Checking in on the current state of The CW's "Arrow-verse" Part 4
 |
| Once the head of the pack, "The Flash" has experienced plenty of highs and lows in Season 3. |
The Flash
 |
| Grant Gustin as The Flash |
Back in 2014, no one would have predicted that the first spinoff from "Arrow" would have been as successful and as special as it was when it came out.
From its inception, "The Flash" was that rare show that came out of the gate fully formed. Out of all the 4 "Arrow-verse" shows, this was the one that knew what it wanted to be, what it wanted to do, and how far it would go to achieve that. It was unapologetically comic book-y. It was unapologetically charming. It was unapologetically heartwarming. It knew when to make you feel. It had one of the best cast ensembles of any superhero show to date led by a convincing portrayal by Grant Gustin as Barry Allen. It had special effects that would leave you gobsmacked that it was actually done on a CW budget. There were minor flaws, yes. But for a show to be this good from its very first season, it was hard not to admire it. Most importantly, it was easy to see why it became The CW's biggest hit for their network in years.
The first season of "The Flash" has become the gold standard by which many comic book shows are judged by going forward. It was a season that mixed in the origins of Barry Allen, his first year in the job as a superhero, and a mystery that carried the show for the whole season: "Who killed his mother?" Throughout that first year, the show tapped surprisingly deep into a lot of things from "The Flash" mythos. From introductions of the Flash's gallery of "Rogues", to outlandish things like a psychic gorilla in Gorilla Grodd and the embracing of time travel, Season 1 of "The Flash" covered all its bases. To cap it all off, it also had one of the best developed villains in any of these shows with Reverse Flash. A villain both mysterious, scary and at times charmingly heartwarming, Reverse Flash is the one element that elevated the show from being good to actually great in that first season. It all culminated in a season finale that was incredibly ambitious, emotionally powerful and satisfying, and remains to this day the finest hour of all the "Arrow-verse" to date.
The quality of Season 1 of "The Flash" is very comparable to the heights "Arrow" reached in its second season, if not arguably better. Pretty impressive for a show just starting. The bar was set incredibly high, and the show would face an incredible uphill battle going forward. How would it be able top such a well developed season?
From its inception, "The Flash" was that rare show that came out of the gate fully formed. Out of all the 4 "Arrow-verse" shows, this was the one that knew what it wanted to be, what it wanted to do, and how far it would go to achieve that. It was unapologetically comic book-y. It was unapologetically charming. It was unapologetically heartwarming. It knew when to make you feel. It had one of the best cast ensembles of any superhero show to date led by a convincing portrayal by Grant Gustin as Barry Allen. It had special effects that would leave you gobsmacked that it was actually done on a CW budget. There were minor flaws, yes. But for a show to be this good from its very first season, it was hard not to admire it. Most importantly, it was easy to see why it became The CW's biggest hit for their network in years.
The first season of "The Flash" has become the gold standard by which many comic book shows are judged by going forward. It was a season that mixed in the origins of Barry Allen, his first year in the job as a superhero, and a mystery that carried the show for the whole season: "Who killed his mother?" Throughout that first year, the show tapped surprisingly deep into a lot of things from "The Flash" mythos. From introductions of the Flash's gallery of "Rogues", to outlandish things like a psychic gorilla in Gorilla Grodd and the embracing of time travel, Season 1 of "The Flash" covered all its bases. To cap it all off, it also had one of the best developed villains in any of these shows with Reverse Flash. A villain both mysterious, scary and at times charmingly heartwarming, Reverse Flash is the one element that elevated the show from being good to actually great in that first season. It all culminated in a season finale that was incredibly ambitious, emotionally powerful and satisfying, and remains to this day the finest hour of all the "Arrow-verse" to date.
 |
| "The Flash" Season 1 finale, "Fast Enough", remains the highlight of not just the series, but the entire "Arrow-verse" |
The quality of Season 1 of "The Flash" is very comparable to the heights "Arrow" reached in its second season, if not arguably better. Pretty impressive for a show just starting. The bar was set incredibly high, and the show would face an incredible uphill battle going forward. How would it be able top such a well developed season?
 |
| Zoom was an early highlight of Season 2 |
For the most part, Season 2 of "The Flash" was able to deliver the goods. Not being shy yet about introducing more outlandish concepts from the comics like the multiverse and parallel earths (which became the conduit that allowed "Supergirl" to become part of the "Arrow-verse"), Season 2 kept Season 1's comic book-y spirit as much as it could. The show also wasn't afraid to raise the stakes when it needed to. The introduction of the villain known as "Zoom" allowed the show to bring in someone that was a tremendous physical and terrifying presence. Ironically, for a show that tends to be as feel good and fun as "The Flash", Zoom was one of the scariest villains of any superhero show or movie ever.
