I have been watching the Flash since season 1. The Arrowverse has been around for *literally* half of my life. But after watching this finale... I'm convinced I would've rather DCTV just ended after Flash season 3. Seriously, that was a much better ending. Does it mean we would've never gotten Bloodwork? Yeah. Does it mean we would've never gotten the best seasons of Legends of Tomorrow? Yeah. Does it mean we would've never gotten Stargirl, one of my favorite shows of all time? Yeah. I would sacrifice all of that if it means that the Flash ended after season 3. Because at least then the finale would've *felt* like a finale instead of this... Rancid flaming pile of horse vomit that I just watched.
And before you ask, yes, this episode was co-written by Eric Wallace. Just in case anyone was wondering whether "A New World, Part 1: Reunions" was a fluke or not.
So you've seen the trailers, you know who's showing up. And every good speedster villain (and Godspeed, but f' that guy amirite?) goes out like an absolute chump! There's not a single one of them that feels like they're given any amount of respect! The pairings of who fights who makes a little sense at least, but that doesn't make it better! Thawne gets stomped by Allegra because he's wearing Wells' face, Zoom gets wrecked by Khione because she's inhabiting Caitlin's body (we'll get to it), Savitar gets shredded by Nora since she's his daughter, and Godspeed gets beaten by the main character Cecile because they had, like, two conversations in season 7. The pairings aren't the problem (except that the three good speedster villains *each* deserved a crack at Barry, Thawne especially). The problem is that these guys all took FULL TWENTY THREE EPISODE SEASONS to stop the first time around (and Godspeed only took 4 because screw him amirite?)! Talk about crapping all over the best parts of the show!
Also, did you really have to make all of them have red lightning? You couldn't have given Zoom his blue lightning, and Savitar and Godspeed their white lightning?
As for Barry and Cobalt Blue, you will not believe how he's defeated. That's right, it's every Flash fan's favorite power in Barry's arsenal! The true superpower of the Flash! The SPEECH FORCE!!! WOOOOOOO!!! Cobalt Blue, who the fanbase has been gassing up for YEARS, who I personally have been excitedly waiting on pins and needles for since Rick Cosnett made his triumphant return in "A New World, Part 1: Reunions", gets defeated by a pep talk. ... Do I even need to say anything?
Also, did you really have to give him the red lightning? His name is Cobalt Blue. BLUE. BLUE IS LITERALLY IN HIS NAME AND YOU COULDN'T GIVE HIM BLUE LIGHTNING?? He got to use his sword from the comics, so fair play for giving him that, but could you *really* not give him blue lightning?
Maybe I would've been a little more accepting of all that garbage if the series had fired any of the numerous Chekhov's Guns in the end here. But if you wanted that to happen, you're out of luck because this is Eric Wallace's Flash, and you can't convince me he genuinely cares about anything that came before the Eric Wallace Era. Just off the top of my head, Barry never created Savitar, never built Gideon, never vanished in a Crisis event with Red Skies (*cough* this episode has a red lightning storm so that counts *cough*), NEVER SAID "WE'RE GONNA NEED MORE DIAPERS" OF WHICH THERE IS *TWO* SEPARATE MOMENTS WHICH WOULD'VE BEEN PERFECT TO SLOT IN THAT LINE IN THIS EPISODE ALONE!! Oh, and Iris never wrote the article about Barry going missing either, so that's another one.
So let's fix all that, shall we? Let's *slightly* alter this episode so that those Chekhov's Guns can be fired, but the integrity (or lack thereof) of the episode remains intact.
1. Barry and Nora face off against Eddie and Savitar together. Savitar is about to stab Nora like he almost did to Iris, but Barry creates Time Remnants to stop him. Savitar is too fast, and with Cobalt Blue by his side the two of them slaughter each and every Time Remnant. Or, well, all but one. One that Eddie uses his energy sword to scar across the face. Nora then leads Savitar off so that Barry can fight Eddie himself. {bang} One down.
2. After the fight is over and Baby Nora's been born, Barry is shown tinkering on something at home as Iris is writing an article about the fight that just broke out in the city. Iris titles the article "Flash Missing: Vanishes in Crisis" since Barry went to fight Cobalt Blue in the Negative Speed Force, with a subheading of "Red Skies Vanish". Barry meanwhile is working on a simple home defense system that will automatically activate the meta dampeners in the loft if Nora's powers would put her in harm's way. He calls this system "Gideon". {bang bang bang} That's another few down.
3. Nora is playing with Baby Nora and is telling her parents about Baby Bart, to which Barry sighs. Iris asks him "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Barry nods and then says "We're gonna need more diapers." {bang}
Look at that. I've added not three minutes to the script of the episode, but instantly it feels like it respects the series it's part of a lot more. But because that stuff wasn't in the original episode we're now on strike three, and that means you're out!
