THE FLASH - SERIES 3
"What shall we call this new world you've made for us? I was thinking...Flashpoint."
Ah, Flashpoint. Seems like a distant memory now...
On paper, Series 3 of The Flash could have, and probably should have, been something great. It boasted introducing two huge parts of the Flash lore into the show, Wally West's Kid Flash and the Flashpoint story, where the Flash travels back in time to save his mother and accidentally alters the entire DC Universe in the process. Those two aspects alone should've made for a season on par with the show's first, which still stands as it's best.
However, thanks to the powers that be, these two aspects were quietly swept aside for the majority of the season in favour of focusing on the one part of the show that matters the least: The relationship between the two leads. Flashpoint, for instance, was focused on for just over a single episode. One. Episode. Yes, the episode itself was a pretty good season opener, but it's after-effects felt more like convenient ret-cons than universe changing shifts. That's not the point of Flashpoint, and it irritates me how little impact it had on the whole. On the other hand, Wally West's Kid flash did get more of the limelight, but again, not enough.
Kid Flash improved as the season went on, but was sadly over-looked once too often...
Seeing as he is perhaps one of the two most well known characters in Flash lore, I expected him to be the centre of the season. His origin story, if you will. But apparently for whatever reason, he wasn't that important this season, and felt more like a sidekick that helped out whenever it was inconvenient for him not too.
The story of season 3 also felt like the writers couldn't quite make up their mind. For the first several episodes, it focused around the villainous Alchemy, who has the ability to give people super-powers, most of whom become villains. I liked Alchemy. His story was mysterious and brought a level of interest that he show needed. More than that, he wasn't just another speedster villain. Don't get me wrong, I loved Reverse Flash and Zoom in the previous seasons, but I was glad we weren't having a third one.
It was at this point we got a third one.
After that first collection of episodes had run out of twists it could bring to the mix, the real villain of season 3 war revealed: Savitar, an evil speedster who calls himself the God of Speed. We get it, you have to up the odds on the last season, but come on. Another speedster?!
On the whole, Savitar was perhaps the worst of the show's big bads to date. Reverse Flash killed Flash's mother. That makes it personal, and the story he was part of was nearly perfect. Zoom imprisoned Jay Garrick and killed Flash's father. Again, his story, and the plot of the second season on the whole, was pretty good. Not as good as the first, but still good. Now comes Savitar, the most CGI and lacklustre of the three. Yes, he's got the looks and a demonic voice. But beyond that, the reveal of who was under the armour was the show's weakest, possibly ever. It wasn't a surprise, and it had no emotional depth to it.
Overall, I think my biggest problem with the Flash's third season is that I didn't have a huge amount of fun watching it like I have in the past. The plot as the series went on became more and more focused on relationships than it did actual superhero stuff. While I did enjoy it expanded the Flash's lore on the small screen, it swept aside it's biggest aspects and wasted both of them, while also delivering a completely average villain. Yes, the season cliffhanger was ok, but compared to the portal leading to the multiverse in the first season and the creation of Flashpoint in the second, it wasn't much, and will probably be resolved within the first few episodes of season 4. On top of that, the show's strongest actors, John Wesley Shipp and Tom Cavanagh felt under-used too, especially in the case of Shipp's Jay Garrick. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a bad season, there were moments and episodes I liked, but it was clearly weaker than the first two, and that doesn't bode well.
That all being said, I am quite liking the Future Flash's suit...
