Oh, Barry… What have you done?
THE FLASH ended season 2 in one of the biggest cliffhangers ever. Zoom was finally defeated, but before that, the speed demon had managed to take Barry’s father’s life before our Scarlet Speedster could finally beat him. The season 2 finale was controversial, to say the least, because a grieving Barry went back in time to save his mother, just like he did in season 1. Except this time, he couldn’t keep a level head and decided to change history by defeating the Reverse Flash and saving his mom.
The problem is, by doing so, he erased an entire timeline and god only knows where we are headed from here on out. However, before we can start talking season 3 this week at San Diego Comic-Con, we need to talk about what worked and what didn’t this past season. So in order to do that, I sat down to chat with my fellow writer friends about the best and worst of season 2 of THE FLASH.
Best Episode
Luciana Mangas: It’s kind of a tie for me, to be honest. “Enter Zoom” remains one of the best episodes of the season, but I really, really loved the entire Earth-2 arc, so both “Welcome to Earth-2” and “Escape from Earth-2” get all the awards this time. The cast brought their A game to these episodes and, meeting their doppelgangers was just so much fun. Also, Iris was such a badass on Earth-2. I really hope we get to see more of her next season. And Killer Frost. She was basically my favorite doppelganger and I was devastated when she died.
Shana Lieberman: I’m just going to echo everyone’s sentiments regarding the Earth-2 two-parter here and move on. Good stuff. A+. Would watch again.
Lizzie Lanuza: “Escape From Earth-2,” because Earth-2 Iris was badass and her relationship with Earth-2 Barry seemed like something I could go for. Also Killer Frost was badass, and not just because of her costume. And finally, because even though I didn’t care one iota for Jay, the ending of this episode was kind of cruel and the kind of thing that should have propelled this season to a high point. Which it never really did, but that’s neither here nor there.
Meredith Zylberberg: “Welcome to Earth-2.” The entire cast was brilliant playing their doppelgangers, and some of them playing both their original characters and Earth-2 counterparts at once. The storyline was intriguing, and I was more invested than I usually am in the episode. Jesse L. Martin is one of the strongest actors on the show, and this episode allowed him to showcase that (AND SING!), which was very welcome. It was a fun, exciting change of pace, but one that made sense to the narrative. Not an easy feat to accomplish.
Melissa Smith: I’m going to call it a tie between “Welcome to Earth-2” and “Invincible.” I love Jesse Martin and he’s such a good singer. I wish they had let him do a song from RENT. Of course, I loved “Invincible” because they finally let Katie Cassidy do what should have been part of the Black Canary character on ARROW.
Worst Episode
Luciana: I don’t even know where to start. My first impulse is anything that involves animals, because those are always just… not good. But I think this time, I’m going to have to go with “The Race of his Life”. That finale was kind of underwhelming, which was so disappointing after such an excellent arc with Zoom. But what really took the cake was those final moments of the episode, with that awkward scene between Barry and Iris, and then when Barry decided to make the stupidest mistake of his life. I can’t even wrap my head around the catastrophe he created when he went back in time and saved his mother.
I understand that they are setting up Flashpoint, but that really didn’t work for me. After such an amazing Zoom arc, that ending just felt wrong. The entire resolution to the Zoom storyline felt wrong, which ruined a fantastic season long arc; that and the fact that Barry invalidated the entire season for all the DC shows. Way to go, Barry.
Shana: That finale was a big, fat pile of no. What an awful way to end an otherwise excellent season arc. Between Caitlin telling Barry to stop and take a breath when he was emotional about his father’s death — she might as well have just hit him with a “cheer up, emo kid” to be more thorough in her lack of understanding — and whatever that mess was with Iris, there was just so much wasted time.
…and then you had Barry traveling back in time to kill Reverse Flash, thus destroying our entire timeline. This is why we can’t have nice things.
Lizzie: I’m going to say “The Runaway Dinosaur,” mostly because what even was that? The speed force? Really? So all Barry needed to regain his speed was to come to terms with his mother’s death? Oookay. That makes sense. Not. But who cares, it’s not like this has to make any sense, right? It’s all about stupid choices and Barry being very, very fast!
