Karen: Anybody want to chat about last night's season finale of The Flash? I thought that despite an uneven but mostly entertaining season, the finale really delivered. And what a cliffhanger! It looks like this will be feeding directly into the new CW series, Legends of Tomorrow. There was so much going on, it's hard to focus on any one thing. How about Barry's decision? And is his timeline a paradox? Start chatting kids.
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My wife and I loved the episode! We didn't start watching the show for until about a month into it's run, but immediately got caught up in it. Great cast, and lots of love for the comics from which it arose.
My first thought, once the show was over, was about the effect of Eddie's sacrifice. With the resultant elimination of Eobard/Thawne , Reverse Flash may never have gone back to kill Barry's mother. So even though Barry chose not to intervene, the end result may have been the same. Lots to think about; and to look forward to this fall!
Oh, also was tickled to see Jay Garrick's helmet 'drop in'. Another chance to play explanatory narrator to my wife and her sister (who calls up after each episode to ask just what happened)...
I only watched the Mark Hamill Trickster episode.., not quite hooked yet, but generally a good show.
Absolutely loved their first season and the finale -- very comicbooky feel to it. I think Flash is the best comic book based TV show when it comes to the writers respecting the comic book material that has come before. I mean black holes, singularity, time travel, parallel universes ... how much closer to DC Comics can you get???
There were so many little easter eggs -the Jay Garrick helmet, the quick glimpse of Caitlin as Killer Frost, reference to Rip Hunter, and I believe a shot of the Flash Museum. So much fun!
This has really been a show that embraces its comic book elements and I appreciate that. After years of Smallville teasing us, or even going back further, watching Lou Ferrigno in a fright wig, painted green, wearing house slippers, occasionally flipping over a car, I am grateful for a show that is full on comic book.
That said, the "CW-ness" sometimes grates, with all the "you lied to me" and love triangles and such. There are certain elements that are interchangeable between any CW show -except maybe Supernatural, but they seem to have been grandfathered in.
I'm not even trying to figure out the time travel aspect and how Thon may have created the Flash and the paradox of that -I don't know that it makes any sense! I'd rather just enjoy the melodrama.
I have really enjoyed this show. Like all of the things everybody has already mentioned, it keeps me coming back for more. The easter eggs, the acknowledgement and respect for the source material, the willingness to embrace wild concepts, etc.
I agree with Redartz that the loop of Eddie's sacrifice should result in an interesting second season. The wormhole is a result of that paradox (I am assuming) so I am sure that is not the last we have seen of the Thawnes, as I assume a correction will result in their possible return. Too much to get my head around, but definitely opens the door for a lot of opportunities.
I agree with Karen that some of the soapy melodrama and relationships can drag, although it is not that inconsistent with comics back in the day. And that is perhaps what I like most about this season... that the creators went at it whole heartedly and there was seemingly more story than can be crammed in (layered relationships, overlapping villains, a huge rogues gallery, supporting characters with stories, action, reasonable special effects, costumes, even a gorilla).
There were some weaknesses in the lesser villains' characterizations and the drawn out Iris/Barry relationship, but even those issues seemed minor as part of the whole.
Seeing Jay's helmet was cool though. And Reverse Flash's reaction to it, was just as cool.
I hope we really do see Killer Frost next season.
I thought it was great; I'm not sure how they'll deal with the whole paradox thing, but I'm sure it'll be entertaining.
According to this TV Guide piece (which I first saw at io9) it looks like Jay's helmet might be very significant! (There be spoilers, by the way.)
Mike Wilson
I thought it was pretty great. This show really picked up about halfway throughout the season and never slowed down (pun intended).
A few comments, and a few questions.
First I can't believe they left us hanging on such a wild cliffhanger. It was almost as frustrating as the end of Empire Strikes Back.
I also kind of felt bad for Thawne in the end. Barry could have just let the guy go home.
Some questions:
Why the heck didn't Barry go ahead and save his poor mother? It looked as though his future self waved him off for some reason. I'm still not sure I understand it.
If Thawne had to create the Flash with the reactor explosion, then how did Barry originally become the Flash in first place without Thawnes help?
So, now that The Reverse Flash never even existed, how could he have come back in time and killed Barry's mother? Shouldn't his being erased from existence have caused the whole timeline to suddenly change? Such as, Barry's mother should now be alive, and his dad should be a free man. Also, Cisco and Kaitlin should never have met, and they should have never met Ronnie Raymond, because they all met while working for Eobard Thawne, who now never existed.
It boggles the mind.
"So, now that The Reverse Flash never even existed, how could he have come back in time and killed Barry's mother? Shouldn't his being erased from existence have caused the whole timeline to suddenly change? Such as, Barry's mother should now be alive, and his dad should be a free man. Also, Cisco and Kaitlin should never have met, and they should have never met Ronnie Raymond, because they all met while working for Eobard Thawne, who now never existed.
It boggles the mind. "
Paradox!!
I know William, my poor hubby sat there going over and over things after wards, trying to sort it all out. I just decided to let it go. I think mainly because I'd had a long day. Plus, I was just enjoying the craziness.
I'm not sure if anybody has seen the rather lengthy preview of "Legends of Tomorrow" but they seem to be dealing with the paradox. And it includes Rip Hunter, Hawkgirl, Flash, Atom, etc which is pretty cool.
I think somewhere in the Flash series it indicated that the particle accelerator would have created the Flash at some point anyway, but Thawne "accelerated" the development and timeline. But I'm not sure how many months/ years he affected the timeline. So maybe Barry would already be the Flash but all of the relationships would be different.
One thing I am itching to find out is why Thawne hates Barry of the future so much. And when Barry waved off other Barry, what did he know? And when Our Barry stopped at the door and did not save his mother, did young Barry see him standing there and how does that affect anything?
I know this a far fetched reach, but I would love Eddie to come back as the Spectre for a while, ala Jim Corrigan.
I agree with those who've said that this has been the best comic book adaptation done for television; given it's episodic nature, closer to what comics are than any film so far. It's great that the writers are taking the material seriously but also having enormous fun with it. I've never had my expectations so consistently surpassed by genre material. I figure they can't sustain this, but I'm looking forward to the next places they take the show.
Here's something else that was itching at my brain a bit.
Thawne told Barry he was born 136 years from now. And that the Flash (aka Barry) is his greatest enemy and he hates him for some undisclosed reason. (I had assumed it's just because Flash always thwarts his evil schemes, but they hinted that there might be more to it than that).
Anyway, my main question is, how are Barry and Thawne enemies more than 136 years in the future? Barry would be more than 156 years old. Did he never think to ask Thawne about that?
And if Thawne was traveling back to a time when Barry was at his peak as the Flash-- WHY? If he hates the Flash/Barry so much, why would he travel back to a time when he was at his most powerful? (Meaning 2024 or so in the show).
Why wouldn't Thawne travel back to a time when the Flash is retired, or deceased? Or why wouldn't he just stay in his own time, where the Flash would be long dead? Then he wouldn't have to worry about going back and killing Barry as a kid. He could just do what he wanted with no one around to stop him.
These are questions that I think Barry would have been wanting to ask Thawne. But he never did.
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