The Flash: Season 9

If you are wondering if the show is going to up its game for the last season (and I sure was wondering that) we got an immediate answer in the first scene of the final season ever being a rip-off fake-out dream sequence. I imagine my hindsight review of the season will be ultimately be "And it was all downhill from there."

The episode itself was annoying, but not terrible. When Iris wants to spend the day in the time loop getting drunk I think she understood the selling points of those things more than most people do. And let me blunt: Barry's "Time Book" is presumptuous and stupid. Him being dumb enough to think Iris would like that shows Season 9 Flash is exactly as stupid as Season 1 Flash. Character progression in the Arrowverse? Never! We have toddler morals to shove down the audience's throat, and we can't do that unless the characters are total imbeciles! We aren't smart enough to write intelligent characters dealing with problems in an intelligent way. That would involve WORK on the end of the writers, and that simply isn't done. Am I too cynical? The show brings it out in me and has never proved me wrong yet.

I'm glad this is the last season of the show and even gladder it looks like the end of The Arrowverse. Legends Of Tomorrow was almost fun, but single other show got to be a total drag. And The Flash was and is remains worse than most of them. 1 1/2 stars.

Fone Bone review shocker: I liked it a lot. No, that's underselling it. I kind of loved it. Maybe I'm being overly kind because I expected to hate it, but the episode made some good choices that I won't dismiss. I would have liked them even if I HADN'T expected to hate the week.

The first interesting choice is making the third Snow sister utterly unlike either Caitlin or Frost and making her a good and warm person. I fully expected this new persona to be full-on evil and for Caitlin to be one of the (if not the THE) Big Bads of the final season. I have never been happier to be wrong. And I'm almost never wrong when it comes to The Arrowverse. It is a very predictable franchise. And while I do enjoy predictable storytelling as comfort food, the ways The Arrowverse tends to be predictable aren't because they are telling the expected story correctly. But more because I know they are gonna mess up and I know exactly how. The Flash NOT messing up this episode, and keeping both Caitlin and Frost dead (at least for now) shows my rage last season over Frost's "fake-out" death was misplaced. I'm human. I don't love the feeling of being wrong. But when I'm wrong that something is gonna suck and I wind up enjoying it, I'll do the Mea Culpa and move on. Bragging rights would have been nice here, but really, I'm not too petty to simply enjoy a plot turn I liked.

I also like that the show is keeping Hartley on the straight and narrow. His backstory has become extremely muddled due to time travel considerations, but I thought him becoming an ally after Flashpoint was beyond irresistible, and I like that the show still sees value in it too.

I reserve the right to rescind this positive review on the off-chance that the reason Cecile can't read Keon is because she's secretly evil, and Caitlin and Frost are coming back after all. And while, since it's The Arrowverse, I wouldn't rule that out (Black Lightning did dirty with the character of Lightning in a similar scenario in its final season) I truly believe that is far less likely to happen than that it is.

Is this me giving the show a level of benefit of the doubt? Or even trust? Let's just say I don't even think THIS show is foolish enough to walk back these interesting ideas that have breathed new life into the show. I could be wrong. But I don't think they'll walk this back. Which is good and why the episode is something I loved. 4 1/2 stars.

It was decent. I liked more than I didn't. But still, I had a couple of gripes.

I love Barry realizing the correct solution was to plan to give Hartley the device and then pay off the rest of the Rogues. Him expecting them to do it for free, was actually silly.

Of course we all knew the Red Death was Ryan, or at least a version of her, but Batwoman recently having gone missing sets off alarm bells. Smart narrative move for the show.

Do you know what wasn't? Mark's betrayal. It is ill-advised to make him a series regular if he's going to be working for Red Death. They are gonna have to move unlikely storytelling mountains to keep him in most of the episodes anyways. Bad idea.

Also I was digging Keon last week, until I realized the show simply created a character completely unlike the other two Snows, and have no idea what to do with her. Her role in the show is down to giving relationship advice. One of the smartest / most powerful members of Team Flash has essentially turn into Neelix for Star Trek: Voyager. Another ill-advised plot idea.

So it's clear they are not keeping Goldface an antagonist. He wouldn't have learned Barry was the Flash otherwise. It means he was either going to join the good guys, or get killed off by the end of the episode. Joining the good guys is more interesting.

I expected Hartley to get killed off based on what the chick in the mask was signing to him. You shouldn't use that kind of dialogue if you aren't gonna go through with it. It was a little more more scary and disturbing than simple "I'mma kick your ass" trash talk.

The episode was fine though. I'll allow it. ***1 removed link

Favorable impression this week. It also makes me wonder what the heck happened to the real Ryan Wilder.

