SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
The big reveal of Savitar’s identity was a big disappointment. Perhaps due largely in part to all of the fan speculating and theory-crafting that preceded it; we, the fans, knew for a very long time who Savitar would be and no amount of (annoying) teasing the writers could have done – Abra and Killer Frost anyone? – would have put the punch or shock factor into the moment. Beyond that, the way that Barry suddenly pieced it together, what made it click for him and the fact of who Savitar is was just kind of “meh.”
Killer Frost’s first mission as a minion of Savitar lined up perfectly with Team Flash’s own mission for the week; finding Tracy Brand. Whereas Killer Frost was tasked with killing her, Team Flash wanted to find her and fast track her research on the speed force so that they could defeat Savitar.
Given that Savitar is from the future and knows that Tracy is the one who invented the technology that would allow Barry to trap him in the speed force, one would think that killing Tracy would’ve been his priority and something he would have been pursuing from the beginning. Especially since Barry literally cannot defeat him without her help. Instead, he conveniently decided to try to kill her only when Team Flash became aware of and had use for her.
With Killer Frost and Savitar after Tracy, Team Flash decides to take her under their protection and tell her of her illustrious future. But not before Killer Frost makes two attempts on her life.
Both times Cisco freezes when he has a clear shot to take out Caitlin, later confessing to Julian – who had to force it out of him – that he’s afraid of killing her. Which only made me question why he never had such a problem attacking other metas in the past, but they were trying to kill him or someone else on Team Flash and even though she’s doing that too, she’s actually someone close to him.
Up until his confession, Cisco had been mad at Julian for taking off Caitlin’s necklace and it really, really bothered me. It only reminded me of the fact that he was in no way displeased with Caitlin for stealing the piece of the philosopher’s stone. Both Julian and Caitlin did something dangerous and yet he can only find it within himself to get mad at one of them for their mistake.
Team Flash is drawn into their last face off with Killer Frost when she kidnaps Cecil (who Joe had been awkward with all episode because she told him she loved him and decided to break up with because he doesn’t like lying to her about Team Flash and he doesn’t want to endanger her life) and threatens to kill her if they don’t hand over Tracy. Which is totally unnecessary since Tracy is sitting out in the open, on a bench in front of a statue of Galileo with HR at the time. She was completely vulnerable. It was the perfect opportunity
Another great opportunity to kill her happened when Savitar himself showed up after Cisco incapacitated Killer Frost. In the time that it took him to knock Cisco away from Killer Frost’s body, Savitar could have killed Tracy. Instead he gave a monologue and carried Killer Frost’s unconscious body away.
Again, Barry literally cannot defeat him without her help. And because the fastest man alive didn’t take the shot when he had it, Tracy figured out exactly how to trap him in the speed force; by using his own speed against him. But Cisco thinks Savitar needs Caitlin for something, so that could explain his choice of action at that moment. Still, someone as fast as him could have more than likely killed Tracy and taken Killer Frost away.
Joe makes up with Cecil and tells her everything and that he loves her. He relays the news to Barry, Iris and Wally. When Joe says “Love’s the only thing we got in this world. Without it, nothing really matters. And who knows what we’d become if we didn’t have it.”, Barry comes to the realisation of who Savitar is. It was the cheesiest, most eye-roll inducing catalyst for a character to figure something out I’ve ever seen.
Barry confronts Savitar and he climbs out of his suit, revealing himself to be…a future Barry with a facial scar that are not as cool as Fire Lord Zuko’s. It was the singular, most disappointing thing to ever happen on The Flash. I can only imagine others not being disappointed if they cheered because they were proven right or if they kept away from the fan community and knew nothing of the theories as to his identity and were thus surprised.
It’s not a bad idea to have Savitar be a future Barry; to have the hero be the villain. But the way the idea was executed, not just during the reveal but over the course of the season, left a lot to be desired.
Random thoughts:
- Using his flash lightning to light the gas was brilliant.
- Julian did not need to explicitly state that they wiped the security footage to protect Caitlin. We gathered that already when Barry said that the footage was missing.
- Love this display of Killer Frost’s powers! More please.
- Putting too much pressure on Tracy, Team Flash.
- HR’s incessant flirting is both cute and hilarious.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 PM on The CW.
