5 Thoughts About The Flash: "The Wrath of Savitar"

Wooo!  This week's episode was heavy on the emotional stuff.  I have to admit, even I was getting a little misty-eyed by the end.



1.) Despite the show being about "Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash", I love that so much of this season has been about Wally West.  Seeing him as a superhero, then walking that back and showing us how bad he wants what was "taken" from him and what he's willing to do to get it back, and now his constant growth as a partner to Barry and one of the most important members of Team Flash.  There's a lot of respect being paid to Wally, who carried the torch as The Fastest Man Alive for nearly twenty years before they brought Barry back.  

If it feels weird to you that when Wally got "sent away" he was technically faster than Barry...it shouldn't.  By the time Barry had returned in the comics Wally had become a master of the Speed Force, able to enter and exit at will, utilize it to generate costumes for himself, lend and take away speed, and even more.  His time battling all manner of villains had truly elevated him to the One, True Flash and even though this series isn't about him, it's great the writers cared enough to give him the respect he deserves.

2.) If Julian somehow turns evil again over the course of this series, I wouldn't actually be that pissed at him.  It's one thing to have your team tap into your ability to talk to the villain once to see exactly what's wrong with you--it's another thing for it to happen twice more in a single episode, just so they can get some one-on-one time with the bad guy!   Second time wasn't even that crucial, it was like they just "forgot" that maybe they should have tried to see where Savitar was.  There was a lot of trust abuse going on this episode.

3.) Speaking of which, Caitlin definitely did not betray the team.  If it seems as if she did, realize that Barry chucking the Philosopher's Stone into the Speed Force was never the right thing to do--if Caitlin hadn't cut a piece of the stone off then Savitar would have gotten out of the Speed Force ages ago, and Barry would have been trapped there, unable to escape. 

By the end she apologized for what she did, but it was almost like no one else realized she gave them the time they wouldn't have had otherwise, because their first action when they first talked to Savitar was to immediately play right into his hands.

4.) The team really frayed at the edges in this episode, letting their fear of what Savitar might do tear them apart.  Barry winds up snapping at Wally for keeping Savitar's attacks on his mind secret, while Wally does the same later by revealing that Barry is marrying Iris to alter the future even further.  Meanwhile Caitlin and Julian wind up wrapped in an argument because Caitlin seems so desperate to rid herself of her powers she doesn't care about anyone else.   Even Joe seemed pissed he lost his son to the Speed Force.

It's to the point now that the only people able to function without some sort of emotional problem with the rest of the team is Cisco.  Quite the change from the beginning of the season, when he couldn't even look Barry in the eyes.

5.) And, unfortunately much like in the comics, Jessie's role is to sit in the background and try not to get hurt.   Kind of a bummer, so I hope she plays an integral role in saving Wally from the Speed Force.  You could even introduce the "lightning rod" concept--as much as I hate it, it would at least be the last of the truly ridiculous stuff from the comics this series would have to introduce.