0.21 seconds.
While by no means an eye blink, it’s not a lot of time, even for a speedster. It’s also the time Barry and the gang sussed out is needed to beat in order to save Iris from being skewered by Savitar. Despite his vision of Savitar last week, Wally’s training has intensified to the point that he’s finally able to break that 0.21s mark. It should be a moment of triumph but instead, it’s pretty much the only good thing that happens in an episode that goes downhill pretty quickly for the team.
Though as teams go, Team Flash once again proves that they’re about as dysfunctional as a team can get and it all starts with a simple word called truth. It starts with Wally coming clean about his Savitar visions—though his admission comes after Barry watches him beaten from pillar to post, so really no chance to hide it. The revelation that Savitar is still out there and able to reach Wally sets off a chain reaction of bad for the gang. First off, Barry pushes Wally away from the team, afraid Savitar could be spying on them through the eyes of Kid Flash. The threat reveal pushes Barry to using Julian twice to speak with the god of speed. Savitar’s overly confident and arrogant but, as things progress, we also see just how many steps ahead of Team Flash he is: it turns out that his appearances to Wally and conversations with Barry are all a mind-screw, one that manipulates them all into doing exactly what he wants them to do: free him from his prison, which turns out to be the Speed Force and he needs the final piece of the Philosopher’s Stone.
But they got rid of the stone, you say. Surprise, surprise. The first of Savitar’s predictions come to pass as Caitlin comes clean with Julian; showing him the final piece of the stone she’d hidden away. Sure, her motivations, selfish as they were, are understandable. She is terrified that Killer Frost will take hold of her and obliterate the ones she loves. Her actions are a betrayal to the team’s trust and the first step in Savitar being released back into the world. One will betray you.
Finding himself away from the team, Wally’s in a bad place and primed for Savitar’s manipulations. Appearing as Francine, Wally’s dead mom, the god of speed showcases his mastery of more than just speed as he goads Wally into doing the only thing that can free him: tossing the piece of the Philosopher’s Stone into the Speed Force. It’s a masterful performance, with Savitar preying on Wally’s fears and doubts, reminding us that this isn’t just your typical big bad. Things get worse as the team watches—seems there are cameras all over the city—as Wally is pulled into the Speed Force, taking Savitar’s place as the speed god is reborn into our world. One will suffer a fate worse than death.
The spiral into bad for the team continues as Barry goes toe-to-toe with Savitar and though he holds his own for a short time, the end result is never in doubt. Savitar has the Flash in a perfect position to end him but instead taunts our hero more, promising that his misery is far from over.
Flash Facts
- So much happened in such a short amount of time. The team seems like they’re splintered more than ever now. Everyone’s crushed by Wally’s fate, unsure how, if ever, they will get him back. Julian takes Caitlin’s betrayal harder than everyone, seeing his inclusion in the team no more than her efforts to use him to rid herself of Killer Frost. After an upset Wally vibes his sister’s fate, he confronts Barry on the latter’s reasoning for proposing. Iris doesn’t take too well to this, breaking off the engagement which in some ways resets the future to what it originally was. At least they have a piece of Savitar’s armor.
- We truly need to find out Savitar’s true identity. First, he was said to have been the first person to have tapped into the Speed Force but then he says that Barry was there during his creation and that he is the future. Make up your mind, Savitar! Kidding aside, his sketchy origin makes it nearly impossible to pinpoint his identity. Will he be a blast from Barry’s past or nothing more than a casualty of Barry’s actions? Difficult to say but I think we’ll find out within the next few weeks.
- Like so many bad guys, Savitar wishes to make the good guy suffer (though his line about Team Flash being the big bad from his point of view was quite interesting) and in that, he makes for his own destruction. He had Barry dead to rights but, instead of delivering the coup de grâce, he wishes to prolong Flash’s suffering. Yes, there’s the chance such an act is to ensure his creation but, I see it as no more than wanting to see the person he sees as responsible for his pain to feel the same. Not that I want the bad guy to win, but it’d be refreshing to see a bad guy mute the theatrics and go for the jugular when he or she has the chance.
- What was that Yoda said about fear? That it leads to anger, which leads to hate, which leads to suffering. And we all know those are the first steps to the Killer Frost side (or dark side, whatever). Caitlin’s continual reinforcement of Killer Frost being an uncontrollable monster seems more and more like it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, that side of her may be a bit more ornery but by allowing her fear to rule her and not confront things head-on, Caitlin is all but ensuring the negative side of Frost will overcome her and truly fall to the dark side.
‘The Flash: The Wrath of Savitar’ rating:
