Why the Flash needs to break out of its Formula

Last episode was not the season finale of The Flash, but it was the most significant episode of the season so far, as after literally just putting together clues inside his own head, Barry figured out the identity of the armored speedster known as Savitar, the one destined to kill Iris West and ruin his life forever.

To discuss this, we’re obviously going to have to get into spoiler territory, so turn back now if you haven’t seen last night’s episode.

You’ve been warned.

Barry realizes from Savitar’s infinite knowledge of his life and his little quips like “I am the future, Flash” (actually, “I am the Future Flash,” is a better reading), that the villain is none other than…himself. Future Barry. Or an Earth-X Barry. Or Flashpoint Barry.

This Barry isn’t “old” per say, probably just a few years older than Barry is now, though he has some sort of burn-like scar on his face, indicating a severe injury. Now the question morphs from “who is Savitar” to “why would future Barry want to kill Iris and presumably set off a chain of events to destroy his own life and the lives of everyone he loves?” That’s something I don’t have an immediate answer to, but I do know one thing: This is the type of plotline I hope gets put on the shelf for a while after this season.

While I have maintained since its debut that The Flash is one of the best superhero shows on television, if not the best, here in season three, my enthusiasm is starting to wane a bit. And mostly that’s because we are now in the third straight season where we more or less have the exact same over-arching plotline for the year.

1. Mysterious evil speedster arrives
2. Barry must get faster to stop him
3. Mysterious speedster is revealed to be someone Barry knows

In season one, Reverse Flash was Eobard Thawne wearing the face of Harrison Wells, pretending to be an ally to Barry and the team.

In season two, Zoom was Hunter Zolomon, pretending to Jay Garrick, pretending to be an ally when it suited him, in a reveal so convoluted I still don’t understand aspects of it a year later.

Now in season three, we have Savitar as Future/Flashpoint Barry, motivations as of yet unclear.

This sort of mystery can be a lot of fun, and I was on board for it for maybe, 1.75 seasons (I was not a fan of the Hunter Zolomon/Jay Garrick craziness at the end of last season). This year, my only real guess was that this was some version of Barry in the suit, ever since he uttered “I am the future(,) Flash” and that set off fans speculating that was the case.

I’m not upset that I wasn’t super surprised by this reveal, but I do think it’s time to let this formula go. By keeping the identity of X villain a secret over the course of the season, the obvious answer is that it’s going to be some member of the cast, past or present, so it’s just a game of musical chairs as you try to guess who it is. Again, while this formula can work well (and Arrow actually did a good job copying The Flash’s formula this season with its Prometheus storyline, and had a head-fake no one saw coming), for The Flash itself, it’s getting a bit tiresome.

I think Barry needs A) a non speedster villain in season four, though someone who can still go toe-to-toe with him and B) someone whose identity isn’t a mystery for more than a short while so we don’t have round four of this little guessing game, which is getting old. It’s like The Flash saw how well season one worked, and now they’re scared to do anything besides that overall formula. But each time they do it, it gets a little less effective. This season, I haven’t really been on board with Savitar, the blob of CGI armor, from the start. Only now that I know he’s Future Barry does he seem even a little bit interesting.

The Flash is still a good show and I’ve enjoyed parts of this season. I think that after Savitar is put to rest, that we need to lay off this exact format for a season or two, and see how The Flash works when it’s not all about just trying to get faster or the identity of a villain or the perils of time travel. There’s a lot more that can be explored here, but so far, The Flash seems afraid to go in new directions.

I am interesting in hearing the wild tale of how Barry Allen went full supervillain, but there has been a lot of wasted time getting to this point, and I just want the show to go someplace new after this.

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The Flash Episode 19 Season 3: The Once and Future Flash

The Once And Future Flash is a nice way for the show to come back from its spring hiatus. I didn't even realize how much I had missed this season until things kicked off, when suddenly I was reminded that, oh yes, The Flash Season 3 has been very good.

