The Flash wraps up a calamitous season with typical schmaltz, and a lightning-saber fight
The Flash season 7 finale provides manic catharsis to a season that’s had to rebuild its own house
TV Reviews The Flash
From Speed Force shenanigans to sinister metahumans who just need a proper heart-to-heart, Barry Allen has certainly been no stranger to obstacles during his seven-year sprint through The Flash. For season seven, however, the biggest obstacles came from our very real Earth-Prime. For one, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the seemingly unstoppable CW-verse, causing the Scarlet Speedster’s sixth season to come to an abrupt halt. Then the series had to say goodbye—and in one case, was forced to give an unceremonious boot—to three of its main cast members: Hartley Sawyer, the Elongated Man; Carlos Valdes, once Vibe, then Mecha-Vibe; and Tom Cavanagh, Harrison Wells of Earth-1 to infinity and, most crucially, the series’ main nemesis, the Reverse-Flash. Going in, what should have felt like a dauntless marathon into The Flash’s seventh season was feeling more like a trudge.
But the one constant of The Flash is and will always be: whenever the going gets tough, Team Flash rallies. Or, at least, they’ll try until their plucky hearts give out. “Heart Of The Matter, Part 2,” co-written by Eric Wallace & Kelly Wheeler, and directed by Marcus Stokes, works overtime to make sure the Flash faithful are left with a smile of their faces. And, cooing Bart Allen (Jordan Fisher) on the mic and a schmaltzy renewal of vows between Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris (Candice Patton) notwithstanding, the attempt winds up being a mad scramble.
That’s par for a series that has often juggled far more characters and subplots than it probably should. But despite the conspicuous absence of Ralph Dibny and later, the still-hard-to-accept exit of both Vibe and Wells, The Flash made the most out of a precarious situation and promoted supporting players like Brandon McKnight’s Chester P. Runk and Kayla Compton’s Allegra Garcia to full-time members of Team Flash. The new kids at S.T.A.R. Labs both received strong character-focused episodes and the show has even hinted at some kind of romance down the road. (Or maybe that’s just me? Fire away in the comments telling me I’m crazy.) As for series regular and eternal ray of sunshine Cecile Horton (Danielle Nicolet), she ran up against the Psycho Pirate (kinda) and came out on top. Even though the absences of longtime Flash-mainstays stung (some far more than others), The Flash made abundantly clear, especially with this finale, that family is the one element that can’t trip Barry Allen up.
The show, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. After kicking off with a three-episode finale/epilogue for Season Six (which was perfectly acceptable, given the circumstances), Season Seven broke itself up into two “Graphic Novel” storyarcs, truncated versions of the 22-episode (23 in some seasons) epics from The Flash’s glory days of yore, meant to dazzle the senses and build towards what was clearly meant to be an epic finale this week. Between a god-war between the various universal forces (given predictably human, CW-adorable forms), a vibrant interlude bye-bye for Carlos Valdes, and the sudden appearance of one Bart Allen, aka Impulse, the season has been, I don’t think it’s controversial to say, a chaotic whirlwind. More charitably, it’s been a mixed bag. So how’s the finale?
“Heart Of The Matter, Part 2" feels like manic catharsis after a season that’s been forced to rebuild its own house before it can move on to a brave (and bold!) new world. Picking up from last week’s cliffhanger, where Bart Allen got his spritely comeuppance after facing off with the many clones of surprise-baddie Godspeed (Karan Oberoi), Barry and Iris are faced with the possibility that their future-kids, Impulse and X-S (Jessica Parker Kennedy), might be stranded in the present with them, courtesy of Godspeed’s disruption of the Speed Force. (Which, naturally, is given Barry’s-mom form by Michelle Harrison.) It’s the latest, and most abrupt, of several lingering plot threads from this season that don’t get addressed this week (more on that in the Stray Observations), an actual mercy considering how packed the episode actually is.
Because of the season’s many story arcs, “Heart Of The Matter, Part 2” juggles a lot, yet it ties things up with the most colorful and superheroic Flash Family team-up yet. Allegra and Chester get their licks in, too, with the SEE device putting the hurt on Godspeed, however briefly, and they finally have a much-needed hug. John Wesley Shipp pops in for yet another encore (following his meta-farewell in Crisis On Infinite Earths) as Jay Garrick, inspiring Bart to chill out for three consecutive seconds and let his parents handle the Godspeed threat. X-S gets to throw around her speed whips and Iris dusts off her speedster threads from Season Four for a quick run-around before the episode tosses her in the Speed Force to page, of all people, Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash.
Yes, Tom Cavanagh makes a proper eleventh-hour appearance as The Flash’s prime-time heavy to join in on a climactic lightning-saber battle with Barry and Godspeed. It’s a preposterous three minutes of television, sure, but it’s also a nice alternative to the tired races and vibrating hand-axes that The Flash typically dangles in front of us. This “Duel of the Race” works for the episode’s close, particularly when we begin to think about the future of The Flash, and what Karan Oberoi’s August Heart/Godspeed represents to the show.
