Written by: Kevin Berge
He tried to save his mother, again, and this time there are vague consequences. (Image Courtesy of: screenrant.com)
Quick Take: The Flash Season 3 takes the plunge into the ultimate Flash story but does not fully embrace consequences with a fairly standard focus and a central villain that is undefined for too long. While most of the characters develop clearly, this season lacks the complexity and thrills of past seasons.
The Flash Reviews: Season 1 | 2
***This is a review of the third season of The Flash, written for those who have completed the season already, looking at how this season developed its characters and world. Those who have not seen the entire season including the recently aired finale should not read ahead if they do not wish to be spoiled.***
The structure of The Flash has become fairly clear. Each season focuses on The Flash vs. another speedster who is driven by the consequences of irresponsible time travel. This third season fully puts the blame on Barry Allen as he finally gives in and saves his mother's life by traveling back in time.
Setting forth the Flashpoint Paradox was always going to be an exciting line for the series to follow, but the Arrowverse does not seem comfortable breaking up its typical villain-of-the-week structure, leading to a far-too-short drift into a parallel timeline.
In order to try and compensate, this season blames Flashpoint for much of the conflict in the series. Barry cannot wholly rewrite what he has done with the mysterious Dr. Alchemy giving Metas the power and lives of their alternate reality. He bring forth the God of Speed Savitar who is so great that Barry cannot match him.
Ultimately, the two major conflicts that lead the series to its conclusion are: Caitlin Snow's fight with her reemerging alter ego Killer Frost and Barry's attempt to rewrite a future where Savitar kills Iris right in front of Barry. Both are great central conflicts but lack steady pacing that makes the journey to the climax slow.
Meanwhile, too much time is spent on the extraneous. Wally West slowly becomes Kid Flash despite being woefully boring. Cisco Ramon grows into the role of Vibe yet does little else. Even with Barry and Iris finally moving past the will-they-or-won't-they drama, Iris' role amounts to damsel in distress.
Too often, this season felt like The Flash was running on neutral. Few episodes were bad, but too many were forgettable, wasting valuable focus on Savitar who felt aloof for too long. Going from the intense betrayals of Reverse Flash and Zoom back to back, just having Savitar be an unstoppable force ready to kill Iris was not enough even with the ultimate reveal.
***This is a review of the third season of The Flash, written for those who have completed the season already, looking at how this season developed its characters and world. Those who have not seen the entire season including the recently aired finale should not read ahead if they do not wish to be spoiled.***
The structure of The Flash has become fairly clear. Each season focuses on The Flash vs. another speedster who is driven by the consequences of irresponsible time travel. This third season fully puts the blame on Barry Allen as he finally gives in and saves his mother's life by traveling back in time.
Setting forth the Flashpoint Paradox was always going to be an exciting line for the series to follow, but the Arrowverse does not seem comfortable breaking up its typical villain-of-the-week structure, leading to a far-too-short drift into a parallel timeline.
In order to try and compensate, this season blames Flashpoint for much of the conflict in the series. Barry cannot wholly rewrite what he has done with the mysterious Dr. Alchemy giving Metas the power and lives of their alternate reality. He bring forth the God of Speed Savitar who is so great that Barry cannot match him.
Ultimately, the two major conflicts that lead the series to its conclusion are: Caitlin Snow's fight with her reemerging alter ego Killer Frost and Barry's attempt to rewrite a future where Savitar kills Iris right in front of Barry. Both are great central conflicts but lack steady pacing that makes the journey to the climax slow.
Meanwhile, too much time is spent on the extraneous. Wally West slowly becomes Kid Flash despite being woefully boring. Cisco Ramon grows into the role of Vibe yet does little else. Even with Barry and Iris finally moving past the will-they-or-won't-they drama, Iris' role amounts to damsel in distress.
Too often, this season felt like The Flash was running on neutral. Few episodes were bad, but too many were forgettable, wasting valuable focus on Savitar who felt aloof for too long. Going from the intense betrayals of Reverse Flash and Zoom back to back, just having Savitar be an unstoppable force ready to kill Iris was not enough even with the ultimate reveal.
The Flash clearly was lacking for speedsters. (Image Courtesy of: forbes.com)
Grant Gustin continues to be a fun charismatic lead who is particularly strong when the emotional moments strike. Danielle Panabaker plays multiple roles through multiple intense states which she plays well that make Caitlin's story the most poignant. The rest of the cast feel fairly secondary though Jesse L. Martin plays some fantastic alternate roles during the season.
Tom Cavanagh plays a new role once more this season (primarily) as HR, the dramatic writer and emotional support, with some hilarious moments. Newcomer Tom Felton (Harry Potter) plays a surprisingly deep role in the story with his romance with Caitlin one of the better written in the Arrowverse.
This season does have some fantastic moments. "Flashpoint" and "Paradox" make for a solid two-episode start while the other big two-parter "Attack on Gorilla City" and "Attack on Central City" featuring Grodd are also great fun. "Duet", the anticipated musical episode, could have been more but was still a great use of music and current conflicts to make for a creative whole.
The writing in this season was fairly standard for the season with a balance of solid romance and silly action. The heavy focus on time travel and its consequences defined the main story as Barry raced against fate to stop Savitar even heading to the future multiple times including the best episode of the season, "Once and Future Flash".
Ultimately, the reveal that Savitar was actually a time remnant future Barry was a smartly built twist that gave Savitar his human element at the end. It was a shame it took until there were just two full episodes left to fully showcase that twist. This idea amplified the time melding of the series and led to an intense homestretch.
However, just as it looked like The Flash was willing to take a chance by killing off Iris and forcing Barry to accept that loss, they swerved fans by having HR die instead who was the most expendable given the show can just add another character for Cavanagh to play next season.
This was the weakest season of The Flash to date, falling into the dangerous holding pattern of long-running TV series. In order to pull the show back to the strong foundations it opened on, a new theme needs to be established with Barry focused on more than becoming faster to fight a new speedster.
Tom Cavanagh plays a new role once more this season (primarily) as HR, the dramatic writer and emotional support, with some hilarious moments. Newcomer Tom Felton (Harry Potter) plays a surprisingly deep role in the story with his romance with Caitlin one of the better written in the Arrowverse.
This season does have some fantastic moments. "Flashpoint" and "Paradox" make for a solid two-episode start while the other big two-parter "Attack on Gorilla City" and "Attack on Central City" featuring Grodd are also great fun. "Duet", the anticipated musical episode, could have been more but was still a great use of music and current conflicts to make for a creative whole.
The writing in this season was fairly standard for the season with a balance of solid romance and silly action. The heavy focus on time travel and its consequences defined the main story as Barry raced against fate to stop Savitar even heading to the future multiple times including the best episode of the season, "Once and Future Flash".
Ultimately, the reveal that Savitar was actually a time remnant future Barry was a smartly built twist that gave Savitar his human element at the end. It was a shame it took until there were just two full episodes left to fully showcase that twist. This idea amplified the time melding of the series and led to an intense homestretch.
However, just as it looked like The Flash was willing to take a chance by killing off Iris and forcing Barry to accept that loss, they swerved fans by having HR die instead who was the most expendable given the show can just add another character for Cavanagh to play next season.
This was the weakest season of The Flash to date, falling into the dangerous holding pattern of long-running TV series. In order to pull the show back to the strong foundations it opened on, a new theme needs to be established with Barry focused on more than becoming faster to fight a new speedster.