By this time last year, the warning signs were everywhere, and it was right about now that I started to really skewer this show for what I considered to be some cheap shots and easy ways out. With just a handful of episodes to go until that May 23rd deadline (which also marks the actual season finale date), I'm hard pressed at the moment to think of ways this show could really blow it as monumentally as it did last year. Every reveal, every twist, has been executed so well that I have no choice but to put my absolute faith in everyone involved. The storyline has been holding up very firmly and the writers are paying up close attention to every detail which is going up in the season.

But with all that, and all the fireworks that we know are coming in the final showdown with Savitar (and, it appears, with Killer Frost), The Once And Future Flash was a surprisingly understated episode. The Top and Mirror Master were almost set dressing, here to add a little Rogue-y flavour to the Central City of the future (I really dug the special effects they used for them this week, too), but this was purely character driven, with the bulk of it falling on Grant Gustin (who was terrific as both regular Barry and...ahem...Emo Barry, as Twitter has dubbed him) and Carlos Valdez (who once again proves that he is this show's secret weapon).

When you go up and see the first episode you see how these two actors have grown and are one with their characters that they can pull off both hard hitting dialogues and showcasing the fun elements for which the show is hailed so highly.

Setting this episode seven years in the future not only makes sense from a story standpoint (it's the date on the headline from the newspaper in the first episode), it also frees the show up from having to do any silly gymnastics to over-age its cast. Any of that would have just distracted from a solid hour with (most) of the core cast, using their future, broken selves to remind audiences why we love them so much when they're fully functioning. The episode was not about Barry knowing about Savitar but about himself and knowing this will help him in keeping the team together. 

So with that in mind, we know that even when Barry saves Iris on May 23rd, the universe is going to extract its toll. Somebody isn't making it out of this season, and I'm more convinced than ever that it's Joe West. Joe is, in fact, the last person I want to see take the ol' Central City dirt nap, but I just feel like we're going to see some kind of parallel via Iris with what we saw with the Joe of 2024.

Unfortunately, I also feel that the fate of Caitlin Snow that we saw teased here is also set in stone. Perhaps we'll be starting The Flash season four with a very different looking team. I think, overall, Caitlin's heel turn has been handled brilliantly, but at some point it has to stick. If they keep see-sawing her over the next few years, it's going to lose its impact. If I'm wrong, and she is brought back from the brink before season's end, they can't play that card again. I also hope that when it does finally stick they find a better balance for her dialogue, which veers a little too far into "I'm eeeeevil now" for my taste, considering that the rest of this story has played out in such a balanced fashion.

But that Caitlin/Savitar cliffhanger. Holy moley. This scene was perhaps the best visual we've had on the show in a while. It really just looked terrific, and Savitar's eerie blue glow against that snowscape with Caitlin was a really nice touch. For a moment, I thought they were gonna give us the "full Savitar reveal" but alas, I was wrong.

So who the hell is he?

Caitlin's reaction obviously indicates it's somebody she knows quite well and would do anything for. That points the finger at Ronnie Raymond, and considering how he croaked at the end of season one, I suppose ending up with Speed Force armour isn't the most out there possibility. But the problem is: why would the audience care that it's Ronnie? But that whole death thing might explain why he needs this armour. The other possibility is Eddie Thawne, who also vanished into the Speed Force, albeit after he was already quite dead (or on his way there). 

I know there has been some speculation that it's Jay Garrick, which I refuse to really get into, mostly because I can't be objective about anything involving Jay Garrick and this would break my heart. And would Caitlin really have that much reason to unquestioningly do whatever Jay says? This may rule him out. I might also be in denial, but give me this, please.

Of course, this leaves Julian... or some version of him. Or some version of Wally. Or... version of Barry, I dunno. I'm out of ideas, and I'm sure all of them are quite wrong

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"The Best Worst Video game Ever! Part 2" The Flash Episode 14 Season 3 Synopsis

The Flash Episode 13 Season 3 had an amazing setting with team Flash in Gorilla City fighting highly intelligent gorillas and Wally and Jesse back at Central City together protecting the city. The concept alone is mesmerizing and thrilling but it felt like the show runners did not want to show us the full extent of the settings like they were holding back and just teasing us with this mind boggling concept. 

