The Flash: The Complete Third Season [DVD]

My first introduction to a speedster in comics came around 1952 with Johnny Quick, who's coyly referenced in "Flash" through the mathematical formula which gave him velocity and through the character Jesse Quick, his daughter in comic books. I vividly remember when the Barry Allen Flash came into being in 1956, ushering in the Silver Age of superheroes. He fought DC's strongest line-up of villains -- Captain Cold, the Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, etc. Carmine Infantino provided cool, modernistic art for action adventures written for early adolescents in a cool, modernistic style. Iris West graduated from Barry Allen's fiancee to "just good friend". Emotional temperature stayed low, as it did in the revived and revised Green Lantern, Atom, and Hawkman-Hawkgirl stories. DC characterization remained equally cool and mostly vestigial. At one point a "Justice League of America" script had Wonder Woman as the monthly rotational chair of the group; the printed comic had Batman taking the role without a single word changed in dialogue. Try that after the Dark Knight revolution... The 1990 "Flash" series starring John Wesley Shipp remained truer to old DC than not. By contrast, the current "Flash" has given us two seasons of complex, charming characters in complicated story arcs firmly based in human relations, not just hero-villain interaction. Grant Gustin's winsome Barry Allen anchors the stories to a slightly goofy, noble, flawed individual who screws up a lot and tries to bear the weight of his world on too slender shoulders. His questionable choices at the end of Seasons One and Two have had huge consequences for the folks in this series, and have remolded the entire Arrowverse, particularly the "Arrow" series. The story arc for Season Three includes an alien invasion crossover with "Arrow", "Supergirl", and "Legends of Tomorrow". The writers top even that with an additional "Supergirl".crossover in musical format. I thought the Season Five ending to the darker, fiercer "Arrow" wrenched my emotions. The finale to "Flash" Season Three took me on an open-mouthed roller coaster ride with characters I have come to love, respect, and enjoy on the deepest television level. Themes exploring the meanings of family, responsibility for personal actions, and defeating the savage burden of despair have cornerstoned "Flash" from its first episode. The continuing characters have expanded remarkably since the beginning and each one continues to blossom even more fully this time around. Special mention needs to go to Tom Cavanagh who has played a different Harrison Wells in each season. He brings more than one to this storyline, replacing the austere prior Wellses with a jiving ditz who still manages to rise to heroic stature when his team needs him.

I did not appreciate the line, "I want you to kill my mother, and just know... I hate you for this!" Tasteless... Very tasteless... And the end of Season 3... The world has to pay for his mistake of creating Flashpoint until he made the conscious effort to step into the Speed-force after Iris was saved by Annoying HR... He sacrificed himself to save her life... People said that was a shock... I saw it coming weeks in advance... Especially when the episode before he said what he said with screwing up and then disappeared... You knew he was going to sacrifice himself for her... And now they don't get to be together because now Flash will step into the Speed Force... This show is too predictable... I will predict Season 4... Barry Alan isn't finished... They want you to think he is... Grant Gustin is too popular and made the show what it is today... They won't get rid of him... They will do what they did with Harrison Wells each Season... make you think he is finished then come back the next season within a few episodes without him... and Presto! There he is! Someone else will suffer and Flash will never get what he wants creating another FLASHPOINT meaning he will suffer relationship status because of his sparing... The show is old and tiresome... Wally will fail, and the Speedforce will Send someone else in Barry's place... Hmmm. Wouldn't it be sweet if it were Iris? But no... It will be the woman who created the Speedforce or perhaps somebody else... Killer frost? Or like I said, Iris? I mean without The Flash her life is worthless... And she already lost her lover in previous seasons... She doesn't want to do it again so she creates a Flash point... interesting? Hardly... Get rid of Flash Point... That is OLD If that is all you got writers? Flash Season 4 will be your last... Do something new... Or season 3 will not only make the ratings suffer... But be the show's undoing... The reason the 1 star... Is because I hate it when a show does a cross over and not include them on DVD or BluRay, you have to buy the other shows to get the story... I hate that... Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow and Super girl sucks I don't want those... Now invasion is incomplete I can do without Supergirl in invasion and Also Duet, because her show had hardly anything to do with those crossovers... They need Arrow and legends of Tomorrow... But if CW is that greedy... Season 2 is my last to purchase... I watched Season 3 thinking this is going somewhere right? It did... In the toilet and the sound of the flush in the toilet was the only sweet thing in the end... As I knew it would end the way it did... HR turns into Iris, saves her, and Barry always gets the bad ending... No matter what... all heroes do... Because DC thinks when someone gets married... and are happy even with bad guys a show gets cancelled... Because Lois and Clark did... and Superman comics went sour because he and Lois got married? Whatever... I am done

The first 2 seasons of The Flash were great. They built on a fantastic cast of characters. There was a nice balance between taking on the "villain of the week" and the overall nemesis of the season. Season 3 had some of that balance, but there were a lot of areas where the show didn't shine as bright as the first 2 seasons. SPOILER WARNING FOR SEASON 3 While the characters are generally written well, the story had many problems in season 3. After the first few episodes, Barry travels to the future and witnesses Iris being killed the mysterious speedster known as Savitar. The rest of the season focuses on Barry and the gang trying to change the future and prevent Iris from dying. While this is a very interesting idea, it was not executed very well. The focus switched from facing off against fun and entertaining villians to a total drama fest of Barry trying to save Iris. There were also production issues with the show. It costs a lot to render the CGI effects for Barry's super speed and the writers complicated the story by introducing 2 new speedsters in the story. Wally West and Jesse Quick both get their Speedster abilities in season 3, but due to budget limitations, they are constantly written off and on the show. The main focus on the show is supposed to be Barry Allen and his struggle to keep his friends and family safe, so the other 2 speedsters do not get to shine as much as they logically should. It seems weird to me to introduce these characters, but keep them on the sidelines and away from the story most of the time. Another issue is that the nemesis for season 3 is yet another speedster. It makes sense for Barry to have to face off against someone with powers that can rival or exceed his own, but the same cookie cutter nemesis for 3 seasons gets boring very quickly. We did get some good things in season 3 as well. They finally put in Mirror Master as a villain and gave him an interesting backstory. Tom Felton also plays a great reoccurring character throughout the season. Most people will probably recognize him as the guy who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies. Overall season 3 was enjoyable, but it was not nearly as amazing as the first 2 seasons.

