Okay, let’s see…snacks in place? Check. Laptop ready to take notes for the review? Check. Ridiculously high expectations? Check, check and check! NOW, we get to the Season One Finale of THE FLASH, episode #123, “Fast Enough”. Want to know more? All I’ll say is…
SPOILERS AHEAD!
In this episode, just about every actor brought their “A” game, with a powerful script that had multiple surprises…and a cliffhanger that had me screaming “NOOOOOO!”…but only because now I cannot wait to see Season Two!
The Reverse Flash has been captured, and all is well with the world…or so it seems. There is absolutely nothing left to do, right? Except, of course, to decide whether to do the one thing we’ve been waiting for all season – for Barry to go back into the past and save his mother!
That’s not an easy decision, though, as there are so many potential repercussions to changing the past. And, that’s not the only issue in play. Wells/Thawne knows how to use Barry’s speed to rupture the Space-Time Barrier, but the risk is that the wormhole this creates could turn into a singularity – a black hole that could endanger the entire world!
But, before we get to that, there is the matter of Barry Allen’s original timeline to address…the one that would have happened had the Reverse Flash never gone back in time. In case some of the show gets confusing as to how the Flash could still BE the Flash after the events we will describe later on…here’s a quick timeline from Eobard Thawne’s perspective (If I followed the logic correctly):
- Eobard Thawne is born 136 years from now.
- He later becomes the Reverse Flash and fights Barry Allen in the future.
- He decides to visit the past and kill young Barry, preventing the Flash from ever coming to be.
- He fails, only because future-Barry saves young Barry from Thawne’s wrath.
- Thawne then decides to kill Nora Allen, thinking that the trauma would be so great that Barry would never recover and would never become the Flash…and believe it or not, he was right! Really? Yep! NOTE: had the story ended here there would have been NO Flash. Thawne actually prevented the Flash from coming to be…at that point. But…
- BUT…Thawne was then stuck in that time period. No going home…unless he can get help. And that help can only come from the Flash, the hero he just stopped from coming into being! So…
- He has to “create” his own enemy to have any chance of returning home. That’s why he took over Wells’ life, to build the accelerator sooner so that he could create the Flash and use his speed to go home!
- Fast-forward 15 years to the accelerator accident…
- And move forward once again to tonight’s episode.
The point to keep in mind is that if there was NO Reverse Flash, there would still have BEEN a Barry Allen Flash…but his origin would have been changed somewhat. The only thing Thawne did was mess up the other origin story. There would have been a Flash anyway. Why am I explaining all this? You may be glad later…
Now, back to our story…
Barry has to deal with all the ramifications of changing time, including the possibility of never meeting the S.T.A.R. Labs team and the absolute likelihood that he would not move in with the Wests. He seeks counsel from Joe and from all his friends, who are of divided opinions. Henry is not conflicted…he believes that everything happened for a reason and believes that Nora would agree that Barry should not change the past. Joe at first is certain that Barry must try…until he learns of the risk from the singularity. Iris knows that this may separate her from Barry, but wants him to follow his heart. Cisco wants nothing to do with it at first, but is finally brought in to the team, to help create…
A time bubble!
Cisco confronts Wells/Thawne and even brings up his murder in the alternate timeline. Thawne apologizes…but not for killing him. Rather, he apologizes that Cisco’s memories of an alternate timeline means he was affected by the accelerator accident too! (Wonder when he will come up with his own “Vibe” code name?).
Elsewhere in the lab, Professor Stein tells Eddie Thawne that he DOES have a role to play, that in fact he is the one person who can “choose your future”. Nice foreshadowing there…even though what happened later still shocked and surprised me.
As the plan comes together, the crew talks with Wells/Thawne over a video link – he tells them that Barry will have 1 minute and 52 seconds (like the 52?) to complete his task…enough time to save Nora but not enough to stop him from returning to the future in that Time Bubble (circa…unknown, but designed by Rip Hunter – nice nod to the next year’s “Legends of Tomorrow” series).
Now, we have some relationship moments to discuss. Ronnie and Caitlin get back together and are married by Professor Stein, who somehow has the qualifications to perform marriages. And, Eddie and Iris get back together, each saying “screw the future” since they can choose their own destiny (at least for now).
