The Flash, S2 Ep04 – The Fury of Firestorm

As Dr. Stein’s Firestorm-related condition worsens, Team Flash must find a suitable candidate to replace Ronnie. When two potential candidates arise in the form of scientist Henry Hewitt (Demore Barnes) and former high school football player Jefferson “Jax” Jackson (Franz Drameh), Team Flash may have a shot at improving Dr. Stein’s condition. Although, everything doesn’t turn out exactly as planned. The appropriately titled “The Fury of Firestorm” aims to give us a new origin to the Firestorm we’ll eventually see on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, as well as to continue the family drama going on with Iris and her mother.

Dr. Stein needs a new partner

In the beginning of the episode Caitlyn and Cisco find the two potential candidates to share the Firestorm matrix with Dr. Stein. Given what we’ve seen in promos and online pics, we all knew Franz Drameh’s Jax Jackson would be the one to take up the mantle. “The Fury of Firestorm” still puts us through the motions, though, as both candidates are tested.

The first candidate is Henry Hewitt, a character portrayed a bit differently in the comics. In Caitlyn’s eyes he seems like a good match because of his scientific expertise, but he lacks the physical attributes of Jax. Unfortunately for Henry the convergence between him and Stein doesn’t work out, but does secretly leave a little power in him to wreak havoc later on. This disappointment upsets Henry immensely and he decides to use whatever power he does have for taking out his frustrations on Team Flash.

When we are first introduced to Jax he is a high school football player with a high chance of going to college on a football scholarship. Although, when the particle accelerator explosion occurred 2 years ago, the blast struck Jax after a big game. We learn a lot about the character in those brief seconds, as he is someone who aspires to be more and has a heroic side, since he helps a fallen student make his way off the football field away from the blast. The blast ruined any chance of Jax playing football again, and he now works as an auto mechanic in the present day.

Caitlyn has some pivotal moments in “The Fury of Firestorm,” as she has to accept that Jax is a strong fit for the role of Stein’s new partner. She was so convinced Hewitt was right for the job because of his scientific background, but ignored the physical side of Jax. What made Stein and Ronnie merge so well was the fact that Ronnie was physically fit, while Stein supplied the genius expertise. I guess opposites attract.

Nearing the conclusion of the episode, Caitlyn convinces Jax to take on the power of the Firestorm matrix, apologizing for calling him out before on what seemed to be a lack of aspiration. Jax accepts and successfully merges with Stein to bring us a new Firestorm. What follows is a not-so-epic battle between Henry Hewitt and Firestorm and The Flash. They successfully take him down after making him angry, in a sense. Afterwards, much like an episode from season one, Dr. Stein and his new partner leave Central City to train and hone their Firestorm abilities with a colleague in another city. Goodbye for now, Firestorm. We’ll be seeing you again in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Of course, “The Fury of Firestorm” wasn’t all about Firestorm. The subplot of this week’s episode focused on Iris West as she meets her thought-to-be-deceased mother. Iris doesn’t welcome her mother back with open arms, which I liked. Even when her mother reveals she’s dying of MacGregor’s syndrome, Iris still doesn’t accept her mother and decides to investigate her instead. She finds out that her mother had a son not long after she abandoned her and Joe, and failed to mention him. This means Iris has a brother, and DC Comics fans know this can lead to the reveal of Wally West, who in the comics is the nephew of Iris. It looks like this seemingly irrelevant Iris subplot has something to do with the overall story of The Flash after all.

All Hail the King… Shark

The best part of “The Fury of Firestorm” would be the final scene, which gave us two surprises. First, the inclusion of DC Comics villain King Shark rendered with some impressive CGI for television and looking pretty comic book accurate. I mean, just look at him!

The second surprise was the reveal of Earth-2 Harrison Wells as he blasts King Shark with a weapon he stole from Mercury Labs earlier in the episode. The episode concludes with Wells revealing himself to Barry and Barry looking appropriately dumbfounded. I’m looking forward to seeing what dynamic Earth-2 Wells will bring to Team Flash in next week’s episode.

“The Fury of Firestorm” was a great episode and one of the better ones this season. The final battle with Henry Hewitt was a bit lackluster, but we at least received a decent introduction to the new Firestorm. With all that we know, it’s safe to say Jax will be a suitable replacement for Ronnie. “The Fury of Firestorm” featured some compelling character moments with Caitlyn and Iris, and also built on the chemistry between Barry and Patty Spivot. I just really hope that wasn’t the last we saw of King Shark. He looked awesome.

Next week, Earth-2 Harrison Wells aims to assist Team Flash with their Zoom-related problems as we find out Wells actually created him. Check out The CW’s official promo for “The Darkness and the Light” below, and feel free to let us know what you though of “The Fury of Firestorm” in the comments.