Truth be told I can understand why they were holding back. The main reason may be the next episode,"Attack on Central City", just tipping up the scales. Now that Wally and Jesse are on the same page, the team can fully concentrate on saving the city and in doing that saving Iris (which I have a feeling might not happen). If we look at the synopsis:

When Grodd (voiced by David Sobolov) and his army of gorillas bring the battle to Earth-1, The Flash (Grant Gustin) and team must find a way to stop them before they destroy Central City. Gypsy (guest star Jessica Camacho) returns to join the fight. Meanwhile, Jesse Quick (guest star Violett Beane) decides she wants to stay with Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) on Earth-1.

The synopsis and the end credit scene of Episode 13 do bring a lot of questions like :

How Gypsy got caught in middle of this? Is she being mind controlled or not? 

Although I was not that impressed by the episode 13, it was a good character driven episode for Jesse and Julian. But I m pretty sure that episode 14, will be action packed and surely link the story further to the return of our big bad this season, Savitar as the episode 15 title is: Wrath of Savitar.

I am looking forward to this as after seeing Solovar and Barry go at it for 4 minutes, I am curious to see how the Team fight an army of Gorillas.

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The Flash : Who is Gypsy?

The Flash Episode 10 Season 3 was not an action packed episode but a character centric episode, making us proud upon our favorite speedster and it was good to see the whole team working together to save Iris and Killer Frost.

But at the end of the episode we saw someone coming through the portal to Earth 1. From the official synopsis and the promo of the next episode, the character who visits through the portal is Gypsy.

This leads to questions like
Who is Gypsy? Is she a character from comics? If yes, how is she different from her TV counter-part?

In COMICS:
Gypsy's real name is Cynthia Reynolds. In new 52 where most of the show takes inspiration from, Gypsy has the powers of inter-dimensional traveling much like the show's version of Cisco has and guess what she debuted in new 52 in Vibe comic book series.

Gypsy's power has changed a lot in the comics, when she debuted in pre-new 52 era, she had powers of astral projection, chameleon(i.e. camouflaging), energy absorption etc. but in new 52, they have taken her name literally, making her a gypsy, a nomad traveling between earths.

She has been part of a lot of superhero factions like: Justice League, Conglomerate, and Birds of Prey.

In TV  Show:
The synopsis of the episode 11 reads as:
"Inter-dimensional travel is illegal on H.R.’s home Earth, so Gypsy (Jessica Camacho) — a bounty hunter with vibe powers — makes the journey to Earth-1 Central City to bring H.R. back to Earth-19 to stand trial for his crime.
H.R. surrenders, but when Barry (Grant Gustin) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) learn that the novelist's only hope would be to challenge Gypsy to a duel to the death, Barry and Cisco intervene, with the latter offering to fight Gypsy in his place."

We have to wait and see what will be the outcome of the 'duel'. It seems that she has the powers of the Vibe (Cisco), but has more control over her abilities. One may also say that she can become an ally of the Team Flash. Possibly can become a love interest for Cisco. Personally I would love to see this dynamic play out just for the reason that I loved the scenes with Cisco and Golden Glider.

And yeah! we get see Cisco in full Vibe costume!!!!!

I feel that Cisco will also learn new aspects of his abilities which he never knew before. This might help them in future fighting Savitar. 
 

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The Flash Season 3 Episode 10: "Borrowing Problems From the Future"

Before I review the episode, I must say that our favorite Speedster is growing as he didn't waste any time to spill the beans and told the team about the future he saw. It was refreshing to see that.

Operation Save Iris is a go!

We have to thank Barry for his unexpected actions on The Flash Season 3 Episode 10 "Borrowing Problems from the Future."

He told the team the truth so they could work together on stopping Iris' murder by Savitar instead of keeping it a secret for no reason.

Especially since Iris clearly saw right through his half-answers when it came to the nightmares.

