S09.E12: A New World, Part 3: Changes

[Trini]

Team Flash works together to figure out how to protect Barry, all while being very careful who they trust. Cecile is skeptical of the plan after an unsuccessful attempt. Khione's confidence in Chester enables him to convince Cecile to try one more time.

Stefan Pleszczynski directed the episode written by Jonathan Butler and & Sarah Tarkoff. 

Airdate: 5/17/2023

 

 

Edited May 18, 2023 by Trini

[baldryanr]

So someone invented the ultimate skin cream, right?  Because everyone's face looking EXACTLY the same 26 years into the future is ludicrous. Future Iris seemed very low energy, though.  She seemed so blase during her scene with Barry I would have believed they ended up divorced and she was just lying to avoid contaminating the timeline.  Maybe CP was pissed her character has been reduced to nothingness even though she's supposed to be one of the leads.

There's been surprisingly little Barry in this four part finale.  He is still the main character, right?  Was Grant Gustin sick, dealing with an emergency, or did he just work a bunch of off days into his contract?  Keeping him off screen for so much time is a bizarre choice.

[bettername2come]

I appreciate that the detective considered Eddie might be a clone or cyborg and wanted to take him to the hospital. 

So, they didn't even try to age up Chester and Cecile for 2049? I feel like with Allegra they at least gave her more mature style and hair. But c'mon, Cecile'd be in her 70s by then. And Chester had the same damn ponytail. Ok, I did like Cecile's reaction to looking unchanged. Iris willingly went gray before Cecile? Seriously? 

I didn't like Chilblain talking about how much he loved Barry. Y'all aren't buddies. 

I was not expecting to see Barry mid-episode. The lead being in half an episode should not be shocking. Barry's hug to Eddie was a nice surprise. It was nice to see them bond before he went psycho. 

Ok, the thing about Negative Speed Force saying "I'm not the little girl you loved" is that Barry actually only knows the twenty-something version of his daughter, so she really doesn't have her facts. 

I like Cecile's costume. The blue's flattering and Virtue as a name for a superhero lawyer with empath skills makes sense. Not saying we needed a new costume or rehashing her family issues again in the penultimate episode of the series, but am I really surprised? 

Iris saying "I haven't seen you like this in so long" gave me Time Traveler's Wife vibes. Like 2023ish Barry has definitely been seen in the intervening years. 

Good song choice for the final scene. I'm happy for Rick Cosnett getting to come back and have so much to work with. 

I was way too excited to hear Cisco's voice in the flashback to Eddie's death. I miss him. 

[Trini]

So half this episode was good. It got remarkably better once Barry showed up... halfway through. The whole episode should have been the Eddie/Barry/Nora/Iris plot in the future. That whole other plot to prop and level up (drink!) Cecile wasn't needed.

Good scenes with Barry and Eddie; but I knew Grant and Rick would bring it. This storyline works as a villain origin story (good to know all the Thawnes are petty losers - LOL); but it's really a stupid choice to have actual Villain Eddie only in the very last episode.

Other dumb choices: The hair/makeup teams putting zero effort into making anyone in the future look older or even different than in the present-day. Cecile conveniently having two completely new powers to defeat the villain -- why are they overpowering side characters at the last minute making The Flash redundant in his own show?? (I'm guessing Allegra gets her upgrade next week.)

I did also like Iris' scenes with Eddie and Barry; although, I thought Iris was too trusting of Eddie considering all the stuff she and Barry have seen through the years -- but the writers needed to get from Point A to B fast, so....

This arc should be getting everyone excited for the finale, but I feel like we're just limping to the finish line; and it didn't have to be this way. There's just so many other shows I'm watching/watched that were able to have a consistent storyline/arc throughout their seasons, it shouldn't be this hard for a show with 8 seasons already, that had notice that this would be the last.

Edited May 18, 2023 by Trini
clarification

[cdnalor]

I keep expecting Eddie to exhibit speed powers since he got hit with lightning and chemicals, so are we going to see a Negative Flash before this is over?  I mean, someone has to be faster than "the fastest man alive" one more time, it's just tradition.

I wonder if Tom Cavanaugh will pop in one last time before the show ends?

[tennisgurl]

Was it me or was most of the dialogue in this episode really bad, even by this seasons standards? Especially the scenes in the future, Allegra, Nora, Chester, and Cecile dropping awkward exposition about what's happening in the future was just embarrassing. They might as well have been starring right at the audience when Nora explained how future Barry is in space with the rest of the Justice League, it all felt so forced. This whole season just feels sad, like its limping its way to the conclusion instead of racing towards it and everyone is just going through the motions until we reach the finish line. We had a few good episodes and some decent ideas, at least the last few episodes have felt like a final season, but it all feels so lifeless. I'm not excited about where this is going, I'm just tapping my foot waiting for it to end along with the show itself. 

Its bizarre that Barry and Iris, the actual main characters of the show, have been around so little lately. Isn't this show called the Flash? Shouldn't the titular Flash have more screen time than this to end his story? Barry didn't even show up until halfway through the episode, instead we had to waste a bunch of time on Chester giving Cecile a pep talk about how she cant manage work/life balance and give her yet another power up. I'm not at all surprised that future Cecile only sees Jenna twice a year, she only sees Jenna twice a week as of now, she's made it clear what her priorities are. Also, doesn't Cecile have another daughter? What does she think about any of this? I did like Cecile's new costume. 

Wow, the hair and makeup department made zero attempt at making everyone look older in the future. Iris got some white in her hair and Allegra got a more mature hairstyle, but other than that everyone looks exactly the same. Chester has the exact same hair and Iris somehow looks older than Cecile! Cecile commenting on how good she looks in the future was kind of funny, but come on show, put in a little effort! 

