I mean, with all the filler this season, the last two episodes feel like they’ve had to pack in all the major points they wanted to hit to wrap-up this story. We Are The Flash has a strong familial undertone, from blood-ties to the family we choose and that’s strikes a nice contrast to DeVoe, who has no one.

One of the major points is the birth of Joe and Cecile’s daughter; Jenna Marie West. Cecile’s went into labour when The Enlightenment began and Jenna was born when it came to it’s conclusion.

In a truly heartbreaking moment, Harry sacrifices the last of his remaining intelligence to use the Thinking Cap to relay a message to Cisco. It’s awful to see him slowly going and be left a gibbering mess. Oddly, he begins repeating the same phrases that Barry was muttering when he left the Speed Force and writing in the same cryptic language. Perhaps this is a long-game to tie-in with next year’s villain?

In a curious moment, amidst Barry entering DeVoe’s mind to find the last remnant of good in him, Cecile grabs Caitlin’s arm and talks about a ‘Thomas’ in an unnerving voice. Now Caitlin’s reaction could be taken a couple different ways, between shock at a revelation or simple confusion, but after doing some cursory digging, I can’t find any reference to a Thomas in Caitlin’s history but it must have significance, surely. Only time will tell if this is going to figure into the Killer Frost Retrieval Arc of Season 5.

RALPH’S ALIVE! I’m so happy that we’re not losing Hartley Sawyer and his return was suitably emotional. It’s kinda clever, in hindsight, since DeVoe is only inhabiting Ralph’s body, that Ralph could come back.

DeVoe is defeated in his mindscape, after the ropiest CGI horde of black-clad guys this side of the Burly Brawl and everyone is all smiles, which is grand. Marlize even sticks around long enough to help fix Harry.

I know this scene was attempting to be a bittersweet “end of an era” but I can’t take a Tom Cavanagh departure seriously when the odds are good that he’ll just be back next season. While he’s not back to his full intelligence, Harry seems happy that he’s back to a form of balance between his head and his heart so his character growth isn’t undone.

Wally has a brief return to give a bit of an update about his time with the Legends and to celebrate the birth of his sister. Amidst the festivities, an unannounced guest arrives to throw a spanner in the works and properly set up the next season.

Nora Allen, the speedster daughter of Barry and Iris, clad in her mum’s signature jacket announces herself to the Flash family, after some cute little nods to her various appearances beforehand, not to mention her sneakily helping Barry take out the satellite earlier. So yeah, Nora has screwed up and revealing herself is the better option than fighting this new threat alone so I look forward to having the utterly adorable Jessica Parker Kennedy join the cast next season.

Yes, you heard right, I’m looking forward to it, meaning I won’t be dropping the show and that Flash Facts isn’t cancelled. While this season hasn’t been stellar, there are still nuggets of good story-telling here and the fact that the show runners have said that they’ll be continuing the non-speedster main villain into Season 5, I’m kinda hopeful!

So, for now, I’ll just thank you all for sticking with me this past year and for your continued readership and, as always…

Here we go with The Flash season finale and for all the shit I’ve given the show this season, I will admit that there were some genuine surprises to be had, starting with…

The death of HR Wells. I knew they were going to save Iris through shenanigans but I’ll give the show credit for a cunning bait-and-switch using established plot points; with HR taking Iris’s place on the business end of Savitar’s spike thanks to his image inducer. It’s a clever work around and had a real emotional impact for the audience and the team.

The Killer Frost/Vibe dynamic is interesting this episode too as Cisco’s gradual melting of Caitlin’s icy exterior pays off as she turns face and attacks Savitar for trying to kill Cisco. She even attends HR’s funeral, albeit from a distance, promising to come back to the team when she figures out who she is. Like I said previously, with Killer Frost apart of the Justice League in comics, it makes sense to give her a face-turn for some cross-media compatibility.

If there’s one thing I didn’t like was how they handled the Barry/Other-Barry scenes. Not that they’re bad, in fact they’re great, but they don’t go anywhere. We go through a whole song and dance with Savitar being saved by Team Flash only for him to reveal it was a waste of his time. And ours, apparently! Was he seriously that bored while waiting for Cisco to modify the speed bazooka that he figured he’d dick around with his old mates for shits and giggles? I dunno, good scenes but they served no purpose.

Naturally, the day is saved (and Jay gets broken out of the speed force to boot!) and everything is hunky-dory! …Of course, it isn’t. We need setup for next season and apart from a sly hint at a future villain (DeVoe aka The Thinker) we have a new dynamic to establish. With Jay free from the speed prison and no one to take his place, the sky erupts with lightning, demanding a speedster sacrifice and since everyone else has had a turn (and because he needs to serve penance for his numerous fuck-ups), Barry decides to go.

