Jessie Robertson reviews the fifteenth episode of The Flash season 3…
I 100% agree Cisco; no one should use “milk” as a verb
I think the goal this season is to make Savitar a unique “big bad” and the journey of how to do that. Tonight’s episode, despite the clunky, meandering road that got there, did make it an interesting stopping point. Savitar, now released from the Speed Force (we find out) and trapping Wally in his place, planted those seeds all along. He fueled Wally’s desire to be a speedster, knowing his ego would get the best of him, knowing he could be fast enough to sustain the journey in the speed force that Savitar has done to stay alive. Brilliant plotting and really took me by surprise. The visceral image of a maddened Wally, who honestly thought he was going a bit crazy, with pieces of the suit ripping off of him was a stunning one and a dark one. It was a very memorable ending that changes the look and feel of Savitar a bit.
That look says it all Barry. What the hell was happening on this show tonight? I didn’t do last week justice by forgetting to mention Barry and Iris’ engagement but apparently it didn’t really matter because it was all just for show. Joe smelled a rat when Barry didn’t come to him for his permission, so on a whim, Wally and Cisco vibe into the future (is it really that easy now?) and he just so happens to notice Iris has no engagement ring on her finger. WHA? Barry proposed as another way to change the future, not because he wanted to or loved her, even though he did, on both those counts. Again – WHA? Then Julian and Caitlin get into a serious fight about what, they’re not even a couple yet. That’s after the fact they make Julian be Savitar’s microphone, not once but twice this episode, and to top it all off, the cherry on top of the Speed Force sundae, yes, Savitar is in the Speed Force and oh yeah, that’s where Barry the Stone at as well. WHA- WHAT? We’re just not realizing this blunder? So, everyone’s mad at each other, everyone’s keeping things, which we just learned a few weeks ago is bad news and they just brought Savitar back, when he wasn’t even gone that long. I felt uncomfortable in my own skin just watching this thing fall down around the episode. Nothing here resembled The Flash. It started resembling a bad soap opera with superpowers.
Besides the ending coming together, maybe the only redeeming quality was HR. He was on fire, shooting three pointers left and right. Him jumping in as best man for Barry, bringing up the Four Amigos and just being there for Jesse when Wally was gone all were extreme highlights of an episode that went off the rails. In Savitar’s speech which seemed like it was going to be important, but which I could glean nothing from, he did mention HR being the coward who somehow survived his wrath. While HR seems to be the least important person on this show, it could not function as successfully without his presence.
7.5/10- I was going to give this an “8” but I was deeply troubled by the show I love not looking like the presentation on television screen tonight.
Other Notes:
– Wally being sucked into the Speed Force is very reminiscent of past Flash comics (Crisis on Infinite Earths) but with Barry instead
– Shortest engagement ever. How hollow they turned that relationship.
– There was an overall theme of “fear” and how too much guides people to make bad decisions but every season Barry has to overcome more “fear”. I think it was time to move past that after last season.
– So Savitar’s identity is a reveal now? Barry seemed to be trying to rip its helmet off to reveal who? If it’s Eddie, get the shark ready.
– Joe and his crying face. Even that was ruined here.
– Why did Barry just stand there as Wally was being taken into the Speed Force? For literal seconds, dozens of them , which for a speedster is nothing.
– I just realize Barry and Iris’ loft joins the Friends apartment, Seinfeld’s apartment, the Dunphy’s house and many others as a TV living space WAYYYY too expensive for them to live in.
Jessie Robertson
Originally published March 8, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
