Intergalactic Comics: The Flash: “Luck Be a Lady” Review

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

The Flash: “Luck Be a Lady” Review

By: Ashley Binion (@ashleybinion)

Finally, The Flash delivered an episode that worked quite well. I was relieved to see the series bounce back after two lackluster episodes at the start of the season.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

“The Flash Reborn” and “Mixed Signals” were two episodes that were disjointed and had a difficult time working. The writers were trying to figure out how to mix the darkness of the past two seasons with the lightness that embodied the fantastic freshman run. “Luck Be a Lady” was a massive success. The episode felt like it was straight out of season one. The main characters didn’t act out of character, the villain was fun, and there was little doom and gloom.

Hands down the best part of the episode was the “villain of the week,” Hazard. The reason I’m putting quotes around that is because she wasn’t quite a villain. She was a villain who wasn’t just a villain for villain’s sake. She was someone who was capitalizing on her new power, even though she didn’t mean anything catastrophically malicious to the people around her.

Also, the opening was different. No one person from Team Flash was present during Hazard’s introduction. Making the opening all about her was wildly successful. It created a familiarity with the character that helped the audience sympathise with her and her journey. Personally, watching her bumble her way through life was very relatable.

Earth-2 Harrison Wells returning was a huge development. He was missing for the first two episodes and it was unclear how Tom Cavanagh would return. Would he be playing another version of the scientist, or would he return as Earth-2 Wells? “Luck Be a Lady” answered that question with his appearance and an explanation as to what’s happening with Jesse. I hope he is here to stay. He was far and away the best version of Harrison Wells the show ever produced. By the way, the breakup cube was a great comedic bit. Watching the reactions of the rest of Team Flash in the background put it over the top.

Wally leaving was a big surprise. I don’t expect him to be gone for long, but it was still out of left field. However, when looking at the character and the current canvas, I understand why him leaving is for the best. Sadly, he’s disposable. Much like the rest of Team Flash, I didn’t even realize he was missing in “Luck Be a Lady.” For a while now, he’s been a background character. When he does try to help out the team, Barry either admonishes him or he messes up in some way. I do wish Wally would’ve gotten a better shot at being a real part of Team Flash. After all, he is an important piece of comic book canon.

I understand what the The Flash is doing with the twelve metahumans, but it seems very procedural and formulamatic. Maybe that’s what the series needs right now: a formulaic first half where all they do is hunt metahumans and work on their personal relationships. If their metahumans are just as entertaining as Hazard, I’m all for The Flash taking it back to basics for a while.