Moving in together, having sexy time, exchanging the l-word wouldn't mean much if Barry had chosen to keep her in the dark any longer.

How much did it hurt to watch Iris' face as the news slowly sank in?

My heart broke when she started to cry. We're so used to seeing Iris be strong for everyone else.

But some things, like learning you're going to die in four months, are just too much for one person. It makes sense at that moment she would have felt helpless.

Thankfully, they've got a team of superhero scientists on the case.

Please don't get me wrong, I love Tom Cavanagh. I have always felt that his characters and Cisco are the main backbone of the show. But I have always found HR annoying.

Having said that, it was almost strange how useful HR was in the episode.

To the point where I didn't even mind his scooter or his obsession with opening Star Labs.

Obviously I would take Harry back in a heartbeat, but if they keep this somewhat toned down version of HR, the odds of me smashing my TV decrease from week to week.

Of course it seemed a little silly that he claimed the future would happen no matter what.

Maybe on a show where time travel via speedforce didn't occur every two or three episodes.

But we're all used to that kind of plot convenience on our superhero shows, right?

Plus, he turned out to be wrong and Barry saw his love being killed again, which was one of my predictions.

I also feel that as the future is changing, Savitar's prophecy.

The future Barry saw on The Flash Season 3 Episode 9 already changed. And now we know it also comes with problems for Caitlin. 

Considering she spent most of the hour fretting over her malfunctioning cuffs, it's not a shock Killer Frost could be loose in four months. 

I love that Iris instantly jumped on the 'we have to save Caitlin, too' bandwagon.

This show doesn't often treat its female characters well, but I do appreciate the writers never pitting Iris and Caitlin against one another. 

I also love Caitlin inviting Julian to be part of the team.

Yes, I can hear the collective groans over another love interest for Caitlin, but maybe that's not the plan this time.

Okay, it's probably the plan. But maybe they'll give us a slow burn romance for a change.

That would be new and different.

Even without the romance, I like the idea of Julian joining Team Flash because if you have a metahuman expert and who know The Flash's secret, bring me on the team. Plus, I like Tom Felton's chemistry with Barry. The writers made a great choice when they decided to make him possessed rather than pure evil.

Now if only those same writers would make the actual villains more interesting.

Yes, the point of Plunder was to lead Barry toward changing the future rather than the past.

That's all well and good, but this is a comic book show. And one of the reasons we watch comic book shows is to see our heroes battling worthy adversaries.

Not a random robber whose gun stole his thunder.

Speaking of stealing thunder, I have to mention HR giving him the name Thunder and the new speedster on the block, Kid Flash taking all the accolades this week. There was also a nice easter egg, when they said that lets send this Kid Flash to Keystone city, which in comics, was the place where Wally West operated as the Flash.

 I still don't know why it's so important that he's faster than Barry, but he earned his credit this week. 

I worried he'd revert back to rebellious form when Barry laid out the plan for him to stop Plunder. Thankfully, Wally put his sister first, and followed Barry's instructions.

Will it last? Doubtful. 

I also feel that a major ass whooping awaits Wally because of his doing things before thinking and his lack of experience in fighting metahumans.

 Flash Points

• Not telling Joe the truth is a terrible idea. And considering this version of Iris stopped talking to him when she learned the truth about mom, this seems hypocritical (or like the writers forgot their timeline).
• Cisco being more like his old self is cause for rejoicing. Please don't ever leave us again.
• The Music Meister and Grodd are coming! At least we got some good news from the future.
• The Central City Museum looked a lot like the Flash museum which Barry saw during the finale of the season 1. The showrunners have said that they will do all the things which Barry saw. Amazing!

Tell me what you felt about the episode.

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Did The Flash Reveal The Season’s Next Big Twists?

Fans of The CW’s gallery of DC Comics superheroes know to come into a season premiere, finale, or midseason finale expecting some serious bombshells, and the fan following of The Flash means more eyes typically watch Barry Allen’s twists and turns than any other. Surprisingly, the Flash's midseason didn’t include any jaw-dropping changes to the status quo, or even the character deaths of the past. What it did include, however, has given fans some serious questions to ponder in the coming months beginning with the most obvious: how much can Savitar really know?

