Season 5 of The Flash has been a real slog. Last season wasted a lot of time but I was still mostly invested but this one really struggled to engage me outside of a few episodes and I can comfortably say there was maybe five truly great episodes out of this twenty-two episode run and that’s pretty shocking. I’ll get to my final thoughts on the season as a whole later, but for now let’s talk about some highlights of this episode.

They actually explain the time travel shenanigans and I’ll admit that I was being pretty stupid not to figure out something so simple. It totally makes sense for Thawne to play the longest game to get himself out of prison, very Machiavellian, as he was in season one!

Hell, his whole escape is just wonderful, we haven’t seen some good villain speedster kills since… season two of Legends? Geez, that was a while ago… Yeah, they walked it back but it was still kinda satisfying to see Thawne turn the tables on his sadist warden.

Thawne double-teaming Barry and Nora solo is a great way to establish how much of a threat he is, even to two West-Allen speedsters but then seeing Team Flash kick the absolute shit out of Thawne was a brilliant tables turn moment too. He even had nice things to say to everyone! That’s the Thawne we love to hate!

I’m in two minds on Nora snapping; because on the one hand, her becoming a reluctant Reverse Flash would actually be interesting (even if this show couldn’t pull that off as it is) but her actions finally coming to bite her in the arse is really good.

All of this planning Thawne did and he still found a new way to mess with Barry because Nora’s whole mission lead to her being erased from the timeline! And Thawne just twisting the knife to echo the same kind of sentiment he did when he killed Cisco way back when is fantastic. Okay, okay, I’ve talked about Thawne enough, Tom Cavanagh killed it and we’ll, in his own words, see him next Crisis so onto the big huge moment of the show; Nora’s death.

It hits harder than a truck, honestly. For all the shit I’ve given to the show this season, the moments it does best are the ones that make Grant Gustin cry because for as much of a bell-end, that deserves everything he gets, Barry Allen is; it still hurts to watch him lose Nora. Candace too, to an extent, but it’s Grant that carries emotional moments like this and it’s sweet to see Nora truly learn from her father’s mistakes and pick “heroic sacrifice” over “stupid decision that will no doubt kill someone down the road.”

In the same vein of sad departures, after all the off-screen romancing of new girlfriend Kamilla, Cisco comes to the decision to not only reveal his double-life but to also take the meta-cure himself. It’s a very understated swansong to Carlos Valdez but, at the very least, it was a sweet scene between Cisco and the most important person to him there; Caitlin/Frost.

It’s sad but he leaves with a smile and a gift for his best girl(s). Cisco, seemingly, made a super-suit for Caitlin/Frost and they both seem to like it so we’ll probably see that next season.

We also get a great scene with Captain Singh, whose actor also appears to be leaving, as he hands over Captaincy to Joe and acknowledges that Barry is The Flash and he knew all along. Man, I’m going to miss Patrick Sabongui, he was always a great addition to any episode.

In a montage during Nora’s farewell video she left in her diary, we also get a shot of Ralph getting back into the private eye game and picking up a case file with the name Dearborn. Hmmmm… Now that’s clearly foreshadowing for his one true love interest if ever I saw it…

And in the stinger; Gideon announces an incoming time flux and we see the infamous newspaper… change. With the year settling on 2019 and the rest of the date obscured, this is clearly foreshadowing the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover and I can’t wait!

This season really took it out of me and while I’ve threatened it before, I’m following through now. Discounting the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, this will be the last season of The Flash I will be covering on Flash Facts. I feel the series has run it’s course and the production crew have shown a real unwillingness for major shake-ups and that’s lead to the show on the macro scale being stale and boring to me.

I had fun with certain episodes and there’s been a few great moments this season but it’s not nearly enough to justify my time watching anymore, let alone reviewing. Thanks for everyone who stuck with this column and I hope you’ll join me again later in the year when the skies turn red, when worlds will live and worlds will die…

But until then, just remember:

The inclusion of ‘Back in Time’, not once but twice, is one of the greatest moments this show has ever had and I will gladly fight anyone who disagrees. It’s perfect for the situation, perfect that Ralph would choose it, a 100% belter of a song. Fight me.

The concept of Barry and Nora travelling back through time to collect all the pieces needed to build a power dampener for Cicada’s dagger is really cool and offers a whole host of interesting scenarios and afford some cameos by previous villains which is pretty dope.

Granted, Tom Cavanaugh is not only still on the cast but is directing the episode so it wasn’t hard to get him but Teddy Sears and Tony Todd returning as Zoom and Zoom’s voice was a nice little surprise!

