The 8 Best Episodes Of The Flash So Far

On Tuesday October 4th, The Flash returns to our screens for its hotly-anticipated third season. Of all the DC TV shows airing on The CW this fall, it is arguably The Flash that fans are most looking forward to. After all, season 2 ended things on one hell of a cliffhanger – as Barry went back in time and completely altered history by saving his mother’s life. And that’s really the secret to The Flash’s success, the key to what has made it perhaps the most widely beloved of the superhero series on TV at the moment (certainly on regular network television). Its writing is reliably strong – both faithful to the comic book adventures and inventive enough to make the ideas work in a different medium. Out of the 46 episodes so far released, it's a tough job to whittle it down to just the eight best. But here at We Got This Covered, we like a good challenge, so that’s exactly what we’ve gone and done.... 8) Tricksters (Season 1, Episode 17) One unexpected delight of The Flash was its nods to the previous TV show about the Fastest Man Alive, made in the 1990 and starring John Wesley Shipp (who plays Barry’s dad in the modern series). The best callback to that show happened in season one’s "Tricksters", which got Star Wars’ Mark Hamill back to play a villain he had last portrayed over twenty years prior. The result is a real treat for geeks everywhere. The Trickster’s demeanour is a loving homage to the Joker (a role Hamill has voiced for years) and naturally they couldn’t resist slipping in a few nods to Star Wars in there, too. In addition that, there's also some great stuff about the wider mythology of the show and Barry has some great emotional scenes with his dad. It's a bit of everything you could want from The Flash, really. 7) Enter Zoom (Season 2, Episode 6) It’s hard to argue that season 2’s big bad Zoom lost a lot of his appeal once he whipped off his mask and was revealed to be the fake Jay Garrick. Nothing against Teddy Sears’ performance, but the character just had more power as an unknowable and inhuman force. The best episode that demonstrated this was the first time he and the Flash came to blows, in "Enter Zoom." Most of the episode, where the STAR Labs gang train Linda Park up to impersonate her metahuman doppelganger Dr. Light, is quite light-hearted and fun. The climax, however, tips the scales completely the other way in a pretty dark sequence that shows just how formidable Zoom is – paralyzing Barry and showing the people of Central City their broken hero. If only he had stayed this way, then Reverse-Flash would have had a run for his money as the best Flash villain. 6) Flash Back (Season 2, Episode 17) Speaking of which, the spectre of Eobard Thawne heavily hangs over our hero in season 2 – which makes it all the more dramatic when Barry goes back in time to get his old enemy’s help with stopping Zoom. While we’ve nothing against Matt Lescher’s portrayal of the real Reverse-Flash, Tom Cavanagh’s fake Harrison Wells is the one we love the best. As such, it was great fun to see that version of the character return, by going back to when he was still pretending to be Barry’s wheelchair-bound mentor. There are also some welcome appearances from poor dead Eddie and a reformed Pied Piper. Returning to the timeline of season 1 was a brilliant story device and, in retrospect, the episode is even sharper as it foreshadows Barry’s much bigger alteration of the timeline at the end of the season. 5) The Flash vs. Arrow (Season 1, Episode 8) This is the one fans were most looking forward to when The Flash was first announced – a crossover episode where, in fine superhero tradition, the two heroes would lay into each other before teaming up proper. Thankfully, the suitably-titled "The Flash vs. Arrow" lived up to the expectation by crafting a funny and dramatic character-driven story around the central fight. Thanks to Rainbow Raider, Barry’s temper goes through the roof and Arrow is the only one who can take him down. It’s fascinating to see Barry let off his leash and some interesting themes are raised about the differences and core similarities between the pair’s approaches to being a hero. Plus, there's lots of humour in the ‘odd couple’ nature of Barry and Oliver’s partnership and Diggle’s priceless reaction to Barry’s speed. 4) Welcome To Earth-2/Escape From Earth-2 (Season 2, Episodes 13-14) After delivering time travel in season 1, season 2 went even further in having Barry and friends discover the existence of parallel worlds. In this two-parter, we finally got to see the gang travel to the slightly different yet eerily similar Earth-2 (with its throwback fashions and tech) and, as is the time honoured tradition, meet some alternate versions of themselves. Most of the episode’s fun comes from the roll call of these doppelgangers – Joe as a jazz singer, Iris as a detective, Caitlin as Killer Frost, Cisco as Reverb, even Arrow’s Deadshot as a comic bumbler. Of course, there’s also some dramatic stuff too, as the team lead a daring trip in Zoom’s lair to rescue Jesse. These episodes also represent a massive turning point in the season as a whole, with Jay ‘dying’ at the climax of episode 14 and being revealed to be Zoom in the very next episode. 3) Fast Enough (Season 1, Episode 23) The Flash’s first season cleverly eschewed the usual rules by having the big defeat of Reverse-Flash in the previous episode, leaving this one to be a more emotional climax that wrapped up the hero’s personal journey instead. Here, Barry faces an impossible choice – go back and save his mother and let his enemy escape or stop him and let his mother die all over again. Like every superhero, this was when Barry had to decide between his personal happiness and the right thing to do. More than that, though, it also brought The Flash’s central theme into focus – that we can find love out of loss and the friends we make can be just as important as our blood relations. Barry’s eventual decision was, of course, completely negated when he destroyed the current timeline at the end of season 2, but it doesn’t make this episode any less poignant. 2) The Runaway Dinosaur (Season 2, Episode 21) Fans were excited when Kevin Smith was announced to direct an episode of The Flash’s second season. A man who knows the DC universe inside out, he was surely going to offer up something great. Naturally, "The Runaway Dinosaur" turned out to be the best episode of the season. Also written by X-Men: First Class’s Zack Stentz, the episode is important in the lore of the show as it properly introduced the idea of the Speed Force, which makes Barry go on a spiritual journey to reclaim his powers. It’s also a hugely emotional episode, as Barry says goodbye to his mother and seemingly puts her death behind him at last (yeah, right!). It is also Iris’s best outing, with Candice Patton being bumped up into the hero position with Barry occupied elsewhere. The pressure is now on for Smith’s next episode – he's returning for season three – to match this one. 1) Out Of Time (Season 1, Episode 15) You could name any of these as The Flash’s best ever episode but, on this occasion, we're going to plump for season 1’s "Out of Time," which featured a bevy of finale-worthy revelations and then topped it off with the reveal that the Flash can time travel. There are just so many shocks on show here. Barry admits his love for Iris and tells her that he’s the Flash. Harrison Wells reveals to Cisco that he is the Reverse-Flash and then kills him, breaking the heart of every Flash fan simultaneously. Of course, the following episode sees these events erased, but "Out of Time" itself remains a hugely entertaining and thrilling episode that managed to pull the rug from underneath us several times. Ultimately, that’s what we want from The Flash - a blend of comic book scenarios, surprises and heart. Season three, the ball's in your court.