#even though their killer frost was louise lincoln | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

onyx-archer · 7 years

Text

The Flash Episode 20 Post-Episode Ramble

Alright, so this is kind of an impromptu post that will likely piss off SOME people (you know who you are) given how I’m going to tag this, and just be warned I’m not putting up with your bullshit tonight. I’m gonna be going into spoilers for this episode, given how it finally reveals the true identity of the big bad, and I want to talk about how I feel about it, and the show going forward. I’ll do it below the cut so them pesky WestAllen fans can fuck off for me talking about shit that they can willfully ignore because it’s not visible.

OH, and to the WestAllens who actually go to read the post and then proceed to act like you’re superior, this time you don’t actually have to see me calling Iris a badly written character... outside of this sentence of course. Oh, and yeah, that was me kicking at you with the intent to bother you. Just know if you decide to talk down to me like you know better that you will be blocked at the absolute worst. Keep it civil and mature, or don’t bother. I’m tagging it this way because I’m talking about the ship a little below the cut... though I’m being civil about it. It plays into my talking of the episode, so bite me, tags aren’t just to gush about ships and whatever.

Anyway, onto the bulk of the post:

So a number of things were done in this episode. Let’s talk about them.

First off, we meet the newest character of the show, Tracy Brand. By the sounds of her significance in defeating Savitar, she’ll probably stick around from here on out... adding to the roster of characters for next season. Assuming Caitlin is reformed (which I hope to the gods she is after this shitty “turn to the dark side” arc of hers) that’ll make the major cast will be at least 9 characters... which is a bit bloated.

It raises concern from me since part of the reason why Arrow fell into a pit of mediocrity was it’s cast became too large to support it’s writing properly. Not saying The Flash will suffer in the same way, but given how this season has been written, I think my concern is justified. We’ll have to wait and see either way. After all, we have 3 more episodes for stuff to happen to change this. And for all I know, Tracy will only be a recurring character after this Season. Again, time will tell.

Next we have the little Joe romance subplot. Given that I honestly can’t be fucked to remember her name right now (even with her major role as a plot device for the climax of the episode), I think it’s apparent that I don’t really find it interesting, though my mom (my grandmother, long story, not gonna bother with it here) thinks it cute (and according to her, better than the WestAllen stuff this season, which I can agree with), so I figured I could find something to say about it. It’s not that it’s a bad subplot for the season or anything; honestly, Joe deserves a lady like her in his life after all of the stuff he went through last season with his ex-wife.

My problem here is that after this episode, I only see her as a potential liability for Joe (which he himself knows is the case, hence why he tried to cut the ties prior to the climax), and by proxy, Barry and Wally (and potentially Cisco, assuming he embraces his Vibe identity more next season). Joe trying to cut the relationship off to “protect her” is honestly incredibly stupid in my mind, since he knows that Savitar could go after her, let alone Caitlin (we’ll get to that) if he distances himself from her, since the villain always aims for a potential weak spot to gain the high ground in a confrontation. Sadly, Joe was hit with a momentary dose of stupidity, and it nearly got her killed. It’s a tired trope, and it’s something I could do without, given all it does is reinforce the use of a “damsel-in-distress” type scenario, which is lazy writing.

Next, I’m briefly going to touch on the absence of Wally for most of this episode. I’m sure there might have been off camera reasons for it (life happens, and sometimes things need to be changed to fit that), but when my mom and I are asking each other “Where’s Wally?” and we don’t remember being told he was visiting Jesse on Earth-3, there’s a problem. I don’t recall them mentioning that in the episode, though that might have been during one of those moments when I couldn’t hear the TV, since I was in the next room over (as the kitchen and living room are divided by a wall, but no doors). If that’s the case, then whoops.

Now we get into the Caitlin stuff. You know, the stuff I have a problem with over all. I refer you to my last post talking about Caitlin’s shit writing this season, but just in case you don’t want to bother, lemme give you the short version: Caitlin’s transition into a villain was so pointlessly stupid, and poorly written, that it makes her look mentally deficient. Keep in mind that Caitlin is one of my favorite characters in the show, so me being ticked with the handling of her character is out of love for the character. I know that Killer Frost is a villain in the comics, and that Caitlin Snow is an incarnation of Killer Frost, but last I remember, the Caitlin Snow Killer Frost in the comics wasn’t really “evil,” and was now a member of the FUCKING JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA! Yeah, it took a little bit to get there, but it happened.

