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locker_monster- Compared to last year's finale of The Flash, this year definitely had higher stakes. But the show keeps going back to one thing:
The death of Barry's mom. I really thought that Barry had put the whole thing behind him, but I guess the death of his father totally shook him to the core. So now we end the season with Barry going back in time and saving his mother, when before he didn't have the courage. This seems like a really poor and selfish decision on Barry's part. In last year's finale, he decides not to save his mother because it would change the timeline and the lives of his friends and family. Now, he doesn't care. He's justifiable, in his grief, in wanting to make things better, but it's still not a wise choice. The fact that past!Barry, the one hiding in the next room, disappears, probably means that present day Barry just re-wrote history.
Now, in the comics, Barry going back and saving his mom caused the whole Flashpoint storyline. It was an alternate timeline where Bruce died instead of his parents, Superman's pod crashed into Metropolis, and the world was on the brink of annihilation because Wonder Woman and Aquaman were at each other's throats. Does this mean TV Barry is going to return to a world where everything is messed up? I think he'll return to a world where his mom and dad are alive, but he doesn't have his powers. It was established last year that everything we saw on The Flash was an alternate timeline; Reverse-Flash engineered things so Barry would became the Flash earlier in time, so that threw off the course of history. If Reverse-Flash never killed Nora and never got stranded in the past, he never took over Harrison Wells' identity and thus, the particle accelerator never went off in 2013. That also means that Eddie never died and Ronnie and Stein never became Firestorm. So, on the one hand, it's a way to bring back dead characters. We can still have a Harrison Wells on the show next season. On the other hand, that's a lot of retcon. Maybe the first few episodes will play out like Flashpoint, with Barry maybe approaching original Harrison Wells to help him get his powers back, but things will have to go back to what we know at some point. If they don't, that's a lot of repercussions for the Arrowverse.
Anyway, moving on from the timey-wimey... Actually, no, because I want to talk about the whole "time remnant" thing. They did their best to try to explain it to Wally, but it still makes no sense. How can a speedster's past self die without it killing the speedster in the present day? Or does the show follow the theory that the second you travel to the past, you create a separate, alternate timeline? I guess that would mean the two speedsters exist independently from each other and so one can die without affecting the other. Or something. Ugh. But what about the other times Barry has time travelled? There weren't two Barrys then. Or maybe you have to do something different to create a time remnant. Once again, ugh. Going off of Barry's line, about how it's something he really can't do again, I hope it's a plot point that won't show up again any time soon.
Oh, but when one of the Barrys burns up to stop the Magnatar (no idea how you spell that), it kind of invoked how comic book Barry died during Crisis on Infinite Earths. And when Zoom is grabbed by the Time Wraiths, he ends up looking like the Black Flash. Is Zoom now the manifestation of Death?
So the Man in the Iron Mask was Henry. Sort of. Turns out he's Earth-3 Henry, or rather, Earth-3 Jay Garrick, and he looks like Earth-1 Henry, but he's also a speedster. Confused yet? As to why he was in the cage, Zoom kidnapped him from Earth-3 and tried to steal his powers, but it didn't stick, so he stole Jay's name and costume design instead so that he, Zoom, could have some fun on Earth-2. Oh, and the winged helmet was Zoom's addition to the costume, but Earth-3 Jay decides to keep it. Thus, we end up with a costume similar to what Jay wears in the comics. I had a good giggle because it meant that John Wesley Shipp got to put on a Flash costume again. I want to see Earth-3 Jay again, since it's such a throwaway reveal at the end, and everything I've read so far seems to say that Jay will be back for future stories. Yay! I can see him being the mentor figure that he is in the comics, though with a touch more angst because of the whole "he looks like Barry's dad" thing.
Though, what about the Earth with 1990 Flash? There was a clear shot of him when Barry and Cisco travelled to Earth-2 for the first time. So that means there's another Earth out there with a speedster that looks like Barry's dad. I doubt we'll get to visit that Earth, since it would confuse things even more. I'd love it if we got to visit Earth-3 and it had elements of the 1990 The Flash. Like, it could be a vague continuation of the show. You could bring back Amanda Pays and have her play Earth-3 Tina.
