Title: The Flash: “There Will Be Blood” Review
Release Date: October 29th, 2019
Network: The CW
Genre: Superhero, Drama, Action
Watching this show right now is refreshing. I’m not sure about any of you, and maybe it’s just me, but The Flash season 6 has been a delight so far.
One of the reasons why is because of its villain, Dr. Ramsey Rosso (otherwise known as Bloodwork). This villain is compelling in the sense that his intentions, at least from the beginning of the season, were noble. He wanted to save lives (including his own). However, by becoming obsessed with cheating death, Ramsey has transformed himself into a killer who is constantly attempting to justify his increasingly psychotic actions. All of this development was done in just four episodes, by the way. If this was last season with Cicada, an arc such as this would’ve taken at least 8-10 episodes.
And Ramsey’s obsession to save himself at any cost can be connected directly to what is going on with Barry. Our Scarlet Speedster is destined to die in Crisis on Infinite Earths but instead of fighting it, he’s chosen to accept his fate and try to prepare his friends for life without The Flash. It’s a great dynamic for the hero and villain that won’t overstay its welcome because we’re probably going to have a second big bad enter the fray after the crossover.
Ramsey’s abilities are different for a show like The Flash as well. It’s almost Carnage-like with the added bonus of raising the dead. It’s equal parts cool and creepy. Unlike previous villains, Bloodwork does seem like an antagonist Team Flash would have trouble taking down. If I had to say anything bad about this section of the episode, it would be that this was probably Sendhil Ramamurthy’s worst performance of the season. But, I’m confident he’ll crush it over the next few weeks now that he’s gone full big bad.
Just like Arrow has been doing, it is a fantastic creative call to have the impending Crisis weigh over all of our characters’ heads. Over the last two weeks, we saw Barry and Frost come to terms with the future. This week, it was Ralph and Cisco.
Ralph’s story was more straightforward. He’s already grieving over the future loss of his friend. I’ll admit, I was worried we would see Ralph regress as a character again. Luckily, Iris and Joe were able to guide him through it, making this a one-episode arc (which was perfect).
Cisco handled grief in another way, denial. He was hellbent on finding some way to save Barry, even if that meant hurting someone else’s chances of living. It was all pretty riveting, with Grant Gustin and Carlos Valdes putting together a fairly intense scene when Barry found out about his friend’s betrayal.
The decision to have Cisco lead the team after Barry’s sacrifice is a no-brainer for me. It’s either Cisco, Frost (the hot-head of the team), or Ralph (who is, well, he’s Ralph). Yeah, it’s not that hard to pick the most qualified leader there.
Last week, I slammed The Flash season 6 for yet again introducing another Harrison Wells. While it still is a tired formula that I’m really sick of, Tom Cavanagh is awesome and he will somehow always make the character interesting in some, way, shape, or form. His on-screen chemistry with Gustin and Valdes is excellent, providing us with a few laughs in what should have been a run-of-the-mill introduction (Cisco looking for the bug Nash put on him was absolutely hilarious). To the credit of the writers that decided to craft yet another version of the Wells character, at least Nash seemingly has a clue to what’s going on in Crisis. That cliffhanger was intriguing and it looks like Nash has some kind of problem with The Monitor, or who we think is The Monitor.
Rounding out this week’s review, we gotta talk about that tear-jerking final scene with Barry and Joe. For a show about crazy things like superheroes, time-travel, and multiverse shenanigans, this was a scene that felt real. The whole time, you couldn’t help but tear up a bit because of the exceptional performance from Grant Gustin and especially Jesse L. Martin. As callous as it may sound, Cisco, Ralph, and Frost can all move on from Barry’s sacrifice. Joe, the guy who raised Barry, doesn’t have any superpowers to help get through that. He’s just an older dude that is trying to come to grips with the fact his adoptive son will die in a few weeks. And he’s completely powerless to stop it.
That’s another reason I think the whole scene came across as real as it did, at least for me. Joe is a character that isn’t as prevalent as he used to be in the show’s earlier seasons but he is by far one of the most likable and best characters in the Arrowverse.
Verdict: The Flash season 6 is moving along fast (no pun intended) as we finally see Ramsey become Bloodwork and finally go insane over his obsession to cheat death. Barry’s story is just as exciting as he tries to get his team ready for life without him. Excellent performances, the fast-moving plot, and some great character moments are all reasons why “There Will Be Blood” worked so well.
The Flash: “There Will Be Blood”
Awesome performances
That scene with Joe and Barry at the end
Nash Wells is interesting, even if the formula is annoying
Cisco and Ralph’s reactions to Barry’s fate in Crisis
Bloodwork is an awesome villain so far
Barry got over Cisco’s betrayal pretty quick (Yeah, I’m kinda nit-picking here)