Now, we get to the chase…or rather the race around S.T.A.R. Labs as Wells/Thawne says one more time, “Run. Barry. Run!” Barry easily moves past Mach 2 and they release a hydrogen proton in the opposite direction. When Barry collides with it, the wormhole opens and Barry can now see the Speed Force, portrayed here as being sort of a window into infinite timelines.
Barry goes back to THAT night, and appears in his old room. Here’s where things get truly shocking…
He is supposed to wait until after Future Flash saves Barry…but Future Flash waves Barry off from doing anything! He has to wait as the Reverse Flash delivers the fatal blow to his mother!
Barry does get to talk to her, to tell her who he is. He tells her that he and Henry are okay and that they love her, and she gets to say goodbye in a heart-rending scene.
Barry then returns to present day just as Wells/Thawne is about to escape in the Time Bubble (we do get to see a winged helmet appear out of the wormhole first…and yes, it looks like we have the possibility of Earth 2 some time in future episodes!).
Barry shatters the Time Bubble and the fight is on! Caitlin and Ronnie race to shut down the wormhole and barely succeed in time, while Wells/Thawne easily gains the upper hand on Barry. He tells Barry that he will not stop with just killing the Flash…that he will kill everyone Barry ever cared about as well. Suddenly, he stops…
As Eddie shoots himself in the chest!
Why? Eddie knows that the only way to stop his descendent is to assure that there is NO way for him to be born. The “man in yellow” is erased from time…but the danger is NOT over!
A new wormhole emerges and becomes that dreaded singularity! It starts by drawing in Eddie Thawne’s body, and now it is drawing in EVERYTHING. We see reactions not only from the S.T.A.R. Labs crew but from just about every other character in the show, including some of the Rogues. Barry realizes that there may be a chance to stop it…if he can run fast enough, with the same technique he used early on against the tornado. Except this time, it is against the material fused together around the singularity! He plunges up and into the mass, traveling faster than he ever has…
And we hit the cliffhanger!
NOTES: Even with my ridiculously high expectations, this episode exceeded them all. The entire cast brought their best acting performances to an emotionally charged, action packed script. We had a few Easter Eggs here and there (like Jay’s helmet and Cisco’s quote, “So Long and Thanks for All The Fish” – a great Douglas Adams reference) and some true surprises.
I didn’t expect Barry to go all the way back in time, only to have his future-self stop him from saving his mother. In a strange way I’m glad he didn’t – we didn’t need to have to explain FLASHPOINT to an audience that may not have read that series. Still, it was a big surprise to me – and Grant Gustin handled that scene exceptionally well. The only thing that surprised me more (shouldn’t have, but it did) was Eddie’s sacrifice. Now, with his body swept into the singularity and Barry moving to stop it, there may well be a way to bring him back…but we’ll see.
And, if you’re wondering, “How could Barry still be the Flash if the Reverse Flash is gone?”…just go back to my earlier notes in the post. Still, I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of Eobard Thawne.
Overall, an exceptional finale to a great first season, with a cliffhanger that opens up almost limitless possibilities for next season. What will be our reality after Barry deals with the singularity? What relationships will still exist…and what people will still exist? This is a great way to go out for the summer, even if I was screaming “NOOOOO!” – it only means I wanted more, and that’s exactly how you want a first season to end.
So, what do YOU think? Leave your comments below!
Jay Garrick anyone? Oh yeah!! Bloody awesome finale! Too bad about Eddie, though. But possibly Rip Hunter will be present next season. Or even Eobard Thawne? Thawne did escape death once before in the comics, I think. Also, Eddie’s body was sucked into the wormhole which means if 25th century science gets him reversing his death could be possible. Hurry up season 2!!
Look deeper the flash was young he talked future.
Of course! That would be brilliant!
Wells. Is he sorry
That was the kind of ending I was hoping for! It never occurred to me that it would end with a cliffhanger. I’m really hoping we see “The Flash of Two Worlds”.
I was extremely happy to see them not use time-travel to reset the character development we’ve seen throughout the season. The Eddie twist was great and really unexpected, and the Jay Garrick Easter Egg made me giddy.
I’d like to see Mirror Master next season, and have the Rouges really come together. I’d also love to see an Eobard Thawne origin story that incorporates some of Mark Waid’s run
*SLIGHT SPOILER* (fan finds out he’s destined to be an enemy)
I actually preferred Geoff Johns origin story of the Reverse Flash. I thought Waid did a much better job with Zolomon and I could see them bringing Zolomon into the mix as an FBI profiler that works with Joe and Barry on a case in a future season.