“The Flash: The Complete Third Season” opens with forensic scientist Barry Allen, aka, The Flash (Grant Gustin), living his dream life. His parents are alive. He’s dating beautiful, smart Iris West (Candice Patton). And he’s able to stand back and let the new speedster in town, Kid Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale), step in to protect Central City. But the better Barry’s life gets, the more dangerous it becomes. His nemesis, Reverse Flash (Tom Cavanagh), warns Barry of serious repercussions if he remains in the alternate Flashpoint universe. In addition to memory loss, his powers will fade. When disaster strikes, Barry must decide whether to continue life as Barry Allen or return to his universe as The Flash. As Barry deals with his identity crisis, he and the S.T.A.R. Labs team fight off lethal threats from the God of Speed, Savitar (Andre Tricoteux). “The Flash” is based on the DC Comics character, a costumed superhero crime fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds. The series follows Barry Allen, the Flash’s secret identity, a crime scene investigator who uses his incredible speed to fight criminals, including others who have gained superhuman abilities. “The Flash” was spun off from another DC Comics show, “Arrow,” and premiered on October 7, 2014. The pilot became the second most watched premiere in the history of the CW Network. Season Three starts with the exciting episode “Flashpoint,” in which Barry teams up with Wally West/Kid Flash, but Wally is badly injured while the duo do battle with Wally’s nemesis, Edward Clariss. The timeline is reset and Barry’s memories are restored, but back in the present, Barry discovers that the timeline didn’t reset properly, causing new problems. As a whole, Season Three isn’t as sharply scripted as the first two seasons. The writers have put Barry Allen into bad situations of his own making, which brings up questions about his intelligence. It’s interesting to portray a superhero as less than perfect, but when a lead character repeatedly makes bad decisions, he seems unworthy of the amazing power fate has bestowed on him.

This is going to be a double review for both The Flash season 3 and Arrow season 5. My feelings on both shows equate each other at this point. I've had enough of both of these shows. I’ve become bored with the wash rinse and repeat predictable plotline formulas that The Flash and Arrow shows have taken. Every season it seems that there is some super evil anonymous villain that comes out of the woodwork to cause havoc over the course of a season and then at the end of the season the good guys win. In Arrow’s case, it’s demonic in nature or in Flash’s case, yet another speedster. I remember the Amazing Spider-Man show that aired on CBS back in the 70’s always introduced a villain or a crisis that was dealt with by the end of the episode or was contained to two episodes. The background of said villain was always different and it was never someone with super powers, rather just good intellect to give Spider-Man a challenge. That was true comic book live action TV for me, not this lazy formulaic BS approach that I see on The Flash and Arrow. I’m just glad I got the current blu-ray boxsets for Arrow and The Flash at a reduced price at Best Buy. At this point I doubt I’m going to continue getting the boxsets at any price because I'm tired of seeing the same formula being repeated over and over ad nauseum.

I don't envy having to write what amounts to 11 movies; that said, this show has continued to drop in interest for me. While the first season felt like near perfection from anything & everything you would want in a comic book show, this season continued the trend of it feeling lost. With a great opener & story idea like Flashpoint, it was heartbreaking to see them break away from it so quickly. While some of the changes made (over the entire CWVerse, perfect!) have a lasting impact, one of the biggest issues with the show for myself is that there are few stakes. Stories and characters play a tad inconsistent but if you've enjoyed the show or enjoy the comic books, it's still fun to see the pieces they interject from The Flash's legacy. I'm a huge nerd for special features. I haven't watched these yet but am super excited to break through them all. Had this been season one, I would've bought the gorgeous steelbook in an instant. An overall decent show, but definitely not great.

The other review on here was crudely written, but it has its merits. The season doesn't nearly have the charm and fun that the first 2 seasons have. Season 3 starts off, and almost always remains, in a pretty bleak place, which hurts the show in 2 ways: #1, it's supposed to be fun! That was what got a lot of fans hooked over the first 2 seasons. Yes, there is plenty of human drama and meta-tension, but the banter and antics we were treated to in between all of that riff-raff was what made the show great. #2 - The show still tries to be fun and silly in parts, which always feels unearned BECAUSE of the overwhelming dreariness that we know these characters are really feeling. Basically, the second you start liking one of the lead characters, they do or say something to make you annoyed with them. The storyline takes a lot of weird roads, and the overall arc loses focus a lot. The Supergirl crossover is awful. The villain reveal is weird, and the resolution at the end of the season is weak.

The third season of The Flash is a serious downgrade from the first two seasons. It is hampered by a villain reveal that happened way too late in the season, mysteries that are given explainations that make no sense or are never explained at all, and a main villain who pales in comparison to his two predecessors. The picture and sound quality are great as are the special features. I would not recommend paying full price for this set because of how uneven this season is.