"Godspeed" | |
---|---|
The Flash episode | |
Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 18 |
Directed by | Danielle Panabaker |
Written by |
|
Production code | T27.13768 |
Original air date | April 16, 2019 |
Guest appearance(s) | |
"Godspeed" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of the American television series The Flash , based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a crime scene investigator who gains super-human speed, which he uses to fight criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of Arrow . The episode was written by Judalina Neira and Kelly Wheeler, and is the directorial debut of Danielle Panabaker.
The fifth season of the American television series The Flash, which is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, premiered on The CW on October 9, 2018, and concluded on May 14, 2019, with a total of 22 episodes. The season follows Barry, a crime scene investigator with superhuman speed who fights criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities, as he deals with the consequences of his future daughter's time traveling. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of Arrow. The season was produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Entertainment, with Todd Helbing serving as showrunner.
The Flash is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns, airing on The CW. It is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds. It is a spin-off from Arrow, existing in the same fictional universe. The series follows Barry Allen, portrayed by Grant Gustin, a crime scene investigator who gains super-human speed, which he uses to fight criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities.
DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. since 1967. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, and produces material featuring numerous culturally iconic heroic characters including: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Shazam, Martian Manhunter, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Cyborg, Batgirl and Supergirl.
Grant Gustin stars as Barry, and is joined by principal cast members Candice Patton, Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Hartley Sawyer, Danielle Nicolet, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Tom Cavanagh, and Jesse L. Martin. The episode focuses on the aftermath of Nora West-Allen's partnership with Eobard Thawne being exposed to Team Flash, and flashbacks showing how the two initially met. BD Wong voices the title character in a guest role.
Thomas Grant Gustin is an American actor and singer. He is known for his role as Barry Allen / The Flash on the CW series The Flash as part of the Arrowverse television franchise, and for his role as Sebastian Smythe on the Fox series Glee.
Barry Allen, also known by his alter-ego The Flash, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, first introduced in the 2013 episode "The Scientist" of the television series Arrow, and later starring in The Flash. The character is based on the DC Comics character of the same name, created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino and was adapted for television in 2013 by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns. Barry Allen has been continually portrayed by Grant Gustin, with Logan Williams and Liam Hughes portraying younger versions.
Candice Kristina Patton is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Iris West in The CW television series The Flash and her recurring role in the BET television series The Game.
"Godspeed" originally aired on The CW on April 16, 2019, and was watched by a total of 1.31 million viewers. The episode received positive reviews from critics, although some criticized the treatment of the title character as a "one-off" villain.
The CW Television Network is an American English-language free-to-air television network that is operated by The CW Network, LLC, a limited liability joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network (UPN); and AT&T, whose WarnerMedia subsidiary is the parent company of Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB. The network's name is an abbreviation derived from the first letters of the names of its two parent corporations.
"Villain of the week" is an antagonist that only appears on one episode of a work of fiction. A villain of the week is commonly seen in American and Japanese genre-based television series. As many shows of this type air episodes weekly at a rate of ten to twenty new episodes per year, there is often a new antagonist in the plot of each week's episode. The main characters usually confront and vanquish these characters, often leaving them never to be seen again. Some series alternate between using such antagonists and furthering the series' ongoing plotlines, while others use these one-time foes as pawns of the recurring adversaries. On other occasions, these villains return reformed, becoming invaluable allies or gaining a larger role in the story. The American action drama Burn Notice focuses on short-lived antagonists, but the final portion of every episode is committed to developing a larger story arc. The British sci-fi programme Torchwood used this format in its first two series, before switching to a continuous story format.
In flashforwards to 2049, Nora West-Allen is a forensics scientist working with her best friend and colleague Lia. Together, they discover a mysterious speedster—whom Lia dubs Godspeed—is stealing chemicals from laboratories. While investigating a potential target, the villainous speedster hits Nora with lightning, exposing her speedster abilities. Initially believing Godspeed was responsible for her powers, Lia finds traces of a power dampening chip, revealing Nora was a speedster since birth and that it was implanted by her mother Iris West, which later causes an argument between them. Later, Nora and Lia discover Godspeed's next target is Stagg Industries. Nora tries to fight Godspeed on even footing, but her inexperience with her powers allows Godspeed to steal what he needed and kill Lia in the process. Upon further investigation, Nora learns Godspeed is August Heart, a former intern from Mercury Labs, and that he is stealing chemicals to create an everlasting version of Velocity 9, a drug that was previously used by speedsters Zoom and Trajectory to give them more speed. Nora realizes the only person who can help her is Eobard Thawne, who is incarcerated at Iron Heights. Thawne initially refuses to help Nora, but she eventually manages to convince him; allowing her to defeat Godspeed and avenge Lia. Nora celebrates her first victory with Thawne, who tells her to find the Time Vault to learn her father's true secret. At the vault, she discovers that her father Barry Allen was the Flash and Barry's final message to her before his assumed death.
