The Flash Season 3 episode 1 felt a little rushed, but I’m certainly not complaining about all the action. The Flash Season 3 premiere starts off three months after The Flash Season 2 finale, the night when Barry made the rash decision to go back in time and save his mother from being murdered by the Reverse-Flash. As we anticipated, the new Flashpoint timeline comes with big changes -- including Kid Flash, who races around the city chasing The Rival, an evil speedster donning an all-black costume. But there is one thing that hasn’t changed: Barry and Iris are still corny in love.
Barry works up the courage to ask out Iris after several months of stalking her at the coffee shop. She agrees, and the two set a lunch date. Before heading to work, Barry goes to bring Eobard Thawne a Big Belly burger. Barry is holding up Thawne in a cell at an empty warehouse. Thawne names this new reality ‘Flashpoint’ and warns Barry not to be fooled by the mirage. He torments Barry by saying they both have a common enemy -- time. “You’ll be begging me to kill her again,” Reverse-Flash threatens, referring to Nora Allen.
Barry covers for Joe at the station. Joe’s reputation isn’t that of the hard-working, level-headed detective we know in the original timeline. He’s now a drunk on the verge of losing his job because he’s late all the time. Barry rushes off to the West household to find Joe a hot mess snoring on the couch. He gets Joe ready for work... literally. Barry runs him through the shower, gets him dressed and brings him to the office at superspeed and Joe doesn't even notice.
When Iris pops by the office to grab lunch, that’s when we find out she and Joe aren’t on the best of terms. Barry and Iris go on a walk together and Barry really lays down the moves. He sweet talks her and it becomes clear their strong connection has withstood Flashpoint even though Iris doesn’t remember him.
Just as things couldn’t get any more perfect, Barry has a vision. His memories are changing. Before Barry has the chance to get a grip, they both get a call that Kid Flash is fighting The Rival downtown. Kid Flash goes down and Barry rushes over to see if he’s okay. He quickly realizes it’s Wally underneath the mask. Without revealing he’s a speedster too, Barry and Wally become friends and go back to Wally’s apartment.
Wally explains how he got his powers. Back when he was racing cars, he was messing around with a new formula to make his car go faster. One night during a race there was a thunderstorm. His car got struck with a bolt of lightning and after a nine-month coma, he woke up as the fastest man alive -- The Flash. The three start to devise a plan to defeat The Rival. Iris suggests there’s only one man who could help: Cisco Ramon.
Wally and Iris bring Barry to Ramon Industries, which is actually the old Star Labs building. Cisco appears to be one of the only people that know Kid Flash’s real identity. He’s the one who designed Wally’s yellow and red Flash suit. Barry convinces Cisco to help find The Rival by reminding him that deep down, he loves helping people, but Barry senses he’s forgetting an important member of the team. He searches through the Ramon Industries system, finds Caitlin, and brings her to the lab. She may just be an pediatric eye doctor in this timeline, but she’s still damn smart. To urge Cisco to help, Barry shares a story about Cisco’s brother, Dante. Before before he can finish, he gets another vision. This time, it’s clear that the Flashpoint timeline is merging with the original. Memories are being erased and overwritten.
Wally and Barry run off to find The Rival together, but when they get there, Kid Flash insists he can defeat The Rival alone. Wally gets in a few good punches and walks away confidently, but The Rival gets back up and stabs him through the chest. With Wally in critical condition, Barry takes his turn. He easily takes The Rival down but another vision strikes and the evil speedster seizes the opportunity with a huge punch to the chest. The Rival forms two huge tornadoes and Barry begins questioning whether or not he can actually defeat him. After a heartfelt conversation with Iris, Barry’s eyes light up orange and he undoes the tornadoes. He finishes off The Rival, so he thinks, but the dude tries the same move he did on Wally. Like old times, Joe is there to shoot him down before he gets to Barry.
Wally is in the hospital and has lost a lot of blood, but he’ll be okay. I mean, who dies from a pipe through the chest? Certainly not anyone on Arrow. Like the comics and Young Justice, we find out Wally isn’t as powerful as Barry. He doesn’t have rapid regeneration abilities to heal faster and it’s clear he can't run as fast either. Seeing Wally almost die, Barry knows what he has to do.
Barry takes Iris with him to say goodbye to his parents then goes to the warehouse where he’s keeping the Reverse-Flash. Barry accepts the fact he has to let The Reverse Flash kill his mother, again. Poor Nora Allen... this is about the 100th time we’ve watched her die.
“It’ll be like it never happened,” Barry promises Iris as they kiss for the second time. Barry tries to run fast, but he can’t. The Flashpoint timeline has taken just about all of his powers. Reverse-Flash picks Barry up by his shirt and rushes off to the night Nora Allen was killed. After he does the deed, Thawne brings Barry home and tells him just because they’ve corrected the timeline doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences.
Barry opens the door to find Wally and Joe hanging out, just like the night before he went back in time and created Flashpoint. But there’s one thing missing: Iris isn’t there. Wally informs Barry that Iris and Joe ‘don’t talk.’ That’s actually good news since I thought she was dead for a second there.
Before the episode ends, a voice calls out inside Edward Clariss’ head as he sleeps. “Clariss,” the voice shouts, “Time to wake up.” Clariss gets up out of bed and the letters ‘ALCHEMY’ are scratched into the mirror.
Do you think that’s Dr. Alchemy talking to Clariss? Let us know in the comments below!
