Title: The Flash: “Dead Man Running” Review
Release Date: October 22nd, 2019
Network: The CW
Genre: Superhero, Drama, Action
I think we’ve figured out why CW decided to match up Arrow and The Flash. Although I haven’t watched Supergirl yet this year, it seems that the majority of the build-up to “Crisis on Infinite Earths” have included the Emerald Archer and the Scarlet Speedster. It’s awesome to see these easter eggs throughout both shows, including that Earth-2 tease during last week’s episode of The Flash. Hopefully, that’ll continue throughout the season.
As for “Dead Man Running”, this was yet another fantastic installment to what I’m hoping will be a stellar season of The Flash. I think this season has worked so well because of a more-story, less-filler approach. Or, better yet, less unnecessary filler.
To see what I mean by that, take a look at Killer Frost and Ralph’s storylines. Now, Ralph’s story with his mom was very hit or miss (mostly miss), but it served a purpose in the end. It aided in Ralph’s maturity as a character. For Frost, it meant dealing with the possibility of her death in the upcoming Crisis without getting the chance to live. Which is understandable considering Caitlin has been in control this whole time with Frost only helping out the team when they need to catch a bad guy.
On top of all that, we have Barry’s reluctant acceptance that he may have to die in Crisis clashing with Ramsey’s will to fight death at every cost. This parallel, in particular, is fascinating to me. I mentioned it in past reviews but Sendhil Ramamurthy is good at this whole acting thing and even though I know that Ramsey will eventually become our main big bad for the first half of the season, I don’t want him to. That’s how well the show has handled this character thus far.
Speaking of performances, Ramamurthy and Grant Gustin had one scene here that was absolutely intense. It reminded me of the old-school Reverse-Flash conversations or even the first encounter Barry had with The Thinker. Overall, I think we all knew Ramsey would be able to control the zombie guy running around but it was the build-up to it that made it all click. Ramsey’s starting to get his Carnage/Venom abilities down and he’s well on his journey to super-villainy. The Flash may have its first compelling villain since Zoom on their hands here with Bloodwork. Hopefully, they don’t mess it up in the coming weeks.
Barry’s decision to tell the rest of the team about his death in Crisis was the right one. For far too long, we Arrowverse fans have had to suffer through redundant and predictable storylines where the hero will keep a secret from his team only for the team to find out and go ballistic on the hero for keeping said secret. Now, we can move on and see how Barry will prepare his team for life without The Flash.
I’m not sold on the new Wells though. It’s not because Harrison “Nash” Wells wasn’t interesting but I’m getting a little tired of the routine (And the show even mentioned it’s a regular thing!). But, I’ll credit Tom Cavanagh with this. He will do everything he can to make you like his characters. Every year, the new Wells comes in and I’m reluctantly optimistic about him. Over the season, I’ll waver back and forth on Cavanagh’s new Wells until the end where I’ll finally buy into the character. But then, the show writes off/kills the character. Just, why go through this process for six seasons?
Again, I’m just bored with this trope, especially knowing that Cavanagh will be playing Pariah and (most-likely) Reverse-Flash during the crossover too. Who knows? Maybe I’m proven wrong in a few weeks and Nash Wells ends up being my new favorite version. Doubtful, but possible.
My other negative is with the Iris/Allegra story. I just don’t really care about Allegra as a character yet. It may get there with time and further development but right now these interactions felt out of place.
Verdict: I strongly debated giving “Dead Man Running” a 5-star rating, even with the iffy Ralph side-arc. That’s how enthralling the Barry/Ramsey/Frost story was. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to it due to being introduced to yet another new Harrison Wells (only a few weeks before I’ll see Tom Cavanagh in Crisis as Pariah and possibly Reverse-Flash). On top of that, the Iris/Allegra interactions didn’t work either as I didn’t care for Allegra’s character or her reservations about Iris. Regardless, The Flash season 6 continues to be a fun one with no signs of slowing down in pace anytime soon.
The Flash: “Dead Man Running” Review
Grant Gustin and Sendhil Ramamurthy’s performances
The parallels between Barry and Ramsey’s characters
Bloodwork could potentially end up being the most compelling villain since Zoom
Killer Frost’s arc
Ralph’s arc was really hit and miss (mostly miss)
A new Wells (again)
The Iris/Allegra interactions didn’t click with me at all
