Legends Of Tomorrow Season 2, Episode 10: The Legion Of Doom

This week on a fun and very satisfying Legends Of Tommorow, the villains get to shine as the Legion Of Doom takes the spotlight.

I haven't been too awfully impressed with the low-rent Legion Of Doom the show's given us this season. So far all they've done is stand around in their starched and pressed overcoats and leer at the camera, trying to look menacing. 

That all changed this week, as they finally stepped up and showed us why they deserve the name. We even got to see their origin story as well!

I was also getting tired of seeing the Reverse Flash show up at the last second and saving Malcolm Merlyn and Damien Darhk in every single episode. That plotline would be fine once or twice, but not ten times. This week we get to see there's a reason why he never seems to stay in the same place for very long. Hey, maybe they actually plan this stuff out after all!

I just read that Captain Cold is eventually going to join the Legion sometime this season (Whoops, spoilers!). I can't wait for that, as Legends has suffered from a definite Cold-deficiency of late.

It was nice to see the return of Lily, Professor Stein's time aberration daughter. Her random reappearance here has to mean she's going to become a semi-regular on the show. There'd be no reason for her to pop up unless it's setup for a future plotline. I foresee her story ending in tragedy though, as she's killed by the Legion and Professor Stein is tempted to use the Spear Of Destiny to alter reality and resurrect her.

This episode also gave us our first look at the Black Flash. He was originally Zoom, aka Hunter Zolomon, until he became a Time Wraith at the end of The Flash's second season. Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd type! His appearance was pretty darned cool, and he looked suitably creepy. Well done, producers! Odd that he appeared first on Legends Of Tomorrow instead of The Flash though, since he's a speedster and all. 

SPOILERS!

The Plot: 
We open with a flashback to the formation of the Legion Of Doom in 2016. Malcolm Merlyn sits despondently in his apartment, watching a news report on the death of Damien Darhk. Suddenly Eobard Thawne, aka the Reverse Flash, zooms in with Darhk in tow. It seems Thawne's plucked Darhk from the time stream several decades before his death (confused yet?). Thawne says he has a plan to reverse all their fates, and he needs Merlyn's help.

Cut to the present day, where the Legion is holding Rip Hunter captive, believing he knows the location of the Spear Of Destiny. They argue over the best way to torture the info out of him. Unfortunately Rip is no longer Rip, as his memories are completely gone, replaced by the persona of Phil Gasmer, a film director from 1967. Undeterred, Merlyn tries hypnotizing Rip/Phil, to no avail. Darhk says it's time for some good old fashioned torture, and starts sharpening his knives.

On the Waverider, the Legends discuss how to rescue Rip/Phil. They possess the Longinus Medallion, which is the most crucial part of the Spear Of Destiny. White Canary says they should use the Medallion as leverage against the Legion to get Rip/Phil back. Professor Stein says it might help if they could somehow activate the Medallion, and says he knows someone who might be able to help with that.

Back at Legion Headquarters, Darhk tortures Rip/Phil by extracting one of his teeth. Closer examination of the tooth reveals it's engraved with the location of a safety deposit box in Switzerland (I guess engraving your teeth with secret info is a Time Lord Time Master thing). Thawne thinks the box may contain the Spear, so Darhk and Merlyn take their Time Sphere to 2025 Switzerland.

In Central City, Stein meets his time aberration daughter Lily at the Flash's favorite hangout, CC Jitters (no doubt so the Legends crew doesn't have to build a new set). He shows the Medallion to her, and she scans it with a high tech device of her own design, which causes it to project a holographic map into the air. He suggests they examine the Medallion somewhere more private, and takes her to the Waverider.

Lily's amazed by the Waverider's futuristic technology. The other Legends are surprised to see Stein has a daughter he never spoke of before. Canary, who DOES know about Lily, asks if Stein's lost his mind by bringing her on board. Stein asks the other not to mention that Lily's a time aberration.

Meanwhile, Merlyn and Darhk dress up Rip/Phil in a suit and take him to his Swiss bank. Rip/Phil asks for his safety deposit box, and a helpful clerk takes him to the vault. While this is going on, Darhk and Merlyn discuss Thawne, and why he never seems to be around for the dirty work. At the vault, Rip/Phil passes a retina scan, but doesn't know his access code. The clerk calls for security, and Darhk and Merlyn easily wipe out all the guards. They take Rip/Phil back to the Time Sphere. Well, that was all pointless!

Back on the Waverider, the Legends review all known speedsters, trying to figure out who's the leader of the Legion Of Doom, and why he wants the Spear so badly. Atom works with Lily to unlock the Medallion. They figure out a way to plug it into Gideon's main console, which somehow works. They celebrate with champagne, possibly hinting at a potential romance between them. Heat Wave accidentally mentions that Lily's a "fake person." She confronts Stein, and asks him what's going on. He tells her he and his wife never had a daughter until he accidentally interacted with his younger self. He tries to assure Lily that he still loves her, but she questions which of their realities are "real" and stalks off.

Back at Legion Headquarters, Darhk and Merlyn begin arguing again. They challenge one another to a League Of Assassins-style duel (there're a lot of groups beginning with "L" on this show) and engage in a stunt-filled fight scene. Rip/Phil watches, and finally points out to them that this is exactly what Thawne wants. By fighting each other, their attention is turned away from him. They realize he's right, and vow they're going to become equal partners with Thawne— or else.

