Part three of The Flash: Armageddon saves its biggest reveal for last
Emotions run high as Barry decides to stop running in "Armageddon, Part 3."
TV Reviews The Flash
It makes sense that an episode largely dealing with Joe West’s supposed death would strive for big emotions, but “Armageddon, Part 3" pushes the emote-o-meter far into the red. Full-blown hysteria is demanded of Danielle Nicolet in three different scenes, which is probably at least one too many. It’s certainly understandable that Cecile would react badly to both Barry forgetting Joe’s death and Iris speculating that it never really happened, but when you combine her frenzied performance with Tony Curran’s Beyond Ham turn as Despero, there’s a near-constant need to reach for the remote and turn down the volume.
Maybe that’s why Cress Williams is such a welcome presence this week. His Black Lightning serves as a calming, unflappable center to the histrionics swirling around him. When Barry shows up at the Hall of Justice demanding that he implement the Injustice Protocols that will rob the Flash of his speed forever, he doesn’t freak out about it. He tries to reason with Barry and find a rational alternative. Since that’s not how Barry operates, it isn’t long before they’re throwing lightning at each other, but at least Jefferson tried.
Last week Barry lost both his job and his headquarters, but what he’s really worried about is losing his mind, especially since he couldn’t remember Joe’s death. I speculated last week that Barry might actually be right for once and that some time meddling could behind Joe’s absence, and lo and behold, Iris backs me up this week. Security footage of Joe’s accident at the train station seems to reveal him blipping out of reality right before the train runs him over, but Cecile isn’t hearing any of this, so Iris and Allegra set off to investigate on their own.
Iris changes her mind when a look at the full security footage appears to confirm Joe’s death, but when the strange particles she spotted hovering over the train tracks later reappear, she starts to suspect her time sickness is allowing her to see some sort of anomaly. This is confirmed when Dion the Still Force shows up for their regular time-therapy appointment and is also able to see the temporal isotopes. He deduces that someone has tapped into the Negative Still Force in order to change the timeline. But who could it be?
In an effort to track down Barry before Despero can, Cecile enlists Rosa Dillion, previously the Sam Scudder associate known as Top. They combine their psychic forces via a Chester-engineered gizmo and are eventually able to pinpoint Barry’s location despite Cecile’s initial meltdown over being privy to so many minds at once. Over at STAR Labs, it’s hard to believe there’s anything left of the set at the rate Curran is chewing the scenery. His Despero reactivates the particle accelerator and absorbs its power, which only pushes him to greater heights of comic book acting. The man knows what part he’s playing.
Meanwhile at the Hall of Justice, Black Lightning is skeptical of this whole Despero story and wondering why Barry is determined to give up so easily. They zap each other for a while until the Arrow memorial gets knocked over and Jefferson takes the opportunity to remind Barry that Oliver Queen didn’t sacrifice himself for the Flash just so he could give up his powers. Despero arrives to finish Barry off, but Jefferson is able to keep him occupied long enough for Dion to lend Barry the Still Force energy he needs to find the weird temporal activity he seeks.
He finds it, and this is where the real fun starts…alas, two minutes from the end of the episode. In 2031, he follows signs for a West party into a restaurant where a celebration is in progress. Some familiar faces are gathered to honor the happy engaged couple: Eobard Thawne and Iris West. This is a moment that could come straight off the cover of a Silver Age Flash comic. You can almost see the thought bubble over Barry’s head as he sees his wife embracing his greatest foe.
It took three weeks to get to the point where I actually feel invested in what happens next on “Armageddon,” but the return of Tom Cavanagh is welcome indeed, and the prospect of his Thawne teaming with Neal McDonough’s Damien Darhk to torment Barry has me hopeful that “Part 4" will kick things up a notch or two.
Stray observations
- Did you catch all the party guests at the end? I’m sure I didn’t, but I definitely did a double-take at Chester with long dreads.
- Can Barry really be permanently severed from the Speed Force? They know each other pretty well. I think she owes him one.
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Did you catch all the party guests at the end? I’m sure I didn’t, but I definitely did a double-take at Chester with long dreads.Outside of the series regular, the guests of note were Alex Danvers and Ryan “Batwoman” Wilder. Unless I also missed someone?