I loved the episode. I especially enjoyed all of the Easter eggs. I was laughing out loud.
…especially when Eobard Thawne gets his “queue to leave.”
great season finale did not see it coming when eddy shot himself, not gonna lie I teared up a few times cant wait for next season hopefully paul is right and we do end up seeing a flash of two worlds arc that would be amazing
Great write-up! I have question that has been gnawing at me since the finale. Supposing Barry saved his mother and then comes through the wormhole back to the present timeline (i.e. the show’s timeline) as he was supposed to, what then, if anything, changes other than his mother being alive in the past? Or would it mean that the present timeline is altered and therefore when Barry travels back through the wormhole his mum would be alive and his dad would be out of jail?
Alex, You’re going to have to read Flashpoint, or watch The Flashpoint Paradox to understand what happend. A WHOLE Lot of stuff happend from him just saving his mom. It’s not supposed to happen.
There’s a potential butterfly effect. Having Barry’s parents alive and free changes his relationships with Joe & Iris and might alter the way his personality and goals develop. Even if he still joins the CCPD crime lab, and still gets zapped by the accelerator, the different relationship with Joe could have a major impact on how the events of the past year went working with S.T.A.R.
That could change all kinds of things — for instance, what if they don’t catch Clyde Mardon at the same point and Joe doesn’t shoot him? Mark doesn’t come to town seeking revenge with a tsunami, Barry doesn’t erase the day that Eobard kills Cisco, and Eobard’s endgame is drastically different.
ItsMichaelReid
Well the creators did say Wells would still be a regular in season 2 so I’m predicting that the timeline will have been tweaked to the point where Barry may or may not have his mom still ( Eobard has stated before that it was Barry’s mom’s destiny to die so maybe in the original Timeline she died by other causes just not by Reverse Flash) and Caitlyn never marrying Ronnie ( which would be a catalyst to her becoming evil since Barry would be the cause of her one moment of happiness being taken from her) and with Cisco being the only one that remembers what has happened and the only one that can bring the team back together or at least make Barry and Caitlyn remember the previous timeline again
If Eobard’s been erased from the timestream, then once reality’s sorted itself out, maybe the REAL Harrison Wells will suddenly be retroactively restored to life, (Somewhat confused, perhaps,about why Barry and Cisco keep staring at him so suspiciously…)
Tom Cavanaugh is confirmed to be a regular next season. So maybe we’ll see the Real Harrison Wells and a different timeline as a result.
I’m calling it: Cicsco’s power is the ability to see and perceive timelines. Of course, the new timeline would alter Cisco’s history. And Caitlin’s, and Ronnie’s, and Piper’s, and Cold’s, and Peek-a-Boo’s and…
One thing we’ll never know now: how did Piper know where Ronnie was or how to save him?
There may be a reason why Ronnie Raymond doesn’t seem to be in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, but Stein is, and it has something to do with the timeline change.
And alas, Caitlin is confirmed to do her face heel turn. I would love to see Iris become a more active, integral part of team Flash. I wasn’t happy with how Iris or Piper were handled this season, but the show runners seem to want more visibility for the former and redemption for the latter. *crosses fingers*
I dont think we will see a flash of 2 worlds.. what we may see is more the post Crisis Jay Garrett where he is related to flash.. I dunno if they wana go the whole multiverse route yet unless they want to merge the cinimatic route etc or even use this to merge other DC universe tv series like izombie, gotham, supergirl, constatine etc they could do it by introducing the multi-verse and everyone will have a nerdgasm because it could mean the batman v superman might tie into the whole picture as a multiverse earth
Not quite! Gustin himself declared “I think we’re going to start showing Earth-One and Earth-Two in the near future.” to TV guide. So, if it’s Jay, he will likely be from E-2.
Just want to say that this tv series is awesome the characters and the season finale I must say that is how you end a FREAKING SEASON GOOD JOB TO THE PRODUCTION AND WRITERS AND ACTORS GREAT WORK CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT SEASON
I have a question. How can Barry be rivals with Eobard whose born 136 years in the future? Shoudn’t Barry be dead or old by that time?
