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!

Running to Stand Still hits the ground running as Harry is chased through STAR Labs and while he might have some sick slide skills, they’re just no match for Zoom; who wishes him a Merry Christmas before we cut to festive credits.

Already, this episode has got me smiling and I’m locked in for a fun sleigh ride as Mark Marden breaks out both James Jesse and Leonard Snart for a kwanza killing spree and Flash is right at the top of their kill-list. Naturally, Snart is having none of it because A) he and Barry have a deal and B)…

He’s a total sweetheart. God damn Wentworth Miller, man. He’s one of the best things about this god damn show. He gives Barry a heads-up and leaves Mark Hamill to carry the rest of the episode because Marden is just there and is tied with Patty’s character development. It’s cool, and she boots the Flash in a cool moment, but Marden’s a rubbish villain.

Hamill is going full Joker this time and he doesn’t even care. And neither do I frankly. He’s a pure delight.

Back with Harry, Zoom’s obviously gotten to him and he’s visibly struggling with his conscience. Cavanagh has all these little looks throughout out the episode that shows he really doesn’t want to but an all-too-real threat to his daughter cajoles him into helping Zoom. Cavanagh’s really on form this episode but while most of it is tense, he does get a couple lines of dickish humour.

But, obviously, the biggest thing to happen this week was the introduction of Joe’s biological son; Wally West. Keiynan Lonsdale is best known for the Divergent movie series and some show called Dance Academy. He’s not doing much but you can tell he’s going to be a big part of the season to come.

All in all, this was a far superior winter finale, not only for being Christmas themed but also because The Flash is always more entertaining to watch than SHIELD and this episode just proves it. Be sure to come back in January for more Flash Facts!

The episode kicks off 15 years ago as we see, for the first time, the night Nora died in full detail and it’s pretty awesome! The rubber man CGI is in full effect but watching the two Speedsters tear up the room before Young Barry is relocated and Nora is killed is still pretty awesome. We watch as the Reverse-Flash leaves the Allen home and eventually stumbles as his Speed Force fails him, Gideon confirms that he is trapped with no way home and Eobard Thawne screams in rage and removes his mask…

SWERVE! It’s not Harrison Wells! It’s the real Eobard Thawne and, as we see later, the man who is responsible for the death of Tess Morgan (Wells’ fiancé) and the real Harrison Wells, who gets drank like a milkshake as Thawne takes on his face and voice. It’s quite the mix-up from our expectations up to this point and I applaud that. Fantastic start to the show!

The other major part of the episode, obviously, is the inclusion of Mark Hamill. Hamill may have quit being the Joker but that’s not stopping him from bringing a lot of it to his performance as James Jesse, the original Trickster. Devon Graye, playing Axel Walker aka the modern Trickster, is awful. I hope he was purposefully playing the character as a poor pretender to the throne because Hamill acts circles around this clown.

There’s a nice “I am your father” bit but ultimately, it’s the performance of Hamill that stands out, being equal parts toned-down-Joker and talkative-Hannibal-Lector.

Flash Fact: As well as John Wesley Shipp and Mark Hamill, Vito D’Ambrosio reprises his role as Anthony Bellows, though as the mayor of Central City rather than a beat cop.

The theme of legacies seems to run through this episode because of the obvious connections between the previous The Flash show and this one, as well as the between the characters. Barry unmasks to Henry after he rescues his father from Trickster’s hostage trap and it’s like a passing of the torch moment as they embrace. It’s also nice to see Henry interact with the team for the first time and there’s a lot of genuine warmth there. The less meta connection between the Tricksters as father and son is never really played with apart from the Star Wars reference.

Wells tips his hand when he talks to Barry about the Speed Force.. Like he wants to bang it. Seriously, he’s got a boner for the Speed Force. But this tips off an already suspicious and fretting Barry and he’s barely keeping a straight face in front of him. He and Joe discuss the situation and bring up points that I have in discussions about the show and the big one is why would he help Barry if he killed Nora? It’s obvious he wants something but the characters only figure it’s something to do with Barry’s speed.

In a surprise move, Barry unmasks to Eddie Thawne as well! WHOA! Two unmasking in an episode? We’re running full pelt into the final arc, eh? He can at least get Iris off Team Flash’s back which is good but he doesn’t feel right about it.

Man, this is a FANTASTIC episode and it’s easily tied with Rogue Time as my favourite episode of the season but looking at what’s coming, that grouping is only going to get bigger so tune in next week for an atomically charged All-Star Team-Up!