The Flash S6 Ep. 19 Pros & Cons

"Success Is Assured"

Typically, whenever I find myself giving my initial thoughts on a season finale of The Flash, no matter what the overall quality of said season was, it's usually filled with lots of notable positive remarks. What I've noticed with the CW shows is that you can almost always count on the finale of a given season (even the worst ones) to be a guaranteed fun and engaging watch. Sadly, Season 6 of The Flash marks the first finale of the series to fill me with feelings of disappointment, cringe, frustration, and simply disinterest towards what I was watching. This unfortunate predicament does come with an underlining statement however being that I completely understand the uncontrollable production situation behind the scenes due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Still, despite the fact that this episode was basically forced into being an unplanned finale, the episode on its own just didn't work for me as well as it should've. Below, I'll break down my personal list of positives and negatives from the episode while keeping the sensibility that I won't unfairly rank this as a finale completely but instead a crucial episode surrounding its season villain arc.

Pros:

1. Mirror Mistress's Character Design

This entry isn't so much a major positive but rather a tiny nod of approval. As someone who has a personal love for unique and interesting character designs (creating several of my own back in the day), I'm always keeping a keen eye out for how TV shows and films creatively adapt from any given source material. Though Eva's costume isn't particularly stunning on a surface level, it does show a sense of power with a hint of "futuristic sleekness" that perfectly lines up with the character's scientific visionary/mirror theme powered component. Eva looks transformed and "in charge of her own path" with this suit which, character-wise, works perfectly now that she's free of her bondage. The mirror cannon is also an interesting touch nearing much closer to the comics than the previous Mirror Master on the show.

2. Caitlin's Goodbye

Again, not necessarily a big positive for me, but I did like the scene with Caitlin speaking to Barry about the fact that his speed isn't the force that he should cling onto for victory but his love for others. Yes, it's a very cliched "Your heart is your true superpower" type of dialogue exchange, but considering the tone of the show and the CW in general, it works perfectly fine here. Also, I do hope Caitlin returns soon whereas I can honestly do without much of Frost considering I've only enjoyed seeing her use her ice powers more so than her interactions with the team as a Hulk-like split personality. Perhaps, by going on this trip with her mother, Frost may returned as a much more interesting and layered superhero in her own right. Just give me more ice sliding and ice swords and I'll be satisfied.

3. Ralph Continues To Win Me Over

The headline here says it all really. Season 4 Ralph was terribly frustrating to watch at times, but ever since they redeemed his character during Season 5 to now showing his intellect as a detective, he's been on a consistent roll. His interactions with Sue (not the "action scenes" as I'll get to those later) are admittedly charming and funny to watch. As shocked as I am to say this, I actually look forward to seeing these two grow as a pair down the line which is something that I normally don't say about any of the relationships in the Arrowverse. Well...aside from Cisco and Gypsy which I still think was the ultimate love interest crime on the show for killing her off unceremoniously. Oh well, for now, we have Elongated Man and low rent Catwoman and I can honestly somewhat live with that.

4. Carver's Death Execution

Let's start this one with some questions. Was I invested in the Joseph Carver and Eva story throughout the season revolving around their relationship conflict? Nope. Okay, but did I get chills when Eva appeared out of the mirror to confront her husband after years of being trapped? Again...nope not really. Fine, but did my eyes widen when Eva shattered the glass, threw the shards at Carver, and the Flash ran in just in time to take the hit? Well...a little. Alright alright, skipping to the part that I actually did like, the scene where Eva "force pushes" a giant shard of glass that's already inside of Barry's chest to kill Carver behind him was pretty damn awesome. It visually reminded me a little of the Magneto quarter scene from X-Men: First Class only less brutal. Either way, kudos to whoever came up with this scene as it definitely won me over as one of the cooler villain kills on the show.

Also, despite not particularly caring about this villain arc/couple rivalry, I did like the dramatic bit where Carver slowly dies exclaiming that this Eva was not human and not the woman he married. It did add a genuine sinister layer to the Mirror Mistress character that was much needed at this point in the season. Considering we'll be seeing this villain again in Season 7, I do hope that we're given something much more deep to grasp onto with her character development as a compelling threat and tragic figure in her own right. This leads into somewhat of another positive I suppose which is the idea that we haven't seen the last of Eva yet. The idea that she's now a popular and powerful public figure hiding in plain sight for our heroes makes this interesting moving forward (almost like a Lex Luthor situation on Supergirl).

It'll be intriguing to see how the team takes her down now that she's put herself in the spotlight as an innocent victim while secretly being a powerful meta framing Sue for her husband's murder. Honestly, this sounds much more appealing of a story than what we got this season with her being trapped in the Mirrorverse holding Iris captive.