And *all of that crap* is dwarfed by only one thing. How in the actual heck (gotta censor myself one more time for old times' sake, thanks IMDb) does Cecile manage to get THIS MUCH EMPHASIS put on her during the episode? How? HOW?? How does Cecile get to hug Khione *after* Barry, who's one of the last people that got to see Caitlin alive? How does Cecile get an emphasized shot of hugging Caitlin when she does come back? How did Cecile *time travel using her mind*, and "No Way Home" the Negative Speed Force out of Nora in the last episode?? HOW DO WE HAVE A SCENE OF JOE PROPOSING TO CECILE IN THE MIDDLE OF BARRY AND IRIS'S BABY SHOWER?? When the jokes about Cecile being the main character of the show are made, just know that *this* is what we're talking about. The preferential treatment she gets from the writers is truly blatant and unapologetic.
And how does the JV Squad know who Eddie Thawne is? Cecile *maybe* has an excuse since they might've crossed paths once or twice since he was a police detective and she was district attorney. So maybe the better question is how do the JV Squad all seem to know him *personally?* Why does Allegra say "I can't believe it! Eddie Thawne is the avatar?" with the intensity of someone personally being betrayed? These two characters *never* met before! None of them have!
Oh yeah, and the name "A New World, Part Four: Finale" is stupid. You don't put the word "finale" in your show's finale. That's dumb.
But you know what? I'll give them credit for a few things. Firstly, the opening scenes got me. Hearing the reused audio from the pilot alongside a similar establishing shot was awesome! And so was the allusion to the recycled running from season 1; seeing Barry run with only one side of his face showing and that rushing background was incredible! It was great to see all the old villains back again, even if they don't really get to do anything and some of their costumes got slightly downgraded (Godspeed's suit actually looks better which is surprising considering... you know, it's Godspeed).
And the final scene... Yeah, that was great. They actually found a really great way to impart the message from the pilot there. Oliver Queen once said that the lightning bolt chose Barry, so I like that he gets to choose the next generation of the Flash Family. Heck, Avery Ho even says to her boss that she doesn't have a car, which is another callback to the pilot!
That scene even works for all the people out there who wanted Barry to become the lightning bolt that strikes him. Personally, I think that idea is stupid because it implies that Barry has no free will. If Barry becomes the lightning bolt that strikes him, it means that every decision he makes isn't actually a decision, but is instead just another stepping stone towards getting him to repeat his cycle. But I think the ending we got in the show is actually the best of both worlds. Barry still becomes the lightning bolt, and he still chooses a new generation of Speedsters. But he still gets to live out the rest of his life. And it's all set to this really great narration that alludes to the intro sequences from the first season.
So all in all, we have a beginning that ranges from "alright" to "good", an honestly fantastic ending, and everything else is incomprehensibly terrible. In other words, it's a Flash finale.
But to add one final nail to this show's coffin, I got double bingo this episode. This brings my total number of bingos this season to 5, and my total number of *double* bingos this season to 2. I got bingo on exactly half of the episodes this season, and I'm just gonna leave it at that.
The Flash is dead, and it was MURDER!! I can see the headlines now. "Quality Missing: Vanishes in Finale".
And before you ask, yes, this episode was co-written by Eric Wallace. Just in case anyone was wondering whether "A New World, Part 1: Reunions" was a fluke or not.
So you've seen the trailers, you know who's showing up. And every good speedster villain (and Godspeed, but f' that guy amirite?) goes out like an absolute chump! There's not a single one of them that feels like they're given any amount of respect! The pairings of who fights who makes a little sense at least, but that doesn't make it better! Thawne gets stomped by Allegra because he's wearing Wells' face, Zoom gets wrecked by Khione because she's inhabiting Caitlin's body (we'll get to it), Savitar gets shredded by Nora since she's his daughter, and Godspeed gets beaten by the main character Cecile because they had, like, two conversations in season 7. The pairings aren't the problem (except that the three good speedster villains *each* deserved a crack at Barry, Thawne especially). The problem is that these guys all took FULL TWENTY THREE EPISODE SEASONS to stop the first time around (and Godspeed only took 4 because screw him amirite?)! Talk about crapping all over the best parts of the show!
Also, did you really have to make all of them have red lightning? You couldn't have given Zoom his blue lightning, and Savitar and Godspeed their white lightning?
As for Barry and Cobalt Blue, you will not believe how he's defeated. That's right, it's every Flash fan's favorite power in Barry's arsenal! The true superpower of the Flash! The SPEECH FORCE!!! WOOOOOOO!!! Cobalt Blue, who the fanbase has been gassing up for YEARS, who I personally have been excitedly waiting on pins and needles for since Rick Cosnett made his triumphant return in "A New World, Part 1: Reunions", gets defeated by a pep talk. ... Do I even need to say anything?
Also, did you really have to give him the red lightning? His name is Cobalt Blue. BLUE. BLUE IS LITERALLY IN HIS NAME AND YOU COULDN'T GIVE HIM BLUE LIGHTNING?? He got to use his sword from the comics, so fair play for giving him that, but could you *really* not give him blue lightning?
