This live blog recaps the highlights of “The Flash” Season 3, Episode 1 (Flash 301) a.k.a. Flashpoint, which aired Oct. 4 on The CW. Fans have waited for months to see what happens next. This third season premiere was developed by showrunners Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, and directed by Jesse Warn.
Okay, here we go. Last we saw Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), he had beaten the evil speedster Zoom (Teddy Sears), and won the favor of his childhood sweetheart Iris West (Candice Patton). All’s well and end’s well for the hero, right? Well not exactly. It’s pretty ironic that the Flash finally got his chance at the girl and the only thing he wants to screw is the timeline.
Oh and fair warning: SPOILER ALERT
Flashpoint Begins
The scene opens with Barry about to make a move on Iris. Welcome to the world where Barry saved his mother from death! And surprisingly… Flash has his powers! I’m not entirely sure how that works, since it goes against everything the comics says happens. Other key differences include a definitely-not-Wally-West Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale) patrolling the city streets, and Eobard Thawne (Matt Letscher) held prisoner by Barry Allen in an abandoned warehouse.
My first opinions? This isn’t very comic-book accurate. BUT I can live with it. There’s also the possibility that things will spiral downhill very quickly. Eobard Thawne himself warns that one day, Flash will be begging him to kill his mother again.
The Flash 3×01: Things get ugly
So the world appears perfect at first, but it doesn’t take long for the repercussions of Flash’s history-altering decision to catch up with him. Barry quickly finds that his memories of the previous timeline are gradually being erased. He later finds out that it is a side-effect of time manipulation, and that the more he uses his speed, the faster it happens.
We find that other show regulars are different as well. Neither Wally nor Iris are close to Joe West. Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) is an opthalmologist. Meanwhile, Cisco Ramon seems to be having the time of his life. He is now a billionaire, and owner of Ramon Industries; formerly S.T.A.R. Labs.
So apparently, Wally West has to face off against a villainous speedster called the Rival (Todd Lasance). Barry attempts to rebuild the team in order to stop him, but Wally gets fatally injured in the fight. This, coupled with the increasing rate of memory loss Flash is experiencing leads him to concede to Eobard Thawne’s offer to set things right.
Well Flashpoint ended quickly
Surprisingly again, Flashpoint ended in the same episode it began. Eobard returns to the night of Nora Allen’s murder, and resets the timeline. The end of Flashpoint, I guess?
I’ll be honest. I was expecting more.
But fret not. Eobard leaves Barry with a warning that not everything is the way it was — not for Barry, anyway. As Barry enters the West household in the restored timeline, he finds that Iris is no longer a part of it. Wally hints that Iris “doesn’t talk” with them anymore, and Barry begins to wonder at the potential scale of what he has done.
Up Next: Doctor Alchemy
And of course, we get teased with another potential threat: Doctor Alchemy. Edward Clariss — the Flashpoint timeline’s “The Rival,” — wakes up in the middle of the night to a mysterious voice (Tobin Bell), and an eerie scratching sound. He looks at his mirror to see “ALCHEMY” written on it. Not sure yet how they choose to portray Dr. Alchemy, but with the honestly subpar content of this season’s first episode, I’m expecting something big.
So that was the first episode. What did you think about Season 3’s big opening? Was it good? Bad? In-between? Leave a comment below and let us know.
The Flash Season 3 airs on Jack TV every Wednesday at 15:00 (+8:00 GMT).