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The Flash Season 3 Premiere Advance Review: “Flashpoint”
Advance review of the Flash Season 3 premiere, titled “Flashpoint”
Published
8 years agoon
There are only a few days left until the Season 3 premiere of The Flash, titled “Flashpoint,” and those familiar with DC Comics history as well as the Flash Season 2 finale know what that title entails: Barry Allen has gone back in time and prevented the Reverse-Flash from killing his mom, creating a new reality in the process.
Much of that “new reality” has been revealed in trailers: Wally West is Kid Flash, though he hates that name, and he has a possibly surprising partner in crimefighting. The Rival (Todd Lasance), a speedster dressed in black, is determined to make it so that no others can outmatch his speed. The other world’s Cisco is a billionaire. And Barry Allen’s beloved parents, Nora and Henry, are both still alive, happy, and wanting him to move out of the house already.
Barry Allen has almost everything he wants in this new world… except for one thing: Iris, who doesn’t really know him well in this altered reality, yet seems drawn to him in the same way he is to her. This season premiere might be one of the best uses of Candice Patton’s Iris in the series, giving her ample and deserved screen time as an important part of Barry Allen’s life (or lives). In a world of unreality, Iris seems to offer Barry a dose of reality, and I like that The Flash recognizes that Iris (and Candice) are an integral part of this story.
Matt Letscher’s Reverse-Flash is around and tormenting Barry with the changes he has wreaked. Much has been written about the notion that even though he always has the noblest of intentions, Barry has in some ways been the villain of this story, and Eobard is more than happy to tell him that. Letscher is menacing as Eobard Thawne, and I’m still impressed by how much he reminds me of Tom Cavanagh’s take on the character in Season One. (Harrison Wells of any universe sadly seems to be absent in the premiere. Boo! Hiss!) The best villains, to me, are the ones who think they are doing the right thing; Eobard Thawne, in his own twisted way, seems to be that, and Letscher is one of the MVP’s of this first hour.
What else is there to say? Joe West in the Flashpoint world is a shell of the Joe we know; also, there is a surprise guest appearance that I don’t think has been spoiled yet. I hope it is not spoiled because it had me grinning from ear to ear. And, yes, Keiynan Lonsdale’s Wally is Kid Flash and the costume looks really cool – though his frequent blurring is a little distracting. If the mask doesn’t hide his face enough, then maybe he needs a better mask.
Having lost a parent myself at age 19, I would give anything to be able to change history to see my dad again. But, as Barry Allen may learn, you need to be careful what you wish for. In addition to being a good episode of a superhero drama series, “Flashpoint” also has a lot of heart that is also present in every episode of the show. A lot of that is due to Mr. Grant Gustin himself, who plays Barry with a vulnerability and heart that really does make him perfect for this take on the role. I will warn, though: This episode made me, a man in his thirties, teary-eyed, as The Flash sometimes does, so prepare the tissues.
Is the finale perfect? It’s pretty darn good. There are mechanics of time travel in the Arrowverse that I will never totally understand; for example, I don’t understand how Barry Allen still has his speed powers if what happened to his mother never occurred, unless the same accident happened in the Flashpoint universe. (I’m thinking not, since the STAR Labs building, now owned by Ramon Industries, looks pristine) But if we can turn our brains off and not think about it too much, again, it’s a really good hour of TV. I’m curious what will happen next, but then again, it’s not like I wouldn’t be watching The Flash — one of my favorite shows on TV — anyway. Still, there’s a reason this is The CW’s #1 show — it’s really well done, with good actors, great effects, writing, directing… it’s a fine package.
The Flash “Flashpoint” airs October 4 on The CW. See some preview images below, and check out our interview with the show’s Executive Producers here!
News
New CW Head Throws Shade At The Flash
New CW President Brad Schwartz has thrown shade at The Flash while propping up another series.
Published
5 days agoon
May 16, 2024New CW Entertainment President Brad Schwartz today threw some shade at The Flash when propping up one of The CW’s better new performers, Wild Cards, when doing an interview with Deadline.
“You’ll probably be hearing more announcements from us very soon,” he said. “That show did great. It grew 10% versus what The Flash did in the same spot the year before. So, here we are beating shows that everyone’s very romantic about. We’d very much like to renew that one.”
Obviously, this is to show that Canadian imports perform better than more expensive fare… but might it be considered that The Flash was a show in its ninth season – a time when new audiences might not be interested in jumping on to series? Or, perhaps that portions of The Flash fandom had moved on, with no interest in The Cecile Show? Finally, The Flash Season 9 mostly aired at a time where producers and/or cast were unable to promote it, during the 2023 strikes, which makes the comparison very unfair.
Wild Cards is a fun series, but there’s no reason to denigrate The Flash or the superhero shows that made The CW great. Hopefully this was just a wild misunderstanding of his quote. The fact of the matter is: Sometimes more expensive fare is worth investing in. Especially considering how Schwartz hypes up the new season of Superman & Lois, that should be known to the new people in charge of The CW.
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Flash Cast Member Returns for the Superman & Lois Finale
A major actor from The Flash will be playing a role in the series finale of Superman & Lois.
Published
2 weeks agoon
May 7, 2024A major cast member from The Flash will be appearing in the series finale of Superman & Lois.
No, it’s not Grant Gustin, sadly… the actor in question is Tom Cavanagh, the actor who brought us infinite Wells variants. Cavanagh revealed this recently at a convention, where he talked about how he usually enjoyed directing season finales for the show, but was unable to in this case because Gregory Smith had already signed on to direct the Superman & Lois finale.
Superman & Lois showrunner Todd Helbing, who had also worked with Cavanagh before on The Flash and recruited him to direct the series’ 100th episode among others, instead suggested he has a role in the finale.
No word yet on what that role might be. As Superman & Lois is at a different spot in the multiverse, it doesn’t necessarily even have to be a version of Harrison Wells or Eobard Thawne. It could serve as a good closer, though, to the Arrowverse in general, as Superman & Lois is the last gasp for that world on The CW. In any event, you can see video of Cavanagh speaking about this (and more) at our Superman & Lois portal, KryptonSite.
The final season of Superman & Lois premieres this Fall on The CW.
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Flash Missing: Vanishes In Crisis, April 25, 2024
The “Flash Missing: Vanishes in Crisis” headline in the Flash TV series pilot was dated April 25, 2024.
Published
4 weeks agoon
April 25, 2024While events of the series would ultimately speed up the timeline, Flash fans surely remember the final moments of the pilot episode of the Grant Gustin-led series where we see a Central City Citizen newspaper graphic announcing “Flash Missing, Vanishes In Crisis.” The date of that article? April 25, 2024.
Which happens to be… today.
When The Flash premiered in 2014, one might have expected that April 25, 2024 might be the right time for the final episode of a 10-year run… of course, as we saw, the Crisis happened a few years earlier, The Flash ended in 2023 instead, and it all might have been a good thing, considering how strikes and pandemics got in the show’s way. Still, it’s fun to think about, and it’s fun to remember that fantastic rush we had after the end of watching such an excellent premiere. And hey – not only did we get nine seasons of the show, but we also had a bad Flash movie that the series was far superior to, even in its worst moments. Win-win!
Ride the lightning, everyone.
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Chase
September 27, 2016 at 8:25 pm
I’m assuming the time travel rules are the same as those explained in Legends of Tomorrow. For some reason, changes to the timeline don’t become permanent immediately. The more drastic the changes, the longer they take to “set.”