The season finale of The Flash has landed on our laps, and it is so full of awesomeness, that we have to share some of the inner secrets revealed in this week’s episode!
If you haven’t seen this week’s episode, there are Major Spoilers ahead!
When the particle accelerator is back online, Barry will have to go back in time to stop Eobard Thawne on the night of his mother’s murder 15 years ago.
HEROES
A lot of heroes make their appearance this week – most as a passing reference.
Vibe
This week, we finally learn (though many have suspected all along) that Cisco Ramon was indeed affected by the particle accelerator explosion and has become VIBE – a hero who can see through the many realities. It should be noted that the Vibe Harrison Wells is talking about isn’t the original Vibe, that Vibe was created in 1984 by Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton.
The Vibe described in this week’s episode is the Justice League of America Vibe from the New 52, who first appeared in February 2013 for ten issues. If you have been following this column for the season, you know that Geoff Johns has his fingers all over this television series, and he is one of the writers who brought the New 52 Vibe to life along with Andrew Kreisberg, and Sterling Gates, and artists Pete Woods and Sean Parson.
The original Vibe was able to create shock wave that he could use to shatter concrete or steel, and his super breakdancing skills (yes that was a thing back in the ’80s), kept the character fresh for a new age of comic readers who were wondering, “What happened to the Justice League I remember from the cartoons? What is this Justice League Detroit thing all about?” and “Who is this awesome breakdancing guy who is kicking ass?”
When Vibe was reintroduced in 2013, gone were the parachute pants and Los Lobos gang affiliation (though it is still unclear if Cisco likes the band Los Lobos), instead Cisco obtained his powers through contact with the event horizon of a Boom Tube, leading to interdimensional forces rewriting his DNA. Like the particle accelerator incident, Cisco’s powers in the New 52 (and hinted at in this episode) allow him to find and track interdimensional breaches, and makes him undetectable by security cameras.
Rip Hunter
You can tell that this episode is setting up the recently announced DC’s Legends of Tomorrow television series, as Rip Hunter gets a mention this week. If you haven’t seen the trailer for the new show, here’s the 411 – Rip Hunter is a time traveler.
First appearing in Showcase #20 in May 1959, Rip Hunter is a member of a team of time travelers who keep time on track. The issue features Rip creating the Time-Sphere, and traveling throughout history with Jeff Smith, girlfriend Bonnie Baxter, and Bonnie’s kid brother Corky. Later, Rip Hunter… Time Master ran from 1961 to 1965, and was created by Jack Miller and Ruben Moreira.
With each major event in the DC Universe (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, The Kingdom, 52, and Infinite Crisis) Rip and the Linear Men use their powers to move heroes around, set time right, and try to prevent the universe from ending.
As one might expect, Rip Hunter’s backstory and personal timeline has been tweaked and adjusted multiple times over the years, and though I love Per Degaton as a Nazi foil for Hunter, the Time Masters series may be the most important one to take note of here. In the series, the Linear Men and Hunter work together to stop the Illuminati, led by Vandal Savage, from coming into existence.
Be on the lookout for more about Rip Hunter next season, and when the DC’s Legends of Tomorrow arrives.
Hawkgirl
As hinted in previous Flashback Podcasts, Hawkgirl (played by Ciara Renee) makes a super brief appearance in the closing moments of the episode looking up at the wormhole that is about to engulf Central City.
If your head was spinning after trying to make sense of Rip Hunter’s bio, we should probably avoid the convoluted retconning of Hawkgirl until we are all adequately prepared. And by adequately prepared, I do indeed mean very, very drunk. I suggest Vodka, and lots of it.
Until that moment comes to pass, and believe me Dear Reader, it will come to pass, just know the first Hawkgirl appeared in Flash Comics #1 in January 1940. She was created by Gardner Fox, Dennis Neville, and Sheldon Modloff. As Hawkgirl proper, she first appeared in All Star Comics #5 in June 1941.
But of course we can’t pay homage to Golden and Silver Age comics all the time. In the television series, Shiera Sanders (Golden Age) and Shayera Hol (Silver Age Hawkwoman) are being replaced with Kendra Saunders – the Hawkgirl created by… you guessed it, Geoff Johns.. along with James Robinson and David Goyer.
Jay Garrick
Remember I said we were moving to a Flash of Two Worlds event? If you don’t, go back and look at nearly every Flashback article written this year, as I seem to dwell on it quite a bit.
Well guess what, Dear Reader? Guess. What.
Jay Garrick was created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert in 1940. With the appearance of the original Flash’s helmet, could The Flash of Two Worlds be close behind?
