“Life Source”

“Life Source” just continues the bad trends that have been coming about all season long on Flash Gordon. The main offenders: Rift Event of the Week and bad cliche.

The rift of the week has become so common place that we don’t even get the alarm in Zarkov’s lab to show us this week. Instead we open with the crew already exploring an area where a rift was found. This time it happens to be within the garage of a house for sale within a gated community.

After some more Baylin-out-of-place-on-Earth humor that just NEVER gets old (*note sarcasm…but I will give her credit. She makes the most out of what she’s given, it’s just redundant), the crew can’t find anything so they disperse.

When Flash goes to a bar to pick up some food, the bartended attempts to use Flash’s marathon fame as a method to score some women. A jealous young guy tries to fight Flash, but Flash disperses of him quicker than the epsiode lost my interest. He is soon met by a very hot young woman with certainly ulterior motives.

After a report of someone who sounds like they are in a Patriot uniform our crew finds a dead Patriot in someone’s backyard. Baylin smells the Patriot’s feet. Yes seriously. And she knows that someone dangerous is on Earth. Near the Patriot is a destroyed rift blaster. So they assume the person doesn’t want to return home.

They bring the corpse home, just as coincidentally enough Joe arrives to question Flash as the last person who was seen with the young fighter in the bar, Keith, who has now gone missing. Rather than let Joe find the corpse of the Patriot, Flash antagonizes Joe to the point of him being arrested, where he remains until Dale gives him an alibi.

Of course this causes consternation between Joe and Dale and yada yada yada soap opera nonsense. It seems ridiculous at this point that Dale hasn’t told Joe who goes to a bar..the same bar as Keith went missing, to vent his problems

Baylin tracks the scent from the Patriot’s foot to Keith’s car. While Dale goes to report on Keith being missing an old man comes into the news room claiming to be Keith.

As Flash and Dale question Keith’s teammates on the track team, they find out Keith’s best friend has also gone missing. He also arrives in the locker room, an old codger. They realize that it must be the bar, and they go to find Joe being soulsucked by the beautiful young woman…obviously the alien from Mongo.

Joe has begun aging quite a bit and Dale takes care of him while Flash and Baylin go after the woman. Another Patriot comes through and tries to take her back to Mongo, but Flash forces her to return the Life Force to Joe or else he’ll destroy her ring which seems to be the source of her power.

Of course for no reason Joe has no recollection of anything…how convenient.

We return to Mongo where Ming takes the young woman and takes all of the Life Forces she has taken including her own. She withers and crumbles to dust and Ming orders Rankol to find another of her talents within the Banelands.

This showcases what is missing from Flash. Flash doesn’t belong on Earth! Flash is all about being a stranger on Mongo. The whole series should take place on Mongo. All the Earth sequences are forced, boring, and simply not effective. And as much of the show takes place on Earth…well you can figure the rest out yourself.

D+

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