This week’s The Flash did more to fuck up the rules of time travel than Biff Tannen, but it presented a really fun episode that advanced the season’s plots and provided some rare insight into Barry’s character.
1. Time travel makes less sense than ever
At one point in the show, Savitarry (Future Barry outside of his Savitar suit) says something along the lines of “The more you time travel, the less it affects you.” Let’s call this the reverse-Primer school of thought. I suppose the thinking is that, as the novelty wears off, you’re better able to deal with the repercussions of what is happening. This is opposite of just about every other theory of time travel (even ones espoused on this network as part of its DC Comics TV family!), where the more you meddle, the worse it gets.
In one way, this sort of answer is the only way to make any sense of this season, where Barry has fucked up so much with his time travel that to hypothesize about it getting worse seems like the only possible outcome could be a crumbled world, smoldering from his constant interference. I was a strong believer, early on, in Barry undoing Flashpoint as the only way to really ‘fix’ the problems of this season, but once Wally got his powers, it seems like they really can’t undo all the effects of Flashpoint.
I am hoping that, since next season is supposedly not focused around a speedster villain, this is the end of time travel for a bit on this show. There’s almost nothing left to gain from it, and it just keeps making the show feel disjointed and weird on a near weekly basis.
2. Some solid Barry comedy
Grant Gustin is a delight, and he did some really fine work playing “Bart” tonight. Still very much the same guy he was pre-mind-wipe, this Barry really only had two differences from normal Barry. One, as Iris kept harping on, he was less burdened by his past. We’ll get to that more in a bit. The other difference is that Barry has a hard time following just how fucking insane his life is. And that was awesome to watch.
When Wally tells Barry that he’s his brother, Barry casually look down at his skin to confirm that, yes, he’s white. It was some solid comedic acting, and little instances of that kept popping up throughout the show’s hour running time. Thinking S.T.A.R. Labs is a dentist’s office, joking about Caitlin being a supervillain – all of it was just perfect.
Gustin carries a lot of the show through his heroism and gravitas, but it was nice to see him be the comedic lead a bit, too.
3. Sparks
The romantic chemistry between HR and Tracy is weird, you guys.
That’s sort of all I want to say about it.
4. Iris’s Preference
Iris really struggles with her feelings for Tabula Barrosa (see what I did there?), because she loves him so much that she wants him to be able to let go of his pain and just be carefree. While that’s a lovely sentiment, and one that truly reflects a loving attitude, it’s also a little silly because of who Barry is on the show.
Yes, Barry carries around the scars of his past, but he’s also the Barry who loves everyone and tries to make everyone’s lives better. As I said before, Barry’s optimism is almost as strong as his speed, and that’s why the reveal of Savitarry, or even Emo Barry of 2024, felt a little false to me: this is a guy that doesn’t lie down when life kicks him in the jimmy, he gets back up and fights harder. Barry is as dedicated to doing the right thing and helping people as anyone in the Arrowverse. To call him broken or hurt just isn’t who he is.
So while Iris’s claim is a noble one, it also feels misguided and weird.
5. Caitlin’s Melting
This week, Cisco and Julian both try really hard to get Caitlin to come back to S.T.A.R. Labs and let them help her and, while she declined, it appears that they got through to her on some level. At various points, she appeared to be acting in a way that wasn’t purely evil, and more of the ‘old’ Caitlin kept popping through, even as Killer Frost tried to make a verbal distinction between Killer Frost and Caitlin.
I don’t know how/if she will ever fully come back, but this Caitlin seemed much less lost than she did even a week ago.
Oh, and next week: King Shark! Why not?
