Well folks, this is it!
We finally arrive to the last bastion of the Arrowverse, this is the end of an over ten-year journey. As the MCU started dominating cinemas, DC had control of what was seen on TVs, at first with Arrow, then The Flash and the rest of the shows, it dominated the TV for a generation, redefined what you could do with TV budgets and created a universe with a ton of characters to embrace and love.
Today, it is my great honor to bring you the beginning of the end of the Arrowverse. As Superman and Lois is pretty much self-contained and moving on as an “Elseworld” in the new DC Universe, we’ll get the chance to enjoy one last season of the longest and most popular show of the Arrowverse: The Flash. This week’s season premiere is named “Wednesday Ever After” and we begin with a bang…well, more like a boomerang, let’s dive right in!
1. Iris has a bad day
The very first scene of this new season is a recurrent nightmare that Barry is having, where he realizes that it’s not real because Frost is alive, and everybody starts dying. After waking up from that nightmare, it’s a brand-new day and Barry’s determined to have a great day.
Sadly, Iris doesn’t quite share that feeling, this is the first time that she’s going back to the office after last season’s time sickness and doesn’t feel really ready. She discovers that a bigger company wants to buy her newspaper but feels like she has no other option that to say yes because her future seems to be set.
Then, Barry shows her a mapbook that he has been working on; he has been collecting all the things they know about the future and the time it’s bound to happen; this is his way of ensuring that everything good happens and they end up alive and happy, but Iris didn’t seem to look excited by the notebook.
2. The new Captain Boomerang
The villain this week is the new Captain Boomerang, we already met one on “The Brave and The Bold“, the second part of the very first crossover between Arrowverse shows but this is the new post-crisis version.
I was excited to see this villain because his outfit is faithful to the comics and I like Richard Harmon, known for his role in The 100, but honestly, he doesn’t do much in this episode, because the main focus is on Iris and Barry’s story. So far, what I can say is that his Australian accent is bad, but I trust him, I feel like he can bring a nice energy to the role, hopefully we’ll see more of him in later episodes.
3. It’s a time loop
I can’t believe it took nine years to have a time loop episode. Well, it happened before in “Cause and XS,” but that time it was Nora going back in time again and again. This time, we have a “classic” version, where the characters awake each time involuntarily.
While Barry is trying to get out of the loop (and failing and dying almost every time), he tells Iris to do “what she always do” on this day, so she really feels trapped, not just in the time loop but in her real life, she has no choice on the newspaper deal, she has no choice on her future given that Barry has a roadmap. So, she does the reasonable thing and she snaps, Iris and Barry have a fight and, as usual, Joe give very good advice to Barry, he might have a list of when things will happen, but he doesn’t know why they will have happened. After all, the cost of planning a roadmap, is that you are losing your free will.
With that, the couple patch thing up and decide to spend the day together, Iris asks Sue Dearborn for a loan to evolve into a media empire, Barry asks Kramer for a recommendation to be Director of the CSI division and together they save the day, although Boomerang managed to escape. But at least, they broke the loop.
Continued below4. Visual Techniques
I want to take a moment to praise Vanessa Parise’s directing in this episode, I noticed a lot of techniques that elevated what we saw on screen; for example, when Barry wakes up from the nightmare, we have a short, but very nice Dolly Zoom.
Then, the stunt team had a time to shine on the first scene, we also got an arc shot around Allegra and Chester when they kissed for the first time, slow-motion was also heavily used in simple scenes (to reflect on the appreciation of everyday life), we got an underwater scene and even a little bit of practical effects, when Barry fired the notebook.
5. The future
So, what’s next for this last season? Well for starters, there’s a new character related to Frost/Caitlin, also played by Danielle Panabaker, although she claims to be someone different, so we’ll have to wait and see what the deal with her.
Of course, Captain Boomerang is still free, and they announced that a bunch of past villains are coming back, maybe we’ll se a new Rogues Gallery. Also, it is revealed that Boomerang is working for the Red Death but, given that Bruce Wayne cannot be used in the Arrowverse, Den of Geek revealed that this is an evil version of Ryan Wilder/Batwoman, so it will be interesting to see how they develop the character.
Finally, a lot of friends are slated to return, John Diggle, Wally West, the twins, Dreamer, a version of Wells/Thawne and, of course, the first hero of this universe, Oliver Queen is coming back to say goodbye. I’m sure this will be an emotional ride for everybody.
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And that’s it for this episode, I honestly like seeing Iris and Barry fight, it reflects reality because not even their relationship is perfect, they also have struggles to overcome, like the rest of us, and that’s what make this show special.
What did you think of it? Leave your comments below and join us next week on Boom Tube for our take on episode 902, “Hear No Evil,” where we will get to know the newest member of the Snow family.