Wow, this is potentially a huge shake-up for the show! With Barry gone, Wally would become Central City’s Flash with Vibe as back-up. That’s great because the kid needs more development and can truly grow with Jay’s guidance. I mean, if it sticks. The absolute worst thing that could happen is that Barry returns within the first couple episodes (and I have a sinking feeling that he could) but I hope not. The Flash lineage is one of the longest running in comics and is as diverse as they come so seeing the sidekick become the hero is a great direction for the show to go.

This season has had it’s ups and downs, having a third speedster as the big bad was a huge misstep in my opinion but the huge crossover in the middle bolstered it and there were a fair few great moments so overall it’s an average season. I hope that we’ll be seeing a Brave New World when we come back next season but for now, as always…

Well here we are, dear readers, the season finale of The Flash. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster this year; packed with thrills, chills, easter eggs aplenty and emotional whiplash — all of which are present in The Race of His Life.

With the death of Henry, Barry has completely lost the plot, much to Zoom’s glee and my chagrin. Barry is an emotional time bomb and will keep ticking long after the threat is dealt with but I’ll get to that in a bit. First things first…

Where the hell did this Magnavox/Magnotron/Stargate come from? I’m pretty sure Tina McGee didn’t mention it last episode (and she’s sadly absent from this episode) but she knew about it and now it’s the lynchpin to Zoom destroying the multiverse? What?

It’s also pretty cool that Team Flash recognise Barry is a loose cannon right now and all of them put him in the pipeline time-out while they try to deal with Zoom. And there plan would of worked too (shout-out to Tom Cavanagh for a sick diving shot) if Joe would have DOOOOOOOOODGED!

Naturally, Barry has to be let out to fix this immense fuck-up and proceeds to wreck Zoom’s shit, employing a time remnant to go full Crisis on Infinite Earths to stop the Magnavox machine and just before Zoom wins by getting Barry to kill him, the Time Wraiths show up and…

That’s going to come back and bite you in the ass Barry because no one fucks with the Black Flash! When I saw the tear in Zoom’s mask and then the Wraiths and then the subtle change in colours; I marked out super-hard.

Not as much as I marked out for THIS though! That shot of Shipp in his old Flash suit makes sense now, huh? As contrived and stupid as the reveal is, I had a smile on my face the whole damn time. I love that the suit is a mix of the New 52 Earth-2 suit and the busted-ass helmet.

It’s sad to see the real Jay, Harry and Jesse go (especially losing Cavanagh and Jesse never showing off her abilities/the cool frienship she had with Wally) but thems the breaks. We can only hope that these cats will be back next season at some point.

WestAllen gets off to a bittersweet start too and it feels very natural and good until BARRY FUCKS IT UP FOR EVERYONE.

Not only did we get shades of Crisis on Infinite Earths but now Barry has travelled back in time, saved his mother from Thawne, erased the Season 1 version of himself from existence and Flashpoint’d the entire CW universe. For fuck’s sake, Barry…

So when next season rolls around, we’ll be seeing a much different universe, probably a much worse universe and every other show in the line-up could be affected. Will the inevitable universe restart be how Supergirl is retconned into the CW universe proper? Will Rip Hunter have to fix Barry’s mistake? What effect will this have on Arrow?

Questions for next season unfortunately but for now, that was a satisfying, if a little dumb, finale and I thoroughly enjoyed the season overall. Have some thoughts of your own? Leave them in the comments and, as always…

Okay, I think this has to be the best season finale Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has had. I mean, it’s had it’s rocky spots this season but it wasn’t as bland as last season and the episodes we’re looking at today — Absolution and Ascension — wraps up the season pretty damn perfectly.

Before we get into the meat and potatoes, let’s lighten the mood a little and talk about some of the lighter moments. The episodes are pretty intense over all and I’m glad that there’s some good comedy beats throughtout the episode, whether it’s FitzSimmons being adorkable or Coulson quoting Star Wars or even Holden Radcliffe just following people around to be helpful. There’s still fun to be had here and I’m so thankful for that.

Round of applause for Chloe Bennett and Brett Dalton, everyone. This pair brought their fucking A-GAME to this two-parter and really brought their characters to the forefront. Chloe’s performance of, essentially, a recovering addict/abused spouse/victim is damn strong and after the shock twist of her wanting Hive to take her back then the reverse-twist that he can’t… Well, Daisy and Hive’s fight is one of the most entertaining and interesting the show has had in a while.