Meredith: I agree with Lizzie here. “The Runaway Dinosaur,” felt out of place, not paced well, and unnecessary.
Melissa: I’m sentimental and still have things from my childhood hanging around, and I still have to go with “The Runaway Dinosaur,” as well.
Favorite Character
Luciana: Cisco is still my favorite. He is so much more than the comic relief in this show and Carlos Valdes does such an amazing job with him. He is basically the glue that holds the entire team together and I enjoyed so much seeing more of him this season and watching his powers grow and evolve.
Shana: I’m totally cheating here, but I’m going with Wally West. We didn’t get to see a whole lot of him, but when we did? It made me happy — and for purely off-topic reasons. Keiynan Lonsdale played Ollie on a little Australian series by the name of DANCE ACADEMY. So, whenever I saw Wally West, I thought of Ollie; and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Lizzie: Either Joe West or Cisco Ramon. Probably Cisco, who is always consistent, has gone through some growth this season, and yet is still recognizably himself – a lovable dork who is very, very loyal and brave. He’s literally capable of giving me feels while interacting with absolutely everyone, and same goes for making me laugh.
Meredith: Always Cisco. Cisco is consistently the strongest character on this show, managing to be layered and deep while still maintaining his unique brand of humor. He was often throughout the season the show’s saving grace for me.
Melissa: Cisco. Carlos Valdes has made the most out of could have been a throwaway character and turned it into a multilayered metahuman who has much more to show the audience.
Least Favorite Character
Luciana: Caitlin. It really pains me to say this, but aside from Killer Frost – who was amazing – Caitlin felt like a waste of screen time this season. She was just there most of the time, doing nothing, and even Danielle Panabaker seemed to be bored. Her entire relationship with Jay/Zoom just added fault to her case and I just really, really didn’t like her this season.
It’s too bad that they killed Killer Frost off, because she was – ironically – the very best part of Caitlin Snow in season 2.
Shana: Aside from Sharky and poor man’s King Kong or whatever, I’d probably go with what’s-her-name from the backdoor LEGENDS OF TOMORROW pilot. I’m still not over how bad that two-parter was — much less how poorly envisioned her “relationship” with Cisco was.
Lizzie: Can I say Barry? I love Barry to death, but I also want to strangle him half the time. He never learns from his mistakes and he tends to see the world as black and white. Plus, his drama is the ONLY drama in the world that’s important. Newsflash, kid: The world sucks for everyone. Suck it up. Don’t be so selfish.
Meredith: Ugh, I dunno. Jay Garrick? He was boring when we thought he was good, and boring when we knew he was bad, and I just didn’t buy him or it at all, really.
Melissa: They haven’t given the Wally West character enough to do. Even though he was on-screen during much of the season, I still don’t have a feel for where the character is going. I don’t think it’s Keiynan Lonsdale’s fault. They just haven’t given him much to work with yet. Wally West is Kid Flash in the comics, but there may not be much of a path for something that requires more special effects or another Flash.
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Favorite Relationship
Luciana: While they are not my favorite characters, the Joe/Barry relationship is always amazing to me. Grant Gustin and Jesse L. Martin have such a fantastic chemistry that I always have a smile on my face whenever they’re on my screen together. They pull off the father/son duo flawlessly – even better than Barry and his own father – and their relationship is definitely the most real and organic of the show.
That said, I fell completely in love with Barry/Patty and their short-lived relationship gave me all the feels. Gustin had an amazing chemistry with Shantel VanSanten and they just made such an adorkable couple, that I couldn’t help but have a ridiculous grin on my face whenever they were together on their awkward dates. They were so cute and sweet that my teeth hurt in the best way. Can we have them back? Please, TPTB, bring Patty back, will you? Thanks!
Shana: My opinion here has barely changed. I still think the father-son dynamic between Barry and Joe is the best part of this series, and when you add Wally to the mix, the whole thing becomes even more interesting. This time, I’m not even saying this for dance fangirl reasons. So there.
Lizzie: Joe/Barry, by a country mile. They’re the thing that made me watch this show in the first place, and one of the few things about The Flash that never, ever lets me down. The show just gets it. It gets what family is supposed to be like – this collection of people who love each other, blood notwithstanding.