But yes, Tom Cavanagh returns to reprise his role as Eobard Thawne/Wells and Tom knows what to do with his best role and it shows. Between a fantastically sadistic Thawne, to enraged…

To this delightful little wink to the audience (fuck you very much, Tom)… Tom does a fantastic job and I can’t wait to see what his future role means for The Flash, long-term.

I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that Nora had some involvement with Thawne for a while, since she seems to showcase an ability similar to his; slowing down time around her rather than accelerating to super speed like Barry. I’m sure someone has already suggested that she’s really Thawne’s daughter but I think that’d be a bit too simple for this show. Stupid enough for someone to have suggested at one stage though.

And Nora’s presence throughout the episode is pretty damn good, seeing first hand that her dad got his shit rocked on multiple occasions by guys smarter, faster, and deadlier but still come out the other side. It still shakes her but hopefully this means she’ll be less of a nark about Barry being a hero.

Naturally, the plan goes to shit when Cisco breaches Cicada’s empowered dagger into orbit rather than another dimension but hey, it’s the middle of the season, we can’t get rid of the big bad this early so we’ll make Cisco utterly stupid, instead. Thankfully, Frost reemerges (despite appearing last week) and puts the snow boots to Cicada, her powers unaffected by Cicada’s dagger.

It’s cool that Frost will probably be the lynchpin in the plan that will take out Cicada but we’re gonna have to wait a while. Cicada scampered, probably sensing the upcoming crossover (which I will be covering, don’t worry).

Speaking of, a post-credits scene has popped up throughout this week after Supergirl and Arrow and now The Flash, showcasing the aftermath of a huge battle featuring a lot of familiar heroes with one left alive…

Oh my god, it’s finally happening! That’s John Wesley Shipp, in the original costume from the 90’s incarnation of The Flash! I marked out super hard for this because A) he looks great and 2) we’ll get at least one good Flash suit in the crossover!

So yeah, Earth-90 (Heh.) is royally boned thanks to the appearance of Mar Novu, the Monitor. The Monitor is a guardian of the multiverse and comes from a race similar to the Watchers in Marvel’s cosmos, though the Monitors can be a little more hands on, as this one appears to be. Along with another party, he appears to be the main antagonist for the three-part Elseworlds crossover next week. I’m really looking forward to it!

So be sure to come back on Monday for the first of my Elseworlds reviews where we’ll be seeing a Freaky Friday situation between Barry and Ollie and the long-awaited arrival of The Bat.

I’m not even kidding; as good as last year’s Invasion crossover was cool, this year’s kicks off it’s two-night spectacular in style with Supergirl and Arrow, even if the casts are so meshed that you can’t even really tell which episode is which.

They don’t bury the lead either as we open on Earth-X itself, with crimson, lightning filled skies that bring to mind the Dark Multiverse worlds from the recent DC Comics event, Dark Nights: Metal. Black and crimson banners fill the skyline along with strange architecture and zeppelins. Oh yeah, we’re in Nazi Country.

A resistance warehouse is attacked and decimated by one lone archer, showing that Earth X’s Dark Arrow is not to be trifled with and he proves that by taking on that Earth’s James Olsen aka Guardian, in a way more beat-up patriotic version of his suit. He unfortunately dies but assures DA that there are more like him, nicely hinting at the upcoming animated Freedom Fighters: The Ray, which serves as a prequel to this crossover.

We catch-up with our main heroes as they’re all discussing the upcoming wedding, with nice location titles using the font of each respective series. It’s a neat little sequence, overall and serves as an introduction to the majority of the players for these first two parts.

During the build-up to the event, we get quite a lot of information dumped on us for those who may not watch every show and to show how all these disparate groups interact and it’s nice to see Barry catch up with Ollie and Kara again. They built up a real bond over the past couple of years and it’s paid off here as Ollie is best man and Kara does a beautiful rendition of Runnin’ Home To You, an original song from the musical team-up, Duet.

Kara’s adoptive sister, Alex, and Sara Lance hook-up the night before the wedding! Alex, rebounding from a recent break-up, and Sara, a notorious puss-hound, make for some nice, awkward comic relief but given how funny this collective cast is, there’s plenty to go around…

Like Mick! Dominic Purcell is frequently the funniest cast member on Legends of Tomorrow and is used to decent effect here, partnering up with Caitlin, most likely as a Snart surrogate. Get the whole fire and ice motif rocking again. They even have a go at Dark Arrow before being jobbed out (along with the rest of Team Arrow).

