What I’m Watching: The Flash

The Flash: Season 3, Episode 5 “Monster” (B+)

This episode was less focused on the speedster phenomenon and much more on what makes a hero - as well as what makes a villain. Tom Felton’s Julian, who up until now was a thorn in Barry’s side and little more, got a big spotlight as he first reported Barry for not being diligent in his attendance at work and then shared a broader worldview about this whole metahuman thing. Believing that the Flash has made the police lethargic isn’t necessarily correct, but he does have a good point about what people do with the powers they’ve been given. If he did get abilities, I imagine that he wouldn’t jump straight to villainy, and I have to assume that’s what he’s eventually fated for, even if not right away. For now, he got to save the day for once, with an assist from the Flash, and tell a kid who used a hologram of a monster to terrify people that it just wasn’t okay. Harry’s doppelganger is very chatty, and it turns out that he’s saying a whole lot of nothing as he’s more concerned with penning a great novel than actually knowing how to do any real work. Caitlin’s mom is quite the successful scientist, and it seems like she and her daughter have an extremely complicated relationship. More worrisome than their dynamic, however, was Caitlin’s reaction to her mother’s recommendation not to use her powers. Caitlin is trying so hard not to become Killer Frost, but it seems like she’s hopeless to stop the inevitable transformation.