on was the entire episode. This episode in my opinion has the least soap with Father-son or Father- daughter or Barry-Iris dramas.I was glued to my seat throughout the episode. When we got to see Eddie again, we were thrilled. But the only part disappointing was that Barry disturbed the time line.. Now we can expect many changes like The pied Piper joining team flash. But , other than that all the things about two flashes and Eobard Thawne giving Barry tips about increasing speed force with Tachyons was splendid indeed.

Déjà vu? Not entirely

[cobi-80620 · 29 March 2016]

In this week's episode Barry time travels back to the season 1 episode "The Sound and the Fury" where he first faced off with Hartley Rathaway aka Pied Piper.

First off I got to acknowledge that Barry's plan was very risky but it gave us a great opportunity to revisit Eobard Wells (which is what I'm now calling the disguised version of Eobard Thawne).

I loved the scene when Barry was talking to Eobard Wells in the time vault. Tom Cavanagh is really good at playing that character. To me the highlight of the episode was when he was circling around Barry deducing Barry's plan. I'm surprised that he would fall for Barry's lie so easily without asking some more questions but then again he would probably want it to be true. Still, he seemed very okay with helping his arch nemesis whom he supposedly hate. But what happens to his confession then, does he still record it? I guess Barry never thought of that.

Another thing that was great to see in this episode was Hartley Rathaway. He was one of the more competent villains of last year but I guess you can't outsmart knowledge about alternate timelines. Seeing him as a good guy at the end was great and a fun twist on how things may have changed.

Cisco reacting to the two Barrys at the same time was hilarious. I could notice how the lighting in the episode was a bit different, particularly in that scene and at the police station. Very similar to season 1 which is obviously what they were going for.

The time wraith was okay, it only seemed to be an inconvenience most of the time (no pun intended). I do wonder what it actually is, the speed force trying to reclaim what belongs to it? I do like the remark Eobard Wells does about there being other speedsters out there so he might know about Zoom after all.

For some reason I thought we were going to see season 1 Iris and more of Eddie but I guess I'm happy we got to see that video, made me a bit sad though.

I wonder if this is just a one time thing or we might see a season 3 episode where we revisit a season 2 episode. Hopefully not every season, that would make it seem less special but I wouldn't be against it if we went forward in time instead. I can already picture the episode title "Flash Forward", of course.

Can't forget to mention the Johnny Quick easter egg. When Barry was working on his calculations he wrote down "3x2(9yz)4A" also known as the speed formula Johnny Quick, father of Jesse Quick, used to get superhuman speed. That was really cool seeing.

All in all, thoroughly enjoyed this episode and it was very nice to see Eobard Thawne in Harrison Wells's body again. Cisco is funny like usual, we got a nice twist with good Pied Piper. Seeing Eddie again albeit a bit sad was good and you know the show hasn't just forgotten about him.

Yesteryear

[imakk2001 · 8/10 · 30 March 2016]

I was worried about another ep of Barry's really, really, no-good bad idea. But the ep surprised me. By now, besides being experienced with setting ladies' tops on fire, he's also getting adept at knocking himself out. Eobard Wells (EW) was put in an almost comical position of knowing the truth about our Barry but literally can't interfere once he outed himself to the rest of the team and their Barry. Never thought I'd see EW facepalm or feel so gleeful about it. And that interrogation scene! EW has never seem more frightening yet Barry managed to lie effectively. Even I forgot about their Barry! Our Barry really is making progress this season, no matter how molasses-slow.

I hope the dinner scene was a sign the writers are finally getting a handle on how to juggle the Wests into eps. I love the feel of the West-Allen family as a family and not an adjunct of Team Flash. It makes for a better show that Joe, Iris and Wally don't need to be on Team Flash to be important/relevant, that the team isn't the be-all, end-all of Barry Allen's life.

I know there are issues with the time wraith and what Barry's time travel did, but I get the feeling these were to set up future story lines. Such as Hartley turning good. I almost thought he was going to say he was having dinner with his boyfriend, so I was very relieved when he said his parents. Singh has only been married for a year, it'd be cruel to break up his marriage by death/divorce just so they could start Hartley/Singh.

As for Eddie, I almost teared up when I realize what Barry was doing. Eddie deserve more than this, but it's better than nothing. Still holding out hope that we get other versions of him in future eps.

Finally, after watching the Supergirl crossover, I really, truly appreciated Flash's VFX. Yes, they still need to work on getting the actor's face less CGI, but that whole presentFlash v pastFlash was seamless!

Barry ably lying to EW + Hartley turning good + Eddie + VFX = 8.5

Ranking/Reviewing every Flash episode: Flash Back

[lbramson · 10/10 · 11 June 2023]

Barry goes backs in time to 1x11 to get tech from Eobard Thawne. This was the first time we had an episode fully based on time travel, and it was awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! This is just a really cool episode that made "The Sound and the Fury" better! The concept of Season 1 Barry and Season 2 Barry interacting comes with some pretty funny encounters and banter along the way. The time wraiths, which become and important part of the season later, are also introduced in this episode. "Flash Back" is a really cool episode that lived up to hype of being one of this shows many hits!

9.8/10-THE PEAK!!!

Flash - S02E17 Flash Back

[j_forbesy · 7/10 · 30 March 2016]

For me, this was one of the most anticipated episodes I've had for a long time. One of the components that makes me love The Flash as a TV show is how they explore the use of time and universes. So the idea of Barry traveling through time to get our season 1 Reverse Flash really got me excited. The idea of more Eobard Thawne and Eddie got me a lot more excited than I really thought it would.

I thought overall it was a smooth start to the episode. I liked how Wally was the one who was the one who gave Barry the idea to learn from previous people. I think that by doing this they really gave him a small but important role in the episode while showing the growing relation between Barry and Wally.

I have to say, Tom Cavanagh was outstanding this episode. I'm not sure if it's because we have forgotten how good he was at playing the Reverse Flash, or that we got to see the contrast of his acting ability as we got to see him play Earth 2 Wells and the Reverse Flash all within the same episode. Either way he was fantastic.I thought he has really stepped up massively this season. Not that he was ever a bad performance, but he he has taken it up to a whole new level this season.

I thought there was a big downside this this episode and it's nothing on the episode itself, more the capabilities they have as a TV show. There was a few moments, mainly with both Flashs that the CG work wasn't the best. While I get that it's not going to be perfect every time, there was a few moments in the episode where neither of the Flashs look anything like Grant Gustin. Overall it's a small complaint that isn't in anyway going to have a massive impact on the season as a whole.

Overall I thought this episode was good without being great. For me, this is what I would consider a filler episode. Even though Barry did travel back and get his answers to how to become quicker, I felt that this story arc could have easily been spread over 2 episodes, similarly to the Earth 2 episode.

7/10 - See more reviews at - thenotsonerdynerd.wordpress.com/