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Flash - Zoom battle

“Barry, kick his ass.”

Let’s be fair, “Fast Enough” is easily one of the best episodes that the superhero TV genre has ever produced. It was certainly a major high point for The Flash and will most likely be the litmus that all other season finales of the show will be measured against. With that in mind, I think we can all agree that while “The Race of His Life” certainly had a lot of heart, it didn’t quite exceed the expectations of that finale. Despite this paltry piece of negative feedback, I feel the good far outweighed the bad. Loaded with plenty of moments that would make the most stern fan crack a joyful smile, “The Race of His Life” set up some serious story lines for the future while also wrapping up the gordian knot that was know as Zoom.

**SPOILERS BELOW**

If “Fast Enough” had one problem it was the fact that majority of the action had been resolved in the previous episode, leaving for a very emotional, if a little action light finale. Fortunately those performances were so strong we didn’t miss the lack of fisticuffs and Flash moments. In an odd sense of symmetry I think “The Race of His Life” suffered from the exact opposite problem. There was a solid amount of action but some of the emotional moments were handled in previous episodes making tonight a little light in the feels. The other big problem was how the writers handled Zoom. While he certainly had an insane master plan, I felt that the reveal was a little too late. I think if this possibility was floated a few episodes back, we could have built up to this moment and made the tension all the more palpable. If anything, it showcases why Season One is regarded as such an incredible feat of storytelling. Without being too obtuse, the writers were able to dole out secrets nearly every week and keep the audience guessing right up to the end. This year though, it felt a little more like “don’t say anything unless you absolutely have to”, which felt like a narrative safety net. If there was a problem down the line, tweaks could be made since the details nonexistent. Fortunately though, the performance of the cast was so strong it helped smooth over any rough edges that kept poking my geek brain.

Even so, Zoom‘s ultimate plan to collapse the multiverse into one single universe was pretty damn harsh and seems to signal my prediction from last week: that a small “mini-crisis” will fold a few universes together to unite Harry/Jesse/Jay and Supergirl all into the same universe. Of course that didn’t happen tonight. Instead we were treated to Barry finally breaking loose of his mental bonds and giving Zoom a run for his money (literally and figuratively). The result of that race would power a machine that could destroy the cosmos. So Barry had two objectives tonight, stop Zoom and save an infinite number of universes. That definitely feels like a Tuesday kind of job to me. So Barry took a card from Zoom‘s playbook and travelled back in time a few seconds in order to create a time remnant. That Remnant knew that he needed to run counter to the device, but that would kill him. Regardless, if he could negate the device threatening the multiverse, his sacrifice would be worth it. So remnant Barry made ran until he turned into pure energy and stopped the pulsar singularity. Fortunately for everyone, his gambit worked.

Flash - Pulsar

FlashFactFlash Fact: in 1985, Barry Allen sacrificed himself by running around a machine that was created to destroy the multiverse. In doing so he literally ran through time and witnessed the past, present and future all at once before withering into a husk and joining the speed force. The excess energy he created, travelled back in time and struck a young scientist named Barry Allen, thus creating The Flash an infinity loop of death and rebirth.

An interesting side effect of Barry’s time remnant was that the Time Wraith’s are the Speed Force’s way of policing these kind of infractions. They only come for those who tap into the Speed Force and they punish those who abuse the power with excessive time disruption. It’s clear this is a speedster problem and one that is going to come back and bite Barry full on the butt. More on that later. First we should point out that when the Wraiths showed up to investigate Barry’s time mishap, they were able to capture Zoom in a pretty damn satisfying way. As a fun bonus we could see Zolomon wither and turn into The Black Flash, the specter of death that haunts all speedsters. Unfortunately with the reveal of that easter egg, the chances of seeing Teddy Sears return as Zoom is slim. On the upside though it definitely cemented The Reverse Flash as Barry’s ultimate nemesis.