Oberoi is an appropriately maniacal speedster villain, more energetic and boisterous than Hunter Zolomon and far more engaging than the alt-emo Savitar from season three. The best part about Oberoi’s performance is that he leans into the fanatical edge of Godspeed, vamping on his cathedral altar and exuding actual menace in what has been an especially squishy season of The Flash. (“Let me enlighten you,” Heart bellows to Barry in the first moments of the episode. A villain monologue rarely starts with so much brio.) While Cecile coached August to find the strength to confront what he really is, what Godspeed really is is a bad dude, and in a show where villains are but one pep talk away from redemption, Godspeed represents a potential changing of the guard.
Godspeed will keep in Iron Heights for now. But in the meantime, we have season seven of The Flash to look back on, a season beset with complications and over-eager attempts to right a ship that never really set a definitive course after season one. Such is the nature of never-ending battles. But if Barry Allen and Team Flash can find a way out of their frequent scrapes by simply hoping and loving, then perhaps tapping into a bit of wit and smarts and actual danger might make the seasons to come a bit more solid. Maybe even coherent.
Stray Observations
- Yes, I know! I am not Scott Von Doviak, who posts regular Flash dispatches for The AV Club. I’d like to thank both Scott and my editor, Danette Chavez, for letting me vent my pent-up CW angst in time for this finale. I hope I was up to the task. (I’m currently writing about Star Wars: The Bad Batch for the site if you suddenly feel the urge to read more of my word count-demolishing stuff.)
- I don’t want to be that guy, show, but when it comes to ongoing superhero series, issues (or episodes in this regard) are collected in trade paperbacks, not “graphic novels.”
- In case you were curious, the “Zauriel Cathedral” (on Morrison Avenue, yet!) references the DC-canonical angel Zauriel, introduced in JLA issues #6-7. You… should definitely check those issues out.
- I can listen to John Wesley Shipp call Barry “kid” every day for the rest of my life.
- Frost: “You’re not actually gonna—” Mecha-Vibe: “Oh, I’m gonna.” I am really going to miss Carlos Valdes. Even though the show permanently ruined graphic T-shirts for him, his convivial presence on The Flash was one of the major reasons I kept tuning in. Farewell to those locks, those wisecracks, the Cisco.
- Just a thought: if the show needs a new wise-cracking superhero member for Team Flash, may I cordially submit Booster Gold? He’s a time-traveler, has a snarky robot friend named Skeets (who should be voiced by David Hyde Pierce; just saying), has roots in the Superman mythology (finally, crossovers with Superman & Lois!), and could bring in Blue Beetle for good measure.
- Among this season’s plot “wait and see”s: whether or not Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) will return to this post as the CCPD’s chief of police (it’s possible, considering how squirrely chain of command works in the Arrowverse); whether or not Sue Dearbon (Natalie Dreyfus) will drag a “changed” Ralph back into the works; whether or not Iris is actually pregnant (strange this subplot didn’t get addressed this week); and the inevitable return of Mark “Chillblaine” Blaine, not to mention his obnoxiously perfect abs.
- So, what did you think, group? Are you anticipating more Chillblaine in season eight? Will the Reverse-Flash return sooner than we think? Is The Flash on its way to getting back on track, at long last? Let’s go nuts in the comments below.
92 Comments
“…the God of Speed.” Yeah, you’re not the first to use that title.Isn’t Hart worried that his little war may erase himself from history?I really hope that when Hart gets his memories back, he punches Cecille. It’s nothing to do with her, but I’m tired of the evil person loses their memories and becomes a really great guy storyline. Can you please twist it?When Thawne showed up, I was really afraid that it was Kramer.“We need to take off our hats, kid.”Am I bad for hoping that Zoom was going to show up?It took me a few minutes, but I finally got it. Kramer can imitate other metas abilities.What is with Joe and those hats?That looks like the end of the Chillblaine storyline.It was a nice wedding.The Kramer storyline is over, and that was possibly the worst, most poorly executed storyline on this show ever. The villain was a soldier with PTSD who was helping his poverty stricken indigenous people. The hero was a racist , eugenicist, corrupt cop.
The villain was also an assassin who for reasons we aren’t told was willing to kill his sister when they were on good terms in the soldier fiasco. Kramer was bad too but in a what was the point type of way.
1. He didn’t intend to kill her.
2. He was killing people because the US military chewed him up and spit him out, and he figured he’d just took what they taught him and make some money that way.
The Kramer storyline is overAgreed I’ve been generally fine with this season (unlike a certain increasingly rabid subreddit…) however that specifically was from start to finish absolutely fuck awful. Worse it badly damaged Joe as a character with him constantly calling her a ‘good cop’ despite all evidence to the contrary. It even managed to be even more painful than Killer Frost going gooey over a complete and utter nob so that’s saying something.
Also I’d have laughed so hard if Ollie as the Spectre had popped in to ruin yet another Flash wedding.
I’m not sure the Kramer story was the worst ever, but… i honestly can’t think of a worse one. Not only was she horrible, she had the classic “empathy” forced upon someone through personal experience that’s not really empathy at all. “I’m a meta now so… maybe I was wrong that all metas are bad!” It’s the classic “As the father of a daughter, I respect all women…”
I certainly hope you are right that we have seen the last of Chillblaine. When someone last episode compared him to Captain Cold, I was livid. You sir are no Captain Cold
Caitlin/Frost’s Captain Cold is Amunet Black, and I’d love to see her come back and interact with them some more.
Amunet also succeeded Snart as the city’s crime boss, so that comparison I definitely think works. Always am glad for Amunet to come back, who actually had interesting relationships with both Frost and Caitlin, even before they were physically separate people
I was so tuned out of the Kramer plot the motivation for the villain flew over my head.
