WOW. Really good season premiere. It had all the elements that I think make the flash a great show to watch: cast chemistry, humor, fun speed force action sequences and poignant character moments. I particularly liked the scenes with Iris and Barry talking about missing there firsts with their daughter and the follow up with Nora and Barry in the Time Vault learning that Barry disappeared for 25 years. Very poignant.
Two things I wonder:
- Is the episode hinting that Barry's crisis disappearance is a fixed point that cannot be altered and therefore he is doomed to disappear in the future? If true, it would mean that Nora is doomed to experience her dad out of order, spending time with him now but will lose him when she is an infant and Barry gets to know her now but will never see her as an infant. He will miss those firsts when she was an infant but is getting those firsts meeting her now. It is what made the scene in the time vault so poignant, you could almost see it on Barry's face, that he now knows that he will miss those firsts with her that he was lamenting to Iris about. Of course, the writers can do whatever they want but Wally's speech about fixed points of time could suggest that Barry's disappearance is one of them. I just think the show might be laying the groundwork for making Barry's disappearance a fixed point with all the implications it carries. Or maybe they do prevent Barry's disappearance but it changes Nora's future which leads me to my next point.
- I also saw an internet theory that Nora will be erased from the timeline at the end of this season. I kinda hope they don't do that. I would feel cheated if after getting to know her over the course of so many episodes, the show basically hits the reset button erases her out of existence. And it would be super sad for Iris and Barry if they got to know her only for her to have never existed. Of course, the season could end with Iris being pregnant with Dawn. So Iris and Barry have these amazing experiences with Nora but lose her only to get the hope that they will have Dawn and get all those firsts with her.