The Flash 7x4 : Central City Strong review

 

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

The Flash's 4th episode of it's seventh season is essentially the season's premiere. With the last 3 episodes wrapping up the Mirroverse / Mirror Monarch storyline. Can The Flash now begin what has the potential to be a truly fantastic season? the episode begins in Barry and Iris's apartment. We see that ever since he got his speed back proper Barry has been showering Iris with romantic getaways, exotic, rich food and most importantly his time. On the outside Central City is still suffering from some bolts of energy in the sky as once again we see several different forms of lightning hit the air with different colors again the vocal point. After the events that occurred over the past few months Central City is beginning to rebuild itself. Deemed Central City Strong everybody in the community (including Team Flash) is taking it upon themselves to help clean up, aid and just aid in restoring the city to some sort of normality. The Flash further backs up this claim as he appears on the local news stating that he let the city down but he will do everything in his power to restore the faith that was lost. 

Back at her office and we see Iris meeting with Alegra. Turns out Iris has been struggling with her Mirrorverse trauma a lot more than she's been letting on. Her story and overall sense of writing has declined in quality as told by Alegra who later on gets promoted from assistant to office worker by Iris. As for Iris's trauma she ends up visiting and attending a support group for people who Eva McCulloch affected by dragging them into the Mirrorverse. Trauma is a pretty big vocal point of this episode as a whole really as the returning Abra-Kadabra is testament to. Previously appearing in season 3 the villainous magician returns to Central City with plenty of tricks up his sleeve for The Flash and co. We first see him kill an innocent man in cold blood before shrinking an object down to size. So just what are his motives? well it's to collect 3 objects called Obelisk's and unite them together to create a giant anti-matter bomb that will make Central City disappear in an instant..poof! but before all of that The Flash and Vibe meet up with Kadabra who lets some future teases slip. He mentions someone / something called The Chronarch crossing paths with The Flash in the future. A possible future season big bad maybe? he also calls Vibe Mecha Vibe much to Cisco's dismay. He ends up getting taken into custody after some help from Killer Frost but is it all just a part of his plan??

The episode draws to a close as yes Abra-Kadabra escapes from his ARGUS custody quite easily. It was in fact all part of his plan as once inside the ARGUS facility he has access to the third and final Obelisk. The Flash shows up once again but is powerless to stop him this time as he gets restrained by some high tech magic. Kadabra fully assembles his anti-matter bomb and descends into Central City. Back at Star Labs and everyone is on edge as this anti-matter bomb has the potential to completely wipe Central City and that's only the beginning. With the bomb beginning it's charge Cisco and Chester come up with a solution. Barry goes off with Iris and has a eureka moment. Back in season 3 Kadabra mentioned something about having someone close to him and earlier at the ARGUS facility he mentioned that The Flash in the future took everything and everyone from him. What could it all mean?? well the truth rises to the top at the bomb's location as Abra-Kadabra spills everything. With the help of Cisco's device earlier Barry had found out that Kadabra has a family or I should say he did have a family. You see by surviving Crisis not only did The Flash change an entire amount of things he also erased Kadabra's family from the timeline. Totally wiped clean. But in doing so Kadabra was still able to hold onto the memories of his wife and son. What follows is a pretty emotional and powerful speech from The Flash who manages to convince Abra-Kadabra to stop and look around at his actions and what his family would think of him and the destruction and chaos he would cause by destroying Central City. The two who are mortal enemies in the future ultimately become allies in the present. But this newfound alliance is short lived as soon enough the city begins to experience giant earthquake like tremors. It's not long before a giant woman is seen hurdling for The Flash. She punches him so hard he goes flying into a car window. Kadabra attempts to use his anti-matter bomb but the abomination just catches it and crushes it in her hand absorbing the energy it lets out. Kadabra ends up falling in battle sacrificing himself right in front of The Flash. The insanely strong woman soon relents and jumps away but who or just what is she?? this has to be tied to the other lighting forms in the sky as in the comics these other colors of lighting signal new forms of power. The Sage Force, The Speed Force, The Strength Force and the Still Force. And with that woman's superior strength could she have The Strength Force?? this entire storyline has the potential to be something really special going forward and it is something I am heavily invested and interested in. The episode ends with Iris who in this episode was just fantastic by the way speaking at the support group for Mirrorverse survivors. Her speech empowers Alegra and everyone else around. Back at Star Labs and we see Cisco having just finished a game of Fornite with Chester when Caitlin enters the room. She is soon followed by Killer Frost as the two are no separated?! earlier in the episode Caitlin had been complaining about a headache but I did not see this ending reveal coming. Who knows what happens going forward with everything on this show but right now The Flash has so much going for it and long may that continue. As for this episode it was near perfect. Apart from one or two nitpick type of things this is The Flash at it's best truth be told. 

★★★★