So… why did Caitlin and Killer Frost split? Why was Iris moving in and out of the timeline? Did Wally handle all the unrest in the psychic plane? Will anything come out of Kramers cool meta abilities that she never noticed before? Is Reverse Flash permanently stuck with the face of an actor that has chosen to peruse new projects, again?I enjoyed this finale as much as a season 7 Flash can be enjoyed, but I feel like a lot of things happen with no explanation and the audience doesn’t care because these episodes have been less boring than the rest of the season.
That was alright. I linked to the “Goodbye Vibe” article above and Carlos gave a nice shout-out to the crew that films the show week-in and week-out. I think that (in keeping an optimistic outlook) at least the show has seeded themselves a clutch of 5 or 6 one-off episodes for next season what with a return visit from Kramer, Chillblaine, and others. Kramer’s actress is super intense. Anyone else wonder if she and Joe might get-it-on? I know it wouldn’t happen – this isn’t that kind of show. But it seemed like they had chemistry that Cecille would not be cool with. Chillblaine … I hate typing out that name. I hate him. But do I love to hate him? “Love to hate him” in a good “boo hiss” villain way? Kinda? The show actually could get deep with Frost’s infatuation. Like there’s a line where if he keeps head-fucking her, and she snaps… what would that look like. He’s so entitled – the dude needs an epic fall. Secret hope: Sara and Ava’s wedding on LoT includes invites for Caitlyn and Frost, both Zari’s, and a dozen Ava clones. All of them at the reception dancing to the Isley Brothers’ Twist and Shout would be fantastic.
Kramer storyline seemed useless and honestly they should have had Joe go out like Quentin from Arrow and killed him off in season 6 or have him move from central city. Also Reverse flash should have a more intimidating presence to be honest after all. God speed was said to be Bart’s thawne let Godspeed go up against the actual Thawne to see the difference.
I thought Tom Cavanaugh was not coming next season so why did they have him play Eobard instead of Matt Letscher. I am assuming Reverse flash is the villain next season. Also Barry if you are faster than reverse flash why don’t you beat him.
Speaking for myself, I’ve rarely been gladder to see a season end. There was so much to dislike that I’m hoping it can be attributed to the curveballs COVID threw at the show. One thing that almost remained consistent was my firm conviction that Nora is the most annoying character on television. Whether that’s due to the writing or to Kennedy, I have no idea. What redeemed her was Fisher’s wedding song. In a season of cringey moments, that one took the cake.Really, the only thing that redeemed the season was Shipp. Any episode where I get to see Jay Garrick is a good one.
That felt like a backdoor series finale…
Kind of does, now you mention it. I mean, what’s the point of another season at this point? Big, largely pointless re-wedding accomplished, providing some sort of emotional closure to the personal plot line. Original villain comes back and the hero has outgrown him. Several key cast leaving. Last big comics character people had been nagging them about for years now dealt with.
Are they really planning on making an entire season of… what, Allegra charging up smartphones for people?
I was thinking how much in particular I enjoyed the ending with Barry and Iris renewing their vows, much more than the rest of the episode or season, like it was clipped from the end of a much better finale and pasted onto this one.
I enjoyed this episode even though it was quite a mish-mash of stuff. But the instant Tom Cavanagh’s Thawne appeared on screen, he was scarier than anything else they’ve dealt with this season. Just a reminder how amazing a villain he is and how Cavanagh absolutely nails the menace. Maybe some people would have gotten tired of it, but if this show had just been 7 seasons of Thawne trying to destroy Barry, I’d have watched with glee.So next season, they (hopefully) will get to have a non-COVID production and pick things up a bit. I’m pretty sure Bart & XS will be gone (Jordan Fisher is headed to High School Musical apparently), I hope against hope we’re done with Mark the Bartender, and they can better integrate Allegra now that her drama is done. It would be rad to have Thawne back as the villain, but I suspect that’s unlikely.
Also, I want to say a proper goodbye to the love of my life, Joan Garrick, who we’ll probably never see again after this season. I may not have super speed, but you sure make my heart race! 😍
I wonder if we’ll see her (or a version of her…) in Stargirl, now that Jay Garrick is going to be on there
I think the unfortunate reality is since production starts up soon, the early season 8 episodes will also have some COVID restrictions. Conversely, we’re supposed to be getting a bunch of team-up episodes to kick-off, so that’s something to look forward to.
It’s still amazing to me that the guy from Ed has been, for my money, the best TV comic book supervillain in the current onslaught of the genre in the last decade.
(hands Batista Thumbs Up 10 bucks)
Thawne will return in the series finale (also known as next season’s finale), I predict, and not before then–but it was shocking just how much better he was than every other villain/character on this show. Overall this finale was fine, for what the show has become. I’ll keep watching, out of obligation, but man, what a decline.
I really, REALLY hope next season is the final season.
Grant has a baby on the way so I’m guessing yeah 8 and done.
They COULD make an Iris and Bart spinoff. Ha ha, just kidding.
The showrunner stated in interviews yesterday that as of now, they have no idea if next season is the last and that he thinks/hopes it will go beyond season 8.As for whether or not it does, that’s likely just going to come down to Grant. But for what it’s worth, The CW likes to announce when their biggest shows are ending ahead of time. Arrow and Supernatural were announced to be ending two months before the previous seasons even finished airing and The Flash starts up production again fairly soon. So if I had to guess, we’ll find out very soon if Grant signs on for another year or if this it is, as we should have already known by now.