Ryan Choi was there too, but I couldn’t place that guy next to him.
Ugh you’re right, I noticed Ryan Choi at the time and then he…fell out of my brain, I guess.
I don’t believe the gentleman next to Ryan Choi is anyone we’re supposed to know, but he does seem rather prominently placed in that 3-shot alongside Ryan and Cecile.
– Watching Barry and Jefferson together makes me want a Justice League series so, so freaking bad.
– Joe gets run over by a train and there’s no blood or even shredded clothing? I’ve actually seen people run over by a commercial subway train. It ain’t that clean.
– Speaking of which, Joe is WAY too intelligent to be standing that close to the platform edge. And the shove that knocks him down was so pitiful.
– Does the funeral pyre just stay lit 24/7, even when nobody is in the hanger?- Iris’ choice in shirts today was quite excellent. I say that for purely puritanical reasons, mind you.
– I get the joke, but Chester’s grandma having an old-school black-and-white TV in 2021 feels like a joke two decades out of date. Even my 70+-year-old aunt who can barely figure out a flip phone has a flatscreen TV. They actually DO still make those kind of antennas, but most indoor TV antennas nowadays are either flat panels stuck to the windows or big curved rectangles with possibly an adjustable metal rod.
– I laughed when Caitlin was all “Top’s alive, but we need to get her to a hospital” while the rest of Team Flash was all like “We need to focus on Despero and Barry!”- That final scene in 2031 was so picture perfect I couldn’t help but laugh. Almost makes up for nobody even thinking Thawne had a hand in this despite this kinda shit being his MO.
– That final scene will also feel pretty awkward if Javica Leslie ever leaves the show or the character gets killed off when the show ends.
They probably have to keep the flame going to try to dry off the floor. The Justice League must have 24/7 janitorial services that involve nothing but mopping. I kept getting worried at the combination of all that water and all that electricity.
Also weird that Barry — who owns that building — didn’t just move Team Flash in there after the issue with the city came up. It’s not like it’s a secret, Chester mentioned the building out loud!
– Joe gets run over by a train and there’s no blood or even shredded clothing? I’ve actually seen people run over by a commercial subway train. It ain’t that clean.Yeahhh when Cecile and Iris talked about watching the burial I was wondering what identifiable remains they could possibly have had to bury. That is not an open-casket kind of death.
That final scene will also feel pretty awkward if Javica Leslie ever leaves the show or the character gets killed off when the show ends.I have a nagging feeling the writers may choose to gloss over Ryan replacing Kate and just say that everyone met offscreen.
I’m sure they “met” during the Faust incident
Well, they have had Justice League adventures off-screen already, since Barry mentions that the Injustice Protocol was in response to their battle with Felix Faust, so it’s possible that Kara popped on by sometime after finding out there’s a new Batwoman.
I guess that’ll suffice narratively – it does take the magic out of the heroes meeting each other for the first time and watching those relationships grow from the ground floor. I can understand given COVID restrictions preventing more crossovers and some of the weird transitioning on the Batwoman side, the writers may feel it’s better to gloss over and move on.
Also fair to assume that in this borked timeline, Barry got Kara and Clark and New!Kate in the friend divorce after Iris dumped him.
You can’t even get a TV signal with those rabbit ear antennas anymore. You have to buy a different type of antenna adapter. Unless Grandma Runk’s “stories” are just her watching static for signs of alien communication.
I also found it funny that Chester specified that they had to give it back by 7pm for her stories. Even accounting for the time zone difference, around here the 7pm hour is dedicated to game shows, local news, and magazine shows. You could argue that she’s watching diginets like MeTV or Bounce, but even assuming that they have those up in Canada, I doubt that’s what the writers were going for.
I suppose the most charitable interpretation is the old “8pm/7pm Central time,” if Central City is indeed in the center of the country.
I’ll go ahead and assume Central City is in the central time zone, which was apparently named after it.
Maybe she’s watching telenovelas!
– That final scene will also feel pretty awkward if Javica Leslie ever
leaves the show or the character gets killed off when the show ends. C’mon, haven’t you realized by now everything, including time travel anomalies, can be waved off by the speed force?
“Meanwhile at the Hall of Justice. . .”This gif really disturbs me after staring at it for a few seconds.
Barry & Jefferson Pierce interact with each other so well.
