The Flash Season 3 Spoilers

So I wanted to do a special part 2 to give myself a forum to talk spoilers about the third season of The Flash. I did this for a couple reasons. First because it gives me liberty to talk about specific things that I really didn't like about this season, especially the ending. Second, it gives me the opportunity to talk about the future of the show and some of the implications this season left us with.

So let's get to it, let's talk about Savitar.

I can honestly say that the identity of Savitar was not something that was spoiled for me early on, I legitimately guessed that it was Barry underneath the mask. I didn't know exactly which Barry, I didn't call that he was a replica of himself that can be created through a time loop, but I did guess that it was Barry just because I caught onto the really blatant hints they give like giving him the line, I am the future Flash... the FUTURE FLASH. If that doesn't spell it out pretty clearly, I don't know what does.

I mentioned in my regular review that I didn't like the fact that Barry was facing ANOTHER speedster. I thought that it was all together too much like the last two seasons. I do like the poeticness of it in that every season has shown the duality of the hero himself and this one was literally a shadow version of himself. Like I'm a little surprised that they didn't give him an evil Goatee... or at least a paper one until he could grow it himself...

So fighting another speedster, it was a little repetitive, but there's no way that they could do that for a fourth season straight... right?

The one other problem with Savitar was the fact that because they're dealing with a future Barry, he knows everything that is going to happen and he becomes very difficult to defeat. Like the only way things become different is when somebody decides to change the future and Barry has literally no idea that it happens. 

The death of H.R. though tragic was kind of undercut by the fact that it was a little bit of a cop out. We're shown that the future cannot be changed, this is the complete penance for Barry's meddling with the timeline... and the real heart of the season is sacrificed so sniveling little Barry can get his happy ending. 

I don't really mean that because I do like Barry, but I mentioned this in the regular review, Barry really gets away with doing a horrible, horrible thing in changing the timeline and he pretty much gets away with it in the end. I'll talk more about the ending ending, but that was a theme throughout the entire movie of people sacrificing themselves for Barry and then he has the balls to bitch and moan that there's no way to stop the future and Iris is gonna die? 

Like I get it, all of Barry's friends like Iris and nobody was going to give him the hard truth that maybe the universe is telling him that Iris needs to die. Maybe that's just the way it goes and that's something he needs to accept. He would never accept it and never does, but if they hadn't pulled that cop out with H.R. that's exactly what the lesson would have been. None of this bullshit speedforce prison Barry needs to go to, his prison would have been the fact that he alone was responsible for the death of the woman he loves and he needs to get over that. While the future showed that he couldn't, Barry would need to try and change that future, even though he couldn't change it before. I don't know, that just seems more poetic and while you lose a decent actress in Candice Patton, it would mean so much more to the show and to the character. 

I'm not totally sure if they did that same thing in Arrow because I got the sense that they did when I saw Laurel Lance seemingly dead in the Arrow episode of Invasion! But even if they did it in Arrow doesn't mean that The Flash couldn't do it better. 

The last episode is a little bit of a mess with H.R's forced ninth hour romance who is probably going to end up being a villain down the road leaving, Barry trying to strike some kind of deal with evil Barry, a weird Phantom of the Opera scene with evil Barry and Iris, and then an evil plot that is incredibly, INCREDIBLY confusing. Evil Barry I guess wants to transcend time and become a god but we don't really know what that looks like and in order to do that he needs to open the speedforce, dispatch Hunter Zolomon with Killer Frost like he was absolutely nothing, and evil Barry is shot by Iris. He disappears and everything seems good. It was really kind of a mess and was more just a run of the mill episode and dispatched the main villain like he was a common episodic villain. They basically try to pull off a Doctor Who time travel evil plot that was even confusing in Doctor Who, and they just don't end the season on a very high note. 

The only other thing to add onto that was the usage of Killer Frost.

I mentioned in my regular review that I wasn't really wild about the fall to the evil side that Danielle Panabaker's character goes through in this season. Killer Frost is not a very interesting villain but that's not to say that she couldn't be. Having a loved character turn evil is a hard thing to do. They had three prequel films to turn little Jake Lloyd into the greatest villain of all time Darth Vader and they failed miserably. Unless you totally change the character, it's very hard to do.

In this show they explain it by mentioning that the alter ego from Flashpoint is turning Caitlyn evil. But there are a lot of points in the show where people bring rational arguments as to why Caitlyn shouldn't be turning evil and her reasoning for refusing to believe them are total bullshit.

And so when it finally comes down to the end, Killer Frost is fully realized, the only reason she is needed is to kill Hunter Zolomon. This was the main villain of the last season and he goes out like a punk. Also they talk about how Caitlyn wouldn't kill anybody but she kills him pretty easily. I mean I guess he's a villain so it's okay, but that's kind of a big deal isn't it?

Overall, Caitlyn had been a really strong character until this season but maybe in season 4 they can make her a compelling character and still manage to keep her from reverting back to her normal self... cause that would be really lame.

But then we come to the end.

Everything seems great, everyone is together, we're having a good time, Iris and Barry are talking about their wedding and then BAM! Speedforce lightning storm starts up and Barry says he needs to go take his place in the speed force along with his ghost mom.

And he's oddly cool with it. There's no point where he questions the speedforce if he needs to do it, or if there's any other way to get out of this like I think the Barry we've actually come to know would do, he just says, "Forget all those plans we just made, I'm going to heaven. PEACE!"

And I don't want our hero going to hell, but the explanation on why he's not going to speedforce hell is really shaky. Savitar, Wally, and Jay Garrick all went to speedforce hell, why doesn't Barry?