It’s also kind of jarring how effectively menacing the Thawne constantly-vibrating thing still is. Though the comic nerd in me is still wondering- why does he still appear as Wells?
Oh, purely done to spite Barry I would imagine. The Legends didn’t have that connection with Wells so easier to use his real form.
Because it’s cheaper and easier to get Tom Cavanaugh.
They mentioned it in the “Crisis on Earth X” episodes, basically handwaving it and saying that Thawne could pick his appearance. Which, hey, fine with me. Matt Lescher was good, but Cavanaugh is great.
I’ve always thought that because the Wells iteration was what Barry saw first and knew better. Having someone with Wells’ face betray him and play the villain would tend to freak Barry out more than someone with the Thawne face that he did not see until the end.
Because Tom Cavanaugh is better?
the season has been, I don’t think it’s controversial to say, a chaotic whirlwind. More charitably, it’s been a mixed bag.This is just how I feel. More power to those who are fans and die hard fans. I will agree that it has been a mix bag in the sense it’s no worse than previous seasons, but it wasn’t better either. I stuck through the season mostly to see how they would handle shooting during the pandemic. While forwarding through parts in episodes (especially the last few) that really you don’t miss much or care to get what’s happening, I will give them an “A” for effort. That being said, their best effort has resulted in them being consistent as a show, which isn’t exactly a compliment. The show had some moments but those amount to 30 minutes out of an entire season….more charitably. Overall mediocre at best, please cancel at worse. The finale had a couple of unintentional laughable moments. The first that made me laugh was when the clone/drone/dumb Godspeed forces would see Bart and say in a Power Ranger villain voice, “Kill the adversary.” Then the team of speedsters shows up. They pose. The White Rangers pause, then simply say, “Kill the adversary….and his allies.” I laughed. The second part I laughed at was the Power Rangers/Star Wars lightsaber battle. It won’t take any effort for someone to edit those lightning swords into lightsabers, add the sound effects and episode one battle music. I felt the last few episodes were perfect if it were a saturday morning kids show or after school kids show. The White Ranger clone/drone army, all the different colored speedsters. They had a mech Vibe. Throw in giant robots and monsters and yeah. I’m sure they would’ve gone for that too if it weren’t for the pandemic. Oberoi is an appropriately maniacal speedster villain, more energetic and boisterous than Hunter Zolomon and far more engaging than the alt-emo Savitar from season three.I vehemently disagree. If anything he made Savitar and Zoom look more badass in comparison. His acting was terrible, unless he was just a villain in any Japanese Sentai shows. It was borderline cartoonish. And his James Bond villain speech for all this…a tantrum. Just couldn’t handle not being the fastest. Nothing truly deep or dark. Very recycled poor man’s Reverse Flash excuse. At least Reverse Flash reason felt more damaged and sinister and somewhat tragic where you feel bad that he has so much hatred to be the fastest. Godspeed’s is just a villain of the week stretched out for too many episodes. Savitar and Hunter Zolomon had more compelling reasons. Tom Cavanagh makes a proper eleventh-hour appearanceA welcome surprise that was just stunt casting and had more sizzle than flavor. It was awesome to see him. However it was a reminder that he makes for a better story than Godspeed. Sadly, this show can’t keep using Reverse Flash for a pop otherwise it loses its value. Best to save Reverse Flash as a series finale arc. Epic, and fitting. Considering the show ended on a cheesy wedding renewal with worthless singing from Bart and sappy joy joy, they could’ve used that production time to really stretch out the weight and consequences of Flash and the Speed Force of resurrecting back from time oblivion existence thingy from previous seasons???? Convoluted death and rebirths aside, more performance of Tom Cavanagh promising to rewrite history saying if he can’t win he’ll make sure everyone loses just feels fitting. Or hell I would’ve preferred Mick from Legends of Tomorrow, crashing the wedding, burning the house down and telling everyone, “What are you looking at? I’m hormonal from my pregnancy. I’ve got squid babies in my head!!!” I hope next season will be it’s last. If not, then still hope that the bar is so low, season 8 can only be awesome in comparison to season 7.
Had we seen August Heart/Karan Oberoi speaking Punjabi before this episode? It seemed like the 3-4 lines he spoke in that language came out of nowhere, but maybe I just wasn’t paying close enough attention.Also, I was kind of meh about Godspeed’s costume until I saw Oberoi wearing it with the mask off, but it made a much better impression on me in this episode. Those gold gloves are pretty snazzy!
Yeah, the only reason I knew he was speaking Punjabi was because i had the captions on. They never really mentioned anything about that before. And it was so loud and he was screaming, I never would’ve even realized what language he was speaking. I would’ve just assumed some weird future speedster language.
What an awesome lightsaber-like duel that was! Couldn’t believe it! Also, “Duel of the Race” sounds rather appropriate.
Thawne should be back for the finale season and I hope it almost leads into the cameo we all hope Flash and Thawne from CW have in Flashpoint movie.I couldn’t stand Godspeed and did like last season either. I’m fine with Flash ending next year but we need a good finale season.
