Spoilers The Flash - Season 3

[Christopher]

Great episode. It had a much more emotional impact than the Supergirl season finale. The theory about hostage Iris being HR in disguise proved to be true, but it didn't diminish the tragic loss of life in this case, although Iris was saved.

It was effective emotionally, but it bugged me logistically. If HR was alive long enough to give that poignant farewell speech, then it certainly should've been possible for the Flash to rush him to a hospital and for the doctors to save him. Although, well, maybe you could argue that he was too badly hurt to handle the high accelerations, but that never seems to be an issue in other cases; one assumes that the Speed Force energies surrounding a speedster have an inertia-damping effect.

Something similar also bugged me in the finale. The quakes and lightning and stuff were endangering lives all over the city, but the city's entire superhero contingent was just standing there for several minutes saying their farewells to Barry, instead of trying to help the citizenry. Sure, yeah, his entry into the Speed Force would end the danger, but what about the people being hurt in the meantime?

From Barry's lines to Wally at the end there, I wonder if we'll see Wally graduate to being the Flash next season, rather than Kid Flash. Although that would be awkward when Barry comes back.

I wonder why Savitar Barry continued to have "altered memories" of present events. HR's death should have a created a new timeline that was now separate from Savitar's, so he shouldn't be able to have any more visions.

I guess it's part of the same handwave they used about how it took time for "the paradox to catch up" with Savitar. Logically, he shouldn't exist, but a time remnant has a certain ontological inertia, so it takes time for the universe to eradicate the inconsistency. That clashes with Thawne's instant disappearance when Eddie killed himself at the end of season 1, but it's nicely consistent with Thawne's arc in Legends this year, with Thawne constantly racing through time and never staying in one place long enough for the Black Flash to catch up with him. They even used the same visual effect for Savitar's disintegration that LoT used for Thawne's.

(and BTW - I find it funny no one stated the obvious: That based on the article from 2024 they ALL know Barry will escape the speed force...only to disappear again in 6 years. )

There are also Abra Kadabra's and Savitar's references to "DeVoe" as a future adversary of the Flash, as well as Abra's account of his own years-long rivalry with Barry. Still, the characters know the future can change. Maybe they'll find that the future headline is no longer there in the Time Vault.

 

[Romulan_spy]

What really struck me with this episode is how it could easily have been a perfect series finale rather than just a season finale. Barry's "mom" saying that he has finished his race and it is time to rest, definitely sounded like a series finale. Plus, we get a wrap up to Barry's arc. He has fixed his mistakes, rejected his darkness, passed the flash torch to Wally and is going off into the sunset, I mean speed force.

Also, it struck me that there has been a very clear 3 point narrative structure to the first 3 seasons. Season 1 was the beginning, season 2 was the middle and season 3 was the end. These three seasons have taken us from the beginning of the Flash to a satisfying conclusion where he has matured and confronted his inner demons and mistakes. Again, this could have been a series finale and we would have gotten a complete story from beginning to end.

Of course, we know that Barry will be back next season. So this finale is the conclusion to what I might call "part 1" of the story. In a narrative sense, the show feels like a novel with different parts where part 1 was 3 chapters (each season is like a chapter). The first 3 seasons were all about the Flash as a new hero. The first seasons have an overarching theme of a new hero, learning his identity, learning his limitations and of course, dealing with the inevitable mistakes that any newbie has to deal with. I am hoping that season 4 will mark the beginning of "part 2". It makes sense to me that Barry will learn a great deal about the speed force in his time there so when he does leave it, he will be a lot wiser. So I am hoping that this "part 2" of the story will give us a Barry that is more confident, wiser, more mature and more experienced. This should also be an opportunity for the Flash to have to deal with bigger villains on a more equal footing now. I look forward to seeing the Flash confront Reverse Flash again but this time more as equals.

 

[Mudd]

Barry will spend some time in the future palling around with Mon-El.

 

[Snaploud]

That was a good wrap-up to the season. Though, I half expected the disaster to be the one the Legends created in their season finale.

 

[Christopher]

What really struck me with this episode is how it could easily have been a perfect series finale rather than just a season finale. Barry's "mom" saying that he has finished his race and it is time to rest, definitely sounded like a series finale. Plus, we get a wrap up to Barry's arc. He has fixed his mistakes, rejected his darkness, passed the flash torch to Wally and is going off into the sunset, I mean speed force.

