TV Review: "News Flash" and "All Doll'd Up"

Yours Truly has been working on a number of writing projects, so sadly, Dibny Diaries took a back seat again. Also not helping is that Ralph hasn't appeared in any of the promo pics for these episodes, nor the next one, despite appearing in them. So, the banner is all we get this time and next week.

However, the show has been firing on all cylinders, and doing pretty good.

In "News Flash," Iris (Candice Patton) runs into a rival reporter who has a strange way of snagging scoops, posting her stories about them as they happen, beating Iris or anyone else to the punch of getting the news out first. How is she doing this? Is she a metahuman? Adding to Iris' tensions is Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) revealing that in the future, Iris kept Nora's powers deactivated with an implant for her early life.

Meanwhile, Sherloque (Tom Cavanagh) and Ralph (Hartley Sawyer) investigate the crime scene of Cicada's recent attack. Ralph turns up an important clue in discovering the identity of the enigmatic villain.

Last night in "All Doll'd Up," the villain Rag Doll (Troy James with Phil LaMarr as the voice) has been committing heists around Central City. Barry (Grant Gustin) is on the case. Meanwhile, Nora helps Cecile (Daniele Nicolet) with her baby in return for hearing unchronicled stories about Barry.

Meanwhile, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) begins to piece together the information she's discovered about her father while Cisco (Carlos Valdes) questions his importance as he discovers his powers have diminished.

Ralph suits up near the end of the episode and has his best moment of the season so far as he and Iris team up to rescue Barry from Rag Doll, Ralph traveling by using his arms to swing himself from building to building, ala Spider-Man, Iris clinging to him.

For being smaller and self-contained episodes, The Flash has been keeping on track, being a Tuesday night highlight. Keep up the great work, guys.

The CW also released a bonus scene online, hinting that a highly desired plot featuring the Rogues teaming up against the Flash rather than one on one challenges is indeed shaping up.

Viewers in the US may view "News Flash" and "All Doll'd Up" at no charge during a limited availability window on the CW website and app. With the current licensing agreement, the entire fifth season of The Flash will be available on Netflix in June, 2019. Digital versions of the episode may be purchased on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Google Play and other retailers of digital video content. Blu-Ray and DVD copies of the season are expected to be available for sale in or by September, 2019.

Non-US viewers should check their local listings, the websites of the channels that air The Flash, and digital video retailers