The finale of the episode is pretty open ended, but if Grant Gustin’s comments are to be believed, Barry is going to be doing a lot of time traveling next season, which may indeed include a meeting with the Flash with the White Emblem, and the Mercury themed speedster from Earth-2.
Eddie Thawne (2014 – 2015 He Will Be Missed)
I can’t let this installment of Flashback go without noting Eddie as one of the big heroes of the season. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a chronal killing as a way of stopping the big bad, and it may not be the last.
Raise your hand if you knew Eddie was going to pull a Looper as soon as Doctor Stein mentioned that Eddie was an important cog in the history of Eobard? I know I did. It was a bit heavy handed in the foreshadowing department, but after seeing what else dots the vast wastes of broadcast television, heavy handed foreshadowing may have been necessary.
Still, Eddie Thawne made the Ultimate Sacrifice (hushed whisper), and thus is the hero of the week.
Oh, wait… what am I talking about… THIS IS COMIC BOOKS! Don’t count Eddie out, and if Eddie returns, expect to see Eobard return as well.
PLACES
Big Belly Burger
Big Belly Burger is a famous food chains from the DCU. Harrison Wells is seen eating something from the fast food joint, and those who have read the comics over the years are familiar with the restaurant that first appeared in Adventures of Superman #441 in June of 1988 in the story “The Tiny Terror of Tinseltown”. The issue was written by John Byrne with art by Jerry Ordway.
GOING DOWN THE SPEED FORCE HOLE
When Barry entered the Speed Force, he was able to see the past, present and future all at once, but what did he see?
The Flash Museum
One of those futures included a lot of footage seen in the DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, but the one you may not have caught was the appearance of The Flash Museum.
The museum features various exhibits about the Flash, including his battles and his rogues gallery of foes. The museum also contains a working cosmic treadmill, the device that allows Flash to travel to other dimensions and across time. In addition to the exhibits, the Flash Museum houses a vast storage of various artifacts and weaponry that the Flash has encountered. Depending on the story, some of these weapons are actually part of public exhibits, and are occasionally used during a fight.
Whether this appearance is tied to next season, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, or just an Easter Egg tossed in for the fans, it was nice to see the museum pop up in that one shot.
Killer Frost and Convict Barry
In addition to seeing the Flash Museum, we also got a quick glimpse of Caitlin as Killer Frost, and Barry behind bars!
More on Killer Frost in the near future!
Why would Barry be in jail? Well there is a great series called “The Trial of the Flash” that you should really check out!
DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
In case you haven’t seen it, here is the teaser The CW showed everyone a couple of weeks ago to promote the coming show.
https://youtu.be/4MubNoWQiSc
DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
When heroes alone are not enough… the world needs legends. Having seen the future, one he will desperately try to prevent from happening, time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter is tasked with assembling a disparate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat – one in which not only is the planet at stake, but all of time itself. Can this ragtag team defeat an immortal threat unlike anything they have ever known? DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW stars Victor Garber (“The Flash,” “Alias”); Brandon Routh (“Arrow,” “Superman Returns”); Arthur Darvill (“Doctor Who”); Caity Lotz (“Arrow”); Ciarra Renee (“Pippin”); Franz Drameh (“Edge of Tomorrow”); with Dominic Purcell (“The Flash,” “Prison Break”); and Wentworth Miller (“The Flash,” “Prison Break”). Based on the characters from DC Comics, DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“The Flash,” upcoming “Pan”), Marc Guggenheim (“Eli Stone,” “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters”), Andrew Kreisberg (“The Flash,” “Eli Stone,” “Warehouse 13”) and Sarah Schechter (“The Flash,” upcoming “Pan”).
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is scheduled to arrive in January 2016.
THAT ONE THING EVERYONE IS ASKING ME ABOUT
So… the Time-Sphere made a huge appearance in this week’s episode, and that had a number of you asking me what it is and where it came from.
The Time-Sphere
It isn’t bigger on the inside, but depending on the writer, it can accommodate between 1 and 50 people. As mentioned previously, Rip Hunter is the creator of the Time-Sphere as seen in Showcase #20.
Though owning a time machine wold be the coolest tool to travel anywhere and everywhere, the limits of the time-sphere that we know at this point is that it can not travel to the beginning of the universe (that is forbidden and one of the key factors of Crisis on Infinite Earths), and it can not pass through the Iron Curtain of Time that the Time Trapper (a Legion of Super-Heroes villain) erected at the end of time. The time-sphere is one of the ways to get to Vanishing Point, a metaphysical dimension outside of time/space where the Linear Men, a group devoted to keeping the timestream in check reside.
