'The Flash' Season 6 Episode 6 review: 'License to Elongate' is funny, enjoyable and amidst all Bond tropes, this one's an eye-opener for Barry
This review contains spoilers for 'The Flash' Season 6 Episode 6: 'License to Elongate'
Bond tropes, side-splitting laughs, and some sentiment sum up Danielle Panabaker's second directorial episode and after all the grim and serious storyline that Season 6 has chalked up so far, 'License to Elongate' comes as a respite and an awfully funny one at that. Ralph Dibny (Hartley Sawyer) and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) made a terrific tag team and this episode is one of those perfect examples. Guess Panabaker is a huge Bond fan as the storyline is equal to watching a mini-Bond film complete with an evil villain, a January Galore, A weapon idea borrowed from 'Golden Eye' and of course, the martinis and a 'Goldfinger' line.
Not many would have expected this episode to go the way it did. If this was an episode meant to delve into Dibny's psyche, it does so perfectly and it's all very Dibny-ish. It also gives a glimpse of the Dibny's life as a PI, when he's not out there assisting the Scarlet Speedster in saving Central City. And amid all this is an important message that the Elongated Man teaches The Flash— "Barry is as important as the Flash". How's that for an eye-opener Mr Allen?
Barry joins Dibny on a mission to Midway City as they get a lead on the Sue Dearborn case and infiltrate a party that hosts the elite criminals there are. It is funny to see Barry completely out of his element here and Dibny calls the shots. They swap their superhero suits for the actual swanky ones and go undercover. Back in Central City, Harrison Nash Wells (Tom Cavanagh) meets with Allegra to help him out in unmasking the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) as a fraud. By the end of the episode, a twist comes in hinting the two are related.
Meanwhile, there is a parallel Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) - Chester P Runk storyline that also runs along the same lines of Barry-Dibny as it reminds them of their human sides. At the start of the episode, Barry and Joe West (Jesse L Martin) plan on announcing the Elongated Man as one of the saviors of the city. However, by the end, Dibny and Joe pull a fast one on Barry as they award him with a medal of honor. Not for being the Flash, but for being Central City's CSI where he's put in all the hard work. Again, a message about not having to wear a suit or have powers to be a superhero.
'License to Elongate' is a pleasant watch until Bloodwork (Dr Ramsey Rosso played by Sendhil Ramamurthy) shows up. He attacks Dibny in the end, leaving his fate uncertain. Panabaker has managed to explain multiple stories with the same theme seamlessly and that comes in as a huge plus. The Bond and Mortal Kombat tropes aren't overly used and the 007 mise-en-scene is a visual treat. Gustin delivers his funniest performance to date and credit to Carlo Rota ('24') as Remington Meister, who shapes up as the perfect villain that we see in Bond movies. Ultraviolet returns as his henchwoman and the Barry v UV scrimmage is a fun-watch.
By no means is the episode a filler. Or if it was meant to be, then it was a damn-good one.
'The Flash' airs Tuesdays 8 pm on The CW.