On the Waverider, Steel, Vixen and Canary try to figure out why the mysterious speedster wants the Spear so badly. Steel makes an incredibly huge intuitive leap and says the speedster must have been erased from existence, and wants to use the Spear to rewrite reality. Stein remembers that in Season 1 of The Flash, Eddie Thawne killed himself to prevent Eobard Thawne from ever being born. Eobard Thawne was temporarily preserved by the Speed Force, but time's catching up to him now, and he needs the Spear to solidify his existence. Steel theorizes that if they could keep Thawne in one place long enough, he might cease to exist. Man, lots of heavy duty theorizing based on nothing this week!

Darhk and Merlyn return to the vault in Switzerland and this time override Rip/Phil's access code (I won't ask why they didn't just do that the first time they were there). They anxiously open Rip/Phil's safety deposit box. They don't find the Spear inside, but they do find a piece of future tech that contains Rip Hunter's memories.

Back at Legion HQ, Rip/Phil breaks free and tries to escape, but is stopped by Thawne. He asks Rip/Phil where the others are, and he says they went to Switzerland. Thawne zooms there in a flash (see what I did there?) and confronts Merlyn and Darhk. They close the massive safe door, locking them all inside (um... is there any reason why Thawne doesn't just vibrate through the door?).

Suddenly something begins pounding on the vault door. Thawne panics and says he needs to leave now. The others tell him he ain't going anywhere unless he explains why he never stays still for more than a few minutes. He finally admits that he shouldn't exist, but was saved by the Speed Force. He's being pursued by the Black Flash (sort of like the Grim Reaper for speedsters), who's right outside the door. Merlyn and Darhk say they'll let him out if he treats them as equal partners. Thawne agrees.

Merlyn suggest that the Black Flash won't be able to sense Thawne if he doesn't use his superspeed (more outlandish theorizing!). They open the door and Thawne stands rock still. The Black Flash sniffs around the room and walks right past him. Suddenly it turns and roars in Thawne's face. Merlyn shoots it with an arrow, and Thawne shoves it into the vault, locking it inside (um... is there any reason why Black Flash doesn't just vibrate through the door?). Thawne says the vault won't hold Black Flash for long, and they get the hell out of Switzerland.

Stein finds Lily and says he originally decided not to have children because his own father was a jerk, and he didn't want history to repeat itself. He assures her he loves her and is happy she's now here. She accepts his apology, and says no more secrets between them. He then tells her he's half of Firestorm, but she thinks he's joking.

Back at Legion HQ, Thawne studies Rip's memory disk. He says he thinks he can upload it back into Rip/Phil's brain, but wants to make a few adjustments first.

Cut to December 25, 1776, in the midst of the Revolutionary War. A restored Rip Hunter (complete with British accent) enters the tent of George Washington, and shoots him dead!

Thoughts: 
• l like that the Arrowverse shows seem to be happening RIGHT NOW, in the immediate present. It's currently 2017 on Legends Of Tomorrow, and over on The Flash, Iris West is fated to die four months from now, in May.

It's kind of cool that the shows are happening more or less in real time, as it gives them a certain reality. On the other hand... these shows are NOT gonna age well. Even five years from now viewers will chuckle when they hear "it's 2017" come out of a character's mouth.

• This week Damian Darhk does the opening narration! That was certainly a switch! It's usually done by one of the Legends. This is the first time they've ever let one of the villains do the intro.

Darhk gives us a brief rundown of his origin, saying, "My name is Damien Darhk. In 2016, I was murdered by the Green Arrow (Spoilers, Damien!). But I was removed from the timeline 31 years before my death by a speedster from the future named Eobard Thawne."

If my math is correct, that means Thawne plucked Darhk out of the timeline in 1986. So does that mean that at some point he'll return to 1986? He'd pretty much have to, because if he doesn't, then Thawne just changed the future and wiped out Season 4 of Arrow.

Supposedly Darhk wants to find the Spear Of Destiny so he can alter reality and prevent Arrow from killing him in 2016. But wait a minute... hasn't Thawne already changed Darhk's fate by changing the timeline? Darhk knows when & how he's going to die at Arrow's hand, so all he has to do is avoid him. Seems like he doesn't really need the Spear now.

By the way, I like the opening narrations on the various Arrowverse series. It's a nice little introduction fpr viewers who aren't familiar with the shows, and a good refresher to people like me who can't remember what the hell happened last week.

• Each week after the cold open, we see the symbols of the various Legends fly into frame and form the Legends Of Tomorrow logo. These symbols change from time to time, depending on the lineup of the team. 

Currently there are six symbols. The entire title sequence lasts under five seconds, so they move pretty fast and are kind of tough to see.

The first symbol that flies onto the screen is Firestorm's. I guess the design is supposed to echo the "nuclear" lines on his costume.

Next is a glowing, cartoony atom, for— you guessed it, the Atom.

Vixen's symbol is next. It's shaped like the magic amulet that gives her her animal powers.

Up next is a stylized bird, which is obviously White Canary's symbol.

Next is a star, which I think is for Steel? He's kind of the Captain America of the group, and there's a large white star on the chest of his costume, so it has to be his.

Lastly there's an hourglass design, which I assume represents Rip Hunter. You know, hourglass equals time and all that?

Note that Heat Wave doesn't seem to have a symbol (unless it moves so fast I just can't see it). Does his exclusion have a hidden meaning, or was it just an oversight? There's seven members of the team, and seven letters in "Legends," so it's not like there ain't room.

Anyway, the producers decided to change things up a bit this week. Since this is a villain-centric episode, we see the symbols of the Legion Of Doom instead of the Legends.

