Despite some strong material for the supporting cast, this week’s episode of “The Flash” reached a plateau with its lame villain-of-the-week and its focus on the boring chemistry between Iris and Eddie.

This week’s episode turned its attention to the night of the particle accelerator explosion in flashbacks that paralleled Wells’ decision, in the present, to use the accelerator as a prison.
The flashbacks were effective enough, introducing viewers to Caitlyn Snow’s late fiancé, Ronnie Raymond, played by Ronnie Amell. However, there were a few issues here. First, how is it that a twenty-something is the Lead Engineer on a particle accelerator? Sure he may be a genius, but so are Cisco and Caitlyn. Three twenty-something geniuses floating around make the plot seem a little contrived.

Also, the flashbacks were not very effective in revealing the chemistry between Robbie and Caitlyn. This might just be because they were only just having screen time together for the first time, but even still, the moment when Robbie is talking to Caitlyn over the walkie-talkie does not even compare to, say, the scene between Charlie and Desmond in “Lost.” That scene had such emotional payoff because the actors had adequate time to build those relationships. Robbie and Caitlyn did not have that time.

Speaking of chemistry, it is unbearable to see Iris and Eddie being underutilized in the show. The writers have spent the first three episodes building depth in all of the side characters, but these two seem to have been excluded. Their romantic subplot involving their relationship and keeping it a secret from Detective West was incredibly unnecessary.

Also, Iris has the benefit of having scenes with Barry, so viewers got to see a little more of her character, but Eddie is, to be frank, un-relatable at this point. I would love to see not only his character given more attention, but his relationships with other characters brought to light.
“The Mist” was fun to watch on-screen, but his character was flat. Nobody can relate to a villain who is motivated solely by revenge. On top of that, his story was not a foil for any of the main characters. Near the end of the episode, Barry tells Detective West that it would have been easy to break his father out of jail. Seeing Barry struggle with that choice would have accomplished more for Barry’s character arc. After all, what experiences have cemented his moral code? It took an entire season for Stephen Amell to define his own in “Arrow.”

“Things You Can’t Outrun” was more of a step sideways than backwards. We got to see a critical event in Cisco and Caitlyn’s development, and Grant Gustin showing off his acting chops once again. But good acting could not save this episode from a sub-par romance plot or a throwaway villain.

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