The “twist” is going to be Despero destroyed his own planet.
When Chester connects The Top & Cecile to the neural crown, why are the electrodes stuck to their necks not temples?
If the Still Force is the opposite of the Speed Force, wouldn’t the Negative Still Force just be the Speed Force? Or is the Negative Speed Force just the Still Force?
DAMN IT, EOBARD!
I’m curious to see how they’ll handle Batwoman. Her own show hasn’t been doing her many favors lately:
https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2021/11/30/will-batwoman-season-three-overcome-its-legacy/
Knowing the Arrowverse, the electrode things probably kept falling off their heads with all the moving around and it was easier to keep them attached at the neck.
Writers must have watched Voyager. They loved a medical neck thingy on that show.
If the Still Force is the opposite of the Speed Force, wouldn’t the
Negative Still Force just be the Speed Force? Or is the Negative Speed
Force just the Still Force?
They established the Negative Speed Force a season or two ago as being a speed-based but negative in terms of energy and emotions rather than functionality. The same would hold true of the Negative Still Force…it’s basically just evil.
It really begs the question whether Thawne managed to make the whole suite of negative forces to go with his negative speed force. We could have all the forces going head to head.
“I forgot Joe West was dead!” yelled Barry, not noticing the “and JESSE L MARTIN” credit appearing at that exact instant.
Whoever was in charge of that was having the best week of his career, probably.
Now that I think of it…the credits spoiled Chyler Leigh and Javica Leslie, one of whom didn’t even have a line (?), but am I right that they didn’t mention Cavanagh? (My recording’s gone so I can’t check.)
Yeah, Chyler didn’t say a single word.
Yeah, the credits for the Flash this season (and also in the last few eps of Supergirl, I think) did a good job of not spoiling some of the surprises. I don’t think they mentioned Cress Williams last week, so his showing up would’ve been a surprise if the reviews didn’t have Black Lightning in the main photos. Chyler Leigh wasn’t really much of a ruined surprise, since she was already in it (and honestly, Alex is kiiiinda useless). But glad they didn’t spoil the Cavanagh surprise.
I thought Cress Williams was in the stinger last week. But I watch the previews, so it could be that I’m remembering.
He was, but his name wasn’t in the credits so they were trying to keep it a surprise I guess.
Tom Cavanagh’s name was in the end credits of this episode with a “Special Guest Star” credit.
Imo, the problem with this “event” is that the writers are throwing so many new concepts at the viewers (Joe’s dead, the “Justice League” has Injustice protocols, etc) that the entire story just feels unmoored. It also didn’t help that I completely forgot who this version of The Top was and the whole deal with Iris’s time sickness?That being said, the reveal in 2031 was a goddamn delight. It also explains how Mia fits into this whole thing.
I think the unmoored feeling is at least partially intentional.I mean, Joe’s death was entirely glossed over despite it being something that would have been a big deal. The whole premise up to this point feels like it was intentionally disjointed to add to the audience’s growing unease as Barry is supposed to be losing his mind but also to reflect the ever changing and orchestrated shifts in reality caused by Thawne.
The whole ‘joes dead’ made me think i’m missed a crossover or something because that came so out of left field i didn’t know what was going on.
It’s almost ridiculous how much better the show gets when Thawne-as-Wells shows up. In the past they’ve sometimes misused him by concentrating on him as Reverse Flash – which isn’t that interesting in itself and lends to overacting – but when he’s just being Wells he lights up the show.
Wait so you’re saying that at the end of the episode it was Thawne as Wells? I thought it was just Thawne. Did I miss something?
Well, he’s wearing the face of Harrison Wells, talks with the voice of Harrison Wells, and has the general mannerisms of Harrison Wells. So I think of him as Thawne-as-Wells; I’ve no idea whether people in this timeline actually think he IS Wells for some reason. I assume that’s just his automatic fucking-with-Barry face. Whereas Thawne himself looks and acts very different.
Well, he’s wearing the face of Harrison Wells, talks with the voice of Harrison Wells, and has the general mannerisms of Harrison Wells. So I think of him as Thawne-as-Wells; I’ve no idea whether people in this timeline actually think he IS Wells for some reason. I assume that’s just his automatic fucking-with-Barry face. Whereas Thawne himself looks and acts very different.
