If there was one thing that was remotely consistent about The Flash Season 8, it's that the showrunners had a real problem finding any consistency outside of inconsistency when it came to the quality of the episodes. One week, there would be an episode that had some genuine promise and looked like the people in charge had figured out the best direction to go for the rest of the season. The next episode would then be a real stinker that should have made audiences wonder if the writers and even the actors playing some much beloved characters had lost their way. Unfortunately, it looks as though at pattern has carried over to this year.
While the premiere episode of The Flash's final season was quite good, its follow-up presented many of the same problems that too many episodes did last year. That's especially problematic when talking about what should be an easy swan song and a way for the writers to get back to what made the show so good in its first five or six seasons. The first installment of the year was a story that had some humor mixed in with a story that fleshed out some characters and relationships that long time viewers of the show might not have even realized needed to be fleshed out. Everything the writers did in "Wednesday Ever After" seemed to be signaling that they had learned their lesson after Season 8. Then "Hear No Evil" seemed to indicate that maybe they hadn't learned anything after all.
A New Character In The Flash For No Reason
Right at the top of the list of things that was quite the misstep in the second episode of The Flash Season 9 was something that isn't entirely the installment's fault. After all, if the showrunners really felt as though they needed to introduce a brand-new character in the series' final season, then it's better that they did in early on and didn't keep the audience guessing on what the character's identity or purpose was. On the other hand, it's very hard to understand the purpose of Keion is, especially considering they've already done the story mechanic of having Danielle Panabaker play an entirely different version of the same person. She's played Caitlin Snow, she's played Killer Frost and now she's playing a supposed combination of the two who is also neither of them at the same time.
It's not entirely fair to say there is no point in the introduction of Keion. It would appear the people behind The Flash want to set up some sort of conflict between Team Flash and Killer Frost's former boyfriend, Mark. The problem with that particular decision is that he was only in a handful of episodes, always seemed like a background character even when he was there, appears to still be little more than a background character and is only going to be more annoying as a distraught lover who is grieving the loss of his former flame. It also seems as though the introduction of this character is a step in the direction of what has been teased by The Flash showrunner as what will be a happy ending for the series. That happy ending for the Snow family is either going to be a surprise return or Caitlin and Killer Frost as well as Keion, or the fact that everyone will come to terms with Keion being the "happier" version of the trio of personalities.
If that is indeed the point of the newest version of Panabaker's character it's an especially odd decision considering the writers had already had Frost and Snow come to terms with their own existences and were happy. Whatever the goal behind a Season 9 introduction of a brand new character it didn't help an episode that struggled to gain much of a foothold or be all that interesting at any point in the hour long installment. There was also the reintroduction of a character that has appeared in a couple of different seasons of The Flash as a villain and then an unlikely ally as in Hartley.
What Did The Flash Want To Do In 'Hear No Evil'?
The reintroduction of Hartley, who has previously appeared as The Pied Piper but has now decided to just apparently start a night club with his boyfriend simply had far too much screen time, considering that only the most devoted fans of The Flash likely remember who he is and why he was around at all. This was one of those episodes that could have used a flashback scene or even just a little dialog to fill in people who may not have watched the series from Season 1 Episode 1 all the way to Season 9. Hartley has had some screen time in Season 8 and it would appear that's why the writers didn't feel as though they needed to remind people who he was. But even for those who remember who he is, his return and central focus of the episode seemed odd and disjointed.
By having the story focus on Hartley and The Fiddler, "Hear No Evil" did the thing that is most glaring from the worst episodes of The Flash in the last couple of seasons. The writing team didn't really seem to know what it wanted to do with the show. Despite the long runtime of this show, it felt as though the story mostly just tread water waiting for something to shove it forward. Judging by the trailer for Episode 3, it would seem that this installment was more about getting ready for next week than really investing anything in the story this week. That's something that all shows can be accused of from time to time, especially if they're the longer seasons on network television than what people find on Netflix. But in the final season of The Flash, when there should be the ability for the writers to really cut loose, an entire episode that just stands still doesn't seem remotely necessary.
New episodes of The Flash's final season can be seen every Wednesday on The CW.