Spoilers The Flash - Season 3
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
So, I'm of the mind that H.R. Wells is pulling a Berlinghoff Rasmussen and is trying to gather technology and scientific research from S.T.A.R. Labs to bring back to and advance Earth-19, which in the comics is still stuck in a Steampunk-y Industrial Revolution technological level (it's the site of Gotham by Gaslight). Not that The Flash has to adhere to the comics perfectly, mind you.
The way he says his name is evocative of H.G. Wells, which fits his novelist cover story but also gives him ample excuse to ask all kinds of questions about their science and technology without suspicion, now that he's come out with the "truth". It could also foreshadow both the technological era he comes from and its Steampunk qualities, and could also be telegraphing a "War of the Worlds" between universes.
It would explain his complete lack of knowledge of their technology and some of his anachronistic phrases.
There have been several stories that have involved H.G. Wells himself (or herself, in the case of Warehouse 13) being a time traveler and that being the basis for his books, so it could just be Wells mining the alternate universe for story ideas like he says, but I'm still counting on their being something shifty about this guy.
The way he says his name is evocative of H.G. Wells, which fits his novelist cover story but also gives him ample excuse to ask all kinds of questions about their science and technology without suspicion, now that he's come out with the "truth". It could also foreshadow both the technological era he comes from and its Steampunk qualities, and could also be telegraphing a "War of the Worlds" between universes.
It would explain his complete lack of knowledge of their technology and some of his anachronistic phrases.
There have been several stories that have involved H.G. Wells himself (or herself, in the case of Warehouse 13) being a time traveler and that being the basis for his books, so it could just be Wells mining the alternate universe for story ideas like he says, but I'm still counting on their being something shifty about this guy.
This was a pretty good one, unsurprisingly, since it was written by Zack Stentz. I like how the show is getting more sympathetic toward its antagonists, doing less "punch the bad guy" stuff and more sensitive resolutions, first with Magenta and now here with both Julian and the hologram kid. Plus there was the tension with H.R. leading to a less evil secret than we feared and a more forgiving resolution, and Caitlin and her mother having tension and beginning to move past it, though the Killer Frost inside Caitlin may pose an obstacle to that reconciliation.
I loved the bits about the alternate movies on Earth-19. "Murder on the Titanic. Who killed him? Who cares, we're drowning!" And Barry and Cisco as roommates? That was fun.
I loved the bits about the alternate movies on Earth-19. "Murder on the Titanic. Who killed him? Who cares, we're drowning!" And Barry and Cisco as roommates? That was fun.
I hope they are trying to evoke H.G. Wells because "H.R." just does not roll off the tongue as a name.
I don't know if someone from that tech level would be able to assimilate as well as Wells has but it would explain some things.
Tell that to H.R. Haldeman of Watergate infamy. Or H.R. Pufnstuf of vintage Saturday morning TV.
I'm wondering about the identity of the scientist partner that H.R. talked about. The fact that he never mentioned a name makes me suspect that's a secret we won't discover until later.
The more I think about "Monster", the more I'm leaning towards giving it a rating of "middling" even though I liked what they were going for with the Caitlin, Barry, and Julian stuff.
HR mentioned the partner as "He". So we know it's a man. Before that I was hoping it could be a Tina McGee.
Part of the inspiration for HR is obviously Steve Jobs. Whose biggest critics viewed him as a great salesman of other people's ideas. Also good at pushing his people to accomplish his goals. Even if he was not as knowledgeable of the technology as they were.
I think that is an interesting approach if the writers stick with this version of Wells for the long term. It always the rest of the team to grow up more. The previous two Wells solved a lot of their problems for them. Thawne/Wells taught Barry a lot about the Speed Force. Any new advice should come from Jay Garrick now.
Part of the inspiration for HR is obviously Steve Jobs. Whose biggest critics viewed him as a great salesman of other people's ideas. Also good at pushing his people to accomplish his goals. Even if he was not as knowledgeable of the technology as they were.
I think that is an interesting approach if the writers stick with this version of Wells for the long term. It always the rest of the team to grow up more. The previous two Wells solved a lot of their problems for them. Thawne/Wells taught Barry a lot about the Speed Force. Any new advice should come from Jay Garrick now.
I'm also wondering who Earth-19's Flash is. We know that different Earths or different timelines can have different Flashes, so it wouldn't necessarily be Barry Allen.
Actually, what if H.Rs scientific partner IS Barry Allen from E-19? He could be the scientific genius who invents Gideon, rather than OUR Barry. And there'd be no reason he couldn't be the Flash on E-19 either, hence Gideon's information in The Trap.
H.R. didn't seem to recognize Barry when they met, though.
Well, he may not be a scientific genius, but he knew he was travelling to a different universe so not too much to expect he would keep his acquaintance with any counterparts close to his chest until he gauged the situation. And once it became clear Barry wasn't calling the scientific shots and was expecting HIM to, he would have clammed up on anything else.
Harry Wells didn't appear to recognize Cisco or Caitlin either, yet it's highly unlikely given his metahuman studies and conflict with Zoom that he wasn't aware of Zoom's top lieutenants.
Did people actually call them "H.R." or is that how they signed their name? Either way, I guess I don't like it anyway...
That's how people refered to them. I'ld have to look it up to see what Haldeman's actual name was.
Harry Robbins Haldeman. Apparently he was "Bob" to his friends, but he was otherwise generally known by "H.R."
Theodore Roosevelt was called TR during his lifetime and often in documentaries by historians. Not much difference from HR.
^Not to mention J.R. Ewing on Dallas. Not much difference in the sound there either. I don't get why "H.R." would be considered hard to say. If you can say "Ray Charles," it shouldn't be a problem.
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