Chekhov’s Shotgun Axe makes it’s first glorious appearance and I marked out super-hard. It’s beautiful.

Hive’s true form looks incredible! Definitely on par with the excellent creature design we’ve seen in Guardians of The Galaxy and looks very much like a more refined, charismatic version of his comic book counterpart. Brett Dalton’s performance is easily the highlight here, playing a deranged gestalt consciousness to perfection and, even in his final moments, even a little sympathetic. This should be the last of Dalton we see and while it’ll be sad to see him go, at least he went out with a bang.

Oh, and Lincoln too, I suppose. I had a little chuckle to myself when I realised that the cross and jacket was being passed around like pass the bloody parcel with the ultimate prize being a big damn heroic sacrifice. There’s definite shades of Captain America: The First Avenger as Lincoln and Daisy share an emotional goodbye that’s about as cliché as it gets.

In a surprise move, we quickly jump six months into the future to see that Daisy, now under the codename Quake me up inside (I can’t Quake up), has gone rogue and is clearly not abiding by the Sokovia Accords and is now being hunted by SHIELD under the orders of a new director. That’s got to be Maria Hill, right? She’s the only viable choice.

And in the stinger, we see Radcliffe celebrate the birth of a Life Model Decoy body for his AI secretary, AIDA. It’s awesome that LMD’s are finally going to become part of the SHIELD show going forward and Radcliffe’s involvement is a good pull since he’s nice and obscure but with a background with robotics. AIDA is also obscure as she is the AI created by Tom Thumb of the Squadron Supreme (Marvel’s thinly-veiled proxy of the Justice League) and gives us a real hint at what we may be seeing next season.

Between an intense finale and the promise of manhunts and androids in the next season, Absolution and Ascension are easily the best episodes this season has had and while we wait for the next season, we can look forward to more Agent Cart-ah… Well how about some Most Want-oh yeah, that’s not been picked up. I guess we’ll have to wait for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to return and for that Cloak and Dagger show to materialise. Catch you guys soon!

If you’re lost, you can look and you will find it; a personally polarising season finale of Doctor Who! Yes, season 9 is finally over and what did we learn?

That Moffat refuses to kill Clara just to spite me. I’m convinced of it now. I could have handled the DinerClara being one of the dozens of time-shadows in the Doctor’s past but this? Insert the Sideshow Bob getting hit by a rake noise here.

So what fun can we have on Gallifrey now that it’s back? Wait, that’s Rassilon!? Fuck, you really got a downgrade from The Daltonator, didn’t ya chief? Still, seeing Gallifrey’s surprising fealty for the Doctor is pretty damn cool! The General’s surprise regeneration was neat too. Changed race and gender but still kept the buzz cut! Still, that was a dick-move by the Doctor.

“Tomorrow is promised to no-one, but I insist upon my past. I am entitled to that.” I think that line sums up more about what Clara should have been in this episode than anything else. The Doctor went full Timelord Victorious by resurrecting her and while I hate that it happened, it fit with his character.

The problem is that Clara has several moments of clarity where she knows that she should not be but the tumblr-baiting shipping trash just refuses to be taken out. All the “I love you”’s unsaid and the illusory feelings of attraction taints what would otherwise be an end with shades of Donna Noble but unlike the heart-wrenching goodbye we had there…

Clara gets to live! With Ashildr! In a TARDIS. Like this is fucking FANFICTION. Fucking-fuckity-fuck right off, Moffat! In short:

But, at the very least, there is some good here. The call back to Amy and Rory is cool, as well as the default/Mark I TARDIS. Oh, and then there’s Capaldi 2.0.

With the memory of Clara mostly gone, we get a clean slate for Capaldi’s Doctor and with a fresh Doctor comes the only things that matter. Fresh clothes and a fresh sonic screwdriver! Man, I felt such joy during this sequence, it felt great that we were getting back to basics.

So overall, how does this season finale stand? It’s entertaining and apart from some personal issues I have with it, it was a good way to close the book what was undoubtedly a dark chapter in the Doctor’s life (but not in the way we were promised.) What does the next chapter hold? Well, I know what’s coming up in just a few weeks…

And I cannot wait for Doctor Who to be fun again. See you soon!

The Flash crosses the finish line with one of the best episodes of the season, tying up plot threads, giving emotional resolution and even giving us plenty of set-up for the future. Yup, I’d say this episode was certainly Fast Enough.

I bet you guys are gonna be glad to take a break from my terrible puns, eh? The primary focus of this episode is the choice Barry faces. Go back in time and save his mother or do nothing and secure the continued existence of the family he has always known. With meta-sight, we already know what happens if Barry’s mother lives and it’s a bad time for everyone.