Well, he’s wearing the face of Harrison Wells, talks with the voice of Harrison Wells, and has the general mannerisms of Harrison Wells. So I think of him as Thawne-as-Wells; I’ve no idea whether people in this timeline actually think he IS Wells for some reason. I assume that’s just his automatic fucking-with-Barry face. Whereas Thawne himself looks and acts very different.
Cecile telling Cailtin she had no idea what Cecile was going through made me wonder if Cecile was possessed or something. What is there even to know about Caitlin’s personal life other than that she lost her husband Certainly was a welcome episode for Jefferson/ Black Lightning to show up and be the voice of reason, otherwise badly lacking on the show at the moment Hopefully Top is okay, she deserves a break both for helping & for her line about doesn’t one of the guys she is pool hustling want to wind up on top
Caitlin was a pretty big voice of reason this week too, and she got utterly shat upon for it. I guess she got a metaphorical last word when Cecile “thought of Joe” though. That’s something.I feel like the writers and Panabaker are both done with Cait. Frost is fun to write for and fun to play, and Cait’s been a dead end for ages. Ironically, the big problem with getting rid of Cait is that she has basically no place to go – not even a new, totally-made-up place. She’s so completely inert that nothing would make sense. Hell, even her dying would barely make sense, since this is fiction and not reality.I honestly couldn’t even envision a convincing plot where Cait dies solely to motivate Frost to do something…. anything. I’m completely devoid of ideas. It’s actually a little frightening what a dead space this is, now that I dedicate more than two seconds of thought to it.
In the scene where Cecile and Iris were arguing, I thought there was an opportunity for Caitlin to step in and take charge, and…she did nothing. I can understand that Chester and Allegra don’t feel like they have enough seniority to speak up, but Caitlin should’ve done something other than stand on the sidelines. This is what we really lost last year with the departure of Cisco, Wells, and even Ralph, more senior voices on the team with the ability to moderate.
Can’t they send her to Star City? Let her be a doctor somewhere to underprivileged youths or something?I think Caitlin has served no real purpose other than to emote for the past three seasons and to give the SnowBarry shippers palpitations at imagined pairing. I know some people will miss her, but I wouldn’t.
The writing for Caitlin has always been abysmal. Remember when she needed basic concepts of physics like “singularity” explained to her, despite being a physicist?
Cecile has been so unlikeable during these 3 parts so far that I feel like she has to be possessed.
Yeah, every ep I’m waiting for the reveal that she’s being mind-controlled. She’s way too manic, and it’s pretty outrageous how she shrugs off Iris losing her dad as somehow lesser of a loss.
Yeah the way she looked at her like Iris doesn’t feel as bad or worse is something else and it does make me think she has to be controlled or it’s not even her.
I was waiting for Iris to yell at her “You knew him for a few years – I knew him my entire life!”
To be fair, Caitlin losing her husband was way back in season 1, long before Cecile met her or any of Team Flash. I’m sure she heard about it as she grew to know everyone, but it wasn’t something she was around for, so when she thinks about who Caitlin is, losing her husband isn’t something she automatically thinks of.
Man, the League fought Faust at some point offscreen? I want that story!So Despero, Cecile, and the rest of Team Flash combined have trouble finding Flash, but he’s just at the Hall the entire time? Wouldn’t that be the first place to look? For that matter, why not just move over to the Hall when the Lab is closed? It’s still STAR Labs property. Jefferson’s mantra never gets old. The fight between the two was pretty contrived, but Flash and Black Lightning have a really good dynamic.I’m really not looking forward to Thawne hijacking the story, which is where this seems to be going.
Thawne didn’t hijack the story in my opinion.I knew from the jump that Thawne was behind it all in some way. Thawne’s MO is screwing with Barry’s timeline, so when Barry’s world started to coincidentally fall apart around him, I knew it was Thawne messing with him. We may still see it, but I thought that Barry’s outbursts were actually Thawne using his face since that’s actually part of one of his origin stories in the comics.
I could’ve gone for a whole episode on the League figuring out the protocols, too. Some Stray Thoughts:
“Injustice” absolutely sounds like Barry’s choice for this particular one. Sara definitely pitched it as EVERYTHING SUCKS.I like that Jefferson is Barry’s Accountabilibuddy! Gotta think Kate and Kara were mutuals; same for Clark and J’onn. Maybe Mia is on call in case Sara goes all Death Totem again.