First up is what I assume (through process of elimination) is Damien Darhk's symbol. It looks sort of like a very stylized bird. Maybe it's a Phoenix? Because he's hundreds of years old? I dunno.

Next we see an arrow, which is obviously Malcolm Merlyn's symbol, since he was the "Dark Archer" over on Arrow.

And lastly we see a lightning bolt symbol for Eobard Thawne, aka the Reverse Flash.

• Darhk tortures Rip by extracting one of his teeth. Why does that sound worse than saying he pulled one of his teeth? Anyway, the tooth he extracts just happens to have a secret code on it, placed there by the Time Masters. Hmm. So do ALL of Rip's teeth have codes on them, or did Darhk luck out and pull just the right one?

• Darhk discovers a secret code on Rip/Phil's tooth that indicates a safety deposit box in 2025 Switzerland. Thawne tells Darhk and Merlyn, "Take the Time Sphere back to 2025 and secure the rest of the Spear."

Back to 2025? So they're currently hanging out in the future? But why?

• Heh. Some people store money in Swiss bank accounts. Rip puts his memories in one!

• Last week Professor Stein discovered an implant in Heat Wave's brain, placed there by the Time Masters during the time he was Chronos. Stein theorized the implant was used to broadcast and store information inside Heat Wave's head.

I said that since Rip was a Time Master, he'd likely have an implant in his brain as well, and theorized that he backed up his memories and consciousness in it, before his mind was erased and he became Phil Gasmer. The Legends would then use the implant to download Rip's consciousness back into his brain, restoring his original self.

Welp, it looks like I was wrong about that. In this episode we find out that Rip stored his consciousness inside a mnemonic archive disk instead, which Thawne uses to restore him.

Last week we found out that the brain implant didn't cause Heat Wave's hallucinations, and it had nothing to do with Rip's storyline either. So why the heck did the writers ever bring it up in the first place? Why waste valuable screen time on a subplot that has nothing to do with anything?

• Atom and Lily somehow hook up the Longinus Medallion to Gideon, so she can access the data it contains. Lily marvels at this, saying, "It's pretty remarkable considering we just mainlined 1.2 zettabytes directly into her brain."

At first I assumed they made up a computer term, similar to the "killoquads" on Star Trek: The Next Generation. But believe it or not, a zettabyte is a real unit of data storage! There are megabytes, then gigabytes, terabytes, petabytes, exabytes and then zettabytes. One zettabyte is pretty darned big, equal to ONE TRILLION gigabytes!

• After their experiment is a success, Lily asks if there's any champagne on the ship. Atom has Gideon replicate a bottle. Note that the label reads "Guggenheim Champagne."

That's a shoutout to Marc Guggenheim, one of the executive producers of Legends Of Tomorrow, and co-writer of this episode.

• There was some definite flirting going on between Atom and Lily in this episode. I'm calling it right now— Lily's gonna return, she and Atom will become closer and Stein won't be happy about his daughter hooking up with one of his teammates.

• Stein has a heart-to-heart talk with Jefferson, telling him about his cold, uncaring father, and how he never felt good enough for him. Oddly enough, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. set up an identical backstory for Fitz just an hour after this episode aired. Weird!

• As the Legends theorize about why Thawne wants the Spear Of Destiny so badly, we get one of the most stunning bits of comic book science I think I've ever seen. Here's the exact exchange:

Steel: "Okay. What if Thawne isn't just chasing us? What if he's running from something?"
Vixen: "But running from what?"
Steel: "Time."
Canary: "Time takes time to harden."
Steel: "And if Thawne ceased to exist the moment his great-great-whatever killed himself, then, maybe, he has to keep moving in order for his own nonexistence not to catch up with him. Poof!:
Vixen: "That doesn't even begin to make any kind of sense."
Canary: "I don't know, it could work (!!!)."

You've got to admire a show that's as committed to being completely ridiculous as this one is!

• Last week I noted that the wooden portion of the Spear Of Destiny looked a bit stumpy, as it was less than two feet long. I said it looked more like the Scepter Of Destiny.

This week Thawne mentions hoping that Rip's restored memories might lead them to the locations of the other pieces of the Spear. I guess that's why the Spear we saw was so small— it wasn't complete.

• At one point Merlyn and Darhk have had enough of one another, and start fighting to the death. Rip/Phil has to point out to them that they're playing right into Thawne's hands, as their constant bickering keeps them from turning on him.

It was a fun, well-acted scene, but... it kind of made Merlyn and Darhk look like idiots. A child could have seen that Thawne was trying to pit them against one another.

By the way, Rip/Phil compares Merlyn and Darhk to characters in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. Phil Gasmer lived in 1967. Is it possible for him to know about that film? I checked, and yes it is! The Good, The Bad And The Ugly came out in 1966. Good job, writers!

• At the end of the episode, we find out that Thawne is being pursued by the Black Flash. Just who or what is he?

Over on The Flash, in the Season 2 finale The Race Of His Life, Barry's battling against the evil speedster Zoom. Barry defeats him, and just as he's about to deliver the killing blow, a couple of Time Wraiths appear, grab Zoom and haul him away into the Speed Force. This is presumably his punishment for using the Speed Force to alter time. As he's carried away, his body begins withering and desiccating, making him look like some sort of zombie.

He's now apparently returned as the Black Flash, who's sort of a Grim Reaper for speedsters. He's apparently blind, and hunts his prey by sensing their use of the Speed Force. 