There was a lot to love about Season 2. Particularly in its halfway point, "The Flash" delivered some of its best run of episodes from its entire run (part 1 of the Earth-2 trip, "Welcome to Earth-2" being the season's best episode). There was even a point where Season 2 was so consistently good, there was confidence it could ultimately surpass Season 1 in quality.
Unfortunately, there were some things that ultimately held back Season 2 from pulling ahead from its predecessor. For one, the show had a little bit more inconsistency with the quality of its episodes. Yes, the middle section of the season remains a standout, but leading to that, the direction of the season wasn't quite as clear as it was in Season 1 and was bit more scattershot. Also, as terrifying a presence as Zoom was early on, his more consistent appearances later in the season started to wane his scary presence. Not to mention that his unmasking ultimately revealed a story that was in structure very similar to the Reverse Flash but without the heartwarming nuance. Suddenly the very daring show started showing some lack of creativity, which is something weird to associate with a show with as much potential as this one.
There was a lot to love about Season 2. Particularly in its halfway point, "The Flash" delivered some of its best run of episodes from its entire run (part 1 of the Earth-2 trip, "Welcome to Earth-2" being the season's best episode). There was even a point where Season 2 was so consistently good, there was confidence it could ultimately surpass Season 1 in quality.
Unfortunately, there were some things that ultimately held back Season 2 from pulling ahead from its predecessor. For one, the show had a little bit more inconsistency with the quality of its episodes. Yes, the middle section of the season remains a standout, but leading to that, the direction of the season wasn't quite as clear as it was in Season 1 and was bit more scattershot. Also, as terrifying a presence as Zoom was early on, his more consistent appearances later in the season started to wane his scary presence. Not to mention that his unmasking ultimately revealed a story that was in structure very similar to the Reverse Flash but without the heartwarming nuance. Suddenly the very daring show started showing some lack of creativity, which is something weird to associate with a show with as much potential as this one.
 |
| The Flash Season 2 finale was a surprisingly weak outing for the show, and a far cry from its stellar predecessor |
Finally, Season 2's most damning quality was actually the dark tone it ultimately took. What made "The Flash" so special in its first season and a good chunk of its second one was how it still embraced the joy of the character and universe even when the story got dark. That balance of light and dark led to the series’ best moment. However, very late in Season 2, the balance got out of whack, and the show started resembling the more gloomy, morose tone of "Arrow", which is something that doesn't fit this show particularly well. It ultimately led to two final episodes that were surprisingly weak for this show, particularly a finale that paled a good amount in comparison to the stellar outing of the previous year.
Despite the relative weak quality of the Season 2 finale, the episode ended with a terrific cliffhanger. By having Barry going back in time once again to the night his mother died and actually saving her, the show set up a status quo that was basically an adaptation of the seminal 2011 comic book storyline named "Flashpoint". It was a reminder that this was a show that, when it wanted, would still swing to the fences and be willing to embrace the more outrageous parts of its comic's history.
Except this time, it didn't.
For reasons completely outside its own control.
Except this time, it didn't.
For reasons completely outside its own control.
 |
The status quo set up by the cliffhanger should have allowed for an specially crazy start to Season 3 of "The Flash". That's what "Flashpoint" was all about in the comics. And with everything that the show had already delved into just in the first two years, there was no reason to doubt it wouldn't deliver in its TV adaptation of this storyline. Unfortunately, the TV version of "Flashpoint" was a surprisingly low key adaptation. It didn't feel like an episode from a creative team that has pushed boundaries before. While emotionally it delivered on the character moments (something this show does exceedingly well), it was very hard not to feel a sting of disappointment that the creative team basically "chickened out" at the last minute. The fact that the whole thing only lasted one episode made the sting hurt more.
 |
| The annual crossover, "Invasion", put a nice bow to the truncated "Flashpoint" storyline |
Of course there is a reason why this happened. The truth of the matter is, this shared TV universe has limitations of its own. "The Flash" shares the same universe as "Arrow" and "Legends of Tomorrow" ("Supergirl" being on a different universe separates it from this), and a story like "Flashpoint" is one that is supposed to create serious changes everywhere. Unfortunately, what that meant was that if all the shows had gone all in on this idea, both "Arrow" and "Legends of Tomorrow" would have had to create their whole season storyline based on a decision made on a different show. It's the kind of thing that works on the comic book medium (and even that is arguable), but its harder to pull off on the TV medium when you consider there are many people that probably only watch one of this shows and not all of them. The business realities ended up cutting the potential of this storyline to be as crazy as it could have been.