Boy, that sure felt more like a series finale than a season finale. If they announced The Flash’s cancellation next week I think I could be satisfied with how it ended.
Grant Morrison’s JLA really was tremendous. I loved Zauriel, and it’s a great testament to what can come from limitations placed on you by management (in this instance, Morrison wasn’t allowed to use Hawkman, for the understandable reason that his total backstory is batshit insane).
I wonder if performing a song was in Jordan Fishers contract.
I think everyone who is cast in a CW show is contractually obligated to sing it at least one episode, so I guess i’m glad they got it out of the way early.
Really they should lean more into the West-Allens being the family on the block with the home karaoke machine that’s mandatory at their gatherings.
Do you think we’ll ever seen Joe and Cecile’s baby again?? I mean at this point, that baby is 3 years old…Also, I absolutely did not realize they weren’t already married?
I … think this is a generous grade. Maybe I’ve just become too casual of a viewer, but I could not follow the logic of this episode at all, and I don’t think it did a great job of communicating it’s logic or emotions. On the logic level: Why would Barry tell three speedsters to stay home only to ask another one (Thawn) to help him? What is this “Nora/Speed Force can turn up the power of the speedsters (and Iris?) when needed”? And I’m not saying “where did it come from?” … why was it a thing, other than to get Iris in a costume? If the natural speed force is so much better than the artificial speed force, why did the “natural” Flashes need a boost? …On the emotional level: It felt like Barry’s assumptions about Godspeed in the past few episodes felt a bit forced. I understand why “he called Godspeed his Thawn … you know what that must theoretically mean!!” works in theory, but I just didn’t connect to it. I get that Impulse couldn’t tell Barry what happened in the future, but it didn’t feel like Barry had close to enough information to jump to the conclusions he did, and those conclusions drove a lot of his angst and actions in the past few episodes. I also felt like there was some scene-to-scene oddities. Impulse gives an impassioned speech on why they should give Godspeed natural speed, and then in the next scene when Barry says that’s the plan, he’s like “you almost got me lmao—so what’s the actual plan??” (Broadly, I’m not the biggest fan of the “Barry and Iris are parents” thing … the “oh man we make great parents” feels too forced—like you two haven’t raised anyone yet; how do you have any idea?)On the whole, while I think the diversity of the show is one of its great strengths, it really feels like, as the review said, there are too many heroes and too many superpowers. And the writers don’t really have any logic for how they use them: either the last episode or the episode before, I think Frost and Vibe were fighting Godspeed clones with the Flash … not in a particularly clever way, just normal fighting … and to explain why that worked … the Godspeeds just … didn’t use the speed force while fighting them? That’s an incredibly small issue, but I think it’s indicative of a larger problem. With the exception of Joe West, every character on the Flash seems to turn into a superhero … and I’m just incredibly skeptical each can be used in a non hyper-contrived way along the season. It feels like the writers are cutting emotionally content because they remember that they haven’t shoehorned in X into the plot yet.
Booster Gold would be such a natural fit for the CW Arrowverse that I’m consistently surprised they haven’t used him anywhere yet. Seems like someone they would introduce on Legends of Tomorrow but I agree he’d make a good Flash regular.
Flash used my favorite trope, Villain Saves the Day, and Thawne did not disappoint. Cavanagh is absolutely captivating as Reverse Flash. I can forgive pretty much anything for a scene like that. I know what I like, and that’s getting to root for a villain without looking too much like a psycho myself.
Anyone else feel like the guy playing August Heart was a perfect 50/50 mashup of Dani Pudi and Adrien Brody?
no
I can’t unsee it now!
“and could bring in Blue Beetle for good measure.”Correct me if I’m wrong, but is the Ted Kord Blue Beetle still not allowed in any non-comics medium? Wasn’t Brandon Routh originally supposed to play Ted Kord but switched to Ray Palmer because of this? I know the Jamie Reyes BB is on cartoons, but I figured if Ted Kord were allowed onscreen, he’d definitely have showed up by now. Especially since his name is sprinkled all over the Arrowverse already.
Was there a reason Joe was separated from the rest of the cast for the second half of the season? And why was Iris “out sick” for a couple eps. Cost-cutting? Also- can someone refresh my memory on how this current version of XS Nora is different from the one who originally showed up a couple seasons ago?
My memory may be fuzzy, but I think the big difference is that this Nora didn’t lose her father at a young age and have a power inhibitor implanted by Iris.
Thanks to the Legends and Crisis, Barry’s still around and ARGUS isn’t a fascist military rounding up metas, so Nora had a happy childhood.Also, Joe was probably separated due to COVID and just needing to give him something to do this season.
Joe, Frost, and Allegra all had virtually self-contained subplots that could easily have been ramped up or eliminated completely without affecting the A-story much.
I agree that it was probably a deliberate Covid precaution, but it made for a lot of low-stakes, low-energy plotlines with 0-1 well-developed characters each, so I hope they drop that approach next year.
There were rumors that Candace Van Patten was having some argument/tough negotiation with the producers. If true, it was apparently resolved with her signing on for Season 8.
The “she’s trapped forever in the Still force” plot was introduced, nonchalantly accepted by Barry, and then resolved so quickly, and for no obvious dramatic or character purpose, that it seems plausible they were setting up an emergency actor write-off if they needed one, like how Ralph just got suddenly and horribly maimed off camera without his friends ever checking on him or really even mentioning it again.