Even though Rip Hunter invented the time-sphere, it has been stolen a couple of times. The first was when Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Super-Heroes used it to travel back to the days of Superboy, while the second was when former football star, Booster Gold stole the time-sphere from a museum and traveled back to the 20th Century.
IT’S CALLED A SECRET IDENTITY FOR A REASON!
It’s becoming a staple of this column, and even when he travels back in time, Barry can’t help but show off and tell everyone he is The Flash.
Dr. Harrison Wells(deceased)- Eobard Thawne (as Dr. Harrison Wells)
- Dr. Caitlin Snow
- Dr. Cisco Ramon
- Detective Joe West
- Ronnie Raymond
- Dr. Martin Stein
- Mrs. Clarissa Stein
- Hartley Rathaway (Pied Piper)
- Felicity Smoak
- General Wade Eiling
- Oliver Queen (Green Arrow)
- John Diggle
- Bette Sans Souci (deceased)
- Dr. Henry Allen
Iris West(in another timeline)- Iris West-Allen (in the future)
- Iris West (via spark touch)
- Leonard Snart (Captain Cold)
- Detective Eddie Thawne
- Ray Palmer (The Atom)
- Brie Larvan
- Laurel Lance (Black Canary)
Hannibal Bates (Everyman)(deceased)- Gorilla Grodd
- Lyla Diggle (Harbinger)
- Malcolm Merlyn (Merlyn)
- White Emblem Flash (in yet another alternate timeline)
- Nora Allen (deceased)
THAT’S ALL FOLKS!
Well, that wraps it up for the first season of CW’s The Flash. It has been a real rollercoaster of a ride, and I have loved every moment of it. Flashback will return next season to give you even more tid-bits of information you may have missed, so until October of 2015, take care, and Run, Barry! RUN!
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FLASHBACK: THE PODCAST
Want to hear Matthew Peterson and I sit down to discuss this episode in detail? If you are a Major Spoilers VIP, look for the Flashback Podcast hitting the VIP site.
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9 Comments
I didn’t like the end. Erasing Eobard from existence should have also caused the Flash to not exist. I’m hoping that the singularity was caused by this paradox. Also didn’t like ending the show in mid action. Season Finales shouldn’t have cliffhangers.
Of course season finale’s should have cliffhangers! That’s what keeps people talking all summer long and gets them coming back for first episode of the next season!
Who Shot JR?
What is in the hatch?
Will Clark save Lana from the tornados?
This episode is a perfect example of cliffhanger being used to proper effect.
I’m still amazed nobody asked if Future Flash was still around. If Eobard got stuck here, maybe he had as well?
I don’t care if a season ends on a cliff hanger or not. It really depends on how the next season’s first episode handles the situation. I like it if the season 2 first episode handles the problem in a way that doesn’t trivialize it. Maybe have the problem continue into episode two also. I really hate it when the problem is solved in the first 5 or 10 minutes of the first episode. In those situations, the problem feel fake.
The way I look at it, is that the erasure of Thawne is what caused the the wormhole to re-open. I think we’ll see a paradox or two created because of Eddie’s actions. Earlier in the Season, Thawne (when killing the original Wells) suggested that he merely moved forward the events that would create the Flash, so his existence still happens, especially if original Wells now survives, to build his accelerator. It could also be that Rip Hunter and the Legends crew are pulled together originally to fix a few of the paradoxes and/or timelines broken by Eddie and run across Vandal Savage who might be trying to exploit those same broken timelines for his own gain.
I thought it was a really great finale to a great season. Pure Silver Age fun right there on my TV every week. Awesome!
Man this was about as comic booky as tv could ever get. And it made me very very happy. When the helmet popped out of the wormhole I giggled like a silly school girl. Is it silly that I wanted to stand and applaud at the end? It was amazing. The whole ride was amazing. Thank you CW and thank you everyone at Flash for doing what I didn’t think was possible – making a non campy yet still comic book as heck tv show.
When that helmet came out, I was hoping Jay Garrick would come out to save Barry. When he didn’t, well maybe Max Mercury will come out and help close the wormhole. But I am guessing Rip Hunter comes in and fixes it in about 30 seconds, leading to his Legends tv show episode 1.
Not that thrilled with the brief look of Killer Frost. The outstretched hand, the long curly hair, and a corset? I was hoping for something closer to Assault on Arkham style.
I loved the whole season! Cliffhanger aside, I understand it’s a staple of season finales. I love this column. Thanks for the easter egg reveals. Gotta go back tonight and watch again!