The Flash had an incredible first season. Everything was dead on. And nothing was more of a welcome change from what were used to on CW than the Flash’s tone. Light. Fun. Hopeful. This was something we hadn’t seen on superhero TV in a while. And it really was the only way to do The Flash. He isn’t Batman. He doesn’t mope around. He has a dark past but doesn’t turn him into a cynic. Barry Allen is an optimist.
So that’s why Season 2 was such a bummer.
Barry Allen got the optimism beaten out of him by Zoom. He was punched and thrown and tortured so many times he turned from Flash into Arrow. Everything was serious. The love was gone. Even Barry’s new girlfriend Patty Spivot couldn’t take it and left halfway through the season. And while Kevin Smith did an amazing job getting Barry over the loss of his mother and righting the ship, Zoom killed Barry’s did the next episode so none of that stuck.
And after weeks of “mystery” as to who Zoom really was, it shockingly turned out to be the mysterious stranger dressed constantly in black who was also a speedster with a speed addiction. So not only a mirror villain but a predictable mirror villain. The finale was laughably dumb and created a device, the time remnant, with such flimsy rules that it seems like it should be used to create fifty Barrys and solve every problem going forward.
What do I think will/should happen in Season 3?
A couple things.
Get finished with the FlashPoint arc as quickly as possible
This should be a season wide thing, but not the third season. We need to fix Flash before we can go breaking him again. Also the whole “what would everything be like if things were a little different” angle got played out last season. From all accounts, it will only last three episodes. Good start. Moving on.
Quit it with the mirror villains
All of Flash’s big bads don’t have to be speedsters. In fact, very few of them are. Reverse Flash is really Barry Allen’s only significant speed based villain. Even Professor Zoom is more Wally West. Most of Flash’s best villains are just goofy remnants of a time when comics were silly and there are a couple we have barely touched.The Top, Mirror Master, Magenta, Abra Kadabra, and Shade are some of my favorites. Imagine Cisco saying “That guy in the black top hat sure was throwing a lot of…and now I know what we have to call him.” Writes itself. And to Flash’s credit, they have already cast those first three. That’s a good start. Also Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) is signed on to play someone who is almost certainly another non speed villain who I won’t name incase I am wrong. I don’t want to look dumb.
Add more mirror allies
That thing I said about the Flash enemies does not apply to friends. Everyone Flash works with besides a couple of exceptions (longtime hero Hartley Rathaway) is some kind of speedster. That’s fine. We’re getting more Wally West, Jessie Quick, and even more Jay Garrick. Pour on even more. Give us Max Mercury. Give us Mas y Menos. Make Wells some other speedster that doesn’t exist yet. That is fun. That would also make Barry a mentor and would force him to be positive.
Find Captain Goddamn Cold
I don’t know where he is now. He doesn’t seem to be part of them Legends of tomorrow any more. I remember hearing something about him being on a Legion of Doom, which is fine but bring him back to Flash too. Wentworth Miller is so good at being a corny jerk. Flash needs more of that. It also needs more Rogues action in general. Have him start the Rogues back up again and then go into hiding or something when Magenta of Mirror Master inevitably take it over. If he wants to film more Prison Break, give him so much money that he doesn’t want to anymore. He’s worth it.
Make a Rogues episode without Barry
Obviously, the Flash should be in a show called The Flash, but maybe just once we could do one without him. Let’s take the Rogues and give them an episode where they do something by themselves. They can rob a bank or maybe beat up another villain that sucks. Maybe we could have the original Captain Boomerang escape. Who wouldn’t hate him? He’s a dick. This episode would be the perfect way to build up the characters within the team without making them all into straight up villains. Give Weather Wizard some self-doubt. Turn the Top into a reluctant hero. Find the original Boomerang’s son or something and make him amazing. The Flash deserves a truly deep bench.
Make Barry Allen Great Again
I cannot stress this enough. Make Barry fun. Make him happy. Have him date Iris for real. Bring back Patty. Make her a speedster. (She got a robot speed suit for a bit in the comics.) Just give Kevin Smith the keys and don’t undo all of his good work the next week. Flash is fine but Barry Allen is so much better. The show needs to find him again.
Musical episode
This is happening but I have been saying it since the show started. I am going to keep saying it until it happens. Then I am going to say “Second musical episode”. Also the second musical episode should feature this song and choreography along with all of the background Warblers.
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