The Killer Frost that the show is CLEARLY trying to be more like is Louise Lincoln, aka the Killer Frost that is referred to as “Killer Frost” in most non-comic DC properties. I honestly think this is a waste of a character... and that it goes against the character’s “heart.” Caitlin Snow is a woman who wants to do right in the memory of her dead husband in this show, yet if Ronnie could see her now, he’d be disappointed in her... and that’s a BIG reason why I think her arc in this season is bullshit. That, and like, SHE HAS FRIENDS WHO HAVE POWERS! I’m still utterly confused as to the logic behind NOT TELLING YOUR FRIENDS WITH POWERS YOU HAVE POWERS AND THAT YOU ARE SCARED OF THEM! It makes no logical sense, but this show is a teen drama, where logic goes out the window as the plot demands it... so Caitlin is made into an idiot because “drama” which is really stupid. Again, Ronnie would be so disappointed in her. Hopefully Savitar’s defeat fixes this crappy character shift, but that’s up to the writers. Personally, I’d love it if they made her a good Killer Frost, and maybe introduce the Louise Lincoln one in some capacity? It’d be interesting. Again though, that’s up to the writers.

The only good this episode touched upon with Killer Frost is Cisco getting a shining moment of badass, in a scene that echoes the scene where he loses his hands, as we saw in the last episode during Future Cisco’s flashback to explain why he couldn’t use his Vibe powers (which, by the way, is kinda bullshit logic if you ask me, since it’s more of a psychic ability... not a physical one... but whatever, maybe he got psyched out by the loss of his hands). I like how Cisco struggles to hurt his best friend, even if she’s flown over the cuckoo's nest, though it was incredibly trite that he’s only NOW afraid his powers could kill someone... But hey, Cisco was able to save the day, and since Cisco is ALSO one of my favorite characters, I can push aside fringe logic BS long enough to enjoy that subplot for the episode. I continue to hope that next Season, Cisco will do more as Vibe... but we’ll have to wait and see.

Next, it’s time for me to talk about Savitar, and his true identity reveal. The fact that they strung us along for 20 fucking episodes over this shit really bothers me... given that the reveal, while being an interesting enough twist, is beyond stupid. They poorly foreshadowed Savitar being a future Barry, and that’s the thing that bothers me the most. You know, other than a few aspects of the reveal, and the fact that it’s Barry. First, the fact that it’s an alternate timeline version of Barry is fine (I guess), and that he’s a product of something of a bootstrap paradox is alright too... but why in the fuck is it BARRY? It wouldn’t bother me so much if it weren’t for the fact that this makes the WestAllen aspect of the show even more idiotic in it’s pacing.

Because Savitar is Barry, and Barry loves Iris... wouldn’t he NOT want to kill Iris, to prevent past Barry from becoming him? I get that he lost his mind at some point, be that prior to being trapped in the Speedforce prison, or afterwards, but how does his motivation make sense anymore? Like, what does killing Iris do other than ensure his descent into madness, which isn’t even guaranteed. We don’t know if the Savitar we know is what happens to Barry in the future we saw in the previous episode after enough time passes, or if he’s a version of Barry that happens BECAUSE Barry went to the future... or anything of the sort. I hope we get answers, because fuck dude, Savitar’s a dumb fuck. I’m incredibly perplexed about this aspect. He wants to make Barry lose hope by killing the woman he once loved and that this version of himself currently loves? Why? Because he got faster, and more powerful as a result?

Something tells me that they are going to explain the loss of Barry’s mind with a “he began using Caitlin’s Velocity formula out of desperation, only for it to affect his mind like it did with Trajectory.” Also, I wouldn’t be surprised that it’s because of said speed enhancing drug, he needs the Savitar armor to run, so he doesn’t burn up? I mean, Tracy did hypothesize that he needs the armor to run as fast as he does due to the amount of energy he gives off in this very episode... so it’d make sense? It’d be an interesting way to tie things in with the previous season... but at the same time, it would make the whole “Savitar gained his speed from the Philosopher’s Stone” thing not be accurate...