The Black Flash first appeared in the comics in 1988, in The Flash (Vol. 2) #138.

By the way, the Time Wraiths' sole job is to hunt down anyone who alters the past. They seem to be pretty selective about it though, as the Flash has changed history numerous times and they've completely ignored him. Heck, the Legends alter time on a weekly basis, and they've never heard so much as a peep from the Wraiths!

• During the scenes of the Black Flash running around, the closed captioning reads, "(sinister whooshing)." Not just regular "whooshing," mind you, but "sinister whoosing!"

• Over on The Flash, one of Barry Allen's many powers is the ability to vibrate his body so rapidly that he can run through solid walls. Near the end of this episode, Merlyn and Darhk trap Thawne inside a bank vault so they can discuss their business arrangement with him. Thawne's visibly upset, as he can't stay in the same place or the Black Flash will find him.

Why doesn't Thawne just phase through the door of the vault?

Same goes with the Black Flash. The Legion lures him into the vault and traps him inside. Why doesn't he just vibrate himself out as well?

Did the writers forget that speedsters have this ability? Or did they hope WE forgot about it, because the power to phase through walls makes it impossible to come up with a scenario that a speedster couldn't easily escape?

• Best lines this week:
Stein: (to Lily, as she pulls some sort of high-tech device out of her purse) "Is that an ionic transmographer? I've never seen one smaller than a house!"

Heat Wave: (after finding out about Lily) "What's the big deal? The professor didn't have a kid, now he does. Mazel tov!"

Stein: (referring to Lily) "Then I would appreciate it if you... If none of you would reveal to her that she's an Aberration."
Heat Wave: "Why you looking at me?"

Heat Wave: (spilling the beans to Lily) "Sweetheart, I don't wanna rain on your parade, but you're a, uh... how would the Professor put it? An abrasion... no, that's not it, um... an asphyxiation, hmm... aber... aberration! You're a Time Aberration. You're a Time Aberration."

Lily: (asking Stein if she's a time aberration) "How could this be happening?"
Stein: "But it's... it's... it's really quite simple. You see, I interacted with my younger self back in 1987. Who then interacted with your mother's former self. And, and... when two former selves love each other..."
Lily: "Okay, Dad. We've already had the birds and bees talk."

Jefferson: (to Stein) "Is that whiskey?"
Stein: "Of course it's not whiskey. It's brandy. What do you take me for, a sailor?"

Steel: "Okay. What if Thawne isn't just chasing us? What if he's running from something?"
Vixen: "But running from what?"
Steel: "Time."
Canary: "Time takes time to harden."
Steel: "And if Thawne ceased to exist the moment his great-great-whatever killed himself, then, maybe, he has to keep moving in order for his own nonexistence not to catch up with him. Poof!:
Vixen: "That doesn't even begin to make any kind of sense."
Canary: "I don't know, it could work."

Lily: "I just don't want there to be any more secrets between us.:
Stein: "Well, in that spirit, I suppose I should tell you that I am one half of a nuclear powered superhero called Firestorm."
Lily: "So not funny, Dad."

Thawne: "Well, we would hardly be doing Captain Hunter any favors if we just restored the memories without taking the liberty to address some of his shortcomings.:
Merlyn: "What, like, stopping him biting his nails?"
Thawne: "Not exactly."

The Flash Season 3, Episode 1: Flashpoint

The Flash is back for Season 3!

Season 1 of the series was pretty good, while Season 2 was very, very uneven. I'm hoping Season 3 will get the show back on track.

In this premiere episode, we see the fallout from last season's finale, in which Barry very selfishly decided to alter time and save his mother. I'm very surprised that this new Flashpoint timeline only lasted one episode. I figured they'd drag it out for several months, finally setting things right in the mid-season finale. 

I suppose that could still happen though. At the end of the episode he restores the timeline, but finds some of the details still aren't quite right. I have an uneasy feeling the writers are going to have him constantly tweaking reality for the remainder of the season. If that's their plan, it's gonna get old real quick.

I was a bit disappointed to see yet another evil speedster in this episode. What's that make now, three? Four? Twenty if you count all the versions of Reverse Flash?

I used to read The Flash comic back in the late 1980s (after Barry Allen was killed off and Wally West became the new Flash). I quickly grew bored with it though, because virtually every supervillain Wally fought was another speedster. The TV series is coming dangerously close to going down that same path. 

On the other hand, speedsters are really the only type of villain who should be able to give Barry a run (heh) for his money. He can literally move so fast that everyone else appears to be frozen in time. He could literally round up every criminal in the city in between heartbeats. Like it or not, speedsters are the only real threat to someone like the Flash.

I wonder... since all The CW "Arrowverse" shows are connected, will Barry's meddling have an effect on their timelines as well?

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
After Zoom killed Henry Allen in the Season 2 finale, Barry decided enough was enough. He ran back in time and altered history by preventing the Reverse Flash from killing his mother.

Barry's now seemingly living in a paradise. His mother's alive, and his father was never falsely accused of her murder. But that also means he was never taken in by Joe, and didn't grow up in the same house with Iris.

Barry sits in Jitters, waiting for Iris to show up so he can awkwardly ask her out. He's interrupted by a news report that the Flash is battling a villain called The Rival. Whaaa...? Barry zips away at super speed to the scene of the action. He sees Wally West, aka the Flash, battling The Rival, a black-clad speedster. The Rival gets away, and Barry tells Wally, (who doesn't know him in this timeline) better luck next time.

