The Flash 6x18 : Pay the Piper review

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

Oh boy if the term pep talk didn't have meaning before this episode of The Flash it surely has one now. The episode begins with Barry paying Joe a visit as he is still in Witness Protection. He tells him about Iris being trapped in the mirrorverse and how the Iris he saw before leaving for his own safety was a fake duplicate. Joe mentions how he knew something was up because of how Iris was acting especially towards Barry. Maybe say something next time eh Joe? back at Star Labs and Barry is becoming increasingly frustrated by everything going on. Cisco doesn't help as he talks about how he has been living with a duplicate of Kamila the past five weeks or so. With no real plan of action he has a pop at Barry who loses it for a moment. Back in the mirrorverse and we see Iris recording a message for Barry. Even when apart they're together she says as she also mentions how her mind has been changing a lot lately thanks to everything inside of the mirrorverse. She gets headaches a lot but does later mention how she can now see things that can aid both her Singh and Kamila escape.

Godspeed remember him from the premiere episode of season 6?? well he returns finally after what has seemed like an age away. The Godspeed's we saw in that episode were fake turning to rambling puddles of goo when defeated. He hows up in the speed lab as Barry is seen talking to Alegra. Upon arrival he knocks Barry down and using some sort of vibration effect extracts speed from Barry even though he already barely has enough to keep going. This leads to Cisco suggesting that they go ask Pied Piper for some help as he is the expert when it comes to vibrations and sound waves. There's a change this time however as when The Flash was previously fighting Pied Piper at Central City's dam he ended up badly injuring one of the guys working with him. This guy does turn out to be the boyfriend of one Hartley Rathaway the Pied Piper himself. Agreeing to help Team Flash if they in return help his boyfriend return to a normal state rather than the current pain inducing one he is currently in. Nash and Cisco get to work as on the outside Godspeed is still at large.

The episode draws to a close as Godspeed once again turns up at Star Labs this time giving Barry barely any time to come after him stating that he only has 60 seconds to get to his location or he'll start killing people. The Flash who hasn't much speed left rushes to his location and a giant chase scene begins. Godspeed ends up passing The Flash as he takes him out. He then runs to the top of a building and calls out to The Flash. But Flash isn't alone he has the help of Pied Piper who grows a real heart and helps The Flash defeat Godspeed. As he is far too fast and strong for Flash Pied Piper suggests that they both cross streams much like Flash did to Hartley's boyfriend in the past. This is when Barry runs and unleashes a giant lightning bolt which when colliding with Vibrations from Pied Piper stops Godspeed right in his tracks as he falls right on top of a car smashing it's roof. The situation of Hartley's boyfriend is soon solved also thanks to Godspeed whose blood is electricity combined with a blue like good that when used on Hartley's boyfriend returns him to normal. As for Godspeed he befalls the same fate of all the other Godspeeds but not before he mentions something interesting to Flash. We don't see the scene but Barry mentions to everyone else that someone else is pulling the strings when it comes to Godspeed and his plan of stealing speed from other speedsters and that when he went to ask further he shriveled up like all the others. Who could be looking for speed?? The Red Death perhaps?? he has been heavily rumored to be the big bad of season 7 so it's plausible. The episode ends at Star Labs as Barry assures everyone that they will indeed stop Eva McCulloch and save their loved ones inside the mirroverse. They just need some tech which according to Nash is the holy grail of science. But where could it be?? Cisco says Atlantis and that he will leave and return in no time. Will we see Aquaman show up?? unlikely but this was a pretty interesting ending to an episode that bar the final 10 minutes or so was some of the worst stuff this show has put out all season long. There seemed to be a never ending rush of pep talks from Barry to Cisco to even Pied Piper. It felt extremely forced and time wasted on what could've been an incredibly fast paced episode if they just used Godspeed more. The idea of someone using all these different versions of Godspeed is interesting too as this Godspeed wasn't August Heart either (the real name of Godspeed) a bit of a letdown was this episode after the highs of last week. Next week's episode which is episode 19 is this season's finale as the season filming had to be cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Here's hoping that's better and leaves us with a lot of questions heading into season 7 in the fall. 

★★