This season of THE FLASH has had a lot of twists and turns – let’s just do a quick review. We began with FLASHPOINT, then moved to Doctor Alchemy, Savitar, Kid Flash, Killer Frost, Gypsy, HR Wells from Earth 19…and moved all the way up to last episode’s tragic ending. How could they possibly resolve all of this, much less top the drama of last week’s cliffhanger? And, what clues will we get to Season 4? We get a LOT packed into this season’s finale, and to say “everything changes” would be an understatement this time around! Want to know more? Just follow us after the jump!

SPOILERS AHEAD! 

NOTE: This review is being posted before THE FLASH airs in the Pacific Time Zone USA. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, STOP HERE and come back later – you’ll be glad you did!

The first big question is how to get out of a very visible death scene for Iris West…and for those of you who guessed “transmogrifier” (hope that is spelled correctly), you get points for Gryffindor (or should I say “Slytherin” given the actor who plays Julian?).  We don’t get that right away…not until a pair of drumsticks fall out of “Iris West’s” coat. We then learn what happened. HR regretted accidentally revealing Iris’ location on Earth 2, so he went to save her…and switched places with her, leaving her to look and sound like HR while he took on Iris’ image and voice.

HR gets his death scene – leaving a myterious message with Barry for Cisco (more on that later).

Team Flash realizes they have changed the future…and that should mean Savitar will fade out of existence as soon as the paradox catches up with him. Of course, that means future-Barry has absolutely nothing to lose, and whatever time he has left could be very, very bad…

…and future-Barry has plans…

His idea? Force Cisco to change the Speed Force Bazooka into an “Intra-dimensional Quantum Splicer”. This would cause Savitar to exist simultaneously in every moment of time from the Big Bang to the end of everything, and no paradox could catch up with him.  That sets up a series of events, and for our purposes I’ll only list a few (you really need to see the full episode):

• Cisco agrees to help to keep Caitlin from being killed by Savitar, but he has other plans for the device.
• Barry tries to follow Len Snart’s advice and actually invites his future self to S.T.A.R. Labs to help him…but in the end it doens’t work out and Savitar tries to kill everyone before leaving
• When Cisco completes his work, he is saved from certain death by Gypsy, who admits there is a “connection” between them
• Eventually, Savitar tries out this new device with Caitlin’s help…only to find that the device has been hacked by Cisco in a different way than intended – and it frees Jay Garrick from the Speed Force!
• The battle is on, with Barry versus Savitar, and with Cisco and Gypsy against Killer Frost.
• As Frost is defeated, Cisco offers her the cure that Julian had discovered earlier in the episode

And…Barry phases future-Barry out of the Savitar armor, taking it over! He has the chance to kill his time remnant future self, but chooses instead to vibrate the armor apart. He believes he’s knocked future Barry out, but…not so fast.

Future Barry is ready to attack his present self from behind when Iris shoots future Barry! Whether that shot kills him or not, the paradox catches up about then and future Barry fades from existence.

All is well, right? Hold on, this is THE FLASH on the CW – and we don’t get that neat and tidy an ending…

At the funeral for HR, Barry finally delivers that message to Cisco – he asked Barry to tell Cisco that, “This took strength and he gave it to me”.

Caitlin arrives, but refuses the “cure”. She isn’t Caitlin anymore…and she isn’t really Killer Frost either. She leaves to try to figure out just who she really is now.

Barry and Iris enjoy some down time, with Barry delivering their wedding invitations at super-speed. All is well, right?

Hold on, we are just now ready for the…

EPILOGUE:

A speed force based energy event causes a massive disturbance in Central City. It’s an earthquake and lightning storm combined.  And, the team realizes what the reason for this is…

…The Speed Force Prison needs an occupant. Without it, this storm will destroy everything. Barry realizes that he needs to be that person. To confirm it, the Speed Force sends out an emissary in the image of his mother!

Barry sees this as his penance and his redemption for FLASHPOINT. He leaves Wally behind as the protector of Central City, he convinces the Harry Wells of Earth 2 to stick around for a while longer, and he walks into the Speed Force to disappear…forever?

…or at least until Season 4!

NOTES:

• I don’t want to go too far without mentioning some of the reactions to Iris’ “death” – especially Jesse L. Martin, who can say more with a look than most actors could say with a 20 minute soliloquy,
• Grant Gustin did a wonderful job in playing the dual role of Barry/Future-Barry througout the season, but never better than tonight.

SUMMARY:

Looking back on the season now that the finale is here, I’m really happy with the course of the show. I wasn’t sure where FLASHPOINT would lead us, but it gave the cast new directions for a lot of characters, from HR of Earth 19 to Killer Frost to Kid Flash, and more. We got new characters, like Doctor Alchemy/Julian, Gypsy, and the return (if briefly) of great characters from prior seasons (Jay Garrick of Earth 3, Captain Cold, Grodd, King Shark…). Candice Patton really grew into her character this season, giving Iris the spotlight she has needed since the beginning for the series.  Overall, this was an amazing season, with a fitting finale. This was a 10/10 for me – what do YOU think? Leave your comments below!

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