Barry returns to Jitters and works up the courage to talk to Iris. She doesn't know him in this timeline either, and he awkwardly asks her out. Amazingly she says yes. Barry goes to work and speaks with Captain Mendez, his boss(did he accidentally erase Captain Singh from this timeline?). Mendez asks where Det. Joe West is. Barry makes a lame excuse for his absence.

Later that day Barry takes a bag of Big Belly Burgers to an abandoned warehouse (the only kind that exist in Central City). Inside we see he's holding Eobard Thawne (aka the Reverse Flash) captive in a glass case that somehow dampens his powers. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen! Thawne taunts Barry, telling him that this new timeline is just an illusion, and soon he'll be begging him to kill his mother again.

The next morning, Mendez is furious that Joe's absent yet again. Barry rushes to Joe's house and sees he's sleeping off a hangover. He cleans him up at superspeed and rushes him to the police station. Joe, who's now fully awake, tells Barry he doesn't need his help. Iris then walks in for her lunch date with Barry. Joe assumes Iris is the reason he's taken such a sudden interest in his well-being.

On their "date," Barry says it's like he's known Iris for years, and she says she feels the same way. Suddenly Barry doubles over in pain, as his memories begin disappearing. Just then they hear that the Flash and The Rival are fighting again. Iris says she has to cover the event and excuses herself. 

Barry rushes to the scene of the battle. He sees The Rival throw the Flash out of an upper story building. Barry tries to create a superspeed updraft to save him, but his powers unexpectedly fade, and the Flash lands in a dumpster. Um… was that some kind of metaphor or symbolism? Are the writers saying this version of the Flash is garbage? For some reason Barry lifts the Flash's mask and is shocked to see he's really Wally West (to the surprise of absolutely no one in the audience). Wally comes to, realizes Barry unmasked him and rightly asks, "What the hell, dude?"

Wally takes Barry to his apartment, where they meet Iris, who helps her brother solve crimes. Wally says he became the Flash after his car, that contained a new nitro formula, was struck by lightning. I guess that's not any more nonsensical than Barry's origin. Barry says he wants to help them capture The Rival. Iris says the only man who can help them is Cisco Ramon.

After developing several popular apps, Cisco is now the richest man in the country. His headquarters are in the former STAR Labs building. He tells Barry, Iris and Wally that he doesn't want anything to do with stopping The Rival, as he fears retaliation. Barry sweet talks him into helping, and says they're meant to be a team. Barry then doubles over again, as he loses more of his memories.

Barry visits Thawne again, who tells him that this new timeline is starting to write over his old life. Thawne's apparently immune from the same effect due to the cage he's in. He says eventually Barry will forget all about the original timeline, and won't even remember that he's the Flash. Eventually this timeline will set like cement, and nothing will ever be able to alter it again. 

Barry goes back to Ramon Industries and reveals that he's the original Flash. He then uses his superspeed to kidnap Caitlin Snow (who's an ophthalmologist in this timeline) to complete the STAR Labs Gang.

The New Gang deduces that The Rival's hideout is in an abandoned (of course) sawmill on the edge of town. Barry and Wally head there and confront The Rival, who reveals he's really Edward Clariss, whoever the hell that is. After a prolonged fight, Wally beats him. Unfortunately he turns his back, and The Rival runs a large pipe through his side.

Clariss tells Barry that if he can beat him, he can take Wally to the hospital. Barry agrees, and they begin another superspeed fight. Clariss creates two F3 tornadoes, which overpower Barry. Iris, who's been monitoring the fight, gives Barry a pep talk, saying she felt incomplete until she met him (oy!) and she believes in him (double oy!). This is apparently just what he needed to hear, because he gets his strength back, Popeye-like. He uses his speed to dissipate the tornadoes and knocks out The Rival. Barry bends down to check on the comatose Wally, and The Rival rises up and starts to kill him. Suddenly a gunshot rings out, and The Rival falls dead to the ground. Barry turns to see that Joe shot him (just like he shot the Weather Wizard way back in the very first episode). 

Later in the hospital, Barry's puzzled to find out that Wally isn't healing at superspeed like he should. He realizes what he has to do. He takes Iris with him and visits his parents one last time. He then goes to the warehouse and releases Thawne. Barry and Thawne speed off together. 

At the Allen home, Barry sees his younger self stop the younger Thawne from killing his mom. The current Thawne then steps up and kills Nora Allen for the third or fourth time. It's all very confusing. The timeline resets itself to normal.

Barry returns to the West home. Inside he sees Joe and Wally hanging out, celebrating the defeat of Zoom (which happened at the end of last season). Barry asks where Iris is, which infuriates Joe so much he walks out. When Barry asks what the hell, Wally reminds him that Joe and Iris "don't talk." Barry wonders what he's done, as the audience wonders if this entire season is going to consist of Barry trying to fine tune the timeline.

Later that night, Edward Clariss (who's alive and not The Rival in this timeline) is awakened by a voice in his head (I think) and sees the word "ALCHEMY" etched in his mirror.

Thoughts:
• As you might expect, very little about this new timeline business makes any sense. Especially the fact that Barry still has his Flash powers. Did the particle accelerator even blow up in this timeline? Did it still cause lighting that struck him in his CSI lab? If so, why is he even a CSI in the first place in this timeline? In the old timeline he became one to help find his mother's killer and prove his father's innocence. Those events never happened here, and he shouldn't have been driven to pursue the forensic sciences.

