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‘The Flash S03E23: Finish Line’ Review

The Flash picks up right where the last episode left off and we get the instant reveal that H.R. disguised himself as Iris with his fancy face and voice changing technology. Even though it’s the silly H.R. that is dying, it’s still a sad moment. Since Barry knows this, Savitar figures it out shortly after. Despite Killer Frost still wanting to get rid of Cisco, there seems to still be some part of Caitlin fighting back.

It would’ve been great had Julian not told Barry about the cure considering they just discussed the fact that Savitar would know Iris wasn’t the one who died. Barry does the unexpected and tries to get through to Savitar by telling an old story about him and his parents. It seems like a futile effort because of how determined he’s been to destroy Barry this whole time. He even made sure to have a backup plan that involves splicing himself so that he exists in every moment of time.

The Flash "Finish Line"
Photo Credit: The CW

Savitar joins Barry at the lab and everyone has mixed feelings about him being there. Tracy doesn’t want to help so Iris sends Harry in. Tom Cavanagh continues to impress with his multiple performances. Savitar just giving in felt way too easy and with good reason. He tells Cisco that he killed them all at the lab and it feels pointless since that’ didn’t actually happen. Thankfully, Gypsy makes an appearance and doesn’t give Killer Frost the chance to kill Cisco. It’s also a bit odd that Cisco doesn’t just blurt out that there’s a cure for Killer Frost now. One would think that could help Caitlin pull through a little more and come to her senses.

Killer Frost freezes a time remnant and the speed force splicer doesn’t work. Cisco changed it to be a skeleton key instead and it brings back Jay Garrick. Eventually, Cisco does give Caitlin the cure after he and Gypsy knock her down. Iris ends up saving Barry, which is nice for a change. She spent most of this season in trouble that to give her a moment where she saves someone is nice. They really need to find a way to make better use of her character now that we know she is still around.

Right after that, she has another nice moment when she gives a speech at H.R.’s funeral. Caitlin gives back the cure for her metahuman powers. She’s not exactly Killer Frost anymore, but she’s taking time to figure things out. I hope she gets some sort of improvement to her character, too. The Flash doesn’t seem to give the women the roles they are more than capable of. Maybe next season, they’ll make some improvements in that department.

The episode ends with the speed force wrecking havoc since Jay was taken out of the speed force prison. Barry volunteers himself up to run into it and as he’s saying goodbye, his mother comes through the speed force. Barry Allen gives up everything in that moment. Will next season undo everything in just an episode or two like they did with Flashpoint, though? Will Wally become the Flash instead of Kid Flash? There are a lot of questions to answer next season, but this ending has me interested in how they handle it.

Flashpoints

  • Good Iris moments in this
  • More of Tom Cavanagh with Harry coming back around
  • No more Killer Frost, but not having Caitlin come back is an interesting choice

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