This was not just another season of THE FLASH. It was one of the best seasons so far in the series. There was some talk early on that Season 8 could be it, and while I’m glad we get another season I’m not sure how they will top this. It’s the final, be-all end-all universe-shattering battle between good and evil. Can the world even survive this titanic fight? Wanna know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Here’s what happened, looking at each thread
- Barry wants revenge, and only the intervention of Bart and Nora keep him from killing Thawne right away. This starts a thread that goes almost through the whole episode – will Barry go against his nature and kill?
- Thawne is brought into a duplicate of the timeline we saw where he married Iris and Barry was the Reverse Flash. But, it’s just there so that the other Negative Forces could start his “transformation”. We’ll come back to that, but first:
- Iris is alive – she was saved by the force of that Timestone that Damien Darhk gave to Joe West, saying he “might need it one day”. We see Iris and the leftover consciousness of Damien Darhk talking about how she might escape.
- Eventually, Iris does – by “reigniting the spark” that she has always felt with Barry until being trapped in that Timestone. That gets her out an home, and just in time, because…
- Barry has been trying to get into the negative force. He eventually does with Meena’s help, only to find that “it’s his fault”. Barry upset the cosmic balance when he took Thawne’s speed, and now the negative forces want to tip the balance in the other direction. And…
- Thawne is back in the baddest Black Flash/Zoom outfit yet. He’s killing indiscriminately, powered up even more by all the negative forces combined.
- How to fight that? Well, thank you Cecile! She (along with the metas whose powers she took away) summoned the good Bashir back from wherever he had been. Cecile and Bashir combined to bring back all the good forces – and they powered up Barry.
- This was a fight for the ages – and Central City is being torn apart in the battle. It’s utter devastation, with Central City becoming a war zone.
- Iris is brought to the scene by Jay (yay!!!). She convinces Barry to try a different way – and he willingly sets himself up for Thawne to strike him down!
- But, that’s not what happened – Barry is meditating in the good forces, and Thawne’s attack has no effect. Thawne keeps asking for more power, and more power, until…
- He asked for far too much – it was more than he could handle. The negative lightning storm collapses in on him – it’s the end of Thawne!
So, all ends well. No more Thawne, and Barry didn’t change who he was at heart for this to happen. Iris is cured of her time sickness. Tinya Wazzo’s mother has been freed from the Still Force and reunited with her daughter. Cecile has suddenly gained telekinesis as a new power. Meena has lost her speed (she never wanted it anyway) but maintains her friendship with Team Flash. And then…
EPILOGUE:
Really two things here – First is the idea that the Negative Speed Force will always need an avatar, and it looks like June 29, 2049 may be the day it finds that next person. Cobalt Blue? Dunno. Wait and see.
Second the experiment to revive Frost has hit a snag – maybe. Mark opens the chamber, but doesn’t really recognize the person inside. We don’t see her though. She has Caitlin’s voice, but is likely very much NOT the Caitlin we’ve known so far. Again, wait and see.
NOTES:
- There was SO much in this episode. A whole lot of action, come great cameos (Jay and Joan, and Damien Darhk!), and a nice wrap up of a lot of story threads. Some of those threads have been hanging out there for a very long time.
- And if you think I left some things out – yes I did. There was just SO much that it was impossible to capture it all in this review.
- And, thankfully, we do have a couple of teases for what Season 9 can bring. It will have to be pretty awesome to match up with what we’ve just seen.
SUMMARY:
One of the very best seasons of THE FLASH ends on a high note. Can’t say enough about the ride we’ve been on – and the end of that ride was spot on. 10/10 from this reviewer. Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!