HOLLYWOOD—Honestly, it’s rare in the TV world where the second season of a hit series turns out to be better than the first season. I mean look at “Empire;” the first season was stellar, the second not so much. However, The CW series “The Flash” was a hoot to watch during season 1, and season 2 was even better for lovers of the comic book universe.
I mean seeing the evolution of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) was such a thrill. Not only was he juggling with being a hero for Central City, but fighting back feelings for his true love Iris, discovering Earth 2, fighting the supervillain Zoom, and dealing with the heartbreaking loss of another parent, this time his father. The season 3 premiere, ‘Flashpoint’ saw the ramifications of Barry making that game-changing decision to rescue his mother Nora, which has totally impacted the universe as we know it.
The episode kicked off with quite a bit of excitement as ‘Kid Flash’ portrayed by Keiynan Lonsdale (now the hero of Central City), and Barry in the shadows, yet he still has his flash abilities, and is pining after Iris more than after, which means the universe as we know it has shifted. It’s almost like the series has manifested a reboot to deliver new narrative for the audience, but it was short-lived people.
Barry has been keeping secrets; he rescued Reverse Flash, who he has kept captive hoping to prevent the past from coming to fruition. All seems happily ever-after in the Allen household with Nora and Henry very much living married life. Yet, the relationship between Joe and Barry is quite fractured to say the least. Our hero was stunned to unmask Kid Flash, and find the face of Wally West who also happens to be Iris’ brother. Looks like Iris knows her brother’s secret. Looks like Barry messing with the past impacted the ripple in time where he would have become ‘The Flash.’
Man, I was waiting to see when Star Labs would come back into the mix, and it looks like Cisco is a global titan, and his personality has total shifted from quirky guy to a complete jack***. Barry continued to have intense flashbacks of his past, which raised the question of what was happening with Barry. He is losing memories from his past because he’s continuing to use his speed. Afraid of losing his memories, Barry discloses his abilities to Iris, Wally and Cisco, in hopes of stopping ‘The Rival’ from terrorizing the city. It became a realization for Barry that he has to stop hiding and once again become the hero he has always been. Dr. Kaitlin Snow is back in the mix, and it looks like this alternate universe isn’t going to last long for us fans. While doing battle with ‘The Rival,’ Barry suffered more memory lost, but Iris was able to convince Barry to trust his abilities, giving him the edge over the enemy.
Just when it looked like Barry was a goner, Joe came to the rescue, but Wally found himself near death. Are the writers purposely trying to break the audience’s heart by constantly giving Barry hope that he’ll have that happy family that he always wanted, just to snatch it right in front of us? With the release of Reverse Flash, Barry’s alternate universe is no more, Nora was murdered yet again, and Barry was warned by his nemesis, that all is not what he expects it to be.
Barry was confused about the situation involving Iris and her father when he returned to the present time. The final moments delivered a big cliffhanger as to what to expect this season as ‘Alchemy’ came to the mix. So just who is this new enemy and what is his link to Reverse Flash people? We’ll soon find out. “The Flash” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
