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Catching Up: The Flash Episode 501, "Nora"
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Submitted by RJ Carter on Wed, 10/10/2018 - 12:37
If you’ve ever wanted a practical demonstration of Einsteinian relativity, you can always rely on the man’s simple explanation: “An hour spent talking to a pretty girl can feel like a minute. A minute touching a hot stove can feel like an hour.” For us fans of THE FLASH, a summer waiting for the new season to begin can feel like an eternity, and the hour we spend watching it can go by in a second.
We pick up immediately where Season 4 finished: with the family and friends all gathered at the West home, when a young lady shows up claiming to be Nora West-Allen — Barry and Iris’s daughter from the future. She’s also a speedster who goes by the name XS. This, and a throwaway reference to Lightning Lad means the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes is closer than we thought. It also means there’s a Legion on this Earth — or is it the same Legion we saw on SUPERGIRL last season?
Nora (JESSICA PARKER KENNEDY) says she came back in time to observe her parents, but can’t get back to the future. A scan reveals her body is exuding negative-tachyons that stop her from time traveling. Team Flash quickly sets to work to help her in case she reveals too much about the future and alters the timeline.
While Barry (GRANT GUSTIN) and Iris (CANDICE PATTON) come to terms with meeting their daughter for the first time, before she’s born, Central City has a new metahuman to deal with: Gridlock (DANIEL CUDMORE), who gets stronger and more unstoppable the longer he’s in motion. What should have been a simple capture goes awry when XS shows up to watch her dad bring him in, creating circumstances that allow him to get away.
Meanwhile, Ralph Dibny (HARTLEY SAWYER), is just now realizing that time travel is a thing, and extrapolates on his own that multiple Earths — “a manyverse” — can and do exist. How he remained ignorant to this so far in the series is very funny, and part of the charm of this series that keeps it a fan favorite. But Ralph isn’t just the comic relief; he’s still a very canny detective, and turns up some information for Caitlin (DANIELLE PANABAKER) that may help her solve a mystery to her past involving her father.
To speak more of XS and what she’s doing in the present would spoil things. Suffice it to say, she’s come back with the full intention of creating her own Flashpoint potential, as a result of the 2024 “CRISIS” headline — and the one we now see from 2049 as well! Despite the fact that he should know better, Barry allows XS to remain in the past and actively works with her to prevent what happens in his future. I may be jumping the gun on this one, but my nose is twitching in the direction of this being the catalyst for this year’s crossover event: ELSEWORLDS. Although I really hope at some point the many worlds collapse into each other just enough to get Supergirl and Black Lightning into the same universe as the rest of the characters.
Season Five is off to a great running start!
Grade:
5.0 / 5.0
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