Iris was out sick, because Patton requested time off for mental health issues.
I was really happy to see Jessica Parker Kennedy as Nora get a “special guest star” credit for this episode, not sure if she always gets that or not, but she deserves it. Having her on board, along with Carlos, Tom, and John Wesley Shipp, definitely elevated this episode above what has been typical for this weird, shaky season
She’s had that in all of her post-regular appearances and I think it is an acknowledgement of her prior cast status as a former Star Labs team member.
I don’t read Flash comics, so are all of his villains just other speedsters? He goes from reverse flash to another villain with the same powers, i.e. running fast?
No, most of the Flash’s villains are not other speedsters. Most have also shown up on this show by now, but they usually are not made into season-long villains.
What’s frustrating, from what I remember from reading nearly every Flash comic in the 90s, is that the Flash had maybe the most robust rogues gallery outside of Batman. His speedster foes were basically treated like big events when they showed up. Heck, it was a big deal when the Flash would team up with other speedsters.
One point where Flash arguably fucked up early was casting such good actors for Captain Cold and Heatwave, and why it then made so much sense to give them their own show. and why then one would only stick around for a single season of that.
Flash is so defined by his mixed relationships with the Rogues in the comics, but without those two as a bedrock to build upon they’ve never quite been able to make it happen in the show.
I feel like they could’ve done more with the James Jesse/Trickster had they not re-cast Mark Hamil for the role. Not gonna argue with Hamil in anything, but there was probably room for the whole “reformed rogue” plot where he works for the FBI. Though I guess with Heatwave, Cold, and Pied Piper (sort of) you could argue there are too many reformed Rogues on the show as it is.
The whole subplot with that lady who took over CCPD was not even mentioned here, not surprising since it was completely useless and seemed like just a way to get Joe away from the action.And speaking of Joe, where the heck is Joe and Cecile’s baby (who I don’t even remember his/her name)? People have babies on TV and then they simply disappear. I was surprised last week on Superman & Lois when the younger sister (Lana Lang’s kids) showed up with an explanation of where she had been, but that baby seems like it’s history, even though it’s what awakened Cecile’s powers.
Not gonna lie, once that whole Lightningsaber duel started I thought the show had reached its nadir. There’s a slo-mo shot of Barry that’s supposed to show his intensity in battle but it just looked so goofy. Luckily, though, finding out that Barrry had outgrown Thawne was a beat that saved the whole thing at the end.
One thing this show does not seem to get is that you cannot make the audience care about a conflict if you don’t give the right amount of context for it. At no point that Godspeed or his various clones were on-screen did I understand what their goal was, where they came from, or why they were fighting. I thought that was because I was on my phone or something but judging by the reviews and comments I’ve read, I am not the only one who was lost.
You can’t just say “Godspeed is Impulse’s Thawne” and expect that to make me invest in their story. That shortcut is not a substitute for actual storytelling.
You can’t bring Jay and Joan Garrick back after Crisis with zero explanation. I have no idea if they have now always been on Earth-1 and had their timelines rewrittten, or if they are refugees from their Earth and have all their memories. I assume it’s the latter but the show needs to explain these things or it creates dissonance and takes me out of what I’m watching.
It was wise to break this season into smaller mini-arcs because the biggest problem with past seasons was they stretched the Big Bad plots out way too long. But this season had the opposite problem. They just didn’t develop any of the villains enough so it always felt they were turning on a dime and doing stuff just because. It was impossible to invest in any of them or their relationships to the other characters. Every time Iris referred to Speed Force Nora as part of the family or the other Forces as their “children” it made my skin crawl. It was an interesting idea but none of it was earned. So much of the central conflicts of this season amounted to telling instead of showing. Frost gets sent to prison and then is immediately let out with no story about it. There was no reason for any of this stuff to be so rushed even with all the stories they were juggling and all the Covid stuff. Just cut the Allegra and Chester storylines and absolutely no one would notice.
Frost and Caitlin being each others’ +1 for the wedding was probably my favorite thing in the episode and surprisingly affecting
This entire season was one long car crash. Thank god its over. The writers need to really figure out what the plan is for next season. Sounds like they intend to use a LOT of guest heroes- this is a good thing! I’ve been pitching a re-tool into more of a Brave and the Bold style teamup show and for them to really phase out “team flash”Candice Patton is putting forth about as much energy and desire to be on the show as I do when I head to Texas to visit relatives at Christmas. Let her go or write her off. I half expected Thawne to bust in during the wedding and kill her, leading to Barry killing him once and for all.The Joe West storyline this season was practically character assassination. Not sure whats going on there but they’ve got to make things right for him again.I wish they would have killed Chillbaine.For that matter, they may have killed Godspeed. No motivation (he has permanent artificial speed but wants organic speed? why, exactly? This way he was immune to the meta cure, now he’s not) the clones made no sense etc.Great to see Jay and Joan Garrick back, even if its all without explanation. Was he still kidnapped by Zoom? Why can’t we get more Zoom? I know Teddy Sears has said he’d love to return and play Zoom again. Perhaps he and Thawne can team up next season.Could they not get Keiynan Lonsdale to make an appearance? I know they gave a throwaway reason why Wally wouldn’t show. Is the dude THAT done with the series?I’ve said it before- next season should be all about team-ups. Bring back Ollie as Specter and give us 6 episodes of Hard Travelling Heroes. Bring in Black Lightning for a 3 or 4 parter. Hell gimme the Hawks again! Lets introduce Doctor Occult! Isn’t a teamup with Stargirl somewhere in the works?