Also, it struck me that there has been a very clear 3 point narrative structure to the first 3 seasons. Season 1 was the beginning, season 2 was the middle and season 3 was the end. These three seasons have taken us from the beginning of the Flash to a satisfying conclusion where he has matured and confronted his inner demons and mistakes. Again, this could have been a series finale and we would have gotten a complete story from beginning to end.

It'd be daring if they let Barry stay "dead" and went ahead with Wally as the Flash. Although I don't think Lonsdale would be as effective a series lead as Gustin.

Speaking of leads, though, Barry passed the leadership role on to Cisco before he left. So is Team Flash now Team Vibe?

 

[Kirk Prime]

It was effective emotionally, but it bugged me logistically. If HR was alive long enough to give that poignant farewell speech, then it certainly should've been possible for the Flash to rush him to a hospital and for the doctors to save him. Although, well, maybe you could argue that he was too badly hurt to handle the high accelerations, but that never seems to be an issue in other cases; one assumes that the Speed Force energies surrounding a speedster have an inertia-damping effect.

I'm guessing he took a blade through the heart and no doctor could have saved him, even if that stabbing happened AT the hospital. Doctors can do a lot, but they aren't gods.

By the way, last week some poster made a comment that predicted it was HR that got stabbed. I don't feel like scrolling back, but if that was a guess, read without spoilers, that's a hell of a good call. Tip of the hat.

 

[Romulan_spy]

It'd be daring if they let Barry stay "dead" and went ahead with Wally as the Flash. Although I don't think Lonsdale would be as effective a series lead as Gustin.

It would be daring. Obviously, it won't happen since Grant is under contract to be the lead. But it would be interesting if they waited a couple episodes before bringing Barry though. They could do the first couple episodes showing us Wally being the Flash. We could also see what Barry is doing in the speed force. Then on episode 3, have Barry come back.

Speaking of leads, though, Barry passed the leadership role on to Cisco before he left. So is Team Flash now Team Vibe?

Technically, yes I suppose at least until Barry comes back.

I'm guessing he took a blade through the heart and no doctor could have saved him, even if that stabbing happened AT the hospital. Doctors can do a lot, but they aren't gods.

Which is why HR becoming conscious again just long enough to change his face back and speak some poignant dying words was very cliche. In real life, HR would have died instantly.

 

[Mudd]

In real life, no one from inside the Speed Force would have invaded Earth to fight with some superheroes.

 

[Jax]

His race is over? oh please, did we really need a cliffhanger ending again. Jay seemed so intent to go into the prison the 1st time, am surprised he didn't choose to go in again.

The episode overall was good but season 3 fell short of 1 & 2 by some distance. I was hoping for a bigger final better between Wally, Barry & Jay we are talking about 3 on 1 but I did enjoy the final battle. Barry vibing into the suit was awesome on so many levels though Iris shot evil Barry while he was running? she not an expert marksmen seems quite the feat to make that shot against the speedster.

Not sure if I am totally happy with the outcome to Caitlin's story because essentially they have let her original self die because her meta powers are not like others we have seen, its reminds me of regeneration from Doctor Who in that a new person goes swanning off but at least in that case it's to prevent death.

I've always been Iris West-Allen, dam that's a little hard on Eddie

 

[Tuskin38]

Any theories on what the big bad will be next season? They confirmed it won't be a speedster.

 

[Mudd]

Three nerdy kids that Barry was in school with.

 

[Snaploud]

I figured HR survived slightly longer because Savitar aimed at holographic Iris' heart. Still, it's a giant blade through the torso, so I don't see him surviving without future-tech.

 

[Jax]

If you want to know if Barry is coming back Iris, just check on that holographic newspaper, which is always forgotten about 90% of the time

BTW is Gideon still at Star Labs? has Cisco ever though of integrating her into Star Labs computer systems, would be handy.

 

[Kirk Prime]

Which is why HR becoming conscious again just long enough to change his face back and speak some poignant dying words was very cliche. In real life, HR would have died instantly.

Of course he would have. But that's fictional TV license. Unless you are shot in the head, which never seems to happen to main characters, you hang on long enough to gurgle some final words.

His race is over? oh please, did we really need a cliffhanger ending again. Jay seemed so intent to go into the prison the 1st time, am surprised he didn't choose to go in again.