Back to the wedding where Nazis invade! It makes sense in hindsight since nearly every CW hero is gathered together but this gives the show the ample opportunity to have everyone show off what they do best and it gives one notable absence a real highlight…

While Kid Flash won’t be partaking in the event proper, Wally does get a really slick moment that made me smile and then made me sad because he’s amongst the three other black heroes that are sadly missing from this team-up.

OH! I should make mention of another odd attendant besides the assemblage of heroes and the Nazi gate-grashers. This odd little moment between Grant Gustin and a rather excitable Jessica Parker-Kennedy who is playing an unnamed character but my Spidey-Sense is tingling and I think she’s going to be important. There’s two theories I can offer but I’ll keep them under my hat for now.

Now, I guess I should talk about some of our villains and while Dark Arrow and Overgirl are just married versions of Ollie and Kara (gross, I know), they do make a menacing power couple and there’s a fair amount of affection between the two. The real odd-balls are Metallo, with some of the ropiest CGI this poor stretched production could muster and Eobard Thawne. Our Eobard Thawne. Wearing Wells’ face. I know they make mention of time shenanigans but this is ridiculous. I know they’re only doing the Wells-face again because they’re burning through their budget like no tomorrow and Tom Cavanaugh is up for literally anything but it’s still super weird.

Not as weird as Tommy Merlyn being Prometheus though! Holy shit! This was a swerve and a half and I applaud the writing team for bringing Colin Donnell back to Arrow after 5 seasons of his character being dead! Though I will admit that I didn’t recognise him immediately and only marked out when I heard his name.

I know there’s still a lot I haven’t covered and I’m already pushing 800 words but rest assured, I loved every second of the Supergirl and Arrow parts of this crossover and I can’t wait for tomorrow’s episodes when we’ll see Overgirl try to steal Kara’s heart and the rest of our heroes try to escape from Earth-X alive! Are you enjoying this year’s event so far? Let me know your favourite moment in the comments and I’ll catch you guys tomorrow for The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow!

I mean, yeah, there’s a couple funny gags but it’s not enough and I felt myself drifting off much like Team Flash at the beginning of When Harry Met Harry… which brings me to my major gripe; The Council of Wells.

While I’m usually riding Tom Cavanagh’s dick for his range, they had the perfect chance to expand the lore of their established multiverse and they utterly squandered it on some comedy accents that were utterly awful. Not only that but two of the parallel Earths have significance in the wider DC lore.

The Nihilist-Wells is from Earth-12, a world which, in the comics, is inhabited by the extended cast of Batman Beyond. Lothario-Wells comes from the psychedelic Earth-47, which is like a 60’s Hannah-Barbera interpretation of DC and the most egregious of all… Mad-Wells, from a “post-apocalyptic landscape where man and machine are one”, Earth-22 which SHOULD be the world of Kingdom Come, the seminal Mark Waid/Alex Ross graphic novel. That said, Supergirl is from Earth-38, which is nothing like it’s comic counterpart but I actually know these ones so it bugs me something fierce.

Thank the maker, then, for Hartley Sawyer. Ralph’s journey to becoming a hero continues here as he starts going out on missions and learns a valuable lesson in humility. His stupid expressive face got me through most of this episode.

Your villain du jour is Mina Chayton, a reimagined Black Bison (played by Chelsea Kurtz) who has the ability to bring inanimate effigies to life, a rather cool, unique power considering the Black Bison of the comics is the biggest Native American stereotype outside of Apache Chief. Solid performance and casting so good job, production team!

We end up at DeVoe’s house thanks to the Council of Wells, all tooled up and ready to kick an ass when a humble looking man in a wheelchair greets them as Clifford DeVoe, automatically disqualifying him as a villain no doubt because no real villain would be handicapable, right? Barry should have learned his lesson after Season 1! Weird to see Neil Sandilands with hair given we’ve only seen him in Metron cosplay up to this point.

A solid enough premise for the episode but brought down by Cavanagh’s ropey performances and an ultimately forgettable villain (and maybe by my own lack of sleep) but next week we’ll see how Barry handles his new foe (spoilers: not very well!) in Therefore I am.

Attack on Gorilla City is the long-awaited return of a fair few characters and gives us plenty of fun moments but it definitely feels like set-up more than it’s own thing.

Not so much Attack on Gorilla City as a Stumble into Gorilla City or a Wander through Gorilla City because we see very little of Gorilla City life but hey, TV budgets and for what we got it looked pretty good.

