Wow. What a run. What a first season. Many people are comparing season 1 of Arrow and Flash and to me, it's about as dead even as you can get. Flash has been more consistently good. Even if we're comparing it to this season of Arrow, it's been better. Arrow usually has the best single episodes, but Flash stays great without as many flaws. No matter, 'Fast Enough' was quite a way to end the first season. The writers have surprised us several times this year and tonight was no different. And much like season 3 of Arrow, tonight could have served like the end of the entire series for Flash. It just had that feel to it.
We began the episode with a brilliant scene of Barry and Wells. Last week I thought there was too little of Wells for a penultimate episode, and even though I still feel like this episode could have had more Wells, he made his presence felt. The scene brought up the potential for multi-verses or parallel universes as Wells said, which to comic book fans, is pretty exciting. We also got the definitive answer to how much in the future Eobard Thawne is from, which is 136 years. What followed was a series of necessary but very repetitive group of scenes about Barry deciding whether or not he was going to help Wells get home in return for Barry being able to save his mom. I think it was pretty obvious he was going to accept the offer but end up not saving her. Which was why the 8 or so minutes of scenes felt unnecessary, especially in an already packed finale. I nonetheless dug both of the father scenes. This show can be funny and lighthearted most of the time, but it's the quiet and intimate scenes with Barry's fathers that really impress me. Gustin has proved himself to be very good at the dramatic side of Barry time and time again, and tonight was no different. It was heartbreaking to watch him tell Joe that he may lose him if he saves his mom.
Coming off last weeks guest appearance, both halves of Firestorm were there for.... oh wait there was really no point of them being there. Besides Stein telling Eddie of his worth, there was no reason for the characters to take up screen-time. Plus, Ronnie and Caitlin's wedding felt completely out of left field. To me, there was too much thrown into the finale for it all to feel fluid. With that said, there was also so much greatness about the finale. Cisco confronting Wells about killing him was great TV. And him finding out that he was indeed somehow effected by the particle accelerator was an interesting twist. One that I didn't see turning him into Vibe, but I'm interested to see where they take that storyline. Wells mentioning Rip Hunter, a main character from the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow spin off was also awesome.
When he finally does go back in time, the episode really shined. Hearing Wells say "run Barry run" one last time was pretty bittersweet. If I remember correctly, that was the first thing Wells said to him when he was trying out his powers way back when. I'm hearing Cavanagh will be back for season 2 in some capacity so that was great to hear knowing the chemistry that was built between the cast throughout season 1. Then a simple moment like future Flash saying no to Barry saving his mom was a fantastic moment. Subtle but really impactful. It was Barry's destiny to become the Flash, and he cant save his mom and do that. Barry's scene with his mom was also very emotional. Even though all we have seen of her was the flashback played over and over again, I felt a lot for Barry here. The chemistry was definitely present even for a first scene together.
But then, seeing Eddie sacrifice himself to save Barry was easily the best moment of the episode. Eddie has really come into his own as a character and that was a great character moment and twist for the fans. And yes, I'm sure he will also be back at some point down the line. The final ending was a bit of a cop out. I would have liked the episode to end definitively. We know what happens but I just feel like if we wouldn't have gotten the other unnecessary scenes, it would have wrapped up nicer. So season 1 has come and gone and it was largely successful. It had so many highs and very little lows. Here's to a very FAST off-season!
+Wells and Barry scene to open
+Multiverses
+Rip Hunter reference
+Father scenes
+Cisco/Vibe
+Eddie twist
+Future Barry says no
-Unnecessary repetitive scenes
-No need for the wedding
9.2/10
We began the episode with a brilliant scene of Barry and Wells. Last week I thought there was too little of Wells for a penultimate episode, and even though I still feel like this episode could have had more Wells, he made his presence felt. The scene brought up the potential for multi-verses or parallel universes as Wells said, which to comic book fans, is pretty exciting. We also got the definitive answer to how much in the future Eobard Thawne is from, which is 136 years. What followed was a series of necessary but very repetitive group of scenes about Barry deciding whether or not he was going to help Wells get home in return for Barry being able to save his mom. I think it was pretty obvious he was going to accept the offer but end up not saving her. Which was why the 8 or so minutes of scenes felt unnecessary, especially in an already packed finale. I nonetheless dug both of the father scenes. This show can be funny and lighthearted most of the time, but it's the quiet and intimate scenes with Barry's fathers that really impress me. Gustin has proved himself to be very good at the dramatic side of Barry time and time again, and tonight was no different. It was heartbreaking to watch him tell Joe that he may lose him if he saves his mom.
Coming off last weeks guest appearance, both halves of Firestorm were there for.... oh wait there was really no point of them being there. Besides Stein telling Eddie of his worth, there was no reason for the characters to take up screen-time. Plus, Ronnie and Caitlin's wedding felt completely out of left field. To me, there was too much thrown into the finale for it all to feel fluid. With that said, there was also so much greatness about the finale. Cisco confronting Wells about killing him was great TV. And him finding out that he was indeed somehow effected by the particle accelerator was an interesting twist. One that I didn't see turning him into Vibe, but I'm interested to see where they take that storyline. Wells mentioning Rip Hunter, a main character from the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow spin off was also awesome.
When he finally does go back in time, the episode really shined. Hearing Wells say "run Barry run" one last time was pretty bittersweet. If I remember correctly, that was the first thing Wells said to him when he was trying out his powers way back when. I'm hearing Cavanagh will be back for season 2 in some capacity so that was great to hear knowing the chemistry that was built between the cast throughout season 1. Then a simple moment like future Flash saying no to Barry saving his mom was a fantastic moment. Subtle but really impactful. It was Barry's destiny to become the Flash, and he cant save his mom and do that. Barry's scene with his mom was also very emotional. Even though all we have seen of her was the flashback played over and over again, I felt a lot for Barry here. The chemistry was definitely present even for a first scene together.
But then, seeing Eddie sacrifice himself to save Barry was easily the best moment of the episode. Eddie has really come into his own as a character and that was a great character moment and twist for the fans. And yes, I'm sure he will also be back at some point down the line. The final ending was a bit of a cop out. I would have liked the episode to end definitively. We know what happens but I just feel like if we wouldn't have gotten the other unnecessary scenes, it would have wrapped up nicer. So season 1 has come and gone and it was largely successful. It had so many highs and very little lows. Here's to a very FAST off-season!
+Wells and Barry scene to open
+Multiverses
+Rip Hunter reference
+Father scenes
+Cisco/Vibe
+Eddie twist
+Future Barry says no
-Unnecessary repetitive scenes
-No need for the wedding
9.2/10