Thankfully, the finale doesn't peak there as we're given an entertaining conclusion to the season's story arc.
The stakes are still high, as time hangs in the balance, but the show still manages to deliver a healthy dose of humor throughout. The tiny Waverider gets some laughs, but the future team's efforts to infiltrate their own group, as well as their inevitable interactions with their past selves, also bring the funny.
That's not to say that there isn't character growth as well. Nate, Mick, and Sara all gain some insight as a result of the timey-wimey antics. I know the Arrowverse has had the "character meets or converses with someone close who was previously dead" scene done before, both on other shows and on this one, but it still seems to work well. You really felt for Nate when he first sees past-Amaya and finds himself stammering over his words.
You'd think that having two copies of the main cast running around would result in confusion on the viewer's part, but the episode does a pretty decent job of distinguishing the different teams. Either through clothing or dialogue, the viewer is able to keep up with which version of the character we're seeing. Having them operating separately for the first half of the episode also helped keep the confusion to a minimum.
Any confusion you may have during the climax is also addressed, as the ones that die are from the future. It's made clear that they were already going to be erased anyway, and knew it going in, so it makes sense that they'd throw themselves in as meat shields to keep their past selves alive.
Said climax is a mixed bag. It seems like the more powerful characters are handed the idiot ball We finally get to see Firestorm and Atom cut loose and both are taken down surprisingly easily by Snart and Malcolm. I know the villains have to get the upper hand for the sake of tension, but that seemed like a stretch.
This extends to the Legion as well. Thawne summons an army of himself from different time periods, yet despite superior numbers and an ability that allows him to single-handedly dominate this team, he's unable to get the spear back from Sara. I guess Nate and Ray deserve some credit for faring as well as they do fighting multiple speedsters, but Sara had way more time than she really should have gotten to succeed in setting things right.
I do wonder about Amaya's decision to stay on the ship. It's sweet that she wants to be with Nate, though his offer to go with her to 1942 seems like the more reasonable route, keeping history intact and allowing the two to be together. I guess she's taking a Doctor Who-esque thought process in assuming that her being on a time machine means that she can hang around a while and return to her destiny later. I get the logic, but given that her future self died not too long ago, it seems like a bit of a gamble.
Conversely, I was surprised and kind of sad to see Rip go. It seems like we just got him back. I'm also not sure why he feels he can't just be a part of the team. His whole "the team is better under Sara's command" thing was already covered and it seemed clear that he still had a place and ways to contribute even if he wasn't in charge. The farewell between him and Sara was a nice scene, so it succeeded on that front, but it's still a strange decision.
We see Thawne erased by Black Flash, though I'm skeptical as to whether or not it'll stick. For one, we saw him get erased before. On top of that, with all the talk from other characters on "The Flash" about how he's one of Barry's greatest enemies, taking him out this early in Barry's superhero career makes no sense. Honestly, even kinda sorta keeping Zoom around in this new form raises questions as to why characters keep referencing him as if he were the villain that we saw on Flash's second season. That newspaper article about the crisis also name drops Reverse Flash, though I suppose they could bring in new Reverse Flashes to keep that aspect intact.
While the cliffhanger made for a decent wham moment, I'm far more interested to see how this affects 'Flash' and 'Arrow' for the remainder of the season. It's not likely that there will be any reference, though considering the change made in 'Flashpoint' was small potatoes in comparison, it seems like it would be hard to ignore. Will we see Arrow/Vigilante showdowns get interrupted by a velociraptor randomly leaping into frame and pouncing one of the two? Honestly, I kind of hope so. Or maybe have Prometheus get eaten by a T-Rex. That would be one of the most awesomely anti-climactic ways to end the season if you ask me.
As for this season's end, as noted, it was a fun and satisfying ride. It managed to balance all of the elements that make this show so entertaining. It tied up several loose ends and left us with a decent plot hook for season 3. Really, that's all you can ask for from a season finale.
Click here to join our Patreon campaign
No comments:
Post a Comment