"Run" The Flash Recaps: "Into the Void"

The Flash

"The Flash" remains the highest rated Arrowverse show as it moves into it's sixth season and its easy to see why. Grant Gustin is always personable even when Barry is being a bonehead. When it wants to be, it can be the anti-"Arrow," fun and light when the former is dark and depressing. 

When we left Team Flash, Barry and Iris were reeling from the loss of their daughter, Nora, who was seemingly erased from the timeline. Cisco had taken the meta human cure so he could finally have a normal line and a chance at love with Camilla. Caitlin and Killer Frost were still trying to figure out their new normal and Ralph was well Ralph.

Episode 1: "Into the Void"

Cisco: [playing "Flash" by Queen] "I've been saving this for the right moment since day one."

Iris: "Really, Cisco?"

Cisco: "The guy is running in and out of a black hole."

Iris: "Good point."

After she disappears, Barry and Iris also lose Nora's message. They keep trying to convince everyone they are all good, but no one is buying it. Four months later, Team Flash has spent most of their summer running down Godspeed clones that can't speak. Iris visits a landfill to retrieve a backpack that contains her purple jacket, the same jacket that will inspire Nora to become XS. When she loses it in a black hole, her investigation leads the team to Chester P. Runk, an inventor who created a device to open black holes and ended up losing part of his consciousness. Can Flash save Central City from being sucked in to a black hole and save Chester? Meanwhile, Caitlin and Killer Frost are having issues and so is Catilin's med school friend, Ramsey Rosso. Ramsey wants Caitlin's help using dark matter to cure cancer patients, but she's not convinced.

So serious.

I've had some gripes with "The Flash" the past few seasons. It felt like they were repeating the same story beats every season. Someone in Team Flash withholds something, things get worse, the team finds out, they swear never to do it again. Rinse. Repeat. Barry messes with timelines. He promises never to go back in time, but he does. The big bad was a speedster for a while. Then they introduced the Thinker and that storyline fizzled pretty quickly. Last season, there were not one, but two Cicadas and neither were strong enough to carry an entire season, as evidenced by the fact that Reverse Flash, Eobard Thawne, turned out to be the big bad in the end. Despite that, you keep watching "The Flash" because it is fun and there are glimpses of what made the show's first couple of seasons so engaging. I mean, what other Arrowverse show featured a fight between a giant gorilla and a man shark?

The great thing about season premieres is that they give shows a chance to reset and start fresh. Kind of. It's difficult for any show to completely reset when it's been on five years. The main thread left over from last season is Nora. Barry and Iris are adamant that they are fine with what happened. They will have baby Nora eventually so it's fine. It's pretty clear from the start that isn't the case. From Iris's trip to the dump to Barry's fanatical obsession to save Chester. I enjoyed that the show acknowledges this and doesn't drag it out. Barry and Nora talk to each other. They don't tiptoe around it. They don't hide it and make things worse. That's progress.

Killer Frost wants a life of her own, so that's Caitlin's big story for the episode. It's pretty cut and dried. Frost is afraid to say something too Caitlin. She gets a pep talk from Ralph. Admits it to Caitlin. Caitlin is fine with it. I'm sure there will be conflict with that down the road and I'm curious that the show may be headed towards a romance with Ralph and Killer Frost. There is some storytelling potential there for sure. How does Caitlin deal with a romance she's not really involved in. There's a lot of that to be had in this and my interest is piqued.

Caitlin's other side story is her relationship with Ramsey Rosso played by "Heroes" vet, Sendhil Ramamurthy. Rosso is different than your usual "Flash" villains. I like that he has a connection to Caitlin. He clearly has two sides. The loving son eulogizing his dead mother is drastically different from the spiteful child who is angry at his mother for not fighting harder against her terminal illness. He wants to use dark matter to cure people, including himself, which will turn him meta and possibly others. Hello, more Rogues. I'm worried this will not be enough to sustain a full season, but I'll see where this goes.

Luckily, we still have the Monitor who reveals to Barry and Iris that the day Barry disappears is rapidly approaching. And that he destroyed Nora's message. If you're excited about the upcoming Crisis (and if your'e a fan of these shows, how could you not be) this only makes you more excited.

The main problem with this premiere is that it's kind of boring. Black hole guy is pretty nondescript and the whole thing with I'm feels like an afterthought. No one seems as concerned as they should be. They try to amp up the drama by suggesting they let him die, but did anyone believe that was a real possibility? Or that Cisco would really even suggest it? Or Barry would actually allow him to go through with it? The only good thing about it is Barry running into the black hole, but this whole thing was eerily similar to "Supergirl's" premiere, where Supergirl flew into a black hole to save J'onn. They had to have known this, right? Maybe it was too late?

I'm hopeful that "The Flash" can give us a great season. Barry is the crux of "Crisis On Infinite Earths" so all the ingredients are there. This premiere is solid. Let's hope the next few episodes can raise that bar.

Grade: B

What did you guys think of this premiere? Are you hopeful "The Flash" can deliver a standout season? What do you think we have in store? Let me know in the comments.