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The Flash has really shaken things up in Season 6, with the show being divided into pre-Crisis and post-Crisis halves and focusing on two major villains. That approach has benefited the series in some ways. It’s effectively forced the writers to adopt a faster and more economical storytelling pace. On the other hand, it’s also resulted in some very crowded episodes, with multiple storylines bumping into each other in the race to the finish. “The Exorcism of Nash Wells” initially seems like the clearest case yet of Season 6 trying to cover too much ground at once. But in the end, this episode manages to balance a number of moving pieces, bringing one thread to a natural conclusion while teeing up big things elsewhere in Central City.
The concern coming into this episode is that, as much as Reverse-Flash is always a welcome presence in the Arrowverse, the last thing The Flash really needs right now is another rematch with Barry’s oldest nemesis. That’s why it’s such a relief to see Thawne’s return more or less fully handled within this episode. There’s no way the series can really do justice to Thawne while furthering its parallel Mirror Master and Balck Hole story threads. Rather than treat him as a lingering threat on the show, this episode uses him as a one-and-done antagonist aimed at furthering Nash and Barry’s respective emotional arcs. Sure, the door is left wide open for Thawne to return again, but that’s a seed for a future season to explore.
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In both respects, Thawne is used well here. It’s a lot of fun watching Tom Cavanagh play hero and villain and remind us just how unique each incarnations of Harrison Wells has been. The brief flashbacks to his past with his daughter Maya also help add a bit more depth to Nash. While the “Wells pines after his estranged daughter” thing still feels a bit too redundant, at least we have more context for the Nash/Maya/Allegra relationship and a better sense of what differentiates this struggle from that of Harry Wells and Jessie Quick. And the notion that all previous Wells now live on in Nash is a welcome development. It allows these other characters to live on in some form. At this point, it seems very likely the series will stick with Nash going forward rather than continue to cycle through new Wellses, but we’ll see.
Barry’s struggle this week also works well despite touching on some pretty familiar beats. No, this is hardly the first time he’s dealt with the prospect of losing his speed. But tying that struggle into the return of Thawne and the still gaping wound that is losing Nora helps keep this particular conflict fresh. It’s refreshing to see Barry get in touch with his inner scientist and defeat a meta villain solely through the power of prep time. Grant Gustin really shines in this episode whenever Barry confronts Thawne, particularly at the end when he finally moves on and refuses to let the tragedy of Nora haunt him any longer. As flawed as Season 5 was, this feels like a fitting and necessary coda.
I do wish this episode had done more with Frost and her attempt to step up and fill Barry’s shoes. It feels like more attention should have been paid to the conflict between Caitlin and Barry over his unwillingness to sit back and trust her abilities. That’s to say nothing of the consequences of Barry hiding a spare dose of Velocity-X in STAR Labs. The past few years have trained me never to expect much from Caitlin’s storylines, but it’s still disappointing when she isn’t put to better use.
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Even with Thawne hogging much of the spotlight this week, this episode does find a little room to further the Mirror Master/Black Hole threads. We see Mirror-Kamilla recruited as another pawn in Eva’s mysterious plans. Hopefully it won’t be much longer before the series pivots and Barry and Cisco start to catch on that things aren’t right with their respective significant others. This episode does raise some new questions about the nature of these mirror doppelgangers. Iris delivers exactly the heartfelt speech Barry needs to hear right when he needs to hear it. Is she simply doing what needs to be done to carry out her mission, or does this version of Iris feel love for Barry in her own way?
As for new villain Sunshine (Natalie Sharp), she’s cut from the exact same cloth as the show’s other Black Hole assassins. There’s not much to the character beyond the fancy costume and powers, and it’s just as well she’s taken off the board relatively early on. Sunshine serves her purpose here, but it would be nice to see a little more emphasis on Black Hole’s leaders rather than these interchangeable enforcers.