Special mention for Barry/Patty, because they were just adorable together and I wanted them to get married and have adorable, awkward babies. And the fact that they made me ship something that I knew was doomed from the start is saying something.
Meredith: Cisco/Harrison Wells. Their dynamic is fantastic. It’s fun and funny when necessary, the right amount of antagonistic when needed, but in the end it always works.
Melissa: Barry and Henry. I love Barry’s relationship with Joe, but I have a soft spot in my heart for John Wesley Shipp. He has been a favorite of mine for many years.
Least Favorite Relationship
Luciana: Don’t even get me started on this. While earlier this season, Jay/Caitlin took the award of worst relationship for me, this time Barry/Iris really took the prize. I love them as best friends and siblings, but when you try to shove a romantic relationship between them down my throat, they become insufferable. And it’s not the writing or even the actors’ talent – the problem is that Grant Gustin and Candice Patton have zero romantic chemistry and watching them try is just awkward and painful.
Shana: I’m bracing myself for the backlash here, but the entire Barry/Iris relationship was handled horribly. After more than a season of pretty much ignoring any potential for romance between the two characters, WestAllen was suddenly shoved down viewers’ throats at the end of THE FLASH season 2. With the right development, I’d be all for it. As it was, it was rushed, out of nowhere, and just utterly stupid.
I think the most offensive part of this whole relationship occurred in the (awful) finale, when Iris seemed to think the way to comfort Barry following his father’s death was by “seeing where this thing goes. Maybe that can give you something for a change.” Seriously? Making matters even worse, Barry dropped some sort of Oliver-Queen-worthy line on Iris, basically making the entire build-up a huge waste of time.
Lizzie: Jay/Caitlin. If we can even call that a relationship, considering Jay basically tricked Caitlin for most of the season. Thing with Jay, though, he was boring until he was Zoom, and then when he was Zoom he became super interesting, only to turn bleh again by the final episode. So mostly I’m just picking these two because they were absurdly bland. They didn’t make me feel anything – good or bad. And that’s not what a relationship’s supposed to be like.
Special mention for the 2.3 seconds we saw of Carter and Kendra, who are absolutely the worst couple DC has ever created.
Meredith: Just….everything Lizzie said. Really, everything. Jay/Caitlin was boring and also kind of, like, wasn’t Caitlin grieving Ronnie again? I dunno. Didn’t like.
Melissa: “Fake Jay and Caitlin.” I never bought him as Jay Garrick and called the reveal on the first show where the man in the iron mask was shown.
Favorite Metahuman
Luciana: Black Siren wins all the awards. While I was never much of a Laurel Lance fan on ARROW, her Earth-2 doppelgänger was just all kinds of awesome. Laurel as the Black Canary was a character I actively disliked for most of seasons 2 and 3 and only started to grow on me on the back half of season 4. That said, Katie Cassidy did such a fantastic job with Black Siren, taking a character we all knew pretty well, and flipping her on her head, transforming her into this kickass version of herself that was funny and sarcastic and just all kinds of badass.
I know she was a villain, but I was just cheering her on whenever she showed up on my screen. While Laurel Lance from Earth-1 was just bland and boring, Earth-2 Laurel was the kind of character I knew Katie Cassidy could pull off. I’ve never read the comics, but I hear that the original Black Canary was funny, sarcastic and super sassy. Maybe Black Siren was the Black Canary every comic book fan always wanted Laurel to be.
Either way, she is stuck in the pipeline, so here is hoping that Barry will fix the mess he made by erasing the timeline and that we will get to see Evil!Laurel again.
Shana: Black Siren. Soooo much Black Siren. For as much as Laurel Lance and her rise to Black Canary status was utterly and completely botched on ARROW, Black Siren was the badass we deserved. I loved Katie Cassidy in this role (much like I really adored her as the original Ruby on SUPERNATURAL but alas), and I hope there’s some excuse to see her again in the future. Considering the way story continuity has completely gone out the window after the timeline shift caused by Barry’s (stupid) actions in the finale, I figure there’s always reason to hold out hope.