I’m glad we’re getting a two parter out of this too because Solovar is voiced by the sexiest voice on any Earth, Keith David and we got fuck all of those golden pipes here. You don’t get motherfuckin’ Goliath on your show and then waste him. It’d be like if Tony Todd had all of 3 lines as Zoom!

Meanwhile, in teen hormone corner, Wally and Jesse are having relationship problems that are solved by the end of the episode but will be reappearing because, guess what? Jesse Quick has her own Earth to protect! We haven’t seen any other heroes from Earth-2 so she’s obviously not going to stick around and that’s sad, not because we’ll be down a speedster…

But because we’ll be down another Wells and god damn do we need more Tom Cavanagh. He plays three distinct roles tonight and carries it off with aplomb!

The episode ends with the status quo seemingly restored while Grodd amasses his troops for war with Gypsy by his side. How? Why? I guess we’ll find out when this two-pater concludes next week with the Attack on Central City!

In a role reversal of how this stacks up against SHIELD, The Flash is seriously lacking substance this week.

It’s almost criminal how The New Rogues barely features Mirror Master and Top at all, instead focusing on incestual-flavoured shenanigans, sorely underdeveloped romance and some genuinely fun Wells-wrangling.

Mirror Master and The Top get absolutely no play this episode and it’s to the detriment of the episode, I feel. Mirror Master, played by Grey Damon, is practically smoldering with generic rage and, let’s face it, I’m not going to be intimidated nor impressed by a man who doesn’t wear socks.

The Top, on the other hand, is an utter delight and has to play second fiddle to an already underdeveloped villain-of-the-week. Played by Awkward’s Ashley Rickards, Rosa Dillon is a fun-loving Harley Quinn-like moll who easily outshines her distaff counterpart. From her bubbly attitude, her faithfully coloured green and yellow flared skirt and her vertigo powers, she’s definitely a force to be reckoned with who sadly doesn’t get the time she deserves. Seriously, inducing vertigo in a speedster puts her in the top-tier of Rogues already, especially since Arrow has killed off two Count Vertigos. Vertigi?

Flash Fact: Rosalind Dillon is a gender-swap of comics counterpart Roscoe Dillon.

Meanwhile, Joe’s gonna get luuuucky~! It’s about time he had something else going on other than wrangling his errant children. Speaking of…

Yes, Barry, it is awkward kissing the woman — who until fairly recently you referred to as your sister — in front of your adoptive father. It’s very fucking weird and I’m glad that it’s finally being addressed for its icky, incestuous-ness. We’ve all gone along with your weird sister complex for three seasons, Barry, but it’s time for an intervention.

In other awkward kissing news, Jesse and Wally. There’s no denying these kids are cute together and they do have chemistry but they haven’t really had a lot of time to develop it and since Jesse goes back to Earth-2, we’re going to see the worst kind of long-distance relationship ever.

Saying goodbye to Harry once was bad enough but this encore performance really hammers home that his departure is going to mean losing a beloved key component to Team Flash. It sucks that he’s going home but equally bad is his replacement…

I don’t like him. I don’t like his stupid hipster hat and I hate that he’ll probably be yet another shade of Evil Wells.

Overall, The New Rogues is a very flawed episode that had some highlights (Harry’s banter with Cisco, Wentworth Miller’s cameo, Joe in general) but ultimately let down it’s own title. Next week, a family member receives the cold shoulder in Monster.

The Reverse-Flash Returns delivers exactly what it says on the tin but, unsurprisingly, manages to throw in some other cool bits too.

The Harry and Cisco Show! Every week, the good-natured antagonism between these two is an absolute treat to watch but, even more so than that, is the genuine friendship that’s building between them. When these two get in sync, you know shit’s gonna get done! Kinda questioning whether or not Harry knew that using the Vibe goggles would hurt Cisco but he seemed genuinely concerned when Cisco began to have a time-spasm.

Bye, Patty! You were the coolest love interest yet! Seriously, she’s the only person on the cast that figured it out on her own rather than Barry revealing it. She’s a fantastic partner for Barry to have but it’s just a shame that she’s going…

The meat of the episode obviously revolves around Thawne and I have to say that it’s very refreshing to see what Thawne is like sans the Wells façade. He’s kinda charming in a weird way, he seems hyped all the time to be fighting his arch-nemesis but I think that was the point. This is still the fan-boy Thawne and I’m definitely getting shades of Syndrome from him.