Could they not get Keiynan Lonsdale to make an appearance? I know they gave a throwaway reason why Wally wouldn’t show. Is the dude THAT done with the series?Just going to say it, it sucks that they cast Lonsdale as Wally given him dropping out after a few years. Wally should have become a huge part of the show or at least been a consistent presence on the show and his absence has hurt it. And it isn’t like Lonsdale was that great in the role either. I hope Bart sticks around for what is likely the last season at least.
At this point I’d be more than fine with them re-casting Wally. Hell they even gave him a GREAT character vehicle by bringing him in on Legends and he muffed that. Time for new blood
I forgot he was even on Legends. Replacing him with Constantine was certainly a massive upgrade for that show.
(he has permanent artificial speed but wants organic speed? why, exactly? Maybe organic speed is higher-quality, in the same way you covet a Mercedes while driving a beater. 🤷♂️
Marshmallow Zoom is a costume in search of a unique personality.
I dug the colorful Power Rangers-esque fight with Godspeed clones. So that’s a bummer the cool team-up fight ended up being irrelevant.
XS & Impulse inexplicably decide their archnemesis ought to be given
what he wants, yet Barry astutely realizes that’d be a bad idea …for a whole scene. I expected this to be a trap allowing SFN to yank all the superspeed out of his system. Surely there was another way to defeat Godspeed without making him more powerful & resurrecting Barry’s arch-enemy?
The Speed Force being personified in this series is especially a
narrative problem this season. If it loves the West-Allens so much, why
does it allow evil speedsters to exist?
Since Cavanagh retired, will Thawne just reappear for an abrupt demise in the series finale?
Allegra had better officially become Wavelength or Ultraviolet next season!
This was unfortunately the worst season of The Flash since season three. It’s built up enough good will that I’m just gonna shrug & hope season eight bounces back.
https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2021/07/21/is-the-flash-is-running-on-fumes/
I actually didn’t hate this season as much as some other people did. The Season 6 wrap-up finale was perfectly fine. The Godspeed arc had its issues, but was overall enjoyable. Chester and Allegra are not the best characters, but they have their moments.
The biggest problem was the Forces arc, which actually started off really, really well. Bad CGI aside, all the Forces made for great villains. It’s only in the second half, when they went whole hog on the whole “They’re Barry and Iris’ kids” metaphor did the arc really start to collapse.
As for this episode, I enjoyed it. It was hokey in just the right way, and worked out a lot better than previous finales. I also didn’t mind the lightsaber fight. Nobody bats an eye when Batman pulls out a laser sword, why shouldn’t Flash get in on that action?
Overall, while Season 7 had its faults, I think it’s an overall improvement over the past few seasons, especially Seasons 3 and 4.
I honestly enjoyed this season as its strongest since S2. Whatever the production ideas that necessitated it, having several “pod” arcs rather than trying to sustain one 22-episode arc helped the show felt like it was moving (heh) than when the Flash is at its worst, spinning its wheels (hello, Thinker season). The show also had a bigger willingness to dip back into the earnest comic book goofiness that made it so endearing: the three way lightning-saber fight between three Power Rangered-suited players is EXACTLY the kind of stuff I’m here for. While several arcs were undercooked, Ive also warmed up to the two new Star Labs kids and Caitlin and Frost being separated has been the right move for me, especially since Danielle is way more interesting as her meta ego.
Just a thought: if the show needs a new wise-cracking superhero member for Team Flash, may I cordially submit Booster Gold? He’s a time-traveler, has a snarky robot friend named Skeets (who should be voiced by David Hyde Pierce; just saying), has roots in the Superman mythology (finally, crossovers with Superman & Lois!), and could bring in Blue Beetle for good measure.Arrow was going to include Blue Beetle into S3 but were told by WB that they couldn’t and should use Atom instead. Hence why Atom has no shrinking powers in S3 and why there are numerous Kord references leading into S3.Dunno if that would have changed now as they seem to have softened their stance a bit. But IMO if it’s possible, they should just make Booster and Blue Beetle its own show altogether vs tying it into the end of The Flash.
I thought the horrible end to the mirror universe was a covid related hiccup, but the rest of the episodes clearly showed that it is time to pack this up. All of the main characters want to leave and they are repeating themselves (literally). Plus, the new series made with HBO max are really passing them by in terms of quality.
Congratulations, The Flash: you have successfully weaponized yourself. Watching this season has given me context-specific ADHD, and now I cannot organize and explicate my opinions on it. You are a tangled web of mistakes and accidents and bad decisions and tails-wagging-the-dog, and I cannot figure out what the hell to say about you.You win.(Tom Cavanaugh is a really fuckin’ good actor.)
I was hesitant about going into this season after vowing each season would be my last for three years, but I stuck with it to get to Impulse. Now that I’ve made it to the end and witnessed lightning-based melee weapons…I am happy to call it all off. No more Flash for me unless next year’s crossover looks interesting enough. Then again, I’m only watching Superman & Lois now that Black Lightning is cancelled.By the way, anyone else annoyed that Barry got to name his daughter after his mother and his son after himself? Kind of self-centered if you ask me.