Maybe I would've been a little more accepting of all that garbage if the series had fired any of the numerous Chekhov's Guns in the end here. But if you wanted that to happen, you're out of luck because this is Eric Wallace's Flash, and you can't convince me he genuinely cares about anything that came before the Eric Wallace Era. Just off the top of my head, Barry never created Savitar, never built Gideon, never vanished in a Crisis event with Red Skies (*cough* this episode has a red lightning storm so that counts *cough*), NEVER SAID "WE'RE GONNA NEED MORE DIAPERS" OF WHICH THERE IS *TWO* SEPARATE MOMENTS WHICH WOULD'VE BEEN PERFECT TO SLOT IN THAT LINE IN THIS EPISODE ALONE!! Oh, and Iris never wrote the article about Barry going missing either, so that's another one.
So let's fix all that, shall we? Let's *slightly* alter this episode so that those Chekhov's Guns can be fired, but the integrity (or lack thereof) of the episode remains intact.
1. Barry and Nora face off against Eddie and Savitar together. Savitar is about to stab Nora like he almost did to Iris, but Barry creates Time Remnants to stop him. Savitar is too fast, and with Cobalt Blue by his side the two of them slaughter each and every Time Remnant. Or, well, all but one. One that Eddie uses his energy sword to scar across the face. Nora then leads Savitar off so that Barry can fight Eddie himself. {bang} One down.
2. After the fight is over and Baby Nora's been born, Barry is shown tinkering on something at home as Iris is writing an article about the fight that just broke out in the city. Iris titles the article "Flash Missing: Vanishes in Crisis" since Barry went to fight Cobalt Blue in the Negative Speed Force, with a subheading of "Red Skies Vanish". Barry meanwhile is working on a simple home defense system that will automatically activate the meta dampeners in the loft if Nora's powers would put her in harm's way. He calls this system "Gideon". {bang bang bang} That's another few down.
3. Nora is playing with Baby Nora and is telling her parents about Baby Bart, to which Barry sighs. Iris asks him "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Barry nods and then says "We're gonna need more diapers." {bang}
Look at that. I've added not three minutes to the script of the episode, but instantly it feels like it respects the series it's part of a lot more. But because that stuff wasn't in the original episode we're now on strike three, and that means you're out!
And *all of that crap* is dwarfed by only one thing. How in the actual heck (gotta censor myself one more time for old times' sake, thanks IMDb) does Cecile manage to get THIS MUCH EMPHASIS put on her during the episode? How? HOW?? How does Cecile get to hug Khione *after* Barry, who's one of the last people that got to see Caitlin alive? How does Cecile get an emphasized shot of hugging Caitlin when she does come back? How did Cecile *time travel using her mind*, and "No Way Home" the Negative Speed Force out of Nora in the last episode?? HOW DO WE HAVE A SCENE OF JOE PROPOSING TO CECILE IN THE MIDDLE OF BARRY AND IRIS'S BABY SHOWER?? When the jokes about Cecile being the main character of the show are made, just know that *this* is what we're talking about. The preferential treatment she gets from the writers is truly blatant and unapologetic.
And how does the JV Squad know who Eddie Thawne is? Cecile *maybe* has an excuse since they might've crossed paths once or twice since he was a police detective and she was district attorney. So maybe the better question is how do the JV Squad all seem to know him *personally?* Why does Allegra say "I can't believe it! Eddie Thawne is the avatar?" with the intensity of someone personally being betrayed? These two characters *never* met before! None of them have!
Oh yeah, and the name "A New World, Part Four: Finale" is stupid. You don't put the word "finale" in your show's finale. That's dumb.
But you know what? I'll give them credit for a few things. Firstly, the opening scenes got me. Hearing the reused audio from the pilot alongside a similar establishing shot was awesome! And so was the allusion to the recycled running from season 1; seeing Barry run with only one side of his face showing and that rushing background was incredible! It was great to see all the old villains back again, even if they don't really get to do anything and some of their costumes got slightly downgraded (Godspeed's suit actually looks better which is surprising considering... you know, it's Godspeed).
And the final scene... Yeah, that was great. They actually found a really great way to impart the message from the pilot there. Oliver Queen once said that the lightning bolt chose Barry, so I like that he gets to choose the next generation of the Flash Family. Heck, Avery Ho even says to her boss that she doesn't have a car, which is another callback to the pilot!
That scene even works for all the people out there who wanted Barry to become the lightning bolt that strikes him. Personally, I think that idea is stupid because it implies that Barry has no free will. If Barry becomes the lightning bolt that strikes him, it means that every decision he makes isn't actually a decision, but is instead just another stepping stone towards getting him to repeat his cycle. But I think the ending we got in the show is actually the best of both worlds. Barry still becomes the lightning bolt, and he still chooses a new generation of Speedsters. But he still gets to live out the rest of his life. And it's all set to this really great narration that alludes to the intro sequences from the first season.
So all in all, we have a beginning that ranges from "alright" to "good", an honestly fantastic ending, and everything else is incomprehensibly terrible. In other words, it's a Flash finale.
But to add one final nail to this show's coffin, I got double bingo this episode. This brings my total number of bingos this season to 5, and my total number of *double* bingos this season to 2. I got bingo on exactly half of the episodes this season, and I'm just gonna leave it at that.
The Flash is dead, and it was MURDER!! I can see the headlines now. "Quality Missing: Vanishes in Finale".