Luckily, when Barry actually goes back, his future self dissuades Barry from acting, probably knowing that Flashpoint sucks. What follows is an important scene between Barry and Nora and it’s pretty emotional. Barry seeks comfort from his dying mother but, in the end, comforts her in her last moments, revealing his identity and that he and Henry are both safe. It’s a fantastic and emotionally charged scene but it’s only trumped by one other performance…

GOD DAMN IT JOE IS BEST DAD AND I WANT HIM TO BE MY DAD *bawls* Seriously, Jesse L. Martin has been a consistent joy to watch.

Flash Fact: This episode is chockfull of easter eggs, foreshadowing and cameos (lots of Legends of Tomorrow stuff in here) but my favourite is when Wells is about to return home and a familiar tin hat comes crashing through the portal. I love that Wells wryly states that it’s his cue to leave because no one wants a lecture from JAY GARRICK! Squee! This along with the glimpse of the Flash Museum and the producers promising more speedsters in Season 2, there’s hope that we’ll see a Golden Age team-up soon.

In the end, Barry keeps history as it is and screws Wells over for good measure and, naturally, Wells goes into a rage but is stopped by Eddie, who sacrifices himself to erase Eobard Thawne from history. You’re a cool guy, Eddie. RIP. Until you come back. But we’re not out of danger yet as the portal reopens and runs wild, threatening the entire city. Barry races off to save the day and that is where we end. That’s some cliffhanger, show!

Fast Enough is a great way to end the Season while leaving us with plenty of promise in the future so how did the season as a whole hold up? Overall, The Flash is a very fun comic book show that’s unafraid of it’s source material and embraces it gladly but spinning off from Arrow gave it some of the angst and romantic BS that I’ve grown VERY weary of during Arrow’s run but it’s not enough to take away from the charm, the characters and the excitement I felt watching this show week-to-week. Let me know what you thought of the finale and the show as a whole and I’ll see you all next season!

So here we are, ladies and gents! The Season 2 Finale for Agents of SHIELD, or S.O.S parts 1&2. I was honestly wondering if they could keep me entertained for the full runtime but god damn if the creative team didn’t craft an intense and engaging 80 minute feature.

Jiaying’s plan is to cause war between the Inhumans and SHIELD and she succeeds, using the staged attack as a catalyst to take the SHIELD carrier and lure every other SHIELD agent there to kill or convert them to Inhumans. It really says something for this show that the roles between Jiaying and Cal have been swapped. Both in terms of their standing as good guy/bad guy in the show but also in terms of the typical gender roles that this story would represent. Jiaying has been broken for a long time, the scars on her face a superficial crack in the porcelin to show that she’s more damaged than she appears. Her actions are also well in line with the new Marvel mandate of Inhumans being the new Mutants, with Jiaying playing the Magneto perfectly. Plus she’s basically got the powers of Morbius The Living Vampire so that makes her SUPER evil!

Speaking of Cal, we finally get his Hyde transformation and while it’s subdued (he’s nowhere near the Hulk-ing monstrosity I’m used to seeing) he’s definitely a more twisted, hunched monster form than his regular self. Kyle MacLachlan brings his bestest A-Game in this two-parter and firmly cements himself as both a cool character and a fantastic actor in my mind. I’d already liked his performance for most of the season but he just delivers an immensely fun performance here, even when trying to be a monster.

HAHAHAHAAAAAA! Fuck you, Grant Ward! Fuck you and any redemption/happiness the Tumblr fan girls think you’re worth. The grooming sumbitch finally gets his comeuppance, both in the form of an ass beating from Bobbi and killing his new girlfriend because she looked like May. Whoopsie! Still Brett Dalton continues to be super charismatic, despite being a total psychopath. We’ll see what the future holds for him as a new head of HYDRA.

Skye faces off against her mother (after having a VERY impressive fight with Alisha, a super hot redheaded Inhuman who can clone herself) and Cal comes in to save them both, in a way. To save Skye from having to kill (or be killed by) her mother and to save the woman he loves from her own path to vengeance. Coulson, Mack and Fitz stop Gordon from releasing Terrigen mist all over the ship, only for Coulson to lose a hand in the process. Who’d have thought SHIELD would mutilate it’s lead better than The Walking Dead could. Some serious balls shown here!

In the aftermath, lots of things happen including but not limited to; Cal going through the Tahiti procedure and given a new life as a vet, Bobbi considering quitting the team, May actually leaving and Skye being given the opportunity to build her own team of metas under the codename “Caterpillars”. Fun fact: Caterpillars is the codename for the Secret Warriors, a team that Nick Fury created in secret which included Daisy Johnson/Skye. Should be interesting to see what Coulson’s efforts and her leadership will build.