I noticed that Chilllame and Khione were absent in the future, presumably Mark has betrayed the team for the thirty-second time and will be welcomed back yet again, and Khione has either turned into yet another person or is busy communing with some dandelions. 

The episode vastly improved as soon as Barry showed up, I really liked seeing him and Eddie again. I forgot how much I liked their dynamic, their hug was really sweet and the talk they had was really nice, even if Eddie's being pulled towards the dark side. I like them bringing Eddie back for the last season, but I hope that they don't end with him being a villain. I liked Eddie a lot and his death was one of the first season's biggest gut punches, I would hate for our memory of him to be totally ruined by him becoming the final bad guy. I do think that this works as a villain origin, I don't blame him for being so hurt and angry that his sacrifice was a waste and that everyone else went on to be a happy family, even if its not fair to be angry at Barry and Iris for being happy. Hopefully he can still find some happiness or peace.  

[thuganomics85]

Penultimate episode time for the last season ever and the lead only shows up at the halfway point and the co-lead has only about two small scenes.  Hey, no hate on Grant Gustin or Candice Patton: good on them for apparently getting this type of an easy, sweet deal.  But it is just so odd that Barry and Iris are used very little for this final showdown and we are still focusing so much on characters I struggle to care about like Cecile, Chester, Allegra, Khione, and, yup, Chilllame.

So, apparently Nora gets most of her looks from her mom since a potential Iris/Eddie child is basically Nora with blonde hair.  I understand using Jessica Parker Kennedy again, but that whole thing was just kind of amusing.

Yeah, they didn't even really try to make the other characters look older in all of the future scenes.  I guess Allegra's hair was good and Iris at least gave off the feeling of being older, but I'll attribute most of that to Candice's performance than any actual make-up work.

Looks like the Negative Speed Force has a new permanent vessel and it is none other than Eddie Thawne!  I wanted to make a few joking remarks about the idea that the final baddie is basically some guy who is pissed that his girlfriend moved on from him, but truthfully, I can see how coming back to life and seeing not just that but what else has changed in your absence and how your sacrifice almost meant nothing, would do a number on someone and why he'd end up embracing the Negative Speed Force.  I can see this still ending with him seeing the error of his ways at the end, but I can go with this and I'm all for Rick Cosnett getting to shine again.  Granted, part of me could be just relieved they aren't going down the obvious Eobard route one last time (although I won't be surprised if we get at least one Eobard/Tom Cavanagh appearance in the finale.)

Negative Speed Force Nora's "You're so fast and yet so slow!" is actually kind of fitting for both The Flash: both the show and the character and the ability of his powers.

All ends next week!  Hope they at least deliver something resembling a proper send-off here...

[Trini]

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

... I like them bringing Eddie back for the last season, but I hope that they don't end with him being a villain. I liked Eddie a lot and his death was one of the first season's biggest gut punches, I would hate for our memory of him to be totally ruined by him becoming the final bad guy. ...

5 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

...  I can see this still ending with him seeing the error of his ways at the end, but I can go with this and I'm all for Rick Cosnett getting to shine again. ...

 

I do like Rick Cosnett, and I liked Eddie, but his story was over and done in Season 2; and I didn't need him back at all, so I'm fine with them re-deading him next week. But seeing as how they've hardly had Barry/The Flash do any superheroics this season, I can totally see him talking down Eddie instead, with the power of friendship or something. *sigh*

Edited May 18, 2023 by Trini
spelling, d'oh!

[baldryanr]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

I wanted to make a few joking remarks about the idea that the final baddie is basically some guy who is pissed that his girlfriend moved on from him, but truthfully, I can see how coming back to life and seeing not just that but what else has changed in your absence and how your sacrifice almost meant nothing, would do a number on someone and why he'd end up embracing the Negative Speed Force. 

There's more to it, though.  It's not just that Iris understandably moved on, she told him point blank that she had always been in love with Barry, even when they were dating and engaged.  That's got to sting, especially when his grand sacrifice ended up being both futile and completely forgotten.

It was also unintentionally hilarious that Bart disappeared from the family photo.  Either they didn't think they could photoshop some blonde hair on, or Eddie really didn't want another kid.

[Primal Slayer]

Why was future Iris looking so much older than the rest of team Flash?

And why does it feel like Cecile is secretly the main character of this season? 

[Trini]

11 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

Why was future Iris looking so much older than the rest of team Flash?

I wanna say they only had $27 for the wig budget; so that went to make JPK blonde, then they re-used the "old Iris" wig from Season 5. Everyone else was out of luck. (Or lucky?)

[Terrafamilia]

Maybe Eddie will get to ascend to a higher plane and hang out with Oliver.

So the Watchtower is going to be incommunicado because its orbit takes it behind the moon? Gee, wouldn't it be helpful if these future people could ensure the Justice League HQ is never out of touch by using some, oh, I don't know, relay satellites?

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 5/18/2023 at 12:28 PM, tennisgurl said:

Wow, the hair and makeup department made zero attempt at making everyone look older in the future. Iris got some white in her hair and Allegra got a more mature hairstyle, but other than that everyone looks exactly the same. Chester has the exact same hair and Iris somehow looks older than Cecile! Cecile commenting on how good she looks in the future was kind of funny, but come on show, put in a little effort!

On 5/18/2023 at 12:51 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Yeah, they didn't even really try to make the other characters look older in all of the future scenes.

On 5/18/2023 at 6:37 PM, Primal Slayer said:

Why was future Iris looking so much older than the rest of team Flash?

Because the others are metahumans and Iris isn't?