‘The Flash’ season 2 and the continued Henry Allen mystery

We admit that we’ve enjoyed so much of the past two episodes of “The Flash” that we probably have not dolled up proper criticism on what may be the most inexplicable moment in the show’s history so far. Somehow, the series on The CW can make time-travel and superpowers make perfect sense, but they still struggle when it comes to having Henry Allen decided to leave Central City almost immediately after he was released from prison.

If we recall, Henry’s logic was somewhere along the lines of “you don’t need me, but I’ll be there if you ever do.” We suppose that after spending so many years locked up, there could be a desire to want to see the world. Yet, at the same time, why go through the emotional season 1 story all about rescuing him? We’ve thought of a number of reasons why the show chose to make this decision, but we ultimately have settled on fear. Sometimes you worry that introducing too many people can upset the balance, and maybe someone out there thought that if you had both Henry and Joe around as father figures for Barry, maybe it would offset elements of the show elsewhere.

Even the cast is still apparently trying to figure this one out. For example, take a look at what Jesse L. Martin had to say on the subject per TVLine after joking that he didn’t realize there was a “competition” to be Barry’s dad:

“I’m still grappling with the fact that the dude just left. I don’t get it. You’re finally free to have a relationship with your son, and he felt like he had to leave. I don’t know how much me, Jesse, understands that decision.”

The show’s producers have said that John Wesley Shipp will return and we believe them, but we also don’t understand why they couldn’t have just written the story in a way that Henry is still in Central City, but removed for the most part from STAR Labs and all of that. Maybe an explanation will come in due time.

For now, be sure to head over here if you do want to see a review for this past new episode! Also, you can sign up here to gather up some further TV news in a flash, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: The CW.)