But here's the thing. This would be a really powerful and meaningful sacrifice... if we knew it was going to be final. C'mon, you know that Barry is going to come back for Season 4, you know they're going to get him out of the speed force somehow. I mean they even allude to it in the Season 4 trailer.

That is a really crappy trailer now that I rewatch it. I should have mentioned that when I put it up at the end of my Season 3 review, but it's kind of horrible. As much as I like Candice Patton, she is not a strong character to lead the show so get Barry back as soon as possible. And they'll explain it in some half-assed manner and it will be stupid, but once they move past that, I hope they can piece together a pretty good 4th season. One of the issues with the end of Season 3 was that things were wrapped up pretty neatly. The big conflict in the first episode (or maybe two) is that they're going to try and get Barry out of the speedforce, but after that they might need to manufacture some conflict and that is where the show has the potential to lose some of it's steam.

All that being said, Season 3 is actually a pretty solid season. I mentioned that it expose some holes in the armor, but overall it is a really strong season. It took a lot of risks, especially in the beginning and it did put the characters in some very different circumstances, especially considering that Flashpoint started off the season.

And I want to talk about that and the fact that the cinematic universe is actually going to be developing a Flashpoint movie.

The TV was able to pull off Flashpoint because it had given itself the time to develop this character so much that we would know the difference between the real world and the alternative timeline that Barry creates when he goes back in time to create the Flashpoint universe.

If I'm understanding this correctly, DC plans on having Barry Allen's first outing as The Flash be one where he goes back in time and changes a timeline that we know nothing about, to a totally topsy turvey universe. If you know anything about the real Flashpoint universe, in that universe, Bruce Wayne is killed in the alley and his father overcome with grief is the one that puts on the cowl and becomes a very violent Batman, where his mother becomes the Joker.

In the alternate timeline, there is a war between Atlantis and Themyscira, and Superman didn't grow up with the Kent and instead was raised in a government testing facility. While the TV show paints Flashpoint as a very happy place for Barry, in the comics the world goes to absolute shit.

But again, I go back to the point that we have never seen Ezra Miller's Flash except in the email video in Batman v Superman, a small cameo in Suicide Squad, and clips from the Justice League Trailers.

I'm sure he's gonna be great. He also looks like a pretty young Flash so I can understand why he would make the decision to go back in time and save his mother.

But let's be honest, what's the real reason they're doing Flashpoint?

If you haven't been been on the rumor train, you'll know that the solo Batman movie is in a little bit of a rut as originally, Ben Affleck was going to direct AND star in the film. Then he dropped out as director, then his script was tossed out, and right before the DC panel, there were even rumors that he was going to bow out as Batman all together. I don't want to see Affleck go as I really did enjoy him as Batman in Batman v Superman and I think he could do a really good job. But it's always fun to speculate on who could replace him if you're a long time reader of this thing, you'll know my vote goes to Richard Armitage. Overall, I just want somebody who is committed to the character. And that's not to blame Affleck if he isn't as wild about the franchise as he used to be. It sounds like some of the blame goes to Warner Brothers for not giving him the creative control he wanted. So while it I might be just a rumor, it's actually a rumor I can believe and wouldn't be surprised if it happened in reality.

Now at the moment they are just rumors and Affleck has since dispelled them by saying he's firmly on Team Batman, but even if those rumors aren't true, what better way to fix some of the missteps of the earlier DC films like Suicide Squad or Batman v Superman than to change the timeline. You get a great adventure in an alternate timeline and when everything is fixed, maybe some of the missteps are fixed. Maybe Doomsday wasn't created, maybe Lex Luthor Sr. didn't die and we have Bryan Cranston as the main Lex Luthor villain, maybe the Jared Leto's Joker looks a little bit different and is utilized better in the cinematic universe.

And the best part about Flashpoint is that it's already got the beginnings of a kickass cast.

Maybe they didn't just cast good actors like Jeffery Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan for no reason. Jeffery Dean Morgan is probably going to play Flashpoint Batman, Lauren Cohen may just be Martha Wayne Joker. As much as my logical side is saying that this is a bad choice for the cinematic universe and that it's too early for a Flashpoint movie... just those two alone make for an awesome start to the cast. 

I don't want a Flashpoint film unless it is done well. I don't think using Flashpoint for the sole purpose of fixing mistakes is a good reason to do it... but it does sound cool. Again, the logical side of me says no, but the nerd in me really, REALLY wants to see it done. 

And hey, if they're delving into the time and inter dimensional travel, we must start up the question of are we ever going to see these two on the same screen together. 

I don't think there is ever going to be any kind of feature length movie where these two are starring in a Flash film, but again, I wouldn't put it past DC to capitalize on the popularity of The Flash and have the two see each other while they're traveling through the speed force. 

There's a lot to speculate on. Season 3 of The Flash gave us an opportunity to see what Flashpoint could look like and it also pointed out some of the downfalls that The Flash could see itself falling into in the future. This is a great show and while it shouldn't be copied by the movies, they should take advice from this show and take what works and leave out what didn't. 

Overall, I think The Flash Season 3 is still a good season. It just needs some work and they need to stay vigilant or Season 4 is going to suck... hard. 

But those are my thoughts on Season 3 of The Flash. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog. 

I'll leave you with this. So this is really unrelated but I wanted to talk about Doctor Who a little bit without doing a whole post about it and I did mention Doctor Who earlier. The new Doctor is a female! There's a lot of opinions about this, I have my own, but the predominant opinion I have is let's wait and see how she does. I think Jodie Whitaker is a good actress and having the Doctor be a female definitely gives the show an opportunity to shake things up. I'll reserve more thoughts until I see her in action, but until then, Enjoy!