User blog comment:Thailog/Ep. 206 "Bloodlines" discussion/@comment-53987-20120602203058

A bit of a lengthy review:

First off, the A plot: Bart Allen. On my first watching of the ep, he was annoying and actually kinda cringe-worthy for how far ahead his mouth was running. And there were all of these inconsistencies popping in, like why is he "not thinking fast enough" when he and Flash can have a super-speed conversation so fast that Wally can't keep up? Then we hit the ending. Complete demeanor change, and a mention of "having to get into character."

Rewatching the ep gives a completely different experience--Barry is so hyperactive and correcting himself because he's trying to drop hints in a constructive way... while being so emotionally overwhelmed because he's meeting many of these people for the first time--like when he asks if Flash "says that alot" and everyone sighs; he doesn't know that because he never *met* the Flash. In his timeline the Flash *died* on February 28, 2016, fighting Neutron, leaving a widow behind, pregnant with Bart's father. He's hugging people so enthusiastically because they're *ALIVE*, and is trying to cover it up with a hyperactive persona, but if you look closely, his mind's working at top speed trying to keep up that false front, and doesn't always succeed--like at points such as the phone call from Iris's boss. Think about it--a kid that has a reaction time speed measured in billionths of a second is so emotionally overwhelmed when the phone call announcing his grandfather's possible death that he forgets his cover persona for a moment. But that's not surprising; this is the day his grandmother found out that she was pregnant with his father and aunt, and the day that his grandfather *died*. That kind of thing leaves emotional scars that get passed down through generations.

As for "poor history student," pull the other one, it's got bells on it. Bart's acting a role as a goofball so he can manipulate history as best he can; except when he's emotionally off-kilter, like at the Allen house, everything he says was considered before it left his mouth. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a microcomputer stuffed with history texts somewhere in his suit, but at the very least, he's definitely a serious history student for the 2010s.

Also, depending on how Greg decides to run temporal mechanics, either Bart failed, because nothing really changed in the future (because, from the perspective of that future, all of his actions were in the past) or they will continue to change as "time" progresses from our outside viewpoint. Either way... unless Bart comes clean, his little nudges will probably have little effect. The fact that Future!Neutron didn't remember what happened in the new timeline puzzles me, though.

Now, as for the B-plot, Red Arrow and Cheshire and baby Lian; well, first, she's teething, so she's at least 3 months old, but probably closer to 6 or 7 months. Her enjoyment of her parents beating goons to a pulp is either disturbing or heartening, depending on your point of view. Personally, I find it funny.

I do agree with Roy, though--this was far too easy. There's a catch somewhere. And given the Light's history, I'm betting that Speedy's a new trojan horse.