THE FLASH 8.3

 

RECAP - THE FLASH  8.3:  "Armageddon Part 3" 

Not to borrow a line from the Disney Plus TV show, Wandavision, but I can't help myself:   "It was Eobard all along!".  We finally got A LOT more headway in this third chapter of our Arrowverse Event (it's not a Crossover this year---not to the extent that it USED to be), and it seems we're witnessing the fall of The Flash at record speed---but now we know WHY.  And, honestly, it DOESN'T come as a shock---as everyone wanted to pin everything on Despero.  And while he STILL might play a part as the villain of the piece, we now know WHY bad things are suddenly happening to the Flash, and some answers to some of our OTHER questions as well....such as what in the hell happened to Joe.  And we see Barry doing all HE can to prevent himself from cracking to pieces by asking Black Lightning for help---and they fill in some gaps THERE as well.  

Team Flash has an issue aside from helping Barry before he completely goes bonkers and fulfills Despero's vision of the future of Central City in 2031.  So, while Flash has zipped out to who knows where (WE know....THEY don't).  But the issue is this:  you have two people with VERY different view as to how to help our Scarlet Speedster.  With Barry gone AWOL, Cecile has taken the reigns of leadership, and starts formulating a plan to find Barry before Despero does, and is recruiting Caitlin and Chester to help out, as well as Allegra.  However, Iris---who knows when Barry is lying or telling the truth, has decided to find out WHY it is Barry has zero recall about Joe's death...which WE found out last week.  Iris decided to start investigating the matter, and something didn't sit right with her.  So, she got the video footage of the train accident that killed her dad, and was going to show everyone, but Cecile thought it was in poor taste, and said that Joe is dead, and everyone has to live with it.  Iris feels that if there is a chance her dad didn't die, she's going to research the matter.  This ends up bringing Cecile and Iris into conflict, and Cecile thinks she knows Barry and Joe better than Iris, and wants Iris to stop pursuing the matter.  If proving Joe's death wasn't real, it proves that someone's setting up Barry as well.  The argument doesn't end well, and Iris takes off, saying that Cecile can find Barry her way, she will find her husband her own way.  So, now we have a team splintered and fractured.  

Cecile's idea is to have Chester build a device to help amplify her empath powers, and she goes to enlist the aid of a recently parolled Rosa Dillon---The Top, with her powers looking to be beneficial to her cause.  Of course Dillion wants some assurances, and likes the fact that Cecile has to beg, but Cecile convinces her with her own hustle to help the cause.  So, Cecile...with Chester and Caitlin, put her plan to work.  And while the device...boosting Dillion and Cecile's powers...it's forcing Cecile to deal with her grief, and she can't handle it.  They stop the procedure before she's overwhelmed completely, and Dillion tells her to get over the grief and get on with life.  Caitlin talks to Cecile about how she's tried to handle the loss of Joe, and Caitlin remembers when she lost Ronnie, and how she shut down, and never really dealt with her emotions until she had to.  She SHOULD feel them.  They try again, and this time, Dillion won't let Cecile stop as they power up again...and Dillion forces Cecile to confront her grief...and in this time, Cecile's powers really come to life...and she's able to sense Despero....whom is also trying to scan for Barry.  He's gotten aware of Cecile and Dillion's presence.  He shows up to confront Cecile and Dillion, and manages to nearly kill Dillion after she offers to help find Flash for a fee.  He tries to go after Cecile, but she manages to blast him as well, and prevent any further damage to Dillion.  But they have an idea as to where Barry is.  

While Despero has powered up the Particle Accelerator at STAR Labs to help find Barry, and power up to kill him, Iris and Allegra go Team Citizen as they investigate the train tracks where Joe met his supposed end.  As they scan the area, Iris notices some kind of energy signature on the train tracks.  Allegra senses nothing with her powers, and Iris is supposed to get a checkup from Deon at some point.  They go talk to the security guard at the train station, and he says that the cameras on the platform aren't perfect because they glitch whenever there's a game going on at the stadium in Star City, since they share a grid with Ollie's old town. As Allegra asks more questions, Iris kills the investigation.  When Allegra talks to Iris later, Iris says she's avoided really dealing with her own grief regarding her dad, and that he is truly wrong.  Allegra then does her own investigating, and comes up with a theory that everything that's happened since Joe's death has happened a little TOO perfectly, TOO conveniently.  As she shows Iris the evidence, Iris sees the same energy signature she saw from the tracks.  She thinks it might be her own powers, and she tells Allegra what she sees, and she realizes that she needs to go back to the train station, because she hasn't seen all the evidence.  She meets Deon there, who's supposed to help her keep herself from phasing in and out of time...but Iris wants him to reverse the treatments....because what's going on is directly involving Barry, and they need to help him.  They both realized someone had tampered with time in order to ensure events played out in this manner.  They need to get to Barry quickly.

