Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: barry allen, cw, entertainment, flash, Kid Flash, Plunder, television, vibe

The Flash Returns With A Heavily Armed MacGuffin

This article contains spoilers for The Flash episode – Borrowing Problems from the Future.

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The Flash is back and, as always, the weight of the world is on his shoulders. In this case, that weight is the pending murder of the woman he loves… Irish West. But it's been a few weeks since we've seen the Scarlet Speedster and friends, so the episode catches us up with Barry Allen having a nightmare about his trip to the future. He's stressed about what he saw and hasn't share it with anyone. He's trying to keep it inside and that stress is coming out in nightmares. Then when he see the eye-patch wearing villain Plunder, he remembers the news broadcast he saw in the future which had Jared Morillo being sentenced. Flash hesitates, giving Plunder a chance to get a shot off, knocking the Flash for a loop and him getting away.

I actually feel sorry for Plunder. He's not really a character, but rather a MacGuffin (a plot enabling device or element that serves no other purpose) used to test whether or not the team can change the future. We get no backstory on him other than he's a thief and once arrested, he's able to get out of Blackgate Prison rather easily. An escape we don't get to see… because he's a MacGuffin. But we'll get back to him.

The other things going on in the episode includes Caitlin Snow going to see Julian Albert about trying to find a cure for her powers only to end up asking him to join Team Flash. When he shows up and accepts, everyone else is surprised and has to think about it. But Caitlin does this nice speech about how none of them could deal with all that has happened to them alone. Which kicks Barry into telling Iris and then the rest of the team… except Joe, which will probably cause a problem later.

The plan they come up with is to have Cisco Ramon vibe Barry back to the future and find as many things that happen over the next four months leading to Iris' murder at the hands of Savitar. They idea being to try and change enough things to make that future not happen. They already see a change as H.R. is standing on the roof of a building with a rifle in this new version of the future. They make a list which includes Killer Frost on the run, Joe West getting an award and the Flash arresting Plunder. So instead they have Kid Flash stop Plunder. Poor Plunder, he never really had a chance, he wasn't menacing even though he had a cool gun… but he was just a MacGuffin.

The rest of the episode involves Kid Flash getting some spotlight… why is the top of his mask open? Cisco and H.R. bonding over the initial failure and then promising S.T.A.R Labs Museum. Julian joining Team Flash and then 30 seconds later he and Cisco give Caitlin an upgraded device to keep her powers in check… those two work fast. And Barry and Iris having a house warming party. And the episode ends with Gypsy leaping through a portal into Earth-1. She seems to have the same powers as Vibe / Cisco and of course after the dramatic entrance, she stops long enough to check her hologram of H.R. to show us she's hunting him.

Which leads us to not one, but two previews. The first being for the next episode specifically as Vibe challenges Gypsy for possession of H.R. and then a look at some more upcoming moments for the series as a whole.

https://youtu.be/wx7dhhI5Hjo

https://youtu.be/kfkasuSUOT8

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