Flash - Black Flash

Regardless, ever scene that featured the showdown between these two super powered beings was visually spectacular and an absolute treat. There was clearly a lot of time and resources dedicated to making this showdown as amazing as possible. The races and lighting punch battles were all glorious to behold and created a pretty visceral and satisfying conclusion to Zoom. I’m sad to see this version disappear but I’m happy at the possibilities his departure created. The most interesting of these is the rift Zoom created between Barry and Team Flash. After the death of his father, Barry was consumed with rage and the team, rightly so, put him in a time out. Unfortunately they felt they could take on the dark speedster without Barry and got into a crazy mess. Granted, Barry’s anger could have made him easily fall into Zoom‘s hands if he wasn’t careful, but I think that their decision to confront Hunter without their heavy was a flawed plan. On the upside though it did give us a chance to witness how well these characters work together. Incredibly satisfying doesn’t begin to measure up to the feeling one gets when the entire team goes into action mode. Which is why their decision to lock Barry up for a while so he could cool down was so devastating to group. While he may have understood their motivations, it became clear there is a gulf between Barry and the rest of his surrogate family and that could be more damaging than any one wound Zoom could have inflicted. It also has a nice echo to Thawne’s warning that Barry would never be happy. Damn you, Thawne!

I guess that brings us to the Man in the Iron Mask. I mentioned last week that Jay Garrick was the obvious choice and that John Wesley Shipp would wind up being the iconic golden age hero. Fortunately I was right and the reveal was kind of perfect. Not only did it allow the original Flash a chance to take up the mantle of the older mentor (something I was hoping for since day one) but it also allowed Shipp to stay part of the cast in a completely new dynamic. When you consider how different Harry was to Harrison Wells, I think it’s safe to say that Jay will be an entertaining addition to the show in ways we can’t even fathom yet. Also, we get the added bonus of folding the original Flash back into uniform, almost making those old 90s episodes canonical if you squint hard enough.

Flash - Jay Garrick

Speaking of Harry I should mention the farewell of Harry and Jesse as they returned to Earth-2. It was a pretty touching as they said their goodbyes, but nothing compares to the Harry/Cisco dynamic that’s formed over the course of the season. It’s brutal to think that Harry won’t be apart of the regular cast next season, but I bet we’ll see more of Wells and his soon-to-be-speedster daughter again. Come back soon Tom Cavanagh, we miss you already!

That leaves “the big twist” and I have to admit I have so may thoughts. It’s clear that despite a loving surrogate family, Barry couldn’t endure the loss of both parents. The passing of Henry (as well as his doppleganger return to Earth-3) simply pushed Barry over the edge. Determined to save his family, Barry changed history and stopped Thawne from murdering his mother, something he was unable to do in “Fast Enough”. It’s a huge deal and while he may be happy with the end result there’s going to be some serious blow back. The most obvious is that Barry is now, himself, a time remnant. With a future that no longer exists, Barry will experience what it’s like to be a piece of unrealized reality. It’s also a given that this will finally reveal why Barry stops himself from saving Nora in the past.

Flash - Nora Paradox

How, you ask? A little story called Flashpoint. The centerpiece to a story that ultimately transformed DC Comics’ platinum age of characters in the New 52, Flashpoint is the story of a dystopian alternate reality that was caused when Barry went back in time to save his mother. The implications of that alone are pretty exciting when you consider that this is certainly the start of Season Three. While we don’t know how long it will last, I’m 99% sure the resolution will fold Supergirl into the main universe as the exact same thing happened in the comics. Upon fixing the timeline, multiple universes merged and became what was known as the New 52 Universe. When you consider that the CW has already announced a crossover between Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow, it seems pretty obvious that an adapted Flashpoint story would be a perfect way of aligning all the shows to this new paradigm.

THE FINISH LINE

While Season Two definitely had some issues, “The Race of His Life” created a satisfying conclusion to a somewhat uneven season. While there may not have been a huge emotional pay off at the end of the season, Zoom was finally disposed of and the future of the Flash seems bright. With the potential new dystopian universe in Flashpoint as well as the potential addition of three new speedsters next year, Team Flash is in excellent shape. Now all we have to do is wait the summer out before we see what kind of fresh hell Barry brought upon himself.

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Shaun Rosado

Shaun Rosado is creator and host of a weekly geek podcast called "Shauncastic!," where he and a rotating cast discuss everything geeky, nerdy and pop culture-y as well as the creator of "Meet At The Tavern," a blog dedicated to RPGs. He is also a frequent Twittering fool (@Pneumaz). He is married, has a dog, is a massive fan of The Flash and owns a spaceship. One of these is not true.