“Random Access”

For a show that has been mediocre at best, I have to give credit where credit is due. It is difficult to take what essentially is a clip show of the season thus far, and move a story forward in new and interesting ways.

Although it could be argued, why a clip show 11 episodes in? Are Flash fans have THAT short attention span? Impossible or they would have given up on this show a long long time ago.

We open with the fears of Rankol and Zarkov coming true. The barriers between Earth and Mongo are weakening and now rifts are opening without warning. Alien creatures are popping on Earth and likewise human artifacts…like bagpipes are finding their way to Mongo. Huh? Creatures I could see falling into a rift…but did a bagpipe decide to pipe on through? But eh.

Of course Flash and Dale have to investigate and their trail leads to a sleazy motel where it seems a 2-person party was interrupted. Of course Joe investigates a call of violence heard from the motel and happens on Flash holding a bottle of wine and two glasses while Dale holds up lingerie.

And yet they still don’t tell Joe about the real reason they have been spending so much time together. I can understand the need for secrecy, but this is a little much at this point. Especially given that they are engaged to be married.

Flash tries to talk his way out of it but Joe won’t have it rushing Flash and right into a rift. Flash and Joe wind up on Mongo and the secret is out of the bag anyways. And thus the clips start. One thing about the episode…I said it was good for a clips show, but it still is a clips show. That means at least half the show is old footage already seen before.

But it serves it’s purpose to catch Joe up to everything he missed right in front of him…and in the case of Lilian right to him.

Joe tries to storm off but they both are captured by a source-water miner named Strake. They are forced to mine, but it keeps Flash and Joe together even as they find a Dactyl who knows Flash and how he helped Vultan find his son.

Meanwhile on Earth, a Deviate has come through the rift and shew as pregnant. Dale and Baylin have to help it give birth while fending off the sleazy motel manager.

I admit that for the most part this part of the story was there just to give them something to do while they waited for Flash and Joe to patch things up at least partially.

They do by bonding over escape. Flash puts on Joe’s kevlar vest and gets Strake to hit him with his pain stick. When he is confused, Flash turns the weapon on Strake and allows them to escape and go back to the rift zone. Strake is able to follow them back, but Joe takes his recovered revolver and shoot Strake through a rift…so he ends up in the motel with Baylin, Dale and the pregnant Deviate.

But don’t piss off a pregnant woman or Deviate. She rises and snaps Strake’s neck.

Flash and Joe find a rift and make their way back to Earth where Joe is upset that Dale had kept him in the dark…a good ending. I expected him to smile and nod and be happy with Dale again. But he didn’t let it go so quickly.

Overall it was a clip episode and by their very nature they rarely even achieve mediocrity. But as I said in the beginning it was a skillful use of a clip episode.

C

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