Because The Present can mean both the current period of tiiiiiiime because the show has a ton of time travel and an actual present like the apartment Barry gets for Iriiiiiiiiiiisssssss… Haaaaaaaaaa.

It’s a pity that my favourite part of this episode was over in less than 5 minutes because I could really go for more John Wesley Shipp and Mark Hamill. Reprising their respective Flash ’93 roles again is a pretty neat little gift for the audience, even if Earth-3’s Trickster looks… weird.

Seeing the veteran speedster gets his shit rocked by the uber intimidating Savitar was painful but only because of the really ropey CGI. I swear I saw the model went into it’s default stance after tossing Jay through a portal too. Choppy editing, that.

Tom Felton did a cracking job. Whether it was the disbelief of finding out Barry is the Flash or having Savitar speak through him, he gave a terrific performance throughout.

Much like HR training Wally! Fun times.

And Carlos Valdes, actually. He killed it with the guest-starring Nick Gonzales as undead projection, Dante.

I have to wonder how Barry can fuck up the future as well… I bet he can, because Savitar says he does and I can totally believe that, I just wonder how. I wonder if it’ll be a case of Iris-murder leading to Barry seriously damaging Savitar. We’ll see.

But what really put me in a foul mood with the absolutely insipid Christmas sections. It’s something I truly despise about television at this time of year. I took one look at the lavishly beautiful Christmas setup at the West house and I hated them all, because no Christmas looks like that and that kind of over saturated merriment is ever pervasive and taints what was an otherwise solid episode.

And that’s it for Flash Facts this year and probably the last you’ll see from me until the new year because there’s no way I’m covering the Doctor Who Christmas Special. I refuse. You couldn’t pay me to do it.

Anyway, we’ll be back in a Flash in the new year so Happy Holidays from your friendly, shit-tier reviewer – Sharp-O!

The Flash returns for a second season with a rolling start, immediately jumping six months into the aftermath of the singularity, with a brand new status quo that thankfully gets fixed by the end of the episode. Maybe Barry has been listening to Ollie too much but distancing yourself from your team NEVER works. Ever. They always have to come in to save your arse and thankfully, Team Flash does this in 42mins as opposed to the 3 episodes it would usually take Arrow.

So what’s new in Flash world? Well, Henry’s free! And now he’s leaving! Wait, why? It’s such a stupid, obviously for production move. Wells, further proving to be the best kind of redeemable villain (aka Not-Grant Ward) and videos himself confessing to the murder of Nora Allen, thus allowing Henry to go free. Which is awesome! They throw him a party and everything but then he takes Barry aside at his welcome home party and says he is leaving. It’s so fucking stupid and it’s a shame because I’d have liked to have John Wesley Shipp on Team Flash full-time.

Speaking of Team Flash, they’re this season joined by Iris and Professor Stein. Iris is actually tolerable this episode, mourning Eddie’s loss and doing a solid job of not annoying me. Good work. Cisco and Caitlin return and are equally on-form and with the absence of his other half, Martin Stein becomes part of the team and even earning his place by naming this week’s bad guy…

Atom Smasher! Because he’s atomic powered and he smashes things. Good one, Stein. Traditionally Al Rothstein is a good guy, often associated with the Teen Titans and the Justice Society. I love the mask but the costume itself is a little bland. Adam Copeland (aka the wrestler Edge from WWF) does a pretty solid job portraying the gruff bruiser and, interestingly, reveals that he’s not from this world. He only wanted to kill The Flash because it was the only way he could get home. When asked he promised him that, Al simply replies…

CHILLS. With the apparent casting of Tony Todd as the voice of Zoom and seemingly able to transport people through the multiverse, this season’s antagonist is shaping up to be a real threat. Smarter, faster, deadlier. But Zoom isn’t the only speedster in town as a mysterious stranger bypasses all of STAR Labs’ new security system and introduces himself…

Yoooooo, it’s Jay Garrick! Now we’re in business! Sure he’s a little young but the prospect of having a Flash team-up is too awesome!

This season premiere was pretty damn fun but I’m really looking forward to next week’s adventure, Flash of Two Worlds.