While previous episodes had limited Barry Allen’s interactions with his new nemesis to brief threats or super-speed beatings, the finale brought a full conversation. Blaming Barry for his imprisonment in a timeless nightmare, Savitar vowed to exercise his authority over the life and death of the entire show’s cast. Not only that, but the self-titled ‘god of speed’ used his knowledge of the future to state the team’s destiny as an unavoidable fact.

The question now is whether Savitar’s claims are exactly as they seem… and who may be the most likely candidates, if they are.

"One Shall Betray You"

With Julian strapped to a chair and rigged up to act as microphone and speaker for Savitar, the villain claims – somewhat nonchalantly – that the destinies of Barry’s friends is already known to him, having seen the future that awaits them. While he doesn’t name names, he begins by stating that “one shall betray you,” but his words (and the character shown as he utters the words) requires a closer dissection. For starters, it’s Wally West upon whom the camera focuses as the claim of an impending betrayal is made. Although the most immediate interpretation of the words and image is obvious, two things stand out: the “you” being betrayed isn’t explicitly stated… and if we’re keeping track, Wally West has kind of betrayed the team already.

Now assuming that Wally won’t actually betray Barry in a truly cowardly, cunning, or deceitful fashion, the term “betray” – and what it could mean to a villain who believes himself a god – is more vague than one might assume. If we’re defining it as characters sharing knowledge they shouldn’t, aiding an enemy through manipulation or succumbing to pressure, or believing they know better, then again, nearly every major cast member is guilty of the charge.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that Savitar (through Julian) refers to each of the present company by name, but calls the Wells doppelganger from Earth-19 as “the fake Wells.” Since the alternate universe Wells would still be a legitimate Wells, is Savitar hinting at a deceiver in the team’s ranks already? We would dock the writers points for making yet another Wells betray his friends for a secret purpose, but… well, we wouldn’t be shocked, either.

"One Shall fall"

Savitar is just as cryptic and ambiguous with his second bit of prophecy, as the claim that someone present will “fall” actually reveals a lot less than what it first implies. Taken at its most direct, it would seem to suggest that a main cast member will be killed by something in the future – and with the camera trained squarely on Cisco, it looks like the youngest Ramon will once again cement his place in the timeline with a memorable death (the last one having been reversed). The idea that someone among the S.T.A.R. Labs team will give their life before this chapter of Barry’s career is over isn’t staggering – only troubling – since his parents have already both been killed by villainous speedsters. And while fans can place bets on the most likely to be offed, we would remind everyone to consider that a “fall” doesn’t necessarily mean a death.

Could Savitar instead be hinting that a currently-heroic character will descend into darkness, duplicity, or even villainy – thus constituting their “fall”? And before fans argue that such a symbolic reading is using a bit too much imagination, this season has already followed one character’s decent into the darker side of metahuman police work. When Cisco and Barry got an eyeful of Killer Frost on Earth-2, they raised the specter of such villainous future being possible for their own Caitlin Snow – and the prospect hung over their collective heads ever since.

Until that very story began to play out following Barry’s messing with the timeline, and dropping Caitlin into rage, violence, and metahuman superpowers. Her friends managed to stop the descent before she was completely lost, but should Caitlin’s power-dampening cuffs break, or her composure be challenged, then the predicted “fall” may be less of a shock than even the aforementioned betrayal. Either that, or the camera pointing at Cisco is a sign that he’ll be transformed into his Earth-2 counterpart – a “fall” that’s as ironic as it would be tragic.

"One Shall Suffer a Fate worse than Death"

Now you would think that in an episode which leapt forward, showing the murder of our hero’s significant other at the hands of his nemesis would be the headlining shocker… but even Barry’s accidental trip to such a grisly future pales in comparison to one destiny teased by Savitar. Sure, one future may see Iris killed at the speed god’s hand… but according to that same villain, one member of our cast will be forced to “suffer a fate far worse than death.” If this future is just one of infinite possibilities, as Jay Garrick claims, then Savitar may not have seen it coming at all. But if he’s as powerful as all evidence suggests, then it wasn’t actually Iris he was referring to as the one doomed to a worse fate.