Good plan to bring Mark back to Team Flash. His heel-turn would have been interesting if he weren't now a series regular. But he is, so it was a mistake. Bringing him back to the good guys will make it easier to include him in future stories.

Iris was pretty insightful with Red Death in her apartment. And I like that fact, but the truth is it's unusual, and the characters usually run around doing stupid things on behalf of the plot. I am glad the show had her acting clever. But it usually doesn't, so it can argued she's acting out of character.

Iris' Royal Flush Gang trick was good because I certainly had forgotten those details myself. Well played.

The show asking me to believe Cecile is a superhero is still a really big ask. I'm not up to it yet.

The episode did a major mistake, one of the biggest I have ever seen in The Arrowverse, and I'm shocked it made it to air. But when Keon gave her defense of saving Mark, Barry says "Caitlin's right." Now if Keon had corrected him, it would have been an interesting plot-point that the team is still getting used to Keon. Because nobody did, that means it was a continuity and production error not a single person caught before it made to air. The show has never felt as sloppy as it did just then.

But like I said, the rest of the episode was pretty good all things considered. ***1/2.

Reasonably satisfying. I especially like that they found a good solution to have Jesse L Martin step back from being a series regular on the show and gave Joe a nice goodbye while they were at it. Nicely done.

I especially love that the solution to learning that Barry believes he was wrong about Grodd turning into a hero, is that he actually wasn't. I love stuff like that.

I see now why the Marvel and Star Wars Disney+ stuff, as well as Star Trek: Picard do their main title cast credits AFTER the episode. Since this show does them at the beginning, seeing David Sobolov's name means Grodd's "surprise" appearance is actually spoiled. I'm seeing the logic of the movie-style end credits because of stuff like that.

If Alt-Ryan truly believed her version of justice was righteous, you'd figure she'd come up with a better name for herself than The Red Death. It's exactly as dumb a name to give oneself as The Brotherhood Of Evil, and stupid for the exact same reason.

Good to actually see Batwoman, and maybe get a little extra wrap-up we were denied when the show was canceled. But if the Red Death is in prison, it makes it an open question who the Big Bad of the final season (and thus series) actually is. If the show sucks they'll make it Thawne for the billionth time. I predict the show sucks. Hey, I like any episode where the rogues quip THEY are the only ones allowed to beat up the Flash as much as anyone, but history suggests Flash will take the sucky way out. I would love to be wrong. Psst! I'm not.

Checked off all the right boxes for a good night. ****.

I was cursing the show and my lowered IQ as the episode was going on, and hating every inch of it. But the ending gives me pause in totally dismissing it. It was an empowering, positive ending. The show's entire problem is how dark and depressing it's gotten despite the fact that the premise does not support that tone. I can talk smack about the episode (and I'm gonna) but really, I can't be TOO hard on the show for setting an appropriate tone. It doesn't do that very often.

But there is MUCH to complain about. While we are on the subject of the show being unnecessarily depressing, did killing off Frost and Caitlin actually help the show any? As cute as Khione is, does she improve the show in any measurable way? No, she does not. Also, why was Caitlin never given a funeral? Was Cisco even given a head's up she died? The fact that Cisco hasn't even been MENTIONED first after Frost's death and then Caitlin's is outright disturbing.

I think the stupidest thing in the episode is it positing the idea that a guy in debt to the mob could choose his own inside blackjack dealer to constantly lose to him. Forget the fact there is literally no way for ANYONE to do that, how is it him getting so many blackjacks one right after another didn't raise red flags at the casino? I hate The Arrowverse because the writers are lazy, don't do even cursory research of a given subject they explore, and botch things even I as a layman know are not possible. I've never set foot inside a casino. And even I know this is utter b.s.. And I'm tired of this crap, and I won't miss Greg Berlanti when his tenure running DC stuff comes to an end. Him being involved in SO much stuff makes a LOT of stuff a lot worse than it would have been if there were a different production company involved. It's frustrating as hell how bad that producer is for all of television,, and considering Superman & Lois is my favorite DC show, it puts a knot in my stomach obsessing every week over when they'll finally wreck it (which they probably will). I'm totally sick of this crap.

The Luckiest Girl alive opening is cute, but a little of that chick's screechy voice goes a long way.

I will not miss this show. And I will not miss The Arrowverse. At all. **.

I was a little worried they were going to take away Dreamer's powers and have her accept becoming a civilian like they did with John Diggle last year, but thank goodness that wasn't the case. I don't think a single person liked John Diggle's ultimate Arrowverse arc last year. I hope Justice U happens someday.