I wish that maybe the reveal could’ve surprised me but of course it was Thawne. It’s always Thawne. Dude has been all about fucking up Barry’s timeline since episode 1, “maybe it’s Thawne” should genuinely be everyone’s first reaction when coincidences start piling up.
The thing that drives me crazy is that EOBARD THAWNE DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THAT. Apparently he altered his appearance to look like Tom Cavanaugh in every timeline and never bothered to change it back, but his for-real face belongs to Matt Letscher, and I get why you want to bring back the actor who played a beloved character for 8 seasons instead of the one who was around for just a few episodes in the first three seasons (plus a great run in S2 of Legends of Tomorrow) — but it still maddens me that nobody seems to care about this. They even got mad at the real Harrison Wells for things Thawne did!
The way they forgot that Thawne wasn’t actually a Wells was ridiculous. But it makes sense to me that Thawne looks like Wells whenever he’s directly screwing with the heads of Barry or his relatives (and looks like himself when there isn’t a West to perform for).
I can’t even keep track anymore… did the Matt Letscher Thawne die (or cease to exist) at the end of that seasons of Legends of Tomorrow where he, Damien Darhk, and Malcolm Merlin were the big bads?
After reviewing the Wiki, since I couldn’t remember either — apparently the Black Flash finally caught up with him and ‘sploded his heart, destroying him and all the other time remnants of himself that he was using as an army. So that should’ve been the end of him forever and ever, amen.
BUT that was all pre-Crisis, so who really knows at this point. Cisco probably has a trading card somewhere detailing how it went down in the new universe.
Ah, thanks! Looking back, that kiiiinda just seems like it was a convenient way to remove the non-Wells-looking version of Thawne entirely and just use Cavanagh going forward (or backward? Apparently Rick Cosnett and Robbie Amell are slated to appear this season)
I actually thought it was supposed to be one of the Wellses at first. But I guess they’re all dead now?I still say killing off Harry was the biggest mistake this show ever made.
I had actual thoughts as the episode progressed but EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW IRIS/WELLS EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW GOD WHY MAKE IT STOP
Of all the places I was expected this crossover was going, NTR was definitely not one of them.
First thing that came to mind was when Lex married Lana on Smallville.
So I’ve said this before I wish AV Club watched Doom Patrol. Because Doom Patrol doesn’t have actors who are laughably as bad as the person who played the Top this week. Holy shit was she awful and so was Despero.Man did Jefferson feel like a great actor on a so-so show this week. And I love Barry but the rest of the cast seemed minor league when Jefferson was on screen.Woooooooo Thawne baby! I wonder if the DC Movie Flashpoint will have a reverse flash behind it all and if we do see the TV’s Flash on it, then we need to see the TV’s Thawne on it as well!
Curran is actually a good actor – he’s acting terribly here because someone told him to. That’s just the Flash house style.[it’s one reason Thawne works so well by comparison – when a guy turns up acting like a normal human being on this show, he immediately seems sinister and magnetic!]
That makes sense, I’ve seen him in other stuff that has been good and I was a little shocked he is “so bad” but you are right, probably playing to the CW level. Now the person playing the top, she was god awful and it made me laugh.
As I figured, Chyler Leigh didn’t get one line and her entire appearance amounted to standing around and staring for a few seconds. My understanding is that the final eps of Supergirl were filming around the same time as this, so I get that her availability was limited, but I hope she doesn’t wrap up her Flash eps with another video call.
Funny, the fact that she was actually on set for this one, along with other apparent additional guest stars like Chau and Leslie, makes me think that Jesse Rath will *not* show up for a Defiance reunion with Tony Curran. (Maybe I’m wrong – I’m avoiding spoilers and teasers).