Still, credit has to be given to the creative teams for at least not wanting to make the whole "Flashpoint" ordeal a complete missed opportunity. As minimal as they are, there were changes that reverberated throughout the other shows, which came to a head during the annual crossover. Still, they were minimal, so the sting never really left and we're only left to wonder what could have been.
Having to abandon the "Flashpoint" storyline basically meant that "The Flash" had to deal with some meandering for the first half of the season as the writers/producers scrambled to set up a new story. While that sounds like a recipe for disaster, the results were anything but. The show had garnered enough good will over its first two seasons, that episodes just focused on character dynamics kept the show afloat. Ultimately, it is those character dynamics that has kept this entire season afloat to date.
Still, credit has to be given to the creative teams for at least not wanting to make the whole "Flashpoint" ordeal a complete missed opportunity. As minimal as they are, there were changes that reverberated throughout the other shows, which came to a head during the annual crossover. Still, they were minimal, so the sting never really left and we're only left to wonder what could have been.
Having to abandon the "Flashpoint" storyline basically meant that "The Flash" had to deal with some meandering for the first half of the season as the writers/producers scrambled to set up a new story. While that sounds like a recipe for disaster, the results were anything but. The show had garnered enough good will over its first two seasons, that episodes just focused on character dynamics kept the show afloat. Ultimately, it is those character dynamics that has kept this entire season afloat to date.
 |
| The Mirror Master and his partner Top in the hilarious episode "The New Rogues" |
If there was anything the show did well early in Season 3, it was recovering a bit of the fun tone that was lost in the last few episodes of Season 2. While the second episode, "Paradox", had to deal with some rather gloomy effects of "Flashpoint", the show quickly got lighter after that. A lot of that tone came with a focus just on character dynamics. This being the third year of the show, a lot of these actors are feeling more comfortable in their roles than ever before, and all the character work done in the first two seasons started paying of here. There are some real fun episodes in this early stretch, with the Mirror Master-centric episode "The New Rogues" being probably one of the most unapologetically fun episodes of the series. The multi-Harrison Well's parade will actually have you belly laughing.
 |
| "Killer Frost" is one of the show's most emotionally resonant episodes, and an early highpoint of Season 3 |
Even with all the fun and games happening in this early stretch of Season 3, there was one story the show had been slowly teasing and building over the years that was finally starting to pay off. Of course, I am talking about the story focused on Caitlin Snow's emergence of her powers and eventual transformation to Killer Frost. With "Flashpoint" proving to be the catalyst that brought her powers to light, the show could start paying off years of character build up and audience sympathy to deliver a potentially traumatic heel turn. The seventh episode of the season, the aptly titled "Killer Frost", gave the biggest tease yet of what it would be like when Caitlin succumbs to her rather frosty persona. Her story development is almost comparable to what "Arrow" did early on with Slade Wilson, which makes this story Season 3's most emotionally resonant story.
 |
| Savitar is the albatross that drags down the entire season compared to its predecessors |
 |
| Alchemy should have been a cooler villain than he was |
There were some elements the writers did attempt to make their approach with Savitar seem fresh. To start, they framed him as a "god" with a cult led by Doctor Alchemy, which was the initial villain face of the season. The prospect of Alchemy was initially exciting just for the fact that he was a main "big bad" that was not a speedster. It felt fresh. Unfortunately, Alchemy didn't really amount to much other than being a glorified acolyte with a scary voice (Tobin Bell from Saw fame). Introducing Savitar so early in the season only served to undermine Alchemy's impact on the show. Thankfully, what came out of his story proved fruitful for the season's second half.
One other element they added to try to make Savitar be different from Reverse Flash and Zoom was a prophecy angle that would carry the show's story throughout the second half of the year. It was an interesting experiment to try, specially with the show moving on from focusing too much on changing the past. The show even had an episode where it basically previewed all the stories coming in the second half (two of them proving to be late season highlights). While it was an interesting experiment, the framing started to buckle down creatively. It put the show in the unfortunate position of making it even more obvious when things were going to be filler or not, specially framing the ultimate danger of the season as something that can only happen on the date of the season finale, May 23rd, 2017. This kind of approach can lead to obvious padding, which proved damaging to the pacing of the show, making the show about the "Fastest Man Alive" something of an ironic slog.