In fact, it seems like Barry— and Eobard Thawne, I guess— are completely unaffected by the changes to the timeline. Barry went back in time twenty or so years to the night his mother was murdered and saved her. Everyone in the world seems to have been living an altered existence for those twenty years, except for Barry, who seems completely unchanged. He seems completely immune to the changes he made, as he remembers the original timeline, and even retains the superpowers he acquired there.

Also, when Barry has breakfast with his parents, his mom asks him, "Lately you hug me every morning as if it's the first time you've seen me in months." Whaaa…? That implies that Barry's just now enjoying the changes he made decades ago. As if he time traveled back to 1996, altered reality, then came back to 2016 to enjoy the benefits.

If that's so, wouldn't he remember a new, wonderful childhood spent with his loving parents? So why does he act like the timeline's only been around a few months? And why does everyone else in this altered timeline experience different pasts that they can still recall? Did Barry travel twenty years into the past, alter the timeline, then jump back to the present and overwrite New Timeline Barry?

See? None of this makes any sense.

And I'm not even going to begin to try and sort out how and why Eobard Thawne is still around. Nora Allen's murder scene has become so convoluted I can no longer follow what's going on. Maybe Thawne's a time remnant?

• Why aren't the Time Wraiths coming for Barry after he blatantly screwed around with the timeline? Gosh, it's like they only exist when the plot calls for them or something.

• As Barry tries to work up the courage to ask Iris on a date, we see a report from Channel 52 News on a screen behind him. That's yet another reference to DC Comic's New 52 line of comics (that came about as a result of the Flashpoint storyline).

• The first time we see Kid Flash, he's rapidly vibrating his face to hide his true identity. Note that he does this even though he's wearing a mask. If he has to disguise his face even in costume, then maybe it's time for a better, full-head mask like Barry's.

I know the "open head" mask of his costume is based on the one in the comics, but it seems like a bad idea here. Comic book Kid Flash is white, while the TV version is black. According to the most recent census, blacks make up just 12% to 14% of the U.S. population. That significantly narrows down the choices for anyone trying to figure out this Kid Flash's true identity. Add to that the fact that his mask completely exposes his specific hairstyle, and he might as well not bother with a disguise at all.

• When Barry and Iris reminisce about elementary school, they mention they both had Mr. Hinkley for math class.

Hmm. I don't know how things are done in Central City, but when I went to elementary school way back in the Before Time, I sat in one classroom all day and had one teacher who taught every subject.

• Barry alters the timeline by preventing Eobard Thawne from killing his mom. He then constructs an elaborate prison cell and keeps Thawne captive in it, indefinitely.

I don't think Barry's completely thought out this situation. Is he planning on keeping Thawne in this tiny cell for the rest of his life, without a trial? That seems as bad (or worse) as what Thawne did to Barry's family. Not to mention highly illegal! The law tens to frown on private citizens abducting and imprisoning one another. 

And what about the practicalities of keeping someone a prisoner? Is Barry going to feed Thawne a sack of Big Belly Burgers every day? Is he gonna bring him clothes after his Reverse Flash suit rots and falls off? What's he gonna do if Thawne gets sick? Or if someone buys the abandoned warehouse and wanders inside? And what about bathroom facilities? C'mon, don't say you didn't think about that too!

• At one point Thawne mocks Barry, saying, "What should be call this brave new world you've built for yourself? I was thinking, "Flashpoint." And we have a title!

• Apparently Barry's boss Captain Singh doesn't exist in the Flashpoint timeline, and has been replaced by Captain Mendez.

Mendez is played by actor Alex Desert. I was racking my brain trying to figure out where I'd seen him before, and finally had to look him up. Of course! Desert was on the 1990 Flash series, where he played Barry Allen's best friend Julio Mendez!

I guess this is another example of how Barry's universe features characters with the same names as those from the 1990 Flash series, but are somehow completely different people.

• In this timeline, Joe's a slovenly, borderline alcoholic who rarely shows up for work. Barry doesn't want to see him fired, so he uses his powers to help him out.

OK, it was funny when Barry got Drunk Joe out of bed, cleaned him up and whooshed him to work, until you stop to think about just what was involved. Did Barry really carry the unconscious Joe into the bathroom, strip him naked, scrub him down in the shower, brush his teeth and dress him again? Yikes.

• For such a large metropolis, Central City seems oddly devoid of traffic. At one point Barry and Iris are able to causally stroll down the middle of a downtown street!

• The Rival turns out to be someone named Edward Clariss, whoever that is. 

Believe it or not The Rival actually appeared in the comics, wayyyy back in 1949. In fact his first appearance was in the Golden Age Flash's last issue.

In the comic, Edward Clariss was a university professor who just happened to duplicate the formula that gave Jay Garrick his Flash powers. He then began a campaign to make the Flash's life a living hell. Visually he looked pretty much exactly like the Golden Age Flash, but with a darker colored costume.

• One of the policemen interrupts Barry and Iris' "date" by telling them the Flash and the Rival are going at it over at the Werther building. I misheard that as Wertham, as in Frederic Wertham (the guy who said comic books caused juvenile delinquency).

There's an artist named Werther Dell'Edera who draws some of the Batman books over at DC, but that seems like a pretty obscure reference. Sometimes a cigar is just a penis. CIGAR! I meant cigar.

Later on Cisco tracks down The Rival to the old sawmill on Williamson. The series just lovvvves to name Central City's fictional streets after real life comic book creators, so that's likely a reference to Joshua Williamson, currently writing The Flash for DC Comics.

