The Flash Season 4 Episode 1 "The Flash Reborn" Review

After a third season finale that left viewers with a lot of questions, The Flash has finally returned for its fourth season. The premiere does a great job at setting up the events for the fourth season, but it seems to end certain issues from last season too easily. SPOILER WARNING for people who have not watched the episode.

The show opens up with Wally and Cisco on a mission to stop a metahuman who is using teleportation. Instead of Cisco or Caitlin at the helm of the computer, Iris has now taken control of the tech part of team flash. This is a great opener for the show. It shows that Cisco and Wally have really become a lot more experienced with their powers and it is cool to see them in action again. It also is a quick and fun way to see what life has been like without Barry for the past few months.

At the end of last season, Barry had to go stay in the speed force in order to save the city from the wrath of the speed force. It is unclear whether he is dead or if he can come back. The team is trying to move on from Barry and continue with their lives, but it is clear that they miss him and still have hope that he can come back.

Later in the episode, the city is attacked by a robot samurai and the team has to try to stop the samurai. The samurai says that he wants to fight the real flash, and if he does not in 24 hours, he will wreak havoc on the city. Cisco tells the team that he has been working on a device that can bring Barry out of the speed force without angering the speed force. Everybody wants to try it, except for Iris. Iris is so focused on moving on from Barry that she doesn't even want to try to bring him back. I thought this seemed a little out of character for Iris. I understand that she wants to stay strong for Barry, but if there is anybody who would try anything to bring him back, it would be her.

Another question that people had at the end of last season was what would happen to Caitlin Snow and whether she would go back to normal or remain Killer Frost because the ending of last season was ambiguous about it. In this episode, Cisco recruits her to help him with his machine. She is now working at a bartender for some sketchy people. It is unclear who they are but I'm sure they will pop up later in the show.

She seems to finally have control over her Killer Frost side until the end of the episode. If she gets really angry, then she loses control over it and Killer Frost pops back up sort of like the Hulk. I think this is a very interesting idea and it could lead to some problems down the road that Team Flash might have to deal with it. However, she could turn out to be a helpful ally. There's many ways that this could go.

The big question that everyone was thinking was what happened to Barry Allen? Well, it turns out that Cisco's machine does work and Barry is returned to Earth, however, he is not the same. It seems that his brain has snapped and he is not the same person he used to be. The team thinks that they may never get the old Barry back. However, when Iris gets captured, something in Barry snaps and he is back to his normal self.

I was somewhat disappointed with how the show handled this situation. They could have taken a couple of episodes to show Barry's recovery while Team Flash continues to work without him. However, they solve it in less than a half hour and it just seemed a bit rushed. I also didn't like the way he was cured. It seemed a bit too easy and it definitely was not well explained. Although, it is always nice to see Barry and Iris's relationship again.

Overall, I think this is a good way to start the season. It sets up the events for future episodes, while clearing up problems of the past. It also showed who the villain is at the end of the episode. I don't know who it is but apparently it is not another speedster, which means that we will get to watch Barry take on an entirely different threat.

Rating: 7/10