Jesse and Harry end up going back to Earth-2, which is a shame, since the Harry-Cisco show was a joy to watch. As mentioned above, there is a way to have Tom Cavanagh back for season three, but the poor man would be playing yet another version of Harrison Wells. Ooh, a thought. Maybe we'll see Harry and Jesse and Earth-3 Jay again. It's entirely possible that Harry can't find a way to get Jay home, so Jay adopts Earth-2 as his new home. Since Cisco can easily open a breach to Earth-2, it'd be nothing to have the characters hop over for a visit. This is assuming if we get back to the timeline we know.
But hey, if they don't fix things, this might change a certain death that happened on Legends of Tomorrow. But that might mean the whole first season of LoT didn't happen or it happened differently. See, one change on The Flash ripples out to the other shows. This is why I'm not overly fond of time travel retcons. They feel like such a big cheat. Plus, it wipes out any character development that has occurred thus far. I hope the writers know what they're doing for next season.
- Arrow also had its finale. One more year of flashbacks to go. Can't wait until the show can devote the entire 45 minutes to the main storyline in the present.
Past two seasons have had very weak flashback plot lines. The Hong Kong stuff started kind of strong but it petered out at the end. This year was just plain boring all around. I feel like the writers had no idea what they were doing. It's a drug farm! They're using slave labour! No, wait, it's about magic. And this idol thingy. I know they like to connect the flashbacks and the present day storyline, but this felt super forced. Ollie's thing with Taiana was also pretty bland. It was like they wanted her to be a love interest but they changed their minds halfway through. At least Taiana gives Ollie a reason to go visit Russia; he still needs to acquire his Bratva tattoo. But if he leaves for Russia, how does he end up back on Lian Yu with the long hair and hobo beard? I don't think a guy can grow out his hair that much in a year.
Anyway, the present day stuff. Another year, another threat to the city. It's like Sunnydale, when the Hellmouth acted up every May. I did appreciate that people banded together to defend the city. The fact that their collective hope dampened Darhk's powers? Um, sure, why not. It's magic. You can hand wave it all away. Ollie killing Darhk was not a surprise; kind of hard to lock him up, like he did with Slade. While Darhk was a fun character, I never felt like HIVE was this big huge threat. The ghosts started out as hard guys to kill, but then Team Arrow was taking them out with ease as the season went on. I don't know who's the Big Bad for next season, but the writers need to come up with someone who's a good foil to Ollie. Magic just doesn't jive with the tone of the show.
I think I enjoyed The Flash finale more, but it did fun things like introduce Jay Garrick properly. Ollie became mayor of Star City, which happened in the comics, but that's kind of the end of the fun train. Team Arrow is broken up; Thea needs some time to herself, it looked like Diggle reenlisted in the army, and Lance is off with Felicity's mother trying to figure out what to do with his life. I'm sure everyone will come back to Star City for the start of season five; it's just a matter of how and why. It's interesting that Felicity was the only one who stayed. The shippers will probably argue that she still loves Ollie. I just think that Felicity isn't the type to abandon her friends. Plus, someone needs to watch Ollie's back when he's out in the field, assuming, of course, that he continues to play vigilante at night. As for whether the two of them will get back together, meh, whatever. The two characters have been all over the place for the last couple of years. Just let them enjoy each other's company for a bit before trying to reunite them as a couple.
I'd love it if they brought back Constantine. That was the only good thing the magic arc did this season. Well, that and introduce Vixen in the live action world. Maybe one or both of them could pop up on Legends of Tomorrow. I want to see Curtis as Mr. Terrific as well. They do have an opening on the team. Just put in a call to Cisco and he can make up Mr. Terrific's signature T mask.
I now eagerly await the mega crossover. I have high hopes that will be really good, but I will settle for okay as long as they have a lot of geeky comic book moments.
The death of Barry's mom. I really thought that Barry had put the whole thing behind him, but I guess the death of his father totally shook him to the core. So now we end the season with Barry going back in time and saving his mother, when before he didn't have the courage. This seems like a really poor and selfish decision on Barry's part. In last year's finale, he decides not to save his mother because it would change the timeline and the lives of his friends and family. Now, he doesn't care. He's justifiable, in his grief, in wanting to make things better, but it's still not a wise choice. The fact that past!Barry, the one hiding in the next room, disappears, probably means that present day Barry just re-wrote history.
