‘The Flash’ Season 3 Recap

The Flash Season 3 Recap

Table of Contents

Previously, on The Flash:

In a bad place, Barry made the decision to run back in time and save his mom during the Season 2 finale of The Flash. Now, Barry has created what Reverse-Flash has christened ‘Flashpoint.’ In it, Barry lives a happy life with both of his parents. Everything is going great until an enemy speedster comes into town. The Rival has been causing some serious trouble and the resident Flash of Central City (that isn’t Barry) hasn’t been able to apprehend him. Barry starts using his speed to help this new Flash, who is Wally West, but the more he uses it, the faster he burns through his powers. Eobard tells Barry that he’ll soon forget everything about his previous life and will lose his speed. In the end, Wally is in a coma and unlikely to recover after a battle with Rival, so Barry makes the decision to reverse Flashpoint.

Now that things are somewhat back to normal, Barry tries to live out his life. But changing the past had serious ramifications. Cisco lost his brother and is upset with Barry for not going back in time to save him. Iris and Joe don’t talk to each other because Joe kept Iris’ mother’s fate a secret. Caitlin secretly has cold powers. Barry gets a lesson from Jay Garrick on changing the past, saying the more he tries to fix things, the more fractured time gets. Barry reveals his decision to the team and though they are initially upset, they forgive Barry. Iris says that any of them might’ve made the same choice. Cisco still harbors some anger toward Barry for quite a while. Team Flash also recruits a new Harrison Wells, H.R., who is a goofball and not really a scientist. He is more of an idea guy.

'The Flash' Season 3 Recap — Image: The CW

Enter Alchemy and Savitar. Alchemy has the ability to restore the powers to people who had them in Flashpoint, including Rival and Wally. Savitar is the self-acclaimed god of speed who becomes the main antagonist of the season. Turns out Alchemy is Barry’s coworker, Julian, who was possessed by Savitar upon finding a philosopher’s stone years ago. He just does Savitar’s bidding. Team Flash figures out that if they send the philosopher’s stone into the Speed Force, Savitar will be locked away for good. In doing so, Barry accidentally travels to a couple of months into the future and witness Savitar murder Iris.

The second half of the season finds Team Flash trying to change everyday events that could potentially change the future that Barry saw. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be that easy. Wally starts having visions of Savitar, who tells him that he isn’t fast enough to save Iris. Team Flash finds out that the entirety of the philosopher’s stone wasn’t in fact deposited into the Speed Force. Caitlin kept a shard of it, hoping that it could be the key to getting rid of her powers. When Wally learns of the pieces’ existence, he determines that the way to prove himself to the others is to cast it into the Speed Force.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Savitar wanted. Savitar was trapped within the Speed Force in a prison that was created for him, but when Flashpoint came into existence, it presented him with the means of escape. The only way to get out is for him to get his hands on the stone and someone to take his place. Wally and Savitar switch places, Wally getting stuck within his own hell in the Speed Force.

Barry goes in to retrieve him, and the Speed Force tells Barry that it is very upset with him. It gave Barry his speed back last season because he had accepted his mother’s death and moved on. Barry says that he will make amends after he gets Wally back and defeats Savitar. The Speed Force isn’t willing to accommodate that request and tries to trap him. Jay shows up and takes Wally’s place. Barry and Wally exit the Speed Force.

As the show barrelled toward the showdown with Savitar, Team Flash struggled to figure out what to do. Things got even worse when Caitlin, Cisco, and H.R. are attacked. Caitlin dies, but Julian, who has feelings for her, makes the decision to remove the device keeping her powers in check. Caitlin comes back to life, but she isn’t Caitlin anymore. Killer Frost has been fully born. She joins up with Savitar and the two of them become a near-unstoppable force.

Barry decides that he needs to travel to the future again, to 2024, in order to get a clue on how to beat Savitar. That’s the only way he can think to stop him. In the future, Team Flash has been disbanded. The future Barry admits that he never found out Savitar’s identity before trapping him in the Speed Force. Barry returns with the name of a scientist, Tracy, who might be able to help.

Barry finally figures out who is in the suit after a showdown with Killer Frost reveals that she knew everything that was going to happen, down to what Barry would say. Savitar is Barry, but not a real one. He is a time remnant created by Barry who was discarded after he was useful. His anger bred hate and he was determined to ruin Barry’s life, and has essentially created a paradox. With this information in mind, Team Flash struggles to figure out how to stop him since he has already lived everything.

In the penultimate episode of the season, Barry uses the device that was created, but it didn’t work. Savitar kills Iris and then runs off. But it wasn’t really Iris. H.R. took Iris’ place, using technology from his Earth to mask his identity. H.R. tells Barry that he couldn’t sit by and be a coward. He had to act.

The final showdown with Savitar and Killer Frost is pretty intense. Barry, Wally, Jay, and Jesse (who got powers back in Season 2) all face off against the evil speedster while Cisco and Gypsy, a bounty hunter another Earth and has similar vibing powers, fight with Killer Frost. Savitar is about to kill Cisco when Killer Frost turns against him. This gives Barry the opportunity to phase into the Savitar suit and kick his remnant out. Savitar won’t give up, saying he’ll kill everyone. But before he can do anything, Iris shoots and kills him.

In the final minutes, Caitlin comes to the team not as an “ice princess” anymore, but tells them that she doesn’t know who she is and needs time to figure that out. They let her go. Barry and Iris prepare to get married, but their plans are interrupted when uncontrollable lightning starts striking. The Speed Force isn’t balanced because of Savitar’s defeat and Jay’s departure. Barry apologizes to Iris, but he has to be the one to go into the Speed Force. He has to make up for his mistakes. The final shot is Barry taking his mother’s hand and entering the Speed Force.

Season 3 had its ups and downs, but overall, it was still a solid season. I love that everyone has now come into their powers and it will definitely make Season 4 exciting. I want to know what’s going to happen with Caitlin as well as Team Flash now that Barry is gone. I am also looking forward to the main antagonist not being a speedster (it has been confirmed that The Thinker is the main season villain) as it will provide something new for the team.

Season 4 of The Flash kicks off Tuesday, October 10, on The CW.

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