Well I’m gonna say that there are different versions of The Reverse Flash, so you should take a look on ComicVine or wikipedia. Some things I remember: (In the comics) Eobard is from a much later future than Barry was. He re-created the event that got Barry his powers and got plastic surgery to look like Barry as well. You should definitely check out those two sites for more info!
Eobard comes back in time more than once to fight Barry. We’re seeing him after his *last* time jump.
https://hyperborea.org/flash/zoom.html is a bit out of date, but covers the pre-Flashpoint versions of the Reverse Flash.
barry just proved he can time travel.. also next year Rip hunter will be in the new legends series and he has a time machine and if you get a chance watch the legends of tomorrow trailer, it shows and talks about them traveling in time to fight vandal savage.. also notice they did not say one easter egg in the finale.. hawk girl was looking up at the sky.. but unless you seen the trailer you would not know who she was
Loved it!!!! I see a lot of people liked the helmet!!!! Great great great episode!! It got a little flashpointy with Flash letting his mom die, but I like Flashpoint. I did not see the eddie thing either. Is Reverse Flash gone for good? I doubt it!
With the Reverse Flash wiped from existence this means Tom Cavanaugh can come back next season as the REAL Harrison Wells, not “Eobard Thawne in Wells Clothing” (and face, and body) as Thawne never would have killed him and his fiancee all those years earlier.
Well I’m not too sure about that. See, Wells was already killed…so I don’t think he’ll just “poof” back.
His killer was wiped from existence so technically he wasn’t killed after all.
True…but then that would mean that everyone RF killed would still be alive. Including Barry’s mom. Which is not 😛 Well’s will probably just appear in Earth 2!
Overall I liked it. They resolved all the major plot and character arcs from the season, and while the resolutions may not all have been ideal, they rang true (which is more important in storytelling).
Future Barry’s head shake was one of my favorite moments. It’s interesting that Barry makes a more mature decision here than his comic book counterpart does when he sets off Flashpoint.
Henry’s “order of things comment” seemed a little off since the events had *already* been changed, but it makes sense for the character and where he, and Barry are at this point.
I loved the teases of Jay’s helmet, the Flash Museum, Killer Frost and so on.
There was some fridge logic, in particular: Why does Eddie’s sacrifice erase Eobard from this point onwards, but the last 15 years and season one *aren’t* reset? My wife came up with the idea that it’s the best way the universe can avoid a negative feedback causality loop, which is a better explanation than I can come up with. OK, time’s a timey wimey ball and all that. Fine.
Also, what happened to the unstoppable countdown from last week?
Two things bugged me while watching:
Mach 2 is pretty slow for a particle accelerator, though of course we’re taking about something human-sized instead of a particle. And hitting *one* particle is basically getting an extremely low dose of radiation (lower than sunburn level). I can excuse that on the basis of genre and rule of cool, but…
How does Dr. Caitlin Snow, a scientist, not know what a singularity is? Even if you argue it’s outside her specialty, she’d still have a basic grounding in other fields…and she’s worked at a *particle accelerator* for years. It would have come up. The ONLY people who could reasonably be expected to ask that question are Eddie and Joe. Maybe Iris.
Yes, I know it’s just one line, and yes, it was exposition for the part of the audience that didn’t know the term, but handing it to the only woman in the room, especially when there’s *no reason she would need to ask it*, was a blatant example of casual sexism in writing.
You are right – it is casual sexism in writing, and I’m ashamed I didn’t catch that when I saw the show. Your other observations are also spot on. The big takeaway from the show for me is that they now have the ability to take the show in almost any direction now. With the events of this show they can rewrite the timeline in whatever way makes the most sense for the stories they want to tell in season two. I don’t think they will radically alter everything, but it does give them much more freedom than most script writers have when going into a second season. Can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves. Grant Gustin has confirmed to TVGuide that we will likely see an Earth 2 story next year, and I’m really looking forward to that.
UPDATE: Corrected spelling for Grant Gustin….autocorrect completely changed that one and I didn’t catch it.
Yeah, the “Mach 2” thing bugged me too; some percentage of the speed of light, even a small one, (2%?) would have been more credible. Ah well, TV Sci-Fi writers have no sense of scale.
136 years.so barry allen is still alive for the next 136 years? Explain that please someone
Eobard’s a time traveler. He’s born in 2151, then goes back in time to the 2020s on multiple occasions to fight Barry, before eventually going back in time to around 2000 when he tries to kill young Barry, fails, and instead kills Nora and gets stuck in the past.
