The Flash Season Two Finale Review and Discussion
Run Barry. Run.
Tuesday night, the season 2 finale of CW’s The Flash premiered and it blew people away. “The Race of His Life” answered all the questions we’ve been dying to know while at the same time had us asking so many more. Let’s first start off with how entertaining this episode was.
-HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD-<
Quick Recap
Right off the bat, Zoom shows us just how evil he can be and how he will go to any length to achieve his goals. He murders Henry right in front of Barry. This sets Barry off course from the hopeful and jolly person he was last episode. The darkness comes out. This forces Joe to lock him in a metahuman cell. With Barry indisposed, the rest of the team is left to fight Zoom. Even with stunning acting from Caitlyn’s part, the plan fails and ends up with Joe being captured by Zoom on Earth-2. After Wally helps him escape (Wally helping Barry – I wonder where I’ve heard that before) Barry must race Zoom for the fate of his adopted father, and not just our world, but all of the Earth’s in the multiverse. Zoom plans to use his and Barry’s energy generated to destroy the multiverse. Sounds like a crisis on infinite Earths if you ask me. Ha. Barry wins the race with some help from his very own time remnant. As Zoom is carried off by time wraiths, we see flashes of what is to become his future. However, the episode does not end there. Take your final guesses as to who the man in the mask is. (My official guess was Henry Allen’s doppelganger from Earth-2.) The man in the mask who we have been guessing the identity of all season is finally revealed to be Jay Garrick from Earth-3, who just so happens to be Henry Allen’s doppelganger and the Flash of his world. (I was almost right!) There is one small event that happens to end the episode. Barry just goes into the past and saves his mother, effectively beginning the Flashpoint saga events. The end.
You’re in it now Barry
First and foremost let’s talk about the characters we see leaving. We have an Earth-3 Flash going back to Earth-2 with Harry and Jesse (Sad to say she did not get her speed this season). We will definitely see all three of these characters again due to Barry’s actions. Next, let’s break down the three plot lines the incredible writers of this show have opened up. First, with Zoom attacking the multiverse, this is a big nod to the popular Justice League story line, Crisis on Infinite Earths. This plot features so many stories on so many different earths, I highly doubt we’ll see them on the CW. As badly as I would like to see it, there’s just not enough support for these DC heroes on the CW (Thanks to Felicity and Friends). Now when we saw Zoom get carried away by the time wraiths, we saw his suit changing. He will become the Black Flash, who actually works throughout the timeline, pictured below. This plot line will probably come into effect in a later season due to what is most definitely going to happen next.
Finally, the big reveal. At the end of this episode we saw Barry Allen travel back in time AND SAVE HIS MOTHER FROM THAWNE. Wildness. Insanity. Organic-ness. This is so important for one reason and one reason only. Flashpoint.
The Flash from the animated Flashpoint Movie
Flashpoint is the big one. In the comics, the events of Flashpoint changed the DC universe forever. Flashpoint was the beginning of the New 52 era of DC, aka a relaunch of all comics. If it had that effect on the comic universe, just imagine the impact it is going to have on the Flarrowverse (Fingers crossed). Flahspoint involves our hero traveling to a parallel universe where his mother is alive. Some of the major changes in this universe include:
- Barry’s mother being alive
- Aquaman and Wonder Woman are waging war
- Thomas Wayne is Batman and Martha Wayne is the Joker
- Superman has been locked away in a facility since his arrival
- And Barry does not become the Flash
Predictions
Obviously, the Flashpoint story line will take the whole season to tell. Hopefully, the Flash will have a resounding effect on the other shows in the universe (save Legends of Tomorrow) (Due to time travel and what not). Hopefully the effects of this Flashpoint paradox will explain/reset two things that need explanations/hard resets. First, there is the addition of Supergirl. As portrayed by the Flash/ Supergirl crossover episode, Supergirl resides in a universe than the Flash. Flashpoint will most likely bring her to Earth-1 permanently. Secondly, you may have noticed that I have mentioned a show called Felicity and Friends. This is due to the fact that Arrow has had it’s worst season in season 4. I will get into my scathing criticisms next article, but we all know that that show is in desperate need of a reset. Hopefully Flashpoint refocuses Arrow to what it was originally about. If not, it has failed it’s viewers.
BONUS: ACTOR FLUFF
Hey fun fact. Did you know Henry Allen was a Flash way before this show?
Yeah! In the glorious era of the 90’s, John Wesley Shipp played Barry Allen on his own show! It was a nice little nod to this show not only when he got to play as Jay Garrick, but when Mark Hamill reprises his role as Trickster, which he also played in the 90’s. Pretty cool huh?
Thanks for reading and don’t forget; You can’t lock up the darkness.