Also, what was with that use of the “Trigger Phrase” realisation? I mean, Barry just suddenly put the pieces together because of something Joe and Cisco says? When the audience couldn’t? Say what you will, but that is poor set up for a twist, at least compared to the last two seasons. With Season 1, it was more in your face about the whole “Wells is actually Thawne” thing, but with Season 2, they hid clues to “Jay’s” identity in plain sight, with the use of visual cues, and small hints that were obvious if you went looking for them. But with Savitar, it’s all dialogue stuff, which makes it harder to figure out unless you binge the show... or at least that’s how I see it. Overall, I think Savitar’s reveal only further’s my view on Iris being a plot device, seeing as her death is the direct cause of Savitar’s “ascension” into the villain that kills Iris in the first place... making Iris’s life itself the deciding factor of everything... which is beyond stupid.

Iris does so little in the show (which my mom pointed out several times this evening), that her death has no real weight to anyone who doesn’t like the romance (that was rushed in this season to play to the stakes of her death being the cause of Savitar’s “birth.”), which is bad from a writing standpoint. Every viewer should feel like her death matters, because they connected with the character, yet everyone I know personally who watches the show feels nothing about her impending demise, or is, at the very least, bothered by the concept of her being “refrigerator’d,” because of their socio-political leanings. I don’t feel like she’s done anything of significant value for the story thus far, and I know plenty of people who share that sentiment. So with the writers shoving in every little thing to try and get the viewer to care about Iris’s life, even those that up until now didn’t really care for the character, is made more aggravating by the fact that she is now the key for the birth of the very villain that kills her in the first place.

If they had properly paced the romance, and made it believable enough to the average viewer, this would be an interesting development... but I’m sorry, the response to the character and her writing is so mixed that this feels like an awkward means to garner sympathy from the audience for a badly structured romance. I’m aware that people will say “the majority will say they like her!” and what not (I’m looking at you, WestAllens), but the fact that people like myself don’t care, that people like my mom, a casual fan of this kind of show doesn’t care, and my friend @ericthatguyyouknow, a die-hard fan of the comics doesn’t care, along with all of the SnowBarry’s I’ve interacted with that have expressed similar frustrations to the writing of the show’s romances, among other things, shows that the romance is not universally liked, canon be damned.

Sure, there will always be people who don’t like a relationship in the canon, you can’t really say there’s been an instance where that’s not the case... you can’t please everybody. But the fact of the matter is if people don’t care about the fate of a character, romance or otherwise, you’ve fucked up as a writer. A poorly written character is the kind of character that garners a feeling of apathy in regards to the fate of said character, whereas a good character is one you WANT to see happy if they are good guys, or punished if they are bad guys. Iris, to many people, is a bad character because they don’t care about her life, and this sudden revelation that her death causes Barry to go fucking mad, causing an endless loop of misery for Barry only makes them MAD, because it’s roping in the fate of a character they like with a character they don’t care about.

As hard as it is to believe, I don’t want to feel apathetic about Iris’s fate, or Iris in general. I want to be able to go “Iris is fantastic!” But I can’t ignore the faults that I see in the show’s writing and handling of her character when it’s directly in the way of her being seen as that great character that WestAllens and other Iris fans see. In Season 1, I knew this relationship was the likely direction... but after Season 2, I was left disappointed at best. I see problems you don’t, and that’s fine. Enjoy what you want.

I went a bit off topic there towards the end, but all in all, this episode was good in places, bad in other places, and is overall, pretty average I’d say. I don’t like the reveal much, and I continue to hate Caitlin’s badly written “heel turn arc.” Iris still feels useless, and this revelation doesn’t really change much for me. I’m mad that it took so long to get this reveal and how it was handled, but I’m glad we finally know so we can move forward. I’ll probably make a post like this next week too, so look forward to that if you want.

Oh, and before I forget, a reminder I’m putting this in the WestAllen tag AND the SnowBarry/FlashFrost tags because I tried to make a point involving those ships, or at least the character within those ships.

Side-note: There are people who want to say that SnowBarry/FlashFrost is abusive because of how Barry is trying to protect people from an unstable Caitlin, and has to use force to do so... well, uh, a version of Barry literally kills Iris... for no real reason other than wanting to keep a cycle going? I get that it’s an alternate future version of Barry, but still, I think that when it’s Barry killing Iris, vs Barry defending people from Caitlin with force... the former is the more “abusive” aspect of it. Although, that argument is bunk, since it’s only used to “validate” one’s hatred of a ship... even though the justification in itself is poorly thought out, and doesn’t understand the concept of “abusive actions” versus “the defence of one’s self and others from an aggressor.”

Also of note: The fact that Caitlin was so quick to help Savitar after learning his identity... makes you wonder why that was, doesn’t it? Eh, I’m sure it’s nothing.

2 notes · View notes