Spoilers The Flash - Season 3

[kirk55555]

Decent episode. I liked the set up for the rest of the season (Gorilla attack!), and I liked the stuff with HR and I liked Wally getting to show himself being a hero. I didn't like Barry being an ass to Wally, and overall Barry's attitude in the episode was annoying until the end. Overall, its a decent return from the break and I'm excited to see what happens next.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Her resemblance to Iris struck me, too...similar physical types. I'm calling that Dead Future Iris is her using H. R.'s face-altering tech.

"Barry, when is it supposed to happen?"
"Season finale, when else? I'd call Ollie to help us, but he'll be busy."

The little thing that annoyed me about Wally's moment in the spotlight is that he didn't bother to vibrate his face and/or alter his voice...which disagrees with the conceit that Barry needs to do it. Much like Ollie being the only one on Team Arrow who bothers to mask his voice.

Does Barry actually still do that? I can't honestly remember the last time we saw it. Maybe when he saved Julian from killing that kid?

Honestly, the only reason it ever made sense was because he was trying to hide his identity from people who knew him well, which isn't a problem anymore and probably never will be one for Wally.

 

[dahj]

Does Barry actually still do that? I can't honestly remember the last time we saw it.

They mostly did it when the Flash was in close proximity of people who know Barry.
But now that almost everybody who knows Barry knows he's the Flash there's rarely need for it.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Honestly, the only reason it ever made sense was because he was trying to hide his identity from people who knew him well, which isn't a problem anymore and probably never will be one for Wally.

It can be when there are cameras recording him.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

It can be when there are cameras recording him.

Only if we believe random bad guys will ever have reason or opportunity to digitally compare the Flash's voice to Barry Allen's. Which would be a very comic book storyline if they ever wanted to do it, but is far enough outside reasonable expectation in the real world that it's not really problematic if that technology doesn't exist in this world.

Meanwhile, Barry has a longstanding habit of talking Flash business in public places, Cisco once shared Barry's identity with a woman he just met and currently Team Flash is literally inviting complete strangers to take a tour of their secret HQ. On the list of poor security protocols, Barry or Wally not modulating their voices is way down at the bottom.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I have no problem with ignoring the need to do it, it just flies in the face of how much the show went out of its way to do it earlier.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I have no problem with ignoring the need to do it, it just flies in the face of how much the show went out of its way to do it earlier.

Except every time I remember them going out of their way to do it, Barry was trying to keep his friends and acquaintances from finding out his secret. All of those people know who he is now (he doesn't even have regular co-workers anymore), so the most immediate reason for him to keep doing it isn't really there anymore.

 

[Christopher]

...and currently Team Flash is literally inviting complete strangers to take a tour of their secret HQ.

Well, just the outer public areas. No doubt the Cortex, Pipeline, Speed Lab, etc. will be off-limits, and the virtual tour leaves that stuff out.

It looks like they used the same location that was used for the Earth-2 STAR Labs lobby last year, namely the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Which is just a couple of blocks from the BC Place stadium that's used for STAR Labs exteriors, and right across the street from the helipad rooftop where the Flash and Kid Flash fought Plunder (aka the rooftop where the assembled heroes fought the Dominators last month, aka the Canada Post Main Office).

 

[Snaploud]

They casually mentioned needing a steady revenue stream in this episode. One would think that would have been either a non-issue (due to Eobard patents) or a major concern long before now. Barry is supposedly responsible for multiple giant facilities and the salaries of Cisco and Caitlyn.

 

[Christopher]

They casually mentioned needing a steady revenue stream in this episode. One would think that would have been either a non-issue (due to Eobard patents) or a major concern long before now.

I don't see why it couldn't be both. Barry and STAR had enough money from the inheritance/whatever to last for a while, but it's not inexhaustible, and H.R. is enough of a businessman to see the long-term risk of the coffers running dry and to try to turn the operation in a more profitable direction. I mean, the demands on STAR's resources have only been increasing over the past couple of years, what with Cisco supplying suits and tech to the rest of the hero community, developing probably-costly new gadgets like power-suppressor bracelets and dimensional extrapolators, helping Iron Heights develop metahuman containment, operating the Speed Lab and the dimensional portal, outfitting the Hangar of Justice as an alien-fighting headquarters, etc. So what seemed a year or two ago like enough funding to last indefinitely might now be starting to look a bit more finite.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Well, just the outer public areas. No doubt the Cortex, Pipeline, Speed Lab, etc. will be off-limits, and the virtual tour leaves that stuff out.