The show has the audacity to show us John Wesley Schipp in the same frame as a Mercury Labs van, but still hasn’t shown us a post-Crisis Tina McGee. COME BACK, Dr. McGee!!!
CW shows always have this issue, but Flash really needs to cut some deadweight. Seven seasons in and they still can’t help themselves with the abundance of main characters. Kramer’s plot was a snoozefest, Chillbane is a drag on Frost, hoping the rumor of more teamups next season is true.I mentioned it last week but the Godspeed fights really do look worse than the average Power Rangers episode. Two guys in suit slowly wacking each other does seem to convey a speedster war.As much as the show kept trying to tell us Godspeed was Bart’s Thawne, the actual Thawne showing up illustrated how untrue that is. Because Thawne is just unmatched in his presence. Bart also has nothing to do with his defeat. I do like the touch of Hart speaking Punjabi.
I think Chester and Allegra have a good chemistry. I ship it. Speaking of, I still haven’t forgiven (will never forgive) Felicity for totally ruining Barry and Iris’s wedding, so I was happy with the end.
And can everyone in the family except Iris sing? Can we get Candice a coach for next season?
Caitlin is a terrible singer.
I like both of them as well. The main issue with their development has been that the show hung on to Cisco and split Caitlin into two characters at the same time as they came on. As much as I like Cisco, he should have moved on back when he gave up his powers IMO.
Thank you Big Nora for giving a tiny burst of speed force to Jesse L Martin so that Joe could actually run towards his car.Thank you Frost for not bringing Chillblaine to Barry and Iris’s re-wedding.
And thank you, thank you, thank you Eric Wallace for not ending the season on another cliffhanger. This’d make a nice series finale.Also, regarding Allegra and Chuck (I call him CRunk), you’re not crazy, Jarrod. It’s the writers who are crazy.
I’m still not sure where I stand on this season. Not sure if having a longer season would’ve totally helped with everything, but it might’ve made some stuff a little less…. just sort of there. Probably my least favorite to date, though. I’m willing to show a bit of mercy due to COVID messing with everything, of course. If anything, I’d almost say this felt just like a good chunk of what Black Lightning was having to deal with having seasons that were shorter than every other Arrowverse series (as far as I recall, I can see Legends being a bit shorter than Flash or Supergirl). Just too much stuff to cram into not enough space.Also not helping that this season took a lot of inspiration from the first few years of the Rebirth run of the Flash comic, but didn’t stick with much beyond basic elements. So having Hart/Godspeed go from being a cop who becomes a speedster and basically turns into a “he means well, but maybe he ought to stop killing criminals” twist on Barry’s backstory to a guy who wants speed powers and makes a chemical to get them artificially before switching into I’M A GOD OF SPEEEEEEEEEEEEED Mode from the future feels a lot less interesting. And the other Forces also felt like they’d been implemented a bit weirdly. It’s probably just the way they often phrased things, but it felt like the people weren’t just people with power, but more like Speed Force Nora being an embodiment of the power itself. Except the others definitely existed pre-Forces. Or I guess they upgraded to being people who were now the avatars of said Forces. Shrug.I also have to think we’re not done with Ultraviolet? On the one hand, she could very well be Really Dead thanks to COVID condensing it down to the basics. On the other hand, she dissolved into energy or whatever, so who’s to say she won’t just pull herself back together next season. Or it turns out she’s inhabiting Allegra’s body. Or someone else brings her back. Or it was just a baffling decision.
I don’t know how something can be both amazing and terrible at the same time, but this episode achieved it. I don’t even know where to begin, so I’ll just note that even though Thawne should have outstayed his welcome by now, the amount of times they keep trotting him out, I am excited to see how they use him next season. Hopefully as someone who pops up when they least expect it rather than the main season baddie.Also, I can’t remember where I read it, but season eight is supposed to (start with?) include a bunch (4?) of “crossover” episodes, with Black Lightning either penned in or the chap who plays him clearly stating he’s totally up for it. YES PLEASE.
I did not make this, but I had to share it because it’s just perfect.
Lmao this show sucks now. Whoa lmao sabers 😂😂😂
If the lightsaber duel wasn’t the series’ shark-jumping moment, then I don’t know what will be. Pack it up, CW – you’re done. There’s only so much that they can excuse with “but COVID restrictions” – this season was a mess from start to finish.The Godspeed War arc might have worked if it had been woven into the earlier Forces arc. Various characters claim that nothing can stop him, they stand around despairing that all of their gadgets failed again and again, but this isn’t even remotely the worst trouble the team’s ever been in – and proclaiming it so just makes it less believable. I did enjoy Karan Oberoi’s no-scenery-left-unchewed performance in the cathedral, though.To me though, the worst part of this season has been the writing. It’s simply not believable; characters say things that don’t make any sense, they handwave important plot considerations with “the speed force” (like erasing Godspeed’s memory in this one – maybe messing with the memory of a guy who’s already had that happen to him, then had dark matter injected into his brain and given “organic” speed on top of the insanity-inducing Velocity serum he’d already been taking, might not be the best idea!), and they pull gadgets and plot devices out of their asses and write any inconsistencies off with “Crisis did it”. The series also needs a re-baselining in terms of what’s possible and what the abilities of Team Flash are. They depowered Vibe because his portals were too convenient, but now Allegra can teleport around?