A speedster is a character whose powers primarily relate to superhuman speed. Primary abilities shared by all speedsters include running at speeds far in excess of human capability and resistance to the side effects that result from such velocity. In almost all cases, speedsters are able to physically attack opponents by striking them while at high speed to impart huge amounts of kinetic energy without suffering harm. A variety of other powers have been attributed to speedsters depending on the story, the origin of the power, and the established continuity and rules of a given universe.
Iron Heights Penitentiary is a fictional setting in the DC Comics Universe, a maximum-security prison which houses the many Flash rogues and superhuman criminals of Keystone City and Central City when captured. Iron Heights first appeared in Flash: Iron Heights (2001).
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1. Nicknamed the "Scarlet Speedster", all incarnations of the Flash possess "super speed", which includes the ability to run, move, and think extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes, and seemingly violate certain laws of physics.
In the present, Team Flash has been reading Nora's journal. After realizing Lia was murdered, Iris releases Nora from the cell she was imprisoned in by Barry after her partnership with Thawne was exposed, allowing her to tell her side of the story and give her a second chance. Barry however, takes Nora back to 2049 without consulting his team and orders her to never return to the present. He then confronts Thawne, who is awaiting execution for his crimes.
In July 2018, it was announced that Danielle Panabaker, who plays Caitlin Snow on The Flash , would be making her directorial debut with an episode of the fifth season. [1] That was later revealed to be "Godspeed", the season's eighteenth episode. It was written by Judalina Neira and Kelly Wheeler. [2] To learn the basics of directing, Panabaker attended a course at the Warner Bros Television Directors' Workshop. [3]
Danielle Nicole Panabaker is an American actress. She began acting as a teenager and came to prominence for her roles in the Disney films Stuck in the Suburbs (2004), Sky High (2005) and Read It and Weep (2006), the latter alongside her younger sister Kay Panabaker, and in the HBO miniseries Empire Falls (2005). She won three Young Artist Awards: for guest-starring in an episode of the legal drama television series The Guardian (2004), for her lead role in the TV film Searching for David's Heart (2005) and for her ensemble performance in the family comedy film Yours, Mine & Ours (2005).
Main cast members Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, [2] Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Hartley Sawyer, Danielle Nicolet, [4] Jessica Parker Kennedy, [2] Tom Cavanagh, [5] and Jesse L. Martin [4] appear in the episode as Barry Allen / Flash, Iris West, Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, Ralph Dibny, Cecile Horton, Nora West-Allen, Sherloque Wells and Joe West, respectively. Cavanagh also portrays Eobard Thawne. [2]
Carlos David Valdes is a Colombian-American actor and singer who holds dual United States and Colombian nationality. He is best-known for his role as Cisco Ramon / Vibe on The CW television series The Flash and other Arrowverse-related shows.
Hartley Sawyer is an American actor, producer and writer. He is known for his roles as Kyle Abbott on the CBS Daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless and Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man on The CW series The Flash.
Danielle Nicolet is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Jenna in Born Again Virgin and Cecile Horton in The Flash.
The guest cast includes Kathryn Gallagher as Nora's colleague Lia, [6] and BD Wong as the voice of the titular villain Godspeed. [7] Kindall Charters portrays August Heart, the character's civilian form. [8]
Filming for the episode began on February 12, 2019, [9] and ended by February 26. [10]
"Godspeed" first aired in the United States on The CW on April 16, 2019. [2]
In the United States, the episode received a 0.5/2 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 0.5 percent of all households, and 2 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was watched by a total of 1.31 million viewers. [11]
The episode attracted a total of 517,600 viewers within seven-days of its British premiere, making it the 5th most watched programme on Sky One for the week. [12]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating for the episode, based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The West-Allen family faces a shocking development in "Godspeed," an episode that reaches new emotional heights under the thoughtful direction of cast member Danielle Panabaker." [13]
Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the episode 7.6 out of 10. He reacted negatively to the onscreen treatment of Godspeed, saying that the episode underused its title character and turned him into a "throwaway, one-off villain", whereas he is much more three-dimensional in the comics. Despite this criticism, Schedeen enjoyed the main storyline involving Nora, as well as her interactions with Thawne, and felt the episode captured the essence of the show's first season, being "fun and simpl[e]". [8] Mike Cecchini of Den of Geek too did not like the treatment of Godspeed as a "one-off" villain but said, "This was an excellent hour of The Flash, and one that I really hope is enough to shake the show completely out of the rather safe rut it has been in for much of the season." He was particularly appreciative of the performances of Gustin as Barry, and Cavanagh as both Thawne and Sherloque. [5]
Reverse-Flash is a name used by several fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Each iteration of the character serves as a foil and an enemy of the Flash.
Hunter Zolomon, otherwise known as Zoom, is a fictional supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The second character to assume the Reverse-Flash mantle, he serves as the archenemy of Wally West. After the DC Rebirth events, Zolomon later serves as an adversary to West's mentor and predecessor Barry Allen.
Flashpoint is a 2011 comic book crossover story arc published by DC Comics. Consisting of an eponymous core limited series and a number of tie-in titles, the storyline premiered in May 2011. The core miniseries was written by Geoff Johns and pencilled by Andy Kubert. In its end, the series radically changes the status quo for the DC Universe, leading into the publisher's 2011 relaunch, the New 52.
