Part of Barry adjusting to his new reality was introducing us to Julian Dorn (Tom Felton), Barry’s new but actually old CSI partner (isn’t time travel fun?). His droll, mean sense of humor made him a fun addition to the mostly peppy and sweet main cast, and although his presence feels a little extraneous to the main plot at this point, it is nice to see someone who’s not ready to roll over for Barry. As charmingly dorky as he is, it’s a little tiring to see Barry automatically forgiven for his near catastrophic choices time and time again.
In this episode, for instance, we learn that not only did Barry’s travels through time inadvertently cause the death of Cisco’s brother, they erased baby Sara Diggle from existence entirely. These are some pretty hefty mistakes! At some moments the show seems to be aware of just how serious this is-- Cisco gives Barry a very thorough tongue-lashing about his selfishness-- but Barry’s forgiven so easily by the end of the episode, it’s hard to feel as though he’s really held accountable for his actions. Grant Gustin’s earnest puppy-dog eyes are enough this time to sell that Barry truly does feel guilty for his behavior and make the audience somewhat sympathetic to him, but that won’t always be sufficient. Going forward, the show needs to really commit to allow Barry to have lasting consequences for his mistakes, or they run the risk of making their hero invincible and flat-out unlikeable for never having to grow or learn from his failures.
Ultimately, what made this episode most enjoyable wasn’t Barry learning yet again the moral importance of letting go, but the way it introduced and set up the plot threads for the rest of the season. After two seasons of pining, it’s great to see Barry and Iris finally on the same page about their feelings for one another; the “will they/won’t they” factor had pretty much fizzled out by this point, and seeing the two navigate what it means to be in predestined relationship has much more dramatic potential. We see Cisco using his powers in new offensive ways and seems to be inching closer to fully embracing his identity as Vibe, something fans have been dying for since day one. Wally is now all but guaranteed to get his speed this season, given the new big bad Doctor Alchemy is creating metas based off of who had powers in Flashpoint. Granted, Doctor Alchemy didn’t quite make a bang with his first entrance-- most of his scenes were ripped straight from the handbook for vaguely menacing bad guys who like to stand in the shadows-- but seeing a main villain who isn’t a speedster for once is such a nice change of pace I’m willing to overlook the more cliche moments and reserve judgement until we see him in action.
We also get an exciting glimpse of Caitlin’s new secret ice powers, which are undoubtedly putting her on the path towards becoming Killer Frost. I have to admit, I was worried after last season that Earth-2 Caitlin was the closest we would ever get to seeing her suit up in blue, but I’m happy to be proven wrong. Even if they choose to not make Earth-1 Killer Frost as flat out villainous as she was in the other dimension, watching Caitlin struggle with her dark side is sure to be interesting; Team Flash has already had to grapple with betrayal by one of their own more than once, there’s no telling how or even if they’d be able to handle another.
Hopefully now that Flashpoint has been dealt with and the new status quo has been established, the show can focus on building off of these exciting developments and moving Barry and the rest of the team forward in their journey, instead of just treading over the same ground.
Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer -- Click here to read Kaitlin's posts
Related Posts:
THE FLASH Season 3 Episode 1 Review: A Sluggish DebutWizard World Chicago 2016: John Barrowman Talks Malcolm Merlyn, Teases Flashpoint Paradox and More
THE FLASH Season 3 Synopsis