Now, in the comics, Barry going back and saving his mom caused the whole Flashpoint storyline. It was an alternate timeline where Bruce died instead of his parents, Superman's pod crashed into Metropolis, and the world was on the brink of annihilation because Wonder Woman and Aquaman were at each other's throats. Does this mean TV Barry is going to return to a world where everything is messed up? I think he'll return to a world where his mom and dad are alive, but he doesn't have his powers. It was established last year that everything we saw on The Flash was an alternate timeline; Reverse-Flash engineered things so Barry would became the Flash earlier in time, so that threw off the course of history. If Reverse-Flash never killed Nora and never got stranded in the past, he never took over Harrison Wells' identity and thus, the particle accelerator never went off in 2013. That also means that Eddie never died and Ronnie and Stein never became Firestorm. So, on the one hand, it's a way to bring back dead characters. We can still have a Harrison Wells on the show next season. On the other hand, that's a lot of retcon. Maybe the first few episodes will play out like Flashpoint, with Barry maybe approaching original Harrison Wells to help him get his powers back, but things will have to go back to what we know at some point. If they don't, that's a lot of repercussions for the Arrowverse.
Anyway, moving on from the timey-wimey... Actually, no, because I want to talk about the whole "time remnant" thing. They did their best to try to explain it to Wally, but it still makes no sense. How can a speedster's past self die without it killing the speedster in the present day? Or does the show follow the theory that the second you travel to the past, you create a separate, alternate timeline? I guess that would mean the two speedsters exist independently from each other and so one can die without affecting the other. Or something. Ugh. But what about the other times Barry has time travelled? There weren't two Barrys then. Or maybe you have to do something different to create a time remnant. Once again, ugh. Going off of Barry's line, about how it's something he really can't do again, I hope it's a plot point that won't show up again any time soon.
Oh, but when one of the Barrys burns up to stop the Magnatar (no idea how you spell that), it kind of invoked how comic book Barry died during Crisis on Infinite Earths. And when Zoom is grabbed by the Time Wraiths, he ends up looking like the Black Flash. Is Zoom now the manifestation of Death?
So the Man in the Iron Mask was Henry. Sort of. Turns out he's Earth-3 Henry, or rather, Earth-3 Jay Garrick, and he looks like Earth-1 Henry, but he's also a speedster. Confused yet? As to why he was in the cage, Zoom kidnapped him from Earth-3 and tried to steal his powers, but it didn't stick, so he stole Jay's name and costume design instead so that he, Zoom, could have some fun on Earth-2. Oh, and the winged helmet was Zoom's addition to the costume, but Earth-3 Jay decides to keep it. Thus, we end up with a costume similar to what Jay wears in the comics. I had a good giggle because it meant that John Wesley Shipp got to put on a Flash costume again. I want to see Earth-3 Jay again, since it's such a throwaway reveal at the end, and everything I've read so far seems to say that Jay will be back for future stories. Yay! I can see him being the mentor figure that he is in the comics, though with a touch more angst because of the whole "he looks like Barry's dad" thing.
Though, what about the Earth with 1990 Flash? There was a clear shot of him when Barry and Cisco travelled to Earth-2 for the first time. So that means there's another Earth out there with a speedster that looks like Barry's dad. I doubt we'll get to visit that Earth, since it would confuse things even more. I'd love it if we got to visit Earth-3 and it had elements of the 1990 The Flash. Like, it could be a vague continuation of the show. You could bring back Amanda Pays and have her play Earth-3 Tina.
Jesse and Harry end up going back to Earth-2, which is a shame, since the Harry-Cisco show was a joy to watch. As mentioned above, there is a way to have Tom Cavanagh back for season three, but the poor man would be playing yet another version of Harrison Wells. Ooh, a thought. Maybe we'll see Harry and Jesse and Earth-3 Jay again. It's entirely possible that Harry can't find a way to get Jay home, so Jay adopts Earth-2 as his new home. Since Cisco can easily open a breach to Earth-2, it'd be nothing to have the characters hop over for a visit. This is assuming if we get back to the timeline we know.
But hey, if they don't fix things, this might change a certain death that happened on Legends of Tomorrow. But that might mean the whole first season of LoT didn't happen or it happened differently. See, one change on The Flash ripples out to the other shows. This is why I'm not overly fond of time travel retcons. They feel like such a big cheat. Plus, it wipes out any character development that has occurred thus far. I hope the writers know what they're doing for next season.