I think Jay only went in there because Barry had to stop Savitar and save Iris. Even if he volunteered to go in again, there's no way Barry lets him.

Not sure if I am totally happy with the outcome to Caitlin's story because essentially they have let her original self die because her meta powers are not like others we have seen, its reminds me of regeneration from Doctor Who in that a new person goes swanning off but at least in that case it's to prevent death.

They kind of wrote themselves into a corner with Caitlin. She's supposed to become Killer Frost, evil DC villain. But the character we saw was so likeable and such a part of the team that it would really suck to see her as evil. Notice that nothing she ever did made her truly irredeemable (unless someone comes up with an example I'm blanking on). This wasn't Anakin murdering kids.

Maybe the lack of desire to make Caitlin evil is holding back the writers.

If it were me, I never would have had Zoom kill Killer Frost on Earth 2. I thought her existence gave the writers the chance to have their cake and eat it too. It was a brilliant idea.

Killer Frost can be the true villain on Earth 2, and Caitlin can still be a part of the team on Earth 1. But they killed her. If Killer Frost were still alive, even this struggle that she is going through now would mean a lot more. Right now, as it stands, we either lose Killer Frost as a villain, or Caitlin never fulfills that destiny. And if she never becomes Killer Frost, then why make that character Caitlin Snow in the first place? Give her another name and use the same arc.

Either way, I still really enjoyed this finale and look forward to next year.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Eobard used her power source (battery) for his time machine.

 

[Snaploud]

So, is Star Labs pay really that bad, or has Barry just been skimping on H.R.'s salary? Is Barry rich or not, writers?

 

[Jax]

Eobard used her power source (battery) for his time machine.

Poor Gideon.

When the stone erupted, the entire city must of seen Star Labs shooting off energy again into the sky. You think Health & Safety officials would be all over that place

 

[Snaploud]

I doubt the Killer Frost cure would have worked given that she was being studied four years later by Julian in the alternate timeline. Though, I suppose her abilities may be harder to reverse over time, or Killer Frost may have killed her mother in that timeline (before Julian could work with her on a cure).

 

[Guy Gardener]

That and she didn't become Killer Frost until MUCH later since in the last go around, since Savatar who was not present, didn't frack her up, so that Julian didn't have to ice her up.

Caitlin seems like a goody two shoes who tried to wait for her wedding night to lose her virginity.

Unless there are specific Meta's with abilities key to surviving Frost's sweet sweet embrace, who are interested in tapping that, you would think that Frost never getting any, EVER, would be a great reason to look for some hybrid cure, where she can enjoy an ordinary sex life and not have her current personality buried in a shallow grave.

 

[Christopher]

Which is why HR becoming conscious again just long enough to change his face back and speak some poignant dying words was very cliche. In real life, HR would have died instantly.

Would he? In real life, instant death is much rarer than it is in fiction. Death from an impalement would most likely be from blood loss, and that could take time. If the heart were actually destroyed, I suppose the hydraulic and metabolic shock from that could cause the brain to shut down almost instantly, and certainly the cessation of blood flow would cause anoxia to set in quickly. But as Snaploud suggested:

I figured HR survived slightly longer because Savitar aimed at holographic Iris' heart. Still, it's a giant blade through the torso, so I don't see him surviving without future-tech.

That makes sense, that Savitar missed, but still, Barry could've had him to an ER in seconds, and they probably could've stopped the blood loss.

Iris shot evil Barry while he was running? she not an expert marksmen seems quite the feat to make that shot against the speedster.

She was directly behind him, so his position in her field of view would've been pretty constant. If he'd been moving laterally relative to her, she would've had no chance.

Not sure if I am totally happy with the outcome to Caitlin's story because essentially they have let her original self die because her meta powers are not like others we have seen, its reminds me of regeneration from Doctor Who in that a new person goes swanning off but at least in that case it's to prevent death.

I took what happened as Caitlin finally reconciling her two personalities, Dr. Caitlin Snow and Killer Frost, into a single integrated personality. It's not that Caitlin is dead; it's just that the Caitlin we know must've had a lot of her psyche repressed and locked away in order for it to manifest as a separate personality, so that version of Caitlin wasn't really her true self. Choosing to save Cisco while still being Killer Frost allowed her to bridge the personalities, to realize that she was both the metahuman and the person who loved her friends. So who she is now is an amalgam of her two prior selves, and she hasn't yet figured out who that is or what name she feels comfortable using.