The Flash 5x2 : Blocked review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it

This week's episode of The Flash begins with a flashback to what happened after the ending of last week's episode as Cicada attacks and ultimately ends up killing Gridlock. Cicada is also featured a bit more as we see him unmasked and with all sorts of cuts on his body. Skip to Joe's house and inside Nora explains why she is here in their time and why she isn't going home any time soon. She wants to spend time with her dad Barry who as we saw last week disappears and doesn't seem to ever return in the future. This further drives a wedge between Iris and Nora who don't really interact throughout which makes me wonder what just happened with them in the future?? all Nora seems to care about is Barry which is understandable but even so things seem off whenever Iris is around. Cisco's love life or lack there of now is heavily featured also throughout as he is still hung up on Gypsy to the point where he can even still smell her perfume even though she hasn't been anywhere near him in months. This leads to Ralph and Caitlin to intervene and help their friends recover. 

A new meta appears named Vanessa Jensen who has the ability to compress air molecules which creates a cube shaped block around her foes. So as you'd expect Cisco (almost zombie like by this point) names her Block. So it's up to Barry and Nora to save the day but things don't go according to plan first time around as without any real plan Nora rushes into action and gets caught in one of Block's traps and is sent flying through the city leaving Barry to race after her. Turns out she only did all this to impress her dad, it's all she's been wanting to do since she arrived and it takes it's toll on Barry throughout as he and Joe have a talk about what he should do and how he should approach the situation with Nora. It's all really good to watch and the whole 'Family' theme the show has going so far this season has been a joy to watch. Speaking of family however Caitlin eventually gets Cisco to vibe her father's death certificate papers to see just who forged the signature and it turns out to be her mom. So Caitlin's father will no doubt play a big part in this season going forward. 

But I wouldn't be talking about this episode without mentioning it's ending. As Block is apprehended by The Flash's (Nora and Barry) she is struck by something far off. This is when Cicada turns from around a truck and throws his weapon resulting in Barry, Cisco and Ralph briefly losing all their powers which were seemingly sucked into Cicada's weapon. Cicada actually goes full on beat down mode and destroys all members of Team Flash but is eventually stopped by Nora who had run off to take Block to a hospital. Back at Star Labs as Iris who had earlier found footage from Cicada and Gridlock's fight hears a very heavy breathing noise and again just as Barry, Cisco and Ralph were fighting Cicada she hears the same thing again. That is the sound of Cicada, Nora informs everyone of and that's where the episode ends. Following on form last week's premiere episode this episode was rather strong once again and offered a deeper look at this season's big bad Cicada and at the imminent arrival of Caitlin's father. The Flash is back and he's running once more at breakneck speed.

★★★★