Cons:

1. Cringeworthy Action Scenes

Okay, I don't know who specifically on the Flash production staff was watching Ang Lee's Hulk that day while coming up with the episode's climax, but perhaps they should stay considerably far away from the brainstorming table. All of the random split screen effects implemented during the fight scenes with Carver's forgettable light based assassins felt highly unnecessary and distracting. It felt like the series was trying to do something ambitious and fun (which I always applaud in concept), but didn't quite know how to match the tone of what was happening with the Eva stuff. You have this cheesy moment with Ralph, Nash, Allegra, and Sue fighting the three light metas who waltz in like some terrible Charlie's Angel parody. The uninspiring action choreography and cringe inducing "fight poses" and background music taking place felt like I was watching an episode of the Power Rangers (but not as fun). Please Flash directors, look to this action scene as a prime example of what not to do in the future. I couldn't take this scene seriously whatsoever.

2. Major Lack of Investment

Well, here it is. Here's the real core issue of this episode for me and why it hurts slightly more as an unplanned finale. Simply put, almost everything that took place in this episode felt worthy of a typical forgettable villain of the week plot. Carver's death, although "cool" in visual execution, didn't leave much of an impact on me considering the character's weak development. The payoff of Eva's grand scheme revenge taking place flew right over my head since her origin story and motivation felt bizarrely rushed together and dragged out at the same time (how does that work?). Barry's whole thing about losing his speed hasn't really hit the mark for me since he's still able to perform some basic "Flash feats" when the time calls for it. Every time I find myself anticipating the big moment where Flash loses his powers completely forcing him to play genius CSI and not speedster to fight Eva, he manages to speed around with just a little bit of struggle. There's just not enough in this episode or prior season build up that delivers in a fulfilling manner.

Overall Thoughts

This was by no means a terrible episode of The Flash, but instead a terribly disappointing one acting as both our big season cliffhanger and climactic point in the season villain arc. The light based metas spotlighted throughout were borderline cheesy, forgettable, and easily disposable side villains that were squeezed out of whatever potential they had long before their fight scene even started. Their best scene in the entire episode is getting snatched offscreen by Eva (good riddance!...oh wait they came back). The Mirror Mistress herself wasn't too bad in this episode, but the narrative surrounding her had already felt as though it overstayed its welcome considering much more exciting things in the ether like Thawne and even Godspeed lurking around. Also, is it just me or did the red lighting smothered climax of this episode looked visually unappealing at times?

On a more positive note, aside from papa Joe returning, I did like where the writers positioned Eva going forward as a different type of big bad on the show with much more compelling opportunities to explore than before. Unfortunately, the path that it took to get to this point of interest honestly didn't feel like it was worth the length of the ride. Looking back, I think I'll remember Season 6 of The Flash for having Bloodwork (who I thought was just okay at best), Crisis on Infinite Earths stakes, and an overly long arc surrounding a fake version of Iris more than anything. This makes Season 6 one of the more forgettable seasons for me personally with its only high points being a massive franchise affecting crossover event and a really good speed force-Bloodwork episode. Now I'm really starting to wonder what the original plans for the finale were before the unfortunate production issues came in.

Oh yeah, and something crazy happens with Iris at the very end. Can't forget that I guess.

Bonus Thoughts/Easter Eggs

1. Paragon of Truth

While speaking about whether or not the team should trust Joseph Carver, Ralph briefly stated that Eva's husband isn't exactly the "Paragon of Truth". This is of course a nod to the paragons during Crisis on Infinite Earths where Brandon Routh's Superman was the first Paragon of Truth. More Crisis Easter eggs is always a win for me. We still have Atlantis now being a part of the new Earth which is mind blowing to me. Speaking of which, let's check in on Cisco's trip shall we?...oh

2. The Council of Nash Wells

A pretty cool idea that I felt got a bit sidelined during this season is the fact that Nash has open communication to seemingly all of the various Wells across the previously existing multiverse. With this concept, I'd love to see more interactions between Nash and both already established Wells and never before seen versions of the character. Much like Brainy on Supergirl, this would give Flash a character that is literally imbued with effects from the Crisis crossover which I personally think is an awesome idea worth exploring. This also opens up the door for Nash to be quite possibly the most useful, compelling, and effective Wells that we've ever gotten on the show considering his seemingly unlimited access to knowledge and Arrowverse history. In giving Allegra a tool to utilize her powers in an interesting way, perhaps having access to other Wells can also equip him with ideas on upgrading Team Flash in the future with their individual unique abilities.

On a more narratively intimate note, what I'd love to see is perhaps mini character bits of importance like Harry speaking about his daughter post-Crisis or Sherlock speaking about Renee Adler. Heck, even Harrison "Wolfgang" Wells predicted the Anti-Matter wave destruction of the multiverse way back in Season 4. That could be an interesting conversation on its own. Point is....we need Wells the Grey now more than ever.

3. Elongated Effects

Something that I don't feel gets recognized on the show enough recently is the visually entertaining Elongated Man scenes. One thing that I will give the Flash series is its occasionally ambitious direction within some of its more comic booky elements. From a fully CGI'd King Shark looking pretty damn solid boldly adapting the source material design, to Elongated Man stretching around like rubber pulling off some crazy imagery holding nothing back for the audience. Originally, I wasn't too fond of the idea of having this particular hero on Team Flash, but both Season 5 and 6 officially sold me making Ralph one of my new favorite side characters with some fun crazy visuals to enjoy every now and then.

Episode Rating: 7/10