Officially, sure. But we all know it's a matter of time before someone slips into a place they're not supposed to be. Especially since HR's idea of staff seems to begin and end with 'Olga' (who he also invited into their HQ without telling anyone or anyone even knowing who she is...)

Not to mention the presence of people in the building makes it more likely people will connect the Flash to the building when he has to rush out and save the day...

 

[Snaploud]

I don't see why it couldn't be both. Barry and STAR had enough money from the inheritance/whatever to last for a while, but it's not inexhaustible,

Fair enough. We never did get many specifics on how Star Labs was given to Barry or what assets came with it.

 

[dahj]

But we all know it's a matter of time before someone slips into a place they're not supposed to be.

I'm sure that won't happen, they have excellent security down there.
It's impossible for someone to just walk in.

 

[JD]

Meanwhile, Barry has a longstanding habit of talking Flash business in public places, Cisco once shared Barry's identity with a woman he just met and currently Team Flash is literally inviting complete strangers to take a tour of their secret HQ.

A lot of these kinds of SFF shows have been guilty of that for ages.
I was trying to figure out what kind of a museum STAR Labs is now, is it a general science museum or is it just related to stuff that STAR Labs worked on?
I'm also wondering if it might eventually transform into The Flash Museum.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The museum closes in 6 months.

Thawn's patents are feeding STAR Labs coffers.

 

[Christopher]

Officially, sure. But we all know it's a matter of time before someone slips into a place they're not supposed to be. Especially since HR's idea of staff seems to begin and end with 'Olga' (who he also invited into their HQ without telling anyone or anyone even knowing who she is...)

Again, not really into their HQ, just into the outer lobby and public areas. It's a big building -- literally the size of a stadium.

Not to mention the presence of people in the building makes it more likely people will connect the Flash to the building when he has to rush out and save the day...

He goes so fast that most people wouldn't even notice him coming and going. Besides, how many dozens of people that the Flash has helped or fought have seen him working with Caitlin and Cisco, or been brought into STAR Labs for testing, or been imprisoned in the pipeline? I think the Flash's affiliation with STAR is an open secret by this point. (Wasn't that a feature of the Wally West era of the comics, when STAR and Tina McGee were introduced? That the Flash was openly affiliated with the labs? Although that version of Wally didn't use a secret identity -- which I think is where the original "My name is Wally West and I'm the fastest man alive" tagline came from, because he was open about being the Flash. Which means the line doesn't work as well for Barry, at least not as intended.)

I was trying to figure out what kind of a museum STAR Labs is now, is it a general science museum or is it just related to stuff that STAR Labs worked on?

Probably both. All science is connected, after all, and part of teaching science is providing the larger context for a given principle or phenomenon.

I'm also wondering if it might eventually transform into The Flash Museum.

I think that's bound to be the writers' intention.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Expecting one of the two scientists working there to man the coffee stand isn't a great way to run the business. H. R. should do it himself, he'd finally be making himself useful.

I'm also wondering if it might eventually transform into The Flash Museum.

That's what I was thinking. This version of STAR always reminded me of it anyway.

Which means the line doesn't work as well for Barry, at least not as intended.

It works fine when he's talking to the audience.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm sure Julian and Cisco meant well, but making Caitlin's charger look like a blue snow flake seems like a bad move.

 

[Christopher]

It works fine when he's talking to the audience.

It works okay, in part because it fits with the pattern of other CW shows' mythology intros. What I'm saying is that the original version of the line had an additional meaning that made it even more appropriate, because it symbolized Wally's openness about being the Flash.

Besides, all three seasons so far have featured Barry going up against an archvillain who was faster than he was, so that makes him perhaps the fourth-fastest man alive at best. Well, third-fastest, since Zoom is now the Black Flash and is essentially no longer alive.

 

[Gaith]

Barry told Iris "the original Wells" built the Time Vault.

DAMN IT, BARRY, THAT WASN'T ANY EARTH'S WELLS, IT WAS CAPTAIN HARRISON LOVE, AND YOU ALL BLOODY WELL KNOW THAT, SO KNOCK IT OFF!

... ahem. Thank you, and good day.