SciFi Weekend: Season Finales For Arrow, The Flash, and Gotham; The Americans, Limitless, Doctor Who

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Both The Flash and Arrow concluded their seasons with the hero defeating the big-bad of the season. The ending of Arrow was rather disappointing, with Damien Darhk being defeated far too easily after previously looking unbeatable. Team Arrow was broken up, but it would be an easy matter to reunite some or all of them.

It was gimmicky to have The Flash end the season with a race, but it does fit into the series. There was a little trickery involved in defeating Zoom, but it was far better than how the Arrow defeated Darhk. (Major spoilers ahead). We learned the identity of the main in the iron mask–Jay Garrick of Earth 3, played by John Wesley Shipp who played the Barry Allen Flash in the 1990’s series. I assume we will see  him again, possibly playing into the plans to tie the Justice Society of America into Legends of Tomorrow. It will also be interesting for Barry to have a copy of his dead father–assuming his father remains dead.

The ending of the episode had major ramifications (and more spoilers ahead) for the future of the series as Barry went back in time to save his mother, and saw another remnant of himself disappear. Possibly this means that he never becomes the Flash. On the one hand, this would change the scene between Barry and Iris before he went back in time. On the other hand, if Barry never lived with the Wests, there would no longer be the feeling of incest (even if not biological) in their relationship.

There are reports that Tom Cavanagh will be returning to the third season of The Flash. His first season character was killed at the end of the season and his Earth 2 character returned home at the end of this season. One logical explanation for Cavanagh being present seems to be that if Barry’s mother remained alive things were changed so that the original Harrison Wells was not killed by Eobard Thawne.

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There is further speculation that the third season will start with a version of the Flashpoint storyline from the comics. Screenrant has further discussion of the finale. There is more at Den of Geek, including this summary of the Flashpoint story:

All signs point to Flashpoint, a Geoff Johns-penned comic book arc from 2011 that saw Barry waking up in a present day that he didn’t recognise. His mother was still alive, Captain Cold was the big shot hero of Central City and The Flash did not exist (neither does Superman or The Justice League, and Thomas Wayne is Batman instead of Bruce).

Barry does not have his powers. America is at war with Aquaman and Wonder Woman. Cyborg is the world’s biggest superhero, and is failing to unite a strong enough defence. Essentially, the whole world has gone to hell.

This timeline was spawned – you guessed it! – by Barry going back in time to save his mum. It’s the ultimate worst-case scenario, when Barry thought he’d been doing a good thing. For season 3 of The Flash, it seems logical to expect a similar chain of events.

Obviously there would need to be a scaled-down version for television, but it is easy to see Barry returning home to an entirely different world. They could possibly also use this to bring about the collapse of other Earths into Earth 1, bringing Supergirl into the same earth to facilitate the planned cross over after the show moves to the CW Network next season.

Gotham Finale

The second season finale of Gotham left the city an even stranger place than it has been. Comic Book Resources interviewed executive producer John Stevens. While the interview took place before the finale, it still provides information leading into season three:

CBR News: Throughout the season, Hugo Strange has been playing Dr. Frankenstein. What exactly is his endgame?

John Stephens: We’re going to understand his endgame in the finale. We’re going to understand that he received a directive from his employers, who gave him a very specific directive, specifically about reanimation. That is something which his employers, who we know are the Court of Owls, is going to be paid off in Season 3 when we understand why they wanted him to do this thing. We will understand in this season what exactly he was supposed to achieve, although part of that we will pay off next year, too. It plays into our overarcing Court of Owls’ mythology.

Strange refers to his employers as “masters.” Who are the Court of Owls, and how much are we going to learn about them in the finale?

The Court of Owls is like an Illuminati. They are a shadowy group of powerful people who have controlled Gotham for centuries. They might, or might not, be behind the Wayne murders. They have financed and directed Indian Hill and Hugo Strange’s research. We will not learn all that much about them in the finale, save for the fact they are the people behind Hugo Strange and are most likely the culprits behind Martha and Thomas Wayne’s murders. Bruce will learn of their existence, but not necessarily their name. That will obviously push him forward.

As part of Strange’s experiments, he brought Fish Mooney back to life. What makes the resurrected Fish deadlier than before?

Hugo Strange had to modify Fish’s DNA in order to being her back to life, and it had the side effect of giving her certain abilities. Those abilities are going to manifest in the finale. She goes from the real of reality to grounded sci-fi, becoming a quasi-supernatural character in the finale.

THE AMERICANS -- "Dinner for Seven" Episode 411 (Airs, Wednesday, May 25, 10:00 pm/ep) -- Pictured: (l-r) Marceline Hugot as Theresa, Frank Langella as Gabriel, Matthew Rhys as Philip Jennings, Rob Yang as Don. CR: Eric Liebowitz/FX

The Americans has been one of the best written shows on television in recent years. The writers have taken a long view, with situations often not playing out for many episodes, or sometimes seasons later. Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, the co-showrunners, have indicated in various interview that they have about two more years of story left. Now that is official. FX has renewed The Americans for two additional seasons beyond the current season. While I hate to see it end, it is quite satisfying to know that the show will be ending based upon the ideas of the writers, and the story will be allowed to continue until it is completed.

Limitless has been officially canceled by CBS. While not at the level of The Americans (few shows are), it is entertaining and there is certainly more story to tell. There is still the possibility of it being picked up elsewhere.

Lady-in-the-Barn-Doctor-Who-Hell-Bent

Steven Moffat responded to a question about the lady in the barn in the season 9 finale of Doctor Who, Hell Bent:

Responding to a fan question in issue 496 of Doctor Who Magazine as to whether the old barn lady was the Doctor’s mother, Moffat answered:

“We’ve no idea who she is, nor should we. But a quick glance at the evidence, would remind you that the Doctor is a ‘high born Gallifreyan’ so that would seem unlikely. So what was he doing in that barn, and who were those people? The Doctor won’t tell me. It’s almost like that nameless wanderer in time and space likes a bit of mystery…”

The showrunner added:

“Oh, it’s funny, writing stuff about the Doctor’s past. You always have to leave options – you can’t be definitive. Or at least that’s how I feel about it. I like the audience to have a choice. If, in ‘Listen,’ you’re happy that the little boy in the bed is the Doctor, then great. But if you’re not, that’s fine too. I keep saying, Head Canon is important, because that’s where the show really happens: in the hearts and minds of all the people watching.”

When I saw her on Hell Bent, and previously on The End of Time, I saw this more as a Gallifreyan version of a boarding school, as opposed to showing his home and mother.

In other Doctor Who news, John Barrowman has shot down rumors that he will be returning to play Captain Jack Harkness in the Christmas special.

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