One other element they added to try to make Savitar be different from Reverse Flash and Zoom was a prophecy angle that would carry the show's story throughout the second half of the year. It was an interesting experiment to try, specially with the show moving on from focusing too much on changing the past. The show even had an episode where it basically previewed all the stories coming in the second half (two of them proving to be late season highlights). While it was an interesting experiment, the framing started to buckle down creatively. It put the show in the unfortunate position of making it even more obvious when things were going to be filler or not, specially framing the ultimate danger of the season as something that can only happen on the date of the season finale, May 23rd, 2017. This kind of approach can lead to obvious padding, which proved damaging to the pacing of the show, making the show about the "Fastest Man Alive" something of an ironic slog.
 |
| Barry's fight against Solovar in the "Gorilla Grodd" two-parter is the show's most visually stunning sequence yet. |
 |
| The Flash/Supergirl musical crossover is the season's best episode. |
This middle section, as great as it was, was very emblematic of the show's fundamental problem this season. Whenever the show was not focused on Savitar at all, it would sing. In fact, it would be as great as it's ever been. But every time Savitar became the focus, the show would be weak. The later stretch has suffered the most of this, as the advent of Savitar has once again put the show into the gloomy state that dragged down the latter half of Season 2. The future framing of its story painted the overarching story of the season as ultimate doom and gloom, which eventually overwhelmed the show once more despite its best intentions to keep it light. And just like the previous season, this show works best when there is balance, not when dark overwhelms the light tone that makes the series shine.
Nothing made this even clearer than the musical crossover episode with Supergirl, "Duet". It was awkwardly placed in between this season's darkest installments, yet was able to stand out as a reminder that this show is at its best when it is funny, charming, heartwarming and tugging at the heartstrings. The musical was a true standout of the season, and it is not far behind the Season 1 finale and Season 2's initial Earth-2 romp "Welcome to Earth-2" as one of the show's very best episodes.
 |
| "Abra Kadabra" is arguably one of the show's weakest episodes yet. |
The show right now is in a very tricky spot. Its most recent developments of the Savitar storyline puts the show in creative danger. The latter half of the Savitar storyline has devolved once more to a storyline on who is behind the mask. You know, like what happened with Reverse Flash and Zoom. The show somehow managed to trip over itself after wanting to frame this villain in a different light, and somehow ended up pulling the exact same story once more. Suddenly, the "God of Speed" angle no longer makes him unique. Not only that, this framing device was introduced very late into the season, with them holding back on the reveal until the final five episodes. They even dare tease their audience by saying they were going to reveal the identity in the most recent episode, "Abra Kadabra" and not deliver on it. On top of that, the show went on a month long break after that. Teasing their audience like that is the kind of thing that can make a show lose viewers, specially in a season with elements just made to do just that. Even with failing on delivering on that reveal, "Abra Kadabra" was still a dull, transitional episode that would have been better served as the episode following the month long break instead of the one to leave on. The musical would have been a better note (no pun intended) to send the show on break instead.
While the negatives do paint Season 3 in a bad light, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Some of the lows of this season are real lows. However, some of the highs are real highs. The good balances out some of the negatives the season has, and it will require an "Arrow" Season 4-finale level disaster to drain the good will this show gathered in its first two seasons. If any show has the potential to lift itself up and pull something good, its this one, and time will tell if the last five episode bring the season home and make some of the show's more questionable story decisions pay off in the end.
While the negatives do paint Season 3 in a bad light, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Some of the lows of this season are real lows. However, some of the highs are real highs. The good balances out some of the negatives the season has, and it will require an "Arrow" Season 4-finale level disaster to drain the good will this show gathered in its first two seasons. If any show has the potential to lift itself up and pull something good, its this one, and time will tell if the last five episode bring the season home and make some of the show's more questionable story decisions pay off in the end.
Still, the aforementioned issues currently keep this show, once the undisputed quality king of The CW's "Arrow-verse", behind the likes of "Legends of Tomorrow" and "Arrow" this time around, but a bit ahead of "Supergirl". That would have been crazy a year ago, but that is the crazy state of the "Arrow-verse" this year.
That's it for my look into the current state of the "Arrow-verse".
Thank you so much for reading!
I loved this. This is one of my favorite shows, but unfortunately it has left me longing for more. I forgot why I loved the show initially in this season -- this article kinda reminded me, so thank you for that. I think that this show could be great if they introduce a new idea instead of someone challenging "The Fastest Man Alive" in speed. I'd like to see Cisco become a more prominent fighter and maybe even become the protagonist of the next season? Idk.
ReplyDeleteRight there with you! The producers already confirmed next year will not have a speedster villain again, which automatically makes it exciting. As long as it is not a "Who is behind the mask?" mystery, it will be great!
Delete