‘The Flash’ Episode 1.11 “The Sound and the Fury” (9 out of 10) Starring Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Rick Cosnett, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Tom Kavanaugh, and Jesse L. Martin. Guest starring Andrew Mientus. Written by Geoff Johns and Kai Yu Wu. First broadcast January 27, 2015.
This was an episode I was indifferent about going in, but quickly became more intense, interesting, and smarter than I had expected. I knew that yet another Flash enemy was going to debut, in this case the Pied Piper. I’ve always considered Pied Piper one of Flash’s more ridiculous villains, because this is the earliest version I knew:
I mean, look at him. He used a pipe/flute/whateverthehell to control people. And that costume. Come on, man. Have some self-respect.
In intervening years, Pied Piper (nee Hartley Rathaway) became more layered and nuanced than most supervillains, eventually joining the Flash as an ally and a friend from time to time. Oh yeah, and he’s gay. One of the first comic book characters to come out, and well before it was commonplace to have a gay character in your comic book or book or tv show or movie or whatever. Course, he was still a villain sometimes, but he was an interesting, sympathetic character. Who had upgraded his costume past the one seen above.
That doesn’t mean I liked the guy. I still thought his mind control flute was dumb, I still would much rather read the exploits of Captain Cold or Gorilla Grodd than the Pied Piper.
But “The Flash” producers and writers made Hartley Rathaway an interesting villain that not only presented a challenge for Barry Allen, but ran the risk of tearing the Flash and his world apart. This Hartley (Andrew Mentius) was a protege of Dr. Harrison Wells at S.T.A.R. Labs, who got the particle accelerator up and running…and also sees the disaster on the horizon. When he warns Wells about it (in flashback), Wells has the guy fired. We see early interactions between Caitlin Snow, Dr. Wells, and Cisco (the day Cisco is hired, actually), and how Hartley is kind of a dick (Cisco’s words, not mine) from day one. Hartley is brilliant, he’s funny, he’s cold, he’s cruel. Everything I want in a villain.
His powers are still sound-based, but now created and focused through power gloves and cranial implants. He’s got some metahuman action going on due to the particle accelerator “accident,” but amped up with his technological brilliance. He can use sound waves to shatter concrete, or to shake Flash to pieces like a bowl full of jelly. More dangerous, he knows S.T.A.R. Labs like the back of his glove, and is pissed at Wells, Caitlin and Cisco. Flash is merely in the way.
In the course of the episode, Hartley attacks his parents’ company Rathaway Industries (they disowned him after he told them he was gay), he lets himself get captured to check out S.T.A.R. Labs prison. The most interesting moment is after he busts out of his cell, and Dr. Wells (out of his wheelchair) uses his Reverse Flash powers to make a brief sprint to escape Rathaway. He quickly runs out of juice, and is twitching on the floor when Rathaway comes around the corner. And then…we cut to Wells sitting in his wheelchair, and the Pied Piper is gone. What happened in between? What kind of conversation took place? Did Wells cut Rathaway a deal of some kind? Some future planning to complete a takeover of the Flash and Central City? I’m intrigued at the groundwork being laid for the future. Cisco also gets his first look at technology he could use to become “Vibe,” the earthquake causin’ superhero he is in the comic books. Curiosity piqued. His. Also mine.
Cisco gets his first look at technology he could use to become “vibe”
This is still my favorite superhero series on tv right now. If you’re not watching, we’re only eleven episodes in to Season One, and they’re doing things that other series don’t do until a few years in. It’s a confident, fun series that’s getting everything right. Okay, everything right except for Iris West. She’s still the most boring, awkward character on the show. Is she getting better? Not yet she isn’t. Everything else is full speed ahead for Barry Allen and “The Flash.”