Is this part out yet? I have been watching Shang Chi I got from this link https://www.mycinegist.com/toxicwap-com
Man I love Cress Williams as Black Lightning so much and he plays REALLY well with Barry.Ashley Rickards is my cuppa tea. Smoking hot and a Mensa member. The show needs more of her. Lots more.It was fun seeing Wells/Thawne up there celebrating his engagement to Iris, though I wish the show would use Matt Letscher more often too. Can’t wait to see Dahrk next week! Unless its a cop out kinda thing like hyping Black Lightning was last week.The “feelings” subplot to this show is tired. My word. And I was hoping we’d never have to deal with the other “forces” again too. I’m guessing this event will also reveal that the negative still force is what gave Iris her time sickness? And that Thawne and Dahrk are behind it?Why doesn’t anyone mention Superman on this show when they’re in the Hall of Justice? Also how dare they reference a bout with Faust as some sort of off-screen aside!!!
IMHO, Wells/Thawne is an upgrade for Iris in the husband department.I love that nobody changed/aged at all in 10 years, only Chester got a new hair style. Why doesn’t Barry just reach out to his kids who are FROM the future to check out what will happen rather than just believing a random alien saying he causes armageddon and just willingly give up his powers willy-nilly?
Mostly what this episode did was make me miss Black Lightning being on the air. We were blessed to have that show.
Beyond that, there were good things:- Top’s “come out on top” line ruled. I don’t know if they’re doing it on purpose, but they seem to really be leaning into Silver Age comic book ridiculousness this season, and I am all for it. For real, if they did a whole season of Batman ‘66 style antics with the Royal Flush Gang and the other goofy villains in the rogue’s gallery, it would probably instantly be my favorite season.
– Chester lets his grandma stare at the snow on her analog tube TV, which won’t be receiving any signal with those rabbit ears, and believe that she’s watching her “stories”? Does Team Flash not pay enough for him to get grandma a $200 doorbuster 1080p set? Dammit, Barry!
– So Barry’s gonna go back to the past and explain who was at the Iris/Thawne engagement party. “Yeah, it was Cecile, Alex Danvers, Chester, Allegra, some random chick with Iris whose name I didn’t catch, Ryan Choi, and Ryan Choi’s . . . date? brother? bestie? I dunno, some swarthy dude with Ryan Choi.” And Iris will say “See, somebody fucked with the future, because I would never invite Ryan Choi to AN…NY…THING, he is so lame!”- I hypothesize that the floor in the Hall of Justice was wet because Jeff was having his sweet-ass van washed.- Allegra’s evidence hunt sure used a lot of paper – did you see that binder? Again, I think The Citizen is the actual thing that destroys the planet in the future. Might explain how Iris ends up with Thawne – it’s because of her environmental supervillain turn. Maybe Poison Mary should show up to play antihero?
One plot beat that got to me, and it’s not Grant Gustin’s fault at all: finding out just this week that Barry grew up listening to Joe’s Thelonious Monk records thanks to Joe. That’s the kind of thing that we should’ve seen via flashback, or referenced, much earlier than this. Because having it come out just when Barry is hanging out with Jefferson came off sort of like the revelation on Supergirl that Kara binge-watched The Wire.
I honestly am giving the entire Armaggedon saga an A so far. It finally feels like the Flash again.
The Thawne reveal at the end was a delight, even though it was extremely predictable. This has been a very solid “crossover”, and I’m enjoying it was tremendously.
Speaking of Silver Age Covers they made a reference to this one
The whole time I’m watching, I’m wondering who hates Barry enough to frame him. When we hear about the Negative Still Force, I’m like hmm Thawne. Is he that spiteful to go back and kill his parent, and destroy his home, his job, and memories? Yeah he is.But that ending! I thought it was gonna be like a weird funeral or something idk. But then I HEARD his voice, and I was like no, no, no this can’t be. There is LITERALLY nothing Barry could do that would ever make Thawne a good option. I mean your first fiancé killed himself so Thawne wouldn’t be born Iris, how do you forget that? Even if you want to forget everything he did to Barry? What about your first daughter Nora? Or does not ending up with Barry change the timeline so she never came back? I don’t know, but that’s seriously suspicious. Unless that part of the future isn’t updated with the knowledge being gained in the present of Barry being framed, so it’s like a branched off timeline until it disappears when they beat him.Either way that doesn’t make sense.
I got a bit weirded out that Caitlin said that Kalanorians had 4 hemispheres. She’s a geek! She should know better about the definition of a hemisphere, unless Kalanorians are some kind of 4 dimensional being?
Lmao Chester’s dreads