The Flash: "The Present" Review

By Kenneth Schuetz Warning the following review may contain spoilers for this episode..

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So, in the wake of the four-part crossover of the Arrowverse, we are now at the mid-season finale. Barry Allen and friends are celebrating the holidays or trying to. Not much is mentioned about the Alien Invasion instead it’s back to life as we know it with Doctor Alchemy and Savitar the Speed God that only Barry can see. This is Cisco’s first Christmas without Dante after Flashpoint, which has him pretty shaken up.

After doing some research Barry and friends find a paper that Julien wrote about the stone Alchemy uses to give the metas there powers after Flashpoint. Barry goes and confronts him about it and to no surprise he claims to not know anything about it. Leading Barry to go and seek help from a fatherly figure from Earth-3, Jay Garrick. After helping with his version of the trickster who is very Joker-esque.

Jay has some words about legends in the speedforce and that Savitar is apparently the first speedster ever, and he is look for a fight with the Flash. While all this is going on good ole HR is training Wally to use his new-found speed, who is apparently faster than Barry was at the beginning. When they get back, he wants to help the pair of Flashes and upset daddy west, because he doesn’t want him to pursue a crime fighting life like Barry.

Fast forward a little bit, Doctor Alchemy and Savitar are back both Flashes speed off leaving Wally, to face the Speed Good. Jay takes on Savitar all by himself who gives him tells him it’s not his time yet. Barry can knock out alchemy and seal the stone, saving Jay’s life. Low and behold Doctor Alchemy is Julien. It seems he has been losing time and has been getting possessed by Savitar and it all started after his sister’s death. Hearing voices and all that jazz, something that Cisco is dealing with right then unbeknownst to anyone.

Great news, it looks like Dante is back or so Cisco thinks…. all he must do is open the box. That’s always a good idea, right? Nope he opens the it, right after Barry reveals he is the Flash to Julien. While trying to get to the bottom of everything. Well Barry takes off to try and stop Savitar who just happens to be a little too much for him. Wally races off to save him, and he can see the God. Apparently only speedsters can see him.

Wally is there long enough to get thrown across the room. The one who saves the day is Caitlin, who just talks down Cisco into closing the box. Once the box is closed everyone is safe…well for now. They come up with some mind machine to hook the stone up to Julien so they can try to talk to Savitar to find out what he wants.

Well he just wants back what was taken from him by Future Barry, while giving a crazy prophecy about death and betrayal. The Flash Duo try to get rid of the box hoping that will seal the God away, while trying to do this Barry get’s thrown to the future…and sees something he wasn’t supposed to see. The night ends with a Christmas Party and daddy Wests house. Gasp what did they get Wally, could it be the Kid Flash Costume. They finally are going to let him fight crime with Barry. All in all this was a fun episode, nothing really new from the past season in elements, however it is bringing the flash universe to life. I can't wait to tune in in January!

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The Final Judgement

The third season of The Flash has seen it's share of ups and downs. With several episodes missing the mark, however this mid-season finale was able to deliver with the Barry/Jay Garrick Team Up. Let's hope the season will pick up like this episode did.