As for Barry himself...he's been at the Hall of Justice, catching Jefferson up on what's been happening with him, and about Despero.  He's calling in Jefferson to initiate something he calls the "Injustice Protocol" (harkening to the video game INJUSTICE, that DC helped produced, where the heroes went bad), and that Jefferson needs to take away his powers.  They said they all initiated the protocol after the Faust Affair (Felix Faust?).  He, Sara, Jefferson, Kara, J'onn...all were in agreement.  Jefferson tries to dissuade Barry, saying that once he does that...his powers are gone---forever.  Barry feels it's the only option.  Jefferson tries to get him disconnected from the Speed Force, but he can't do it.  Barry tries to goad Jefferson into doing it, but Jefferson won't---he feels there's another way.  Barry then tries to use Jefferson's family against him, and Jefferson gets mad enough and they tussle a little bit.  They crash around the Hall, and destroy the mural of Ollie in the process.  Jefferson helps Barry up and tells him that he CAN get through this.  Not to give up quite yet.  

As Barry is about to take Jefferson's words into reason, Despero shows up, and feels it's time to put Flash down.  Black Lightning holds off Despero long enough for Deon and Iris to arrive, and Iris tells him that he needs to go to 2031 to find out that he got framed...it's the only way.  Deon powers Barry up, and he races off into the future.  Despero says that they all just destroyed the future.  As Barry lands in 2031...he walks around a very quiet Central City...and comes across a banquet hall, where he sees a gathering of some of his friends:  Alex Danvers, Caitlin, Cecile, Chester, Allegra, and even Ryan Wilder...as they are there to witness Eobard Thawne proposing to Iris.  Barry is in disbelief as he looks on, when Iris and Thawne spot her---and the rest of the crowd sees him as well---NONE too pleased that he's arrived. 

SO....my theory as to WHO messed with Barry's life is NOT that much of surprise...we KNEW he was making a comeback at some point, but this was a tad sooner than expected...but not in a bad way.  As the writers are borrowing from an old Flash story from the comics...where Thawne had traded lives with Barry, and started living HIS life...it's now up to Barry to stop Thawne from screwing with his life more, and do so before Despero kills him.  And with everyone in the League NOT happy with Barry when they see him in 2031...it's going to be interesting how he can prove he's still the hero.  As for Cecile and Iris bickering---it was counterproductive, and the thought that Cecile thought she had a bigger dose of grief for the loss of Joe---she was wrong.  For her thinking SHE knows Barry any better than his own WIFE?  Wrong again.  Iris' gut instincts are fairly infallable, and when she's got that feeling in her gut, she runs with it.  And she was RIGHT this week...because she KNOWS something is off...but Cecile...too wrapped up in her grief....doesn't want to see the truth.  You'd think that with all she's been through with Team Flash....she'd get the gist by now. It will be interesting to see how THEY mend fences in the wake of all this.  And as for Iris herself...if Deon undoes all the has done to keep her in the same time and space...what happens to her at the end of this?  Or will she disappear and that's the last straw for Barry?  

Despero wasn't really a factor this week, because of the other story developing, as to how Joe died and Thawne's master plan to destroy Barry's life.  Now...my other question is this...if this becomes the "final battle" between Thawne and Barry---do we get a bit of the last major story of The Flash from the 1980's?  The one where he KILLS the Reverse-Flash....goes on trial, goes to prison...and then the series ends?  I'm VERY curious as to how all this plays out.  But nonetheless...it's been the most compelling TV we've seen from this show in awhile.  And I LOVE the fact that what we learned in the Hall of Justice this week, that Barry, Jefferson, and everyone ELSE in the League has been OPERATING as a team outside of what we see on TV...NOW---can we SEE some of that on TV for a change?  I know I would dig it!

What did YOU all think of this week's installment?  How do YOU see this story playing out?  And did Cecile's powers just get an upgrade?  Subscribe and leave a comment below and what YOU saw this week.

Until next time....keep on running!