THE FLASH Season Finale “We Are The Flash” Review

The Flash — “We Are The Flash” –Pictured (L-R): Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash and Candice Patton as Iris West — Photo: Shane Harvey/The CW

“WE ARE THE FLASH” SEASON FINALE REVIEW

BY JUSTIN CARTER

All in all, this season of The Flash has been all over the place. While there has been more good than bad this time around, the show has had a pacing problem, in addition to a villain who just can’t sustain 23 episodes of story. It’s perhaps fitting that the finale works best when Devoe and his Enlightenment are just a looming presence over Team Flash proceedings rather than being all flashy and pompous.

With Marlize now having defected, the plan is to go inside Devoe’s mind using Cecille to find the good that’s still inside of him that will override the evil Devoe and stop the Enlightenment from continuing. It makes about as much sense as anything in a comic book show, so Barry pulls an Inception and speeds through different parts of his enemy’s brain that would theoretically hold a Good Devoe. Instead, who he does find is Ralph, stuck in the recesses of technically his own mind while Devoe’s been in the driver’s seat for the last month.

Devoe has been keeping Ralph around as a prisoner for no reason other than he can, and he predicted — of course he did — that Team Flash would try this. While the Good Devoe is dead, Ralph can serve as a force for good within Devoe, inspiring the imprisoned Dibny to go Elongated Man and rise up. Watching he and Barry fight a horde of Devoes is honestly one of the cooler things the show’s done this year, culminating in a sequence of Barry spinning an elongated Flash around in circles to knock out the horde. Likewise, another highlight sees the two heroes filling their minds with random junk to get the jump on Devoe, which for Ralph means just shouting the names of different shrimp food he likes.

Barry successfully puts Ralph back in his own body, but it’s not quite as simple as that. Not content to lose with dignity, Devoe uploads his consciousness into his Thinker chair so he can appear as a hologram and sends one of the satellites hurtling down into the city. In a moment that shouldn’t be as funny as it is, Marlize simply defeats her husband for good by walking over to his chair and literally unplugging it.

The sequence of Flash, EM, and Vibe using their powers to save Central City is quite thrilling to see. We haven’t seen the three of them work together before, so it’s fitting that this big moment should come during the finale. It’s especially great to watch the CG sequence Barry build up speed before running up a building to punch the satellite….only for the sequence to be rewound so that joining him in the satellite punching is the Mystery Girl who has been popping up throughout the season.

For those who deduced that she was Barry and Iris’ daughter, give yourself a round of applause! Jessica Parker Kennedy is playing Nora West-Allen, and she shows up at the tail end to officially tell Team Flash that she took after her dad and screwed up time to save him. Hell of a thing to close the season on, but definitely the kind of hook needed for season five. As a season closer, it may not have quite the impact that it should, but as an overall episode of The Flash? Very good, very dumb, and a hell of an ending.

Additional Notes

• Cecile had her baby, Jenna Marie, and she looks appropriately adorable. (Also: RIP Cecile’s powers, apparently.)
• Joe gets a great moment where Devoe tries to get him to point his gun at himself, but Joe resists and points it back at Devoe. I’m sure part of it was Cecile using her powers, but I love the idea of him being able to do this because he’s so powerful a dad.
• “Wow, this house is bitchin’.” I love the gag of people complimenting Joe’s house.
• Harry exits the show with his brain perfectly balanced for both mind and heart. It’s sad to see him go, but I’m already wondering just what they do with the fifth recurring Wells for next year?
• Shouldn’t Marlize sort of go to jail for being an accomplice in the murder of 11 people and framing an innocent man?