Eobard Thawne, otherwise known as Professor Zoom and the Reverse-Flash, is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, he made his debut in The Flash #139. The most well-known character to assume the "Reverse-Flash" mantle, Thawne is the archenemy of Barry Allen, a descendant of Malcolm Thawne, and a maternal forefather of Bart Allen, Thaddeus Thawne, and Owen Mercer. He has been established as one of the fastest speedsters in the DC Universe.
Godspeed is a supervillain, and later an antihero, appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.
The first season of the American television series The Flash premiered on The CW on October 7, 2014, and concluded on May 19, 2015, after airing 23 episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds. It is a spin-off from Arrow, existing in the same fictional universe, and was produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Entertainment, with Andrew Kreisberg serving as showrunner.
The second season of the American television series The Flash, which is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, sees Barry recognized as a hero in Central City after saving the city, only to face a new threat from a parallel universe in the form of the speedster Zoom, who seeks to eliminate everyone connected to the Speed Force throughout the multiverse. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of Arrow. The season was produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Entertainment, with Andrew Kreisberg, Gabrielle Stanton, Aaron Helbing, and Todd Helbing serving as showrunners.
"Killer Frost" is the seventh episode of the third season of The CW television series The Flash. The episode was written by Andrew Kreisberg and Brooke Roberts, with a story by Judalina Neira and directed by Kevin Smith. It was first broadcast on November 22, 2016 on The CW. The show is itself a spin-off of the show Arrow, where many characters in the series were introduced during the second season. The episode revolves around Caitlin Snow slowly losing control of her Killer Frost persona after using her powers to save Barry from Savitar. In an attempt to get rid of her powers, Killer Frost kidnaps Julian to help her find Savitar and is forced to battle both Barry and Cisco.
"Gorilla City" is a two-part story arc across the thirteenth and fourteenth episodes of the third season of the American television series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash. A costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds, Barry is a crime-scene investigator who gains superhuman speed which he uses to fight criminals, including others who also have superhuman abilities. The series is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of Arrow. The storyline began on February 21, 2017 with "Attack on Gorilla City", and concluded on February 28 with "Attack on Central City". The first episode was written by Aaron Helbing and David Kob from a story by Andrew Kreisberg, and the second episode was written by Benjamin Raab and Deric A. Hughes from a story by Todd Helbing. Both episodes were directed by Dermott Daniel Downs.
"Duet" is the seventeenth episode of the third season of The CW television series The Flash, which aired on March 21, 2017. The episode was written by Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing from a story by Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, and was directed by Dermott Daniel Downs. The episode features a musical crossover with Supergirl and reunites Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist with their former Glee co-star Darren Criss, who portrays the Music Meister. Jesse L. Martin also reunites with Jeremy Jordan, with whom he previously worked in the 2012 musical film Joyful Noise. The story begins at the end of the Supergirl episode "Star-Crossed", which aired on March 20, 2017, which saw Kara Danvers / Supergirl (Benoist) hypnotized into a coma by Music Meister, with Mon-El and J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter bringing her to Earth-1 in hope that Team Flash can save her.
Harrison Wells is the name of several fictional characters portrayed by Tom Cavanagh in the CW's television series The Flash. The character, created by Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, is an original creation for the series and is not based on any existing character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. Most versions are scientists from parallel universes, each being the founder and director of S.T.A.R. Labs on their respective Earths. In the comics, the founder of S.T.A.R. Labs is Garrison Slate.
The Flash is an American superhero comic book written by Joshua Williamson and published twice-monthly by DC Comics. The title follows the adventure of Barry Allen as the superhero the Flash in Central City. The title is part of DC's Rebirth relaunch, following the end of the New 52 initiative established following the Flashpoint storyline in 2011, and started publication in August 2016.
Joe West is a fictional character portrayed by Jesse L. Martin in the CW television series The Flash. Created by Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, the character was introduced in the pilot episode. He is the foster father of protagonist Barry Allen / Flash, father of Iris West, Wally West, and Jenna West, and future maternal grandfather of Nora West-Allen. Joe works at the Central City Police Department initially as a detective, heading its metahuman task force, and later as the captain, aiding Barry in keeping Central City safe from superpowered and dangerous criminals. Martin has also reprised the role of Joe in the television series Supergirl, which is part of the Arrowverse franchise along with The Flash.
"What's Past Is Prologue" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of the American television series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a crime scene investigator who gains super-human speed, which he uses to fight criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of Arrow. The episode was written by Todd Helbing and Lauren Certo, directed by Tom Cavanagh, and is the series' 100th episode.
"Welcome to Earth-2" is the thirteenth episode, and first part of a two-part story arc, of the second season of the American television series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a crime scene investigator who gains super-human speed, which he uses to fight criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of Arrow. The episode was written by Katherine Walczak from a story by Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, and directed by Millicent Shelton.
The sixth season of the American television series The Flash, which is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, is set to premiere on The CW on October 8, 2019, and consist of 22 episodes. The season follows Barry, a crime scene investigator with superhuman speed who fights criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of Arrow. The season is produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Entertainment, with Eric Wallace serving as showrunner.