By far, the series in the
Berlanti-verse that is far closest to the DC world is The Flash. It's always been one of the more light-hearted of the
series, which is why its abrupt shift into darker territory in the final
episodes of Season 2, when Barry's father, who he spent his adult life trying
to get out of prison, was murdered by Zoom. Emotionally devastated, even after
defeating Zoom, the Flash used his speed to go back in time and stop his
mother's murder. Having done so, he created an alternate timeline known (as in
the comics) as 'Flashpoint', but after
trying to live a normal life with his parents, things slowly began to unravel,
and he let his mother get murdered, restoring the original timeline.
Or so he thought. Instead, he has
created an alternate world where things are closer but not quite the way they
had been before. For starters, there's a new CSI working alongside Barry back
at the Central City PD, who specializes solely in metahuman based cases. And
this guy doesn't like or trust Barry. (Tom Felton uses the smarm that he
perfected for years as Draco Malfoy to create a person the viewer doesn't fully
trust. Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) is still dealing with problems in his family
- his newly discovered son Wally (who was a speedster in Flashpoint) has been
trying to find out if he has yet become a metahuman based on what happened last
season, and Iris is no longer as close to her father as she was in the previous
timeline. Barry and Iris have finally found their way to each other, but as is
almost always the case in Berlanti DC
Things aren't nearly the same at
Star Labs, either. Cisco is dealing with fallout from the previous timeline in
which Barry let his younger brother die, something that has somewhat cooled
their relationship. Caitlin seems to be about the same, but now she has
developed some metahuman powers of her own. Anyone who remembers what happened
in Earth-2, and her stint as Killer Frost, has a good reason to worry. And just
to add to all the fun, Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanaugh, still prickly and
brilliant as always) has returned to reveal that his daughter Jessie, who he
spent much of Season 2 trying to rescue has become a speedster herself. To say
he's not happy at the level at what Barr has done is an understatement. On top
of all this, there's a new metahuman villain calling himself only Dr. Alchemy,
who seems determined to restore previous people with their powers again.
Trying to keep on top of the world
of Flash is always the most
complicated of all the series - there are time travel stories, paradoxes,
parallel worlds and now alternate realities. But it's also the most fun of the
series on the CW, because the characters
aren't nearly as broken as they are in the rest of the worlds that Berlanti has
created. Love is perhaps the biggest part of this world - that and forming a
family, even if they're not related by blood. This is one of the most
entertaining series on TV period, even if, like me, you have only the most
casual of understandings of the DC world. If you do, then this series is even
more fun.
My score: 4.5 stars.
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