Kione says she forgives Mark because that's what friends do. But that's a little too pat. I think the real reason he deserved to be forgiven is because she looks exactly like the woman he loved. He may be insensitive, but a little transference and confusion there is to be expected.

I did like the bar patrons' running commentary over how much he was whiffing it there. Often when The Arrowverse does stuff like that it lands flat and is cringe, but this kind of worked and was funny.

Not bad. Good Epilogue for Dreamer I think. ****.

That was not good.

Barry tells his identity to too many people. Thank God for the Total Reset Button at the end, but really, a group of strangers are NOT people to reveal that to no matter what. Any one of those people will gossip because they don't have the emotional connection to how important keeping the secret is. God bless the Deus Ex Machina, eh?

For the record, I have never seen the big deal about telling people I love them. I think popular culture puts on undue premium on those words, and makes people who say them feel unduly weird. Loving another person isn't uncomfortable. It's normal. Perfectly normal. The more people you love, the more love you hold in your heart. Loving people is not a zero sum game, and shows like this try to make audiences believe it is. There is nothing awkward about telling a person you love you love them. It's also not awkward if they don't feel comfortable saying it back to you. The show insisting people should feel weird about both things is sending the wrong message, which is not only on-brand for this franchise, but sadly all of television. But I'm telling you, fiction totally has the wrong idea here.

Lady Chronos' costume / make-up is pretty cool. Practically the only thing in the episode I really liked.

That was probably the worst tag in the series' entire history. I'm not saying all the tags are great or anything, but they try to ape Marvel movies is teasing big, upcoming things. There was absolutely no reason for the show to flash the title card and have a domestic epilogue. They should have flashed the title card directly at the end of the scene and ended the episode there. It's violating the very selling point of the tags to begin with. In freaking Season 9! How hard is this?

Not great. Next week looks interesting though (to put it mildly). They better not screw that up. *.

"Ramsey! You have failed this city!"

I am not made of stone. I can acknowledge that moment is awesome and gives me chills. The rest of the episode felt problematic.

First off Stephen Amell's guest role aside, I am troubled the rut the last season has fallen into. Do the writers really not understand that every week basically being a fake nightmare high-concept sci-fi scenario IS in fact telling the same story over and over again? In the last season? Is that necessary?

Also in the episode FINALLY letting Earth Prime know the Multiverse still exists, where the heck are glimpses from the other franchises in the DC Multiverse? Do you know who is handling the Multiverse better this season, Arrowverse? Titans! TI-TANS. Hang your head in shame.

And the show doubling down on giving Diggle the wrong ending that fans hated is another reason the franchise can't end soon enough.

Zombies and mind control? I hate that crap!

Bloodstone will probably go down in The Flash's history as the one Big Bad I hated unreservedly, and I found the fact that he had no redeeming qualities made him boring and dismal. I'm not impressed he's the one they decided to bring back for the final crossover. Yuck.

Oh, and gee, Oliver can come back for special occasions now if the Multiverse is involved? What is the freaking POINT of that sacrifice if it's not an actual sacrifice?

Oliver points out when he rebooted the Universe he didn't bring back his father. I'm shocked he didn't bring up the fact that he didn't bring back the original Laurel either. And I suppose maybe the show ignored that because there really didn't seem to be a good canon reason for that.

I am very glad The Arrowverse is nearly over. I'm also glad it now only encompasses a single show so I'm wasting less of my time on something I dislike. But really, there is no reason Gotham Knights just delivered an episode hands down better than the final Arrowverse crossover ever. And that's not me taking anything away from Gotham Knights. I'm saying Oliver needs to aim his Arrow at Greg Berlanti's production company and say "The Flash: The Series, You Have Failed This Multiverse Franchise!". For the last crossover EVER in The Arrowverse? Some arrows in the chest are due this show. **1 removed link

The entire final season has been a disappointment and feels like a waste of time. I'm glad they are apparently "Going Big" for the final four episodes.

Not that it was precisely a good episode. I felt a lot of the stuff with the Allens was not believable or credible.

Liked that they got Victor Garber for a voice cameo of an annoyed Stein on the phone.

Really interesting ending, mostly because I'm glad Rick Cosnett isn't actually playing Eddie. I never liked Eddie Thawne and this being somebody entirely different is a cool twist.

Eobard is the pettiest and stupidest supervillain ever. All of his misery is entirely of his own making.

Here it's implied the Barry who shook his head at Flashpoint Barry to NOT save his mother is from THIS timeline, but I could have sworn they revealed it was a Flash from a DIFFERENT timeline earlier on the series. If I'm wrong, kudos to the show for foresight and planning. If I'm not, pretend I didn't just say that.