In the stinger, we even get a little FitzSimmons resolution and even the promise of a blossoming relationship, something that fans have been wanting since the beginn–

WELL THAT WAS PANTS-SHITTINGLY TERRIFYING

Season 2 comes to a close in a genuine shocking manner and establishes a lot of threads that Season 3 can run with. It’s been a pretty damn good season and it’s been a pleasure to watch and thank you all for coming back, week-to-week, to see me ramble on about this show. I hope to see you again soon for more S.H.I.E.L.D. Exposed!

Seriously, if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear Joss penned this finale himself. No doubt this episode was written under the hanging sword of Damocles that is cancellation/non-renewal because it feels a tad rushed. That said, it was still a wonderfully intense, emotional and funny end to a series that had a very rough beginning. Luckily, with the news that the show has been picked up for a second season, we may be able to see more of what was great about this show.

Enough about the broad strokes though, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this season finale! With Garrett now hopped up on goofballs, the once affable villain has gone full bonkers. Paxton is clearly having a lot of fun in this episode as he hams up every line of dialogue. Garrett’s got everything he wanted and as the team rally against him with what resources they can scrounge together for an all-out assault, we catch up with Fitz and Simmons at the bottom of the sea.

This sequence is ridiculously dramatic. A hopeless situation that, despite their combined mental acuity, has the odds looking grim. They pull together to work out an escape plan but Fitz, knowing how dire this is and having been injured, gives Simmons the only working oxygen supply. Simmons refuses and Fitz finally lets it slip how he feels. He doesn’t even have to outright say that he loves her but he’ll show her with one defiant act. When they blow the hatch, Simmons still grabs Fitz and just manages to bring him to the surface. They’re still in the middle of the ocean however and Simmons outstretched hand is thankfully grabbed by Nick MFin’ Fury!

Samuel L Jackson returns to the show in more than a 2-minute cameo, actively helping the team in their darkest hour. SamJack’s performance is oozing with the kind of charisma he’s previously brought to the role and he’s even brought Coulson a present. HIS FUCKING PARTICLE CANNON FROM AVENGERS! YOOOOOOOOO! I applauded the return of this weapon, it’s so damn awesome.

The Ward situation wraps up nicely, with Ward getting his shit pushed in by Melinda May. It’s an amazingly entertaining fight that culminates May using a NAIL GUN. That’s brutal and I fucking LOVE IT.

Mike Peterson’s son is rescued by Skye, allowing him to turn on Garrett and, with the knowledge that his son is safe, begin to atone for his actions. Flowers abandons ships along with Ian Quinn. Garrett’s forces are subdued and Garrett himself carted off. UNTIL he breaks free of his containment and fully Deathloks up, only to have his future as a Season 2 villain cut short by Coulson vaporising him with the 0-8-4 weapon from 0-8-4. It’s a wonderfully subversive twist and it’s pure Whedon. It’s basically Mal kicking the henchman into Serenity’s engine in Firefly.

Coulson and Fury finally have it out over Coulson’s resurrection and points out that the Tahiti project was only meant for a fallen Avenger and the look on Coulson’s face when Fury says “Exactly.” is golden! The man who head-hunted the Avengers, the man who brought them all together and idolised them is considered an Avenger by the one other person he idolised. It’s beautiful and makes Fury’s next move all the more amazing. He makes Coulson the Director of SHIELD and tells him to build it back up using the “toolbox”. Coulson and his team arrive at their new base of operations that is manned solely by Billy Koenig, the twin brother of Eric! It’s a shocking twist and I can’t help but feel there’s something sinister going on there, especially with Patton Oswalt repeating the same exact speech he gave in Eric’s first appearance. The team poses for sweet hero shot and that’s a wrap!

In the pre-epilogue, Flowers arrives at a mysterious room and tells it’s sole occupant that she’s knows about his daughter, as a bloody hand lifts a picture of Skye. MYSTERIES!

In the epilogue proper, a sleeping Coulson awakens and wanders into a storage area. He looks at the mad scribblings Garrett had done earlier and proceeds to mark them into a large wall, seemingly in a trance. These hieroglyphs, for lack of a better word, are the same as the ones we saw way back in Eye-Spy. SPOOKY!

I loved every second of this finale! It had everything I wanted out of this show and more, it presented us with plenty more story potential and, given the high quality of the post half-dozen episodes, hope that the second season will bring in more viewers. I can’t wait for both that and the announced Agent Carter series too! Tell me what you thought about the finale and the show as a whole in the comments below!