- Arrow also had its finale. One more year of flashbacks to go. Can't wait until the show can devote the entire 45 minutes to the main storyline in the present.
Past two seasons have had very weak flashback plot lines. The Hong Kong stuff started kind of strong but it petered out at the end. This year was just plain boring all around. I feel like the writers had no idea what they were doing. It's a drug farm! They're using slave labour! No, wait, it's about magic. And this idol thingy. I know they like to connect the flashbacks and the present day storyline, but this felt super forced. Ollie's thing with Taiana was also pretty bland. It was like they wanted her to be a love interest but they changed their minds halfway through. At least Taiana gives Ollie a reason to go visit Russia; he still needs to acquire his Bratva tattoo. But if he leaves for Russia, how does he end up back on Lian Yu with the long hair and hobo beard? I don't think a guy can grow out his hair that much in a year.
Anyway, the present day stuff. Another year, another threat to the city. It's like Sunnydale, when the Hellmouth acted up every May. I did appreciate that people banded together to defend the city. The fact that their collective hope dampened Darhk's powers? Um, sure, why not. It's magic. You can hand wave it all away. Ollie killing Darhk was not a surprise; kind of hard to lock him up, like he did with Slade. While Darhk was a fun character, I never felt like HIVE was this big huge threat. The ghosts started out as hard guys to kill, but then Team Arrow was taking them out with ease as the season went on. I don't know who's the Big Bad for next season, but the writers need to come up with someone who's a good foil to Ollie. Magic just doesn't jive with the tone of the show.
I think I enjoyed The Flash finale more, but it did fun things like introduce Jay Garrick properly. Ollie became mayor of Star City, which happened in the comics, but that's kind of the end of the fun train. Team Arrow is broken up; Thea needs some time to herself, it looked like Diggle reenlisted in the army, and Lance is off with Felicity's mother trying to figure out what to do with his life. I'm sure everyone will come back to Star City for the start of season five; it's just a matter of how and why. It's interesting that Felicity was the only one who stayed. The shippers will probably argue that she still loves Ollie. I just think that Felicity isn't the type to abandon her friends. Plus, someone needs to watch Ollie's back when he's out in the field, assuming, of course, that he continues to play vigilante at night. As for whether the two of them will get back together, meh, whatever. The two characters have been all over the place for the last couple of years. Just let them enjoy each other's company for a bit before trying to reunite them as a couple.
I'd love it if they brought back Constantine. That was the only good thing the magic arc did this season. Well, that and introduce Vixen in the live action world. Maybe one or both of them could pop up on Legends of Tomorrow. I want to see Curtis as Mr. Terrific as well. They do have an opening on the team. Just put in a call to Cisco and he can make up Mr. Terrific's signature T mask.
I now eagerly await the mega crossover. I have high hopes that will be really good, but I will settle for okay as long as they have a lot of geeky comic book moments.
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no subject
Date: 2016-05-28 03:25 am (UTC)Barry plans to run back in time, just a tiny bit. One version of him does, (or did, or will have did... time travel makes tenses complicated!), and shows up in the present. But, now that the present/past Barry Allen sees, "Hey, there's future-me, back in time with me!" he doesn't need to make the effort to run faster to go back in time. He's changed his future, but his Future-Self still sticks around a little bit because it's not a big enough change and it could be undone (if the future self vanishes, Barry could then decide to run back in time and bring him back) and it probably takes time for it to fade away. Hence, it's a remnant. The future self can then sacrifice himself (or be murdered), but it won't affect Past Barry who simply decides, "Nah, not doing that this time around" and continues living his life. It's still a paradox, but it's one that's a little easier to get away with than killing your past self, which also means your future self shouldn't be back in time.
The "hard" part of making a time remnant is a little like Zoom said, you have to be willing to kill yourself... but not your past self. You have to be willing to go back in time knowing you'll either die in some scheme (because that's one of the few uses for a time remnant) or be wiped from existence because your past self won't duplicate your path once you're already there.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-28 03:27 am (UTC)Haven't found confirmation yet for that though.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-28 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-28 07:13 pm (UTC)It's still the ultimate cheat, though, as time travel always is. Hopefully Barry realizes that time travel should only be used in the most dire of situations.