First things first: a fate worse than death is an idea that can be defined differently by everyone who considers it. What’s worse than dying in pursuit of a better world? Being forgotten? Being written out of existence altogether? Or, perhaps, it’s becoming the villain yourself? We also can’t tell if these destinies refer to three different people (the camera falls to Caitlin, then Iris), or if a fall, a betrayal, and a fate worse than death all await the same person. That’s obviously the point, but if an inciting incident is needed to trigger these tragic fates, then the impending death of Iris West may be just what’s needed.

Surely, Barry wouldn’t attempt to change history yet again… right? Only time will tell, but the writers of The Flash have succeeded in delivering as puzzling and restrained a finale as is likely possible. Rather than wondering “what happens next,” fans everywhere must now speculate on how Barry will handle the known challenges and twists as they come – and just how heartbreaking these destinies will be when they rear their heads.

To see my rest of the season 3 predictions, click here.

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The Flash : Season 3 Predictions

This weekend a lot of the Flash information bombs were dropped. We have so much stuff to talk about like Black Flash, Gorilla Grodd, Solovar.

Based on the information, here is my Top 10 predictions for rest of the season 3 of the Flash.

10. Jesse Quick and Harrison Wells from the Earth-2 will be back rather sooner than you expect. The main reason that these two characters are not in every single episode of the Flash because they have so many actors and different characters to focus on and develop them. If they have them on every single episode, it can become a mess.

The best thing they can do with Jesse Quick's character is that if they don't want to have her on the Flash, she can go to Legends Of Tomorrow. 

9. Harrison Wells from Earth-19 (HR) will be here long enough to introduce us to Earth-19 Flash who seems like a big a part of the Gorilla Grodd episode.

No idea if HR will stay for the entire season but he will surely stay here for a while longer.

I know some people think that he has hidden motive other than his book because he come off so strong in the beginning. But I feel he just wanted everyone to be comfortable with him,now that everyone is cool around him, he has also laid off a lot. His main motive is to start the Star Labs Museum  which can be the stepping stone for the Flash Museum. 

I am really interested to see what new character Tom Cavanagh will play next season.

8. We all know that Earth-19 Flash, the Accelerated Man, is coming to the show, But this version of the Flash will not be Barry from Earth-19. Since he will play alongside Grant Gustin, it seems a logical choice, to have someone else play this Flash.

It will be interesting to see if we know the character already who will be the Accelerated Man.

This character is from Grand Morrison's Multiversity story line which they don't reveal his identity or face. The show-runners can also go this route.

7. Gorilla Grodd 2-part episode will take place in Gorilla City in Earth-2 and not in Earth-19, contrary to the popular belief. This means that we will meet our version of Gorilla Grodd. Supposedly, the Accelerated Man is part of this episode. 

Speaking of Gorilla city, brings me to my next point.

6. We will finally meet Solovar in Gorilla city, and he is voiced by none other than Keith David. If you aren't familiar with Kieth David, one of his animated voice works is the Reverse Giraffe from Rick and Morty.

If you don't read the comics and don't know who Solovar is, don't worry I will talk about him when we will get near the Gorilla City episode.

The basic thing is that Solovar is the good gorilla in this Planet of the Apes like fight with Grodd who wants power and control of the Gorilla City. 

This will be so amazing to see this Grand fight as in Planet of the Apes with only CG-Gorillas.

5. We will see Barry betray the team to save Iris. We have heard the prophecy that Savitar spoke that one will betray the team Flash. Many believe that person to be Cisco because when Savitar spoke those words camera zoomed on him but I believe that the person will be Barry. 

He will betray the team in small ways to save Iris. He knows that he can't change the past but will try to change the future as that try to do things different to save Iris. But we all know that self-fulfilling prophecies tend to happen regardless of what way you try to change the sequence of the things.

