The Flash 8x14 : Funeral for a Friend review

 

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

This weeks episode of The Flash is a very much a tribute to Frost who died at the end of last weeks episode while defeating Deathstorm. Her death has clearly taken a toll on Team Flash as this episode opens up with a shot of everyone in the mourning stage. We learn that Jitters has named a new drink after Frost which they've called Killer Frost. That later gets changed to just Frost as her good duties and heroic acts are more explored and detailed. The mourning has to be put to one side however as at Star Labs we hear the signal of an attack in the city go off. The Flash rushes to the scene along with Alegra and Cecil who are far too under powered for just exactly who this new threat it is. It is Blockbuster who easily overpowers them Cecil and Alegra as The Flash has to deal with a collapsing building thanks to one of Blockbuster's tremors which are extremely powerful. Blockbuster gets away and practically vanishes into thin air not showing up on any radar or anything else. He will be back I assume but for now and the rest of this episode it mainly focuses on each character's turmoil of trying to find a way to honor Frost in their own ways. 

This episode in that sense takes an interesting approach as it's told from each character's perspective beginning with Iris. Iris is attempting to write an obituary for Frost but whenever she does go to sit down and write it the words just don't come to her. And even if she did write about her in a full and honest way it'd expose her placement in Team Flash so it's a tough situation. She gives the writing of the obituary to an employee who writes it but Frost and Caitlin's mom doesn't think it is fitting enough as it came from someone who didn't really know Frost which makes total sense. What will Iris do?? she decides to not write an obituary but instead use a podcast sharing stories of Frost from people she had either saved or interacted with in a positive way. This was such a nice moment and a great way to honor Frost. Next up is Alegra and Chester who have to deal with a drunk Chillblaine and overcome a blip in their friendship before they come to their idea of honoring Frost. It is the very first jacket she wore and that jacket is placed on display at Star Labs in memory of her which again was really cool. 

The episode draws to a close as we catch up with Barry who we see is filling in a bucket list that Frost had made. So Barry does things like build a snowman atop a mountain peak, make an ice sculpture of a snowflake in Star Labs and placing one of Frost's paintings in an art gallery in France. Again it's all great and is a nice touching tribute to a lost friend and family member. And finally we have Caitlin whom at first shows up to Star Labs in a rather foul mood. Understandable of course given she's just lost her sister but she leaves everyone stunned when she blurts out that she won't be attending the funeral of Frost. She heads back home and Barry eventually shows up knocking at her door to which again Caitlin sort of loses the rag with him stating that everything has got to be about him. Barry just sits and listens before ultimately getting Caitlin to agree to attend the funeral for Frost to which she does as her sister is laid to rest in a ceremony attended by pretty much everyone who was closer to Frost including her and Caitlin's mom and Chillblaine. The episode ends with two big final plot points going forward firstly is Caitlin who is seen working on something. Turns out she is working on a way of bringing back Frost and this right here was not needed at all in my opinion. You just put the Frost character to her final rest and immediately want to bring her back?? this kinda soiled the episode in a way for me, but alas we gotta go over what happens next as Iris is seen back at her office talking to an employee. The employee leaves the room before coming back for something but when she does come back Iris is gone. Vanished once again and the last thing we see is that it is because of her time sickness which has presumably gotten worse leading to this happening. That's how the episode ends and to be honest I really liked this episode a lot, minus the whole Caitlin attempting to bring back Frost at the end there. It was touching, emotional and laid to rest a character who I didn't love throughout this shows run but a character who was important and deserved this send off she got. Iris vanishing ties directly into next weeks episode as Barry attempts to go into the Still Force to look for her so that should be very interesting indeed. Overall this wasn't an amazing episode but definitely solid and again a further step in the right direction for The Flash. 

★★★