Good episode but hate that we have to wait until Fall to find out what’s going to happen next.
“the wormhole opens and Barry can now see the Speed Force” Barry was able to see the Speed Force before The particle was released.
I have been a Flash fan since the 70’s.After Crisis on Infinite Earths, I lost interest in the Flash, but still collected Wally’s series. Then they brought Barry back. Excited for about 5 seconds, not the same. Now we have the WB series.I have never been so excited about the Flash since I was a kid, what’s old is new again.
The season finale made me laugh,( Stein’s Excelsior comet) cry (Barry’s “goodbye” to his mom), get angry.(The thought of Flash Point for TV.) Good Job to everyone involved.
SEASON TWO IS GOING TO ROCK!!!!!
Earth Two anyone?
Earth Two, damn right! So, who would you cast as Jay Garrick? I vote John Wesley Shipp for the hat trick. (He’s also voiced the Reverse Flash on “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”).
As much as I would have loved him in the part, Henry Allen as Flash I is a bit of a stretch, even as a result of time-meddling.
I agree. With that in mind, I think Robert Patrick would actually be a perfect Jay Garrick (if he’s available).
Robert Patrick certainly has that graying-at-the-temples look that defined Jay from the Silver age on. Or, if they’re casting for a younger, in-his-prime version of Jay, (as in the “New 52” ), combined with a bit of stunt casting, how about Michael Rosenbaum?
I read that in an interview Shipp declared he was actually cast for the role of Jay Garrick in the first place, but he chose the part of Barry’s father as it was more appealing. I guess he wanted to run away from typecasting.
Yeah, sure! 😀
Just great of him.
I think he look EXACTLY like the comic Jay with the strip of gray on his sides.
O WAIT what about the speedforce showing a Barry in cuffs?!?!?! Trail of the Flash storyline…? but Thawne would have to come back to get killed.
Excellent episode in every way except one–but that one is so huge it’s kind of a deal breaker for me: Barry, I know you miss your Mom a lot, but that does not give you the right to RISK THE PLANET! From the moment Prof.Stein discovered even a 1% chance of Armageddon, time travel should have been off the table. I mean this goes way past reckless endangerment… If the script had given some reason for urgency so that the decision could have been justified — “Hey, guys, that energy build-up I initiated last episode is still going on; and we need to divert that power into the timestream ASAP, or there’s going to be an earth-shattering kaboom!” — for one example. That kind of gambit would be right in character for Eobard/Wells. But without a pressing reason for the risk, the script hands Team Flash a planet-sized idiot ball made of weapons-grade stupidium.
He did let her die in the end….
hmm. . what a confusing paradox it will be, if reverse flash never exist, so he wouldn’t fought the future flash and killed barry’s mom, and he wouldn’t killed the real Harisson Wells. Is there any explanation to this?
So what you’re getting at is Eddie really messed it all up for everyone by shooting himself?
I’d like to see an episode with Barry and Joe working with an FBI profiler named Hunter Zolomon on a case.
Since Berlanti is using a lot of the cast members from Eli Stone (Victor Garber, Tom Cavanaugh, and Matt Letscher were all on that show) maybe get Sam Jaeger (most recently of NBC’s Parenthood) to play Zolomon…
Just a thought.
Here’s what would be cool: Barry visits a reality based on ’90s Wally, complete with Flash!Wally, his girlfriend Linda Park, and Good!Hartley. That would be fun.
OOOO the possibilities!!!!!!!
Wasn’t E Thawne from the 25th century…guess i dont have a probably with tweaking that a bit. So Harrison comes back as Harrison…and we have a new RF (Hunter or Daniel) or some how bring Thawne back as the blonde normal Thawne. Love the time travel stuff. Now that they have shwon the Garrick Helmet they HAVE to BRING Him up AGAIN!!! Thats a tease I wont stand for…well I will watch it still but wont be as happy!. Anyone read Grant G.’s reflection on season 1. I cant get it right now cause buzzfeed is blocked but my wife said it was inspiring.
That was an incredible finale to a wonderful season. Flash of Two Worlds, here we come!
So how long before they have to introduce the Cosmic Treadmill? I’d loved to see other speedsters show up like Bart or Max Mercury.