The fifth season of The Flash premieres October 9. Note that this is a week before Supergirl and Arrow and two weeks before Legends of Tomorrow.
Promoted to regular cast are Danielle Nicolete (Cecile Horton) and Hartley Sawyer (Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man) as well as Jessica Parker Kennedy (Nora West-Allen/XS). Tom Cavanagh will be yet another version of Harrison Wells. Keiynan Lonsdale (Wally West/Kid Flash) will not returning as regular cast (nor will he be in Legends), but will guest for a few episodes. The Big Bad will be
Cicada, played by Chris Klein.
As has become traditional, Kevin Smith is set to direct an episode as well as Tom Cavanagh. Danielle Panabaker will also be making her directorial debut.
Note the new, more comic-book accurate costume sans chin strap. Also, finally, the Flash ring.
This season will have the 100th episode of the series, for which the writers are planning something special. It will be the 8th episode of the season. The succeeding episode will be part of the three-way crossover which will introduce Batwoman. I believe this is the reason why this series is premiering a week before the other two, so that the 100th episode won’t be subsumed into the crossover, as what happened with Arrow in the “Invasion!” crossover.
The new Big Bad is not going to be a speedster. Are they going to introduce him with a bang, have him disappear for long periods with only small reminders that he still exists, only to have him reappear during key moments like the midseason finale?
Ralph may be slow on the uptake concerning time travel and the multiverse, but he made one observation that mirrored what we’ve all been thinking since Season 1. If Eddie Thawne wanted to ensure Eobard would never exist, why didn’t he just get a vasectomy?
Speaking of Season 1, Ralph Dibny was mentioned back then as one of the people who died in the particle accelerator explosion. The only reason he’s alive is because Barry went back in time and created Flashpoint.
So what do folks think of the new suit? I’m kinda agreeing with all the socials that it makes the Flash look like Megamind. Although even the old suits made him look like he had a big head, but the new one even more so. There’s something about the cowl that doesn’t fit quite right. Hopefully they’ll make some adjustments.
The new Big Bad is like the anti-Alchemy. Where Alchemy created new metas, the new one wants to kill them all.
The villain is apparently Cicada, which would suggest, assuming he’s at all like his comic version, it’s not so much that he wants to kill metas, but that killing them serves his goal (I would assume he can absorb their Dark Matter).
Some other references to other continuities…
‘Cameron Mahkent’, the non-existed ME who signed off on Kaitlyn’s dad’s death certificate is the surname name of one of the Icicles in the comics - I’m wondering if Mr Snow was this universe’s Icicle. That could be just a random reference or a red herring, of course.
‘Schway’, the word that Nora keeps using, is future-slang from Batman Beyond. Which is actually set in 2019, hilariously enough, but relative to the Flash’s generation, more or less aligns with when Nora would be around (it would be set in 2038, is made today).
On the other hand, the Lightning Lad she mentions is a member of the Legion of Superheroes - as were the other versions of XS. Suggesting that either this isn’t Nora’s first time travel experience, or the Legion is a mid-21st century team, not a 30th/31st century team, as in other continuities (including this multiverse’s Earth-38).
Schway is the canon spelling (as seen in the comics, if nothing else).
Its etymology, in-universe or out, is not known, but a Chinese origin has been speculated - ‘shuai’, having a more similar meaning, seems more likely to me than ‘shui’.
They didn’t write her like an adult with life experience. They wrote her like an over-excited tweenager. (High schoolers have more maturity and impulse control than she showed.) She’s supposed to have made it through college, which means she shouldn’t be that much younger than her parents; practically the same age as when they started Team Flash. She didn’t act that way.
I’m not looking forward to annoying teenager on the show.
I think it was her natural bubbly personality heightened by finally meeting the father she never knew but only learned about from the Flash museum. Note that her interactions with Iris were much more reserved. She’s got secrets. (Oooooo!) I foresee some angst in the future. It wouldn’t be a proper season of The Flash without an angsty Allen. Now all the angst has transferred to his daughter.
I’m not sure if you meant that with excitement or dread but I would prefer they do more one shot episodes.
That’s how the Closed Captioning spelled it as well.
Nora will take time to grow on me. Also I apparently spaced out at the end because I missed how it turned so suddenly to her staying being a great idea.
I liked the episode, especially the part where Barry is teaching Nora how to phase an airplane using essentially Thawne’s exact words.
However, why couldn’t Wally have taught this to Nora in the future? Isn’t he there? Because in the episode where Barry got amnesia and Wally lost his powers, Wally said that he “still remembered how to do everything” and could teach Barry how to do them.
Second question: Didn’t Barry once phase an entire train by himself? Wasn’t that as big as a jet?
Wally tells them that the Legends have figured out that some moments in time are “soft” - there can be big changes to what happens without the effects rippling out and changing anything else. Other moments, such as Nora Allen’s death, are “fixed” - any changes to them create huge disruptions to the time stream, such as FlashPoint. They did seem to glide over which sort of moment Nora West-Allen’s arrival in the past is.
They just seemed to assume that since some moments are soft, and since they haven’t noticed anything wrong, and since she really wants to know her dad better, having her stay is a good idea. Being generous, maybe Wally tells them off-screen, or it’s supposed to be taken as a given, that the Legends have confirmed that Nora’s time travel is a “soft” moment, and her presence in the past in and of itself doesn’t pose any danger to the time stream.
As Barry helps his daughter, Nora, become a better speedster, he and Team Flash also track down a meta stealing high-tech weapons, only to cross paths with a new foe named Cicada (Chris Klein), who is hunting the very same meta with nefarious intent.
Barry being a CSI and Iris being a reporter is so schway. Will they be able to keep this up for the rest of the season or will their day jobs eventually be forgotten again?
Despite this being only the second episode, this felt like an episode from the latter half of the season. Just so many disparate plot threads being advanced - Nora’s daddy issues, Joe and Cecile’s baby, Cisco’s breakup, Caitlin’s Killer Frost problem. And we haven’t even gotten to the Big Bad’s real motivation yet, beyond “kill all the metas”.
I enjoyed the first two episodes. I hope there is a little more to Cicada sparing the Flash than him having/losing a daughter or possibly his father.
I am not sure about XS, her motives and the negative tachions.
Also, does anyone know when Sherloque Wells will appear? Cavanagh got me excited about it and now I’d very much like to see a new take on the Wells persona.
I’m positively surprised by Ralph. He suddenly seems very much alive and a lot more funny to me. The Ralph - Caitlin Dynamic is interesting to watch.
CICADA TARGETS A MEMBER OF TEAM FLASH - After Cicada’s attack on The Flash, the team realizes they need to think outside the box to stop this dangerous new foe. Desperate to help her parents, Nora comes up with a plan that ultimately puts a member of Team Flash in danger. Meanwhile, Caitlin delves into her past.
Finally, we’re introduced to Sherloque Wells. Which member of Team Flash will be in danger, I wonder?