• Cisco says he doesn't want to get involved with the plan to stop The Rival. Barry endears himself to him by repeating a story about how Cisco helped his older brother Dante out of a jam.

It's lucky for Barry that this version of Cisco apparently has the same history as the one he knows. Cisco could have had an entirely different childhood in this timeline.

• Cisco says, "You know what happens when you mess with a speedster?" He then mimics a vibrating hand and punches it into Iris' shoulder.

Um... how the hell does this Cisco remember that? In the original timeline, Cisco had a vision of Harrison Wells, aka Eobard Thawne, vibrating his hand through his chest and killing him. I don't see how that could have possibly happened to this version of Cisco, and he should have no memories and knowledge of it.

Does this Cisco secretly have vibing powers too?

• When The Rival creates two F3 tornadoes with his superspeed, Cisco says, "This guy's like a weather wizard or something!" Clyde Mardon, who could control the weather, did something very similar back in the very first episode.

In a similar vein, after Barry seemingly defeats The Rival, he rises up and tries to stab him while his back is turned. Joe shoots The Rival in the back. Joe did the exact same thing to Clyde Mardon in the first episode as well.

• It wouldn't be The Flash without an "I believe in you" speech. When the new timeline causes Barry to start losing his powers, Iris gives him a patented The CW Pep Talk. Sure enough, it gives him the strength to rally and beat The Rival.

• Iris seems to handle all of Barry's shocking revelations very well. Shortly after she meets Barry he reveals he's really the Flash, he kidnaps Caitlin Snow and reassembles the STAR Labs Gang, he takes her to a warehouse where he's holding a costumed man prisoner (!) and matter of factly says his mother has to die in order to reset the timeline. Iris simply says, "Well, that all sounds just fine."

Yeah, yeah, I know she says something about how she feels they belong together, and she may even be subconsciously remembering the original timeline, but still... it's a wonder she doesn't slowly back away from Barry and call the cops.

• Barry goes to see his parents one last time before he frees Thawne. His mother senses something's wrong and says, "Barry, you're scaring me." Barry replies, "No. There's nothing to be afraid of."

• When Barry goes to see his parents for the last time, his mother says, "Barry, you're scaring me." Barry replies, "No. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Well, nothing that is, except he's about to unleash a superpowered killer who's going to stab her with a knife for the third or fourth time. But other than that, nope, nothing to be scared of.

• I wonder if Michelle Harrison, who plays Nora Allen, is getting tired of coming back to the show to film her death scene over and over.

• Once the timeline is reset, Edward Clariss is no longer The Rival, but it looks like he's going to become Dr. Alchemy. He was a villain from the comics who, as you might have guessed from his name, could transmute elements from one to another.

The Flash Season 1, Episode 15: Out Of Time

The Flash is back, after yet another lengthy and annoying break. Wow, so much happened in this week's episode— especially in the last fifteen minutes— that it could very well have served as the season finale. And this was only the fifteenth episode— I can't imagine what they've got planned for the actual end of the season.

The Flash has rapidly (heh) become my new favorite show, but as I've said before I'm kind of concerned that they may be moving too fast. Save some storylines for next season, eh guys?

On the other hand, I was an avid viewer of LOST, and spent six long, fruitless years waiting for that series to deliver answers that never came. So it's nice to see many of The Flash's questions being resolved in such a timely manner.

BIG HONKIN' SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Plot:

We start with a flashback to Episode 1, where we see criminal brothers Clyde and Mark Mardon escaping in a small plane. The plane was blasted by Dr. Wells' particle accelerator explosion, which naturally gives the Mardon boys weather controlling powers. Joe later kills Clyde Mardon.

Back in the present, Mark is now back in Central City to kill Joe and avenge his brother. His powers are much more formidable than Clyde's ever were, prompting Cisco to dub him the Weather Wizard. On the way to a crime scene, Barry sees what appears to be himself speeding past him, which you've gotta admit is kind of weird.

In the usual The CW teen drama crap that no one cares about, Barry and Linda go bowling, and inadvertently end up on a double date with Iris and Eddie. Linda and Eddie are both disgusted by Iris, who appears to have renewed interest in Barry. Whatever.

Iris' boss Mason Bridge suspects that Dr. Wells killed Simon Stagg (which he did). He tells Iris he wants her to start investigating Wells. Meanwhile, the Weather Wizard attacks Joe in his car, but Barry saves him.

Cisco invents a sonic screwdriver, er weather wand that can reverse the polarity of the neutron flow in the atmosphere, negating the Wizard's power. He presents the wand to Joe, and shortly afterward the Weather Wizard arrives at the police station and attacks. He unleashes a bolt of lightning at Joe, but grumpy ol' Captain Singh shoves him out of the way and is zapped. Barry arrives and uses the weather wand to shut down the Wizard's power. The Wizard utters a typical supervillain, "You haven't seen the last of me," quip and hurries off.

Barry zooms Capt. Singh to the hospital, where we learn he's been paralyzed by the lightning bolt. Iris starts poking her nose into STAR Labs business, sowing seeds of doubt about Dr. Wells to Cisco and Caitlin. Cisco gets Caitlin to keep Wells out of the Lab for a while, so he can investigate the containment field that Wells built to capture the Reverse Flash. Cisco discovers there's nothing wrong with the field, even though it failed and let the Reverse Flash escape. He turns it on, and sees there's a hologram of the RF inside-- which was used to fool them all into thinking they'd momentarily captured him a few episodes back.

Just then Dr. Wells walks into the Lab and congratulates Cisco for figuring it out. He tells him that he's really Eobard Thawne, and hails from the future. He came to our time in order to kill Barry for some reason, but accidentally killed his mother instead. Now he's trapped here, and is somehow training Barry to help him get Back To The Future. Wells then kills Cisco with a patented vibro-hand to the heart.

The Weather Wizard then abducts Joe and holds him hostage at Central City's inexplicable waterfront. He calls Iris to lure her there, and then whips up a tsunami (more on that later) in order to kill her and the entire city in front of Joe. Barry arrives with Iris. When he sees the not-tsunami bearing down on them, he realizes only the Flash can save everyone. He reveals his secret identity to Iris and begins running as fast as possible in order to create some kind of barrier against the not-tsunami.

Barry runs so fast he pokes a hole in the space/time continuum and goes back a day or two (passing his earlier self along the way, get it?) and finds himself in the past, where I'm sure he won't try to undo most of the events of this episode.

Thoughts:

• Apparently Barry's speed training has really paid off. He carries Joe out of his car just ahead of the Weather Wizard's lightning bolt, meaning he's now literally faster than lightning.

The speed of lightning varies depending on atmospheric conditions, but it generally moves at 224,000 mph, or 3,700 miles per second. That's pretty darned fast.

I'm assuming Barry somehow protected Joe's body when he zoomed him away from the lightning, since he wasn't killed by suddenly moving at such high velocities.

• Cisco gives Joe a magic "weather wand" that can neutralize Weather Wizard's power. This is a reversal of the comics, where the Weather Wizard was the one with a wand, and used it to control the weather.

Oddly enough when Cisco brings the wand to Joe, he places it carefully on a pedestal in the middle of the Central City police station, where anyone could pick it up. Why wouldn't Joe put it on his desk, or even better, carry it around?

• Speaking of the weather wand, it looks a lot like the Doctor's sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who. Just look at that thing! Look at it! It couldn't look more like a sonic if it tried. Was that intentional, since this episode dabbles in time travel?

• Iris the reporter finally does some reporterly things this week, as she starts investigating Dr. Wells.

I'm wondering though why her boss Mason told her to look into Wells, when it seems he's already collected enough evidence to put him away.

• So Dr. Wells is really Eobard Thawne. I guess that torpedoes the theory a lot of fans (me included) had that Eddie Thawne was secretly Eobard, and would someday, somehow become a second Reverse Flash.

I kind of worry that the series is tipping its hand too soon concerning Wells. Moving too fast, you might say. I guess they know what they're doing. And I suppose if they dragged out his mystery for five seasons we'd end up sick of it and stop caring.

• Kudos to actor Carlos Valdes as Cisco. He really nailed his confrontation with Dr. Wells/Reverse Flash/Eobard Thawne. It was obvious that he realized he was going to die right then and there, and no matter what he did, Wells would be infinitely faster and kill him anyway. Especially when Wells said, "Forgive me, but to me, you've been dead for centuries." Chilling!

Still, I was hoping he'd whip out some high-tech device at the last second to neutralize Wells long enough for him to escape. 

Ah well. I wouldn't mourn Cisco too awfully much. Thanks to this episode's time travel shenanigans, next week Barry will no doubt prevent him from being killed. In fact, I'm betting pretty much everything that happened in this episode— Caitlin seeing Dr. Wells' empty wheelchair, Captain Singh's paralysis, Iris professing her love for Barry and kissing him, Barry revealing his true identity to her— will all be undone next week as the writers push the big red RESET button.

• Weather Wizard calls Iris and tells her he's holding Joe captive. He tells her to come to the waterfront alone, obviously intending to kill her in front of Joe. When Barry hears this, he actually accompanies Iris (at normal speed yet) to the waterfront!

I can't understand why Barry didn't just zoom to the waterfront, pick up Joe and get the hell out of there while the Weather Wizard was blinking. If he can outrun lightning...

This was nothing more than classic plot trickery. The only reason why he tagged along with Iris is so she could be endangered by the wave, they could have their camera-spinning kiss, and he'd be forced to reveal his true identity to her.

This is also the problem with having a character with super speed. Most any threat could be easily and instantly neutralized in a split second, so the writers constantly have to find half-baked reasons why Barry doesn't use his powers.

• Once again we see some more of that crazy malleable Central City geography. Now it's apparently next to the ocean. Based on the "Central" in its name, I kind of assumed it was, oh, I don't know, in the center of the country!

• The Weather Wizard conjures up a tsunami to wipe out Central City. Was the weather wand a one-use only deal? Couldn't Barry have tried it again? Or was it too small to have an effect on a phenomenon as big as a tidal wave?

• Whoops! Someone on the writing staff needs to pick up a science textbook. A tsumani is caused by the displacement of a large body of water, usually by an earthquake or underwater volcano. There's no type of weather that can generate one.

There is such a thing as a storm surge though, which is a large, damaging wave of water generated by the winds of a hurricane. They probably should have used that instead. Maybe "storm surge" doesn't sound as sexy as tsunami.

• I'm having trouble trying to figure out the time travel scene at the end. First Barry sees another, faster version of himself while he's running. Then he stops in an intersection and witnesses a series of distinctive events. Later he runs so fast he literally goes back in time, passes himself and stops in that same intersection and sees those same events. Huh? So where'd Past Barry go? Shouldn't there now be two of him? He went into his own past, right? His present and past selves should be standing there gaping at one another.

I gotta stop now, it's making my head hurt.