Flash Fact: Cisco’s “Bye, Felicia.” might have confused many viewers (it certainly did me) but apparently this is a quote from the 1995 movie, Friday. Who’dathunk?

The move to let Thawne go is a clever one since he obviously A) can’t be taken out that easily and 2) needs to be out and about to cause a ruckus later on and maybe fight Zoom? Speaking of…

HO-LEE SHIT SNACKS. Welp, they just made Jay’s story ten times more interesting and it all starts and ends with Hunter Zolomon. Zolomon. Zoom. It’s an undoubtedly brilliant move on the writer’s part, both because of how it make Jay far more interesting to watch now and that any time this guy shows up, you know it’s gonna be bad news bears.

Another fantastic week on The Flash and the hits just keep on coming because next week we’re heading into the Fast Lane.

Seriously, I didn’t realise The Flash (along with Marvel’s Agent Carter, Arrow and the brand new Legends of Tomorrow) aired this week until last night! Dang! So what does this week have in store?

Comedy! Well, it’s more Cisco commenting over Harry’s quiet frustration and torment of his deal with Zoom. Sure, this is probably the lightest moment he has in this episode but Tom’s performance is just astounding this episode that I didn’t want to ruin his dramatic chops with gifs. In other Team Flash news; Jay is dying of  unknownitis and Patty is leaving forever. Moving on!

Flash Fact: Patty is off to Midway City, the home town of DC’s obscure band of misfits – The Doom Patrol.

Villain of the week! Oh boy, we’re going for the odd bullshit right out of the gate, huh? The Turtle is played by Aaron Douglas, best known for his role as Chief Tyrol in Battlestar Galactica. He’s a good actor and he does his best with what little he’s given but ultimately, this is just another villain that’s science fodder for Harrison Wells, who ganks his brain matter to figure out a solution to his Zoom problem.

Joe-Dad! Part of me wants to hate Wally for being a shit to Joe but I empathise. Having grown up sans-Dad, I’d be pretty fucked off with some stranger acting the proud father when he has done literally nothing for me ever (even if it was Joe) so yeah, I’m liking Wally and Joe’s suggestion that they just get to know each other without the pressures of familial bonds is a good step. Good work, show.

Surprise Twist! Holy hell, it’s Eobard Thawne! Really didn’t expect to see Matt Letscher back so soon but I’m interested to see what happens with him, especially since this appears to be a much fresher Thawne.

Potential Energy is a strong return for The Flash and I’m still excited as ever to see what the show will do next. Will Wally get his act together? What will Barry do once he finds out that the Reverse-Flash is back? I guess you’ll have to join me next week for The Reverse-Flash Returns!

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 Flash continues to trounce the competition and it’s own sister show with no real effort needed.

Enter Zoom is an episode of two halves, really. The first half, while still dramatic has lots of fun comedy bits, probably lulling the audience into a false sense of security. Linda taking on the mantle of Doctor Light is the main comedy schtick, with a montage and a failed plan. It’s very James Roberts. All fun and games until shit kicks off.

This week has our first real look into Harry Well’s daughter, Jesse. Boy are they not even trying with that little bit of dialogue… Still, it’s nice that she’s not the doting daughter and is strong and independent from the get-go. Can’t wait to see her transformation into her name sake. Also cool that the Arrow of Earth-2 is Robert Queen as opposed to Oliver.

Flash Fact: The comic-verse Jesse Quick is a legacy character, being the daughter of Golden Age heroes Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, both mantles she’d adopt for herself, given that Earth-2 seems to be home of the Justice Society, it’s fitting that she’s there.

Zoom.

Damn. Just… Damn. I knew Tony Todd was going to add some gravitas to the new villain but props to the suit actor (if you know who it is, let me know) for making Zoom truly menacing.

Monstrous, even. Monster is the right word for Zoom. Seeing him in action was genuinely terrifying. He’s faster than Barry, stronger than Barry and worst of all…

He knows it. Zoom is a sadist through and through and it shows in his every act. He parades Barry’s limp body around like a damn trophy! It’s absolutely brutal.

And even though Team Flash gets one good shot in, Zoom’s assault leaves Barry paralysed from the waist down (that back-cracking noise during the fight was a bad omen).

Enter Zoom lives up to the hype for establishing the villain and showing just how badly Barry is outmatched. Sure, we know he’ll be back on his feet soon enough (He’s walking 6 months into the future on Arrow) but damn… And it’s only going to get worse as next week sees the return of the big ape on campus in Gorilla Warfare.