Lizzie: All metahumans kind of sucked this season, so I’m going to go with Turtle. He was cool. Or Hartley! Does Hartley still count? I’m going to go with yes. Those were the only two ones whose powers were somewhat interesting to me, at least of the ones I remember. And not remembering isn’t exactly a mark in the favor of whoever it is I forgot.
Unless ….Black Siren counts? She probably does. Now she was badass. I wouldn’t mind seeing her again.
Meredith: Uh. Captain Cold. I just love Wentworth Miller so much, guys. So much.
Melissa: I’m also going with Black Siren. It let Katie Cassidy show off her acting chops. She “out-Canaried” Black Canary on ARROW. That’s how Black Canary should have been written.
Least Favorite Metahuman
Luciana: It’s a tie between Grodd and King Shark. Please, guys, just stop trying to turn animals into metahumans. Or metahumans into animals? I don’t know. Either way, just please refrain from it. Those episodes will always be on the bottom for me, as they just look stupid. And as much as the special effects team on THE FLASH is fantastic, that kind of plot just never works.
Shana: King Shark. It’s like he belonged in that Katy Perry Super Bowl performance from 2015 or something.
Lizzie: King Shark. Come on. I’m watching The Flash, not Sharknado. This thing wasn’t even scary, or creepy or anything but a bad waste of CGI budget. No, thanks.
Meredith: ANYTHING THAT IS AN ANIMAL THAT IS OVERSIZED AND WALKS AND TALKS. I’m looking at you, Grodzilla, and you AbSharkMan.
Melissa: I’m going to go against the tide and say Zoom. King Shark and Grodd are out of the comics, so I’m used to human-like animals. As much as I like Teddy Sears, the way they wrote him as Jay Garrick tipped me off that the wasn’t the real Jay Garrick. John Wesley Shipp is, however, truer to the Garrick of the comic books, in my opinion.
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Expectations for Season 3
Luciana: I honestly just hope that Barry can fix the catastrophic mess he made by going back in time and saving his mother – effectively erasing that entire timeline. God, Barry, how could you be so reckless and just plain stupid? I know he was grieving, and we don’t act rationally when we are driven by our emotions, but our speedster really screwed up this time. So, please, just fix it.
That said, I want Wells back. I loved Earth-2 Wells so much. His relationship with Cisco was one of the very best aspects of this season and I would love to see more of him. And Jesse. I know they supposedly returned to Earth-2, but hey, Barry erased an entire timeline. I’m sure we’ll find a way to bring them back.
Shana: Honestly? I don’t even know because of how poorly season 2 ended. The only thing I know for sure is that Kid Flash is coming, and he is going to be awesome. That’s it.
Lizzie: For Barry to stop being stupid. For Flashpoint to be fixed in like, half a season at the very least? If not, for Oliver and Kara to come knock some sense into Barry so he stops being stupid. For WestAllen to finally convince me. Or for the show to bring Patty back, either’s fine by me. For Caitlin to stay alone for a season, and define herself. For Wally and Barry to grow closer. For Joe to continue being as awesome as always.
Oh, and Harrison Wells. All the Harrison Wells. Don’t take him away from me.
Meredith: I don’t even know. At this point I’m not sure I’m going to keep watching. I don’t think I’m the key demo for this show. My husband enjoys it, so I’ll at least be peripherally watching, but I am just not invested at all. I’m really not.
I guess, if anything, I’m mildly curious to see how they handle Flashpoint, and what if any impact it has on the other shows (please say none – it’s not fair to assume viewers are watching all of the shows, or need to watch all of them to understand what’s happening on any of the shows individually).
Melissa: I’m onboard with more Harrison Wells. I love Tom Cavanaugh. Whenever it becomes available for download, everyone should watch TRUST ME with Cavanaugh and Eric McCormack. It was only on for one season on TNT, but both leads get to put on a show of great comic timing in action.
And yes, Barry needs to stop crying. I know he’s the rash “kid” of the Justice League, but enough with the crying already. Superheroes rarely cry. That’s why they’re “super.” They’re stronger, braver and tougher than the rest of us.
THE FLASH will return for an all new season on Tuesday, October 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on The CW (U.S.) and CTV (Canada).