'The Flash' Season 6 Episode 1 review: 'Into the Void' kickstarts proceedings with Barry's new suit, Bloodwork's origin and the 'Crisis'
Contains spoilers for ‘The Flash’ Season 6 Episode 1: ‘Into the Void’
‘Into the Void' doesn’t waste time. It’s quick, it’s pacy and sets up the ‘Crisis’. The opener of Season 6 answers the specifics quite early on so that viewers can prep for a pre and post-‘Crisis’ storyline. We have jotted down the talking points from the season opener and broken it down in detail.
What is Team Flash upto?
It had been an eventful season 5 for Barry Allen aka The Flash (Grant Gustin) after he and Iris (Candice Patton) lost their daughter Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy). Their teen daughter from the future is erased by the creation of a new timeline and the couple are still in mourning. Four months have passed since the fateful night and the team is slowly limping back to normal.
Barry is currently in pursuit of unmasking the real Godspeed after the evil speedster somehow managed to make his way to the past to find duplicates and turn them into speedsters. According to in-house tech genius Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), the "Godspeed" Barry managed to pin down is the fourth person assuming the identity of the speedster.
Who is the meta of the episode?
Technically no one. The trailer showed a brief voiceover and an appearance by Chester P. Runk - and the geek vlogger manages to build a black hole using parts rummaged from a dumpster yard.
The black hole takes over his mind and comes to life in different parts of the city— places that hold emotional value to Runk. In order to stop it from absorbing the city, the only way is to separate his consciousness from the black hole. For Barry, this means using his lightning as a positive charge that would help pull Runk's consciousness which is infected with negative charges. He makes use of Nora's gauntlet that contains the filament capable of helping Barry get out safely from the black hole and keep Runk's consciousness intact. Cisco threads it to Barry's suit and with the new upgrade, the Scarlet Speedster runs into the black hole and accomplishes the mission.
Barry and Killer Frost's new suits
The suit inspired from the New 52 company-wide comic is a treat - with the yellow seams running from the belt all the way up to the chest and the shoulders. The suit is seen when Barry is stopping Chester’s black hole from usurping the city. The heartening part that would please Flash's fans is when Queen's 'The Flash' theme plays in the background as Barry pulls off the mission without breaking into a sweat.
While Barry is dealing with the black hole, Caitlin Snow aka Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker) helps people get to safety on the ground with Hartley Sawyer's Ralph Dibny aka The Elongated Man. She dons the new suit gifted to her by Cisco.
Bloodwork is born
Sendhil Ramamurthy's Dr. Ramsey makes an appearance in 'Into the Void' and is introduced mourning his dead mother. While his eulogy speaks of her as a woman who instilled a never-give-up attitude, Ramsey blames her for being timid and accepting death after being diagnosed with HLH Cancer. To cure the disease, he calls in his longtime colleague Caitlin to help obtain some dark matter as it would kill the cancer. When Snow declines, he manages to get hold of the dark matter gun and injects the serum from it. While he sees an immediate effect, his hand begins to transform and the scene fades to black.
The Monitor appears
The series sets up the 'Crisis' from episode 1 with The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) making an appearance in the time vault in the final few minutes of the episode. He tells a shocked Barry that he must die in order to save the world as a grave threat is coming their way. When Iris counters him that Barry's vanishing encounter is still five years away, The Monitor clarifies saying the date has shifted to December 10, 2019.
What are the unanswered questions from 'Into the Void'?
1. Where is the real Godspeed?
2. When is the new Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) making his way to Earth-1?
3. How does Dr. Ramsey join Team Flash?
Review
It has been a great start to a season that was expected to be grim and gritty. From all the promos and trailers, things looked pretty bleak for Barry, but the series kicks off on a brisk note. It talks about most things that needed answering since the trailer first hit the small screens. Bloodwork's introduction and 'Crisis' were the most-awaited, and 'Into the Void' establishes the two plot points. It is safe to assume the 'Crisis' will be a key plotline in each episode until the epic multiverse-shattering event.
'The Flash' has been one of those shows that fans have waited eagerly for and the episode does justice to their anticipation. It may not have the traditional meta coming in, but in Runk's black hole, it finds the perfect opportunity to test Barry's new suit. The CW show pays tribute to the Flash Gordon theme and firmly established him as the "Saviour of the Universe."
'The Flash' airs Tuesdays 8 pm Tuesdays on The CW.