Flashpoint was over before it began. The Flash Season 2 finale saw Barry Allen go back in time to save his mother, creating a world where he never grew up in the West household, never endured the grief that came with losing his parents and never became The Flash. But by the end of The Flash Season 3 premiere, Barry Allen bargained with Reverse-Flash to undo the deed, so he could go back to his old life as The Flash. While the lasting effects of Flashpoint were substantial, the event itself was wasn’t.
The Flash is heading into a similar situation in the Season 4 premiere. In the Season 3 finale, after defeating Future Flash, a speed force storm hovered over Central City. Barry, without talking it through with his loved ones, willingly entered the speed force to atone for Flashpoint and the rest of his well-intended (but terrible) decisions. When the new season starts, Barry will have been inside the speed force for six months. The trailer reveals Kid Flash and Vibe are protecting Central City, and (of course) Iris and Joe are grieving Barry’s death.
The show is called The Flash, so we all know Barry is coming back… it’s just a matter of when. Will the writers bring The Flash back at the end of the first episode, or wait a bit longer? We discussed this topic on the latest episode of our Cape Talk podcast before it became clear from photos of the premiere episode that Barry is back with the team. The trailer also implies Barry’s speedy return, but my co-host Phillip Martinez brought up a good point.
“My first impression was, ‘Oh he’s back….very soon.’ Which obviously he was coming back, but I always thought it would be great if they just kept him off the show for at least three episodes,” Phil said. “Because we saw what happened with the Flashpoint stuff, where they just went right back to normal after one or two episodes. They could explore so many different things. Wally was The Flash for so many people and we are only going to get Wally for a couple episodes before Barry gets back.”
Barry has been dead for numerous extended periods in the comics and Wally takes over. Ever since Wally was zapped by the speed force in Season 2, the biggest spotlight he’s ever had was putting on the suit for the first time and racing Barry. He’s always in the background, rarely the focus of a scene on his own, and doesn’t usually have more than just a few lines here and there. But he is a Flash too, and a main character on the show, and another main character’s brother. There’s a lot of story to tell with Wally in particular.
Some of the best scenes with Wally took place before he knew Barry was The Flash. He and Barry didn’t get along, but Wally openly adored the scarlet speedster. The bonding time, where Barry would help Wally with his college projects, was perfect family television. Joe finding out he had a son and balancing his relationship with Wally and Barry was a welcome break from the the sappy romantic drama the show overuses. The relationship between Wally and Jesse Quick, two speedsters, is also intriguing, especially now that they live on two different Earths.
Considering the backlash following the Flashpoint episodes and all the love for Wally, it would be nice for the writers to hold off on Barry’s reappearance for a couple episodes to give other characters some spotlight at the start of a 23-episode season. But, let’s be honest, The Flash will probably appear in the final minutes of the episode, after the last commercial break.
For more of our thoughts on The Flash Season 4, check out the full episode of Cape Talk below.
