As one of the most popular shows in CW’s DC Universe, it is only fitting that The Flash is the first of the four superhero shows (Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl) to return. When it premiered October 2014, The Flash captured viewers’ hearts with a more light-hearted, humorous tone and willingness to explore more outlandish concepts like psychic gorillas, robotic bees, time travel and alternate dimensions. The Flash was a refreshing new superhero show in the mire of darker shows such as Arrow or Marvel’s Daredevil.
However, as the series enters its third season, it’s clear that The Flash is not the happy-go-lucky show that it once was. In fact, the season’s storyline centers around Barry’s (Grant Gustin) inability to deal with the loss of his father. As I sat down to watch season three’s opener, “Flashpoint,” I found myself hoping for the best but bracing myself to trudge through the potential doldrums that I experienced in the second half of season two, with a lackluster villain who spent half his time moping over a girl who didn’t love him, slow story progression exacerbated by multiple hiatuses and a nonsensical finale that randomly introduced another world-ending event to the game for the sake of raising the stakes.
Overwhelmed with loss following the death of his father at the conclusion of season two, Barry chooses to go back in time to save his mother from being murdered at the hands of his nemesis, the Reverse-Flash (Tom Cavanagh). In doing so, he creates an alternate timeline where both of his parents are alive.
“Flashpoint” picks up three months after the Flash changes history and depicts him happier than ever. Reunited with his family and the love of his life, Iris West (Candice Patton), Barry is ready to live out his life and attain his happily-ever-after. But when our hero begins to forget memories from the original timeline, it becomes clear that the Flash must race to right his mistake before the Flashpoint continuity overwrites everything he holds dear. But while “Flashpoint” remembers some of what viewers treasure about the show, it also suffers and stumbles from what it forgets. The pitch-perfect pacing of the first season, for one, feels long gone with this episode, which feels as overstuffed as a Thanksgiving turkey.
Although this episode of The Flash staggers under the weight of trying to get through an entirely different world in an hour, some elements and characters still manage to call back to the phenomenal first season and campy playfulness of the Silver Age, a period in which comic books from the 1930s and 1940s were brought back and updated with a more humorous approach. Carlos Valdes, for example, does not disappoint as series regular Cisco Ramon. While Cisco was previously known for his comic potential and pop culture references, “Flashpoint” repaints the character as a sassy, cynical billionaire. However, he still manages to light up the screen, as his usual quips and name-calling take on a sharper edge. The Rival (Todd Lasance), the episode’s villain, is appropriately cartoonish. As one of the least developed villains and another speedster determined to be the fastest man alive, the Rival definitely feels like he could be from a simpler, more carefree era, with corny, half-baked declarations about “having no rival.”
There are, of course, the usual criticisms that the dialogues and the themes are far too on-the-nose, as seen in Iris’ impassioned speech to Barry: She literally says, “I believe in you, and you can stop this guy. Be the Flash, Barry, because that’s who you are. You’re the Flash.” And while the dialogue can become very grating, it’s something the viewer needs to get used to simply because it’s a CW show, which at best provides grating dialogue like the above example, and at worse employs outright hypocrisy. To exemplify, sister show Arrow previously broke up two major characters based on one character’s deceit — after forgiving the other character’s deceit a few episodes prior.
Season three of The Flash rushes out of the gates as quickly as its namesake, and the series could stand to learn to spread out its material and pace itself a tad better so it doesn’t sputter out of energy halfway through the race. While I recommend giving this season a chance, I also remain poised to abandon ship if the storyline chooses to fall back on reused tropes and overdone darkness.
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