I forgot to mention this in earlier reviews but I'm a little sad Iris went back to the straightened hair. I liked the braids. What happened was I bet toxic fans threw a snit and Candice Patton went back to the old look simply to shut them up. She does not deserve ANY of the crap "fans" have thrown at her. It's enraging.

We also learn that Thawne's initial plan was NOT to kill Nora, but simply young Barry himself. That actually makes a LOT more sense than targeting Nora, so the tragedy would eventually birth his greatest nemesis, but it's sort of disappointing to have the mystery resolved anyways. Even if it's the right resolution.

Not great. But promising at least. ***1/2.

I thought the ending with Eddie was amazing. But it doesn't look like I'm going to like the next episode that much.

The rest of the episode was simply put, garbage. Whose bright idea was to take the Flash almost entirely out of one of the last four episodes? What an absolute idiotic move.

As is centering the drama around Keion. Yes, the audience knows Danielle Panabaker. But the character is entirely new. Why should we care about all of this major stuff being tied to her? And the second most important character in the episode is Mark, which is equally wrong-headed because he's also a character the audience barely knows. What is going on?

And I'm sorry, Iris doesn't mind contractions so long as Barry is here? Can you believe this episode was written by two women? Because that is a crazy statement to me.

The show has decided not to go out on a high note. Supergirl made the same decision so I'm not TOO surprised. **1 removed link

I will not miss this show at all. This episode aggravated me so much I regret getting involved with the Arrowverse at all. I won't lie. Crisis On Infinite Earths was awesome (awful Lex Luthor stuff aside). But to put up with 9 seasons of this crap and many other seasons of similarly crappy shows? That's a LOT of work to put into for five great episodes. I deeply regret it.

I have always questioned whether the producers understood how much resentment they'd built into the audience by suggesting this random former D.A. character Cecile is actually the most powerful metahuman in existence. Representation is fine. But you can't put an entirely original civilian character in the DC Universe and suggest she's one of the heavy hitters. I don't agree with rightwing trolls about anything. So I resent the show giving them such easy fire. It's not because Cecile is a powerful woman of color which is why I resent it. It's because the show is not supposed to be ABOUT her.

And when it comes to the show not reading the fandom correctly, did the show REALLY think we'd be pleased and cheer them on undoing Eddie Thawne's heroic sacrifice and turning him into the ultimate Big Bad of the series? This is speaking as a person who never liked Eddie. Why the HELL would the show bring him back just to make me hate him? Does the show not understand ANYTHING about drama? Or worse yet, TV audiences? This is such a dumbass punk move I feel stupid for having to complain about it. Much less in the freaking penultimate episode.

This is when decent shows up their game to leave a favorable legacy to both their fans and their critics. It amazes me the show is as sloppily written as ever, and in some very big ways worse than ever.

I'm giving that zero stars. I wouldn't necessarily give a bad episode of this exact quality earlier in the season (or even a previous one) the lowest grade possible. But it's the second to last episode and it's this bad. That must be commented on and penalized. 0.

The last five minutes were REALLY nice, and I won't diminish them. But everything else before it was a freaking slog. 11 seasons of the Arrowverse continuity for that? No. Not remotely worth it.

What bothers me is Arrow's finale pulled out all the stops regarding cameos and callbacks. I can't believe the Arrowverse ended with ZERO wrap-up for the Legends OR Constantine. What was the point of the final season if not for stuff like that? I would have preferred seeing them again before Oliver Queen, because Oliver Queen's story was finished and satisfying.

And even though Eddie made peace with the Flash I still am annoyed that he was essentially the Big Bad of the final episode.

Caitlin coming back was not a surprise but I was surprised they kept Frost dead. I was insisting ever since they killed her off in that punkass way that she wasn't really dead. I was 100% wrong the entire time, and when it comes to theories like that, I'm usually not. In my defense, it is still hard for me to reconcile a long-running show killing off such a major character in such a punkass way. The punkass deaths are the ones you retcon. Somebody needed to tell that to this show, and while they're at it explain this concept to Greg Weisman regarding Kid Flash on Young Justice too.

I'm glad I don't have to worry about this show and continuity anymore. And after Superman And Lois and Gotham Knights end, I sincerely wish Greg Berlanti is never involved in another DC project ever again. The DC Universe is worse for his fingers being in so many pots in recent years, and we need new blood and a new vision. I don't think that will wind up being James Gunn, but he can't do worse than Berlanti, so whatever. I'm a bit exhausted at this point, to be honest. **.