4. I predict that we will see Iris die more than once in that exact moment. So in keeping with the theme that Barry will be unable to change time at least in the short term, 

We are going to see it more than once. I know for sure that Candice Patton is not going to leave the show. There would be some crazy explanation on how Barry saves her or how she comes back, escaping death.

3.  The Black Flash will be back. By the Black Flash, I mean the Black Flash, in whom Zoom changed into at the end of season 2 finale.

In comics, it only shows up when a speedster is going top die. The crazy thing is that the show-runners have said that the Black Flash is coming to other DC TV shows making it sound like the Black Flash is coming for Reverse Flash in Legends of Tomorrow.

2. We will see human form of Savitar. We will learn about him, what he looked like, who was he before he created speed-force armor and started calling himself "God".

For the time being, Savitar is this whole CG villain voiced by Toben Bell from SAW. So far Savitar is in this state in which he can't manifest within this world, caught up between speed-force and the real world. 

Lets see how they address his human form, either we will see it in present day or in a flashback.

1. Barry will get a new suit. Grant Gustin has teased this on twitter about Barry being long due to get his new suit. There are a couple of ways for this to happen. One is that they upgrade this original suit, What they do is that change the suit or give it some upgrades every year with a new season. 

They have teased the Flash Ring but not done yet. 

The other way is that as Barry keeps trying to see the future to save Iris, we might see a future version of the Flash with a new suit.

These are my predictions for the rest of the season. Tell me in the comments if you want some articles about certain topics of the Flash you are not familiar with. I will do reviews as the episode airs after the mid season break. If you want to learn more about Savitar click here.

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Arrow : Who is PROMETHEUS?

The CW's Arrow season 5 has been so far so fantastic that this season has been able to revive Arrow to somewhat its old glory. This season has taken notes from its predecessor seasons 1 and 2. Before I go any further into this season,

I need to talk about the main villain of this season, PROMETHEUS. The show-runners have already said that the show's version of the character is not based on any comic nook character, he is the 'dark mirror version' of the hero, Green Arrow.

Prometheus is evidently aware of Oliver Queen's identities as The Hood/The Arrow as well as The Green Arrow. This further evidenced by the fact that he targeted victims whose names formed anagrams from people on the List which loops back this big bad to season 1.

Prometheus is still a mystery as in they haven't ripped off his mask and shown his face. But I feel that like in Arrow tradition they have given us many hints who he is and back half of the season is to unmask the psychology that is going inside his mind. As Deathstroke  was unmasked in mid-season finale of season 2 while the rest of the season was to his psychology like What is his plans,?Why is he after Oliver? What will he do to team Arrow?
I think the show-runners have a great job of providing clues who this person is. Like this person knows about Oliver and the List. Although Artemis was working with him providing him the information, yet he knew about Oliver before that.

This raised a lot of questions:

When did he know about Oliver?

When did he start training to fight Oliver?

That brings us to another important point that he is trained by the same person who trained Oliver as he had the same moves as of Oliver. In the preview of mid-season premiere, Oliver is talking to Diggle about tracking 'her' down. As Oliver said that he met her in Russia and since the flashbacks are set in Russia, we might see her in those and then gradually the show-runners will weave her into the present-day story. We know that the person who trained Oliver is Talia Al Ghul. 
But why would she train someone to go against someone who is also trained by her? Well that does sound a lot like her character from the comics.

In episode 9 of this season, we saw the Team Arrow jumping through these Prometheus hoops. As Oliver remembers about the drug which reminds him about Justin Clayborne way back in season 1 whom Oliver supposedly killed. Then later in the episode we find out the ashes are of Clayborne, thus rejecting their theory of Clayborne being Prometheus. It is not clear until Billy goes to Prometheus' hideout and send the photo through which they verify that Prometheus is Clayborne's illegitimate son. But the mystery is what is his first and last name. Thus the mystery is: Who Prometheus is! 

I feel that in traditional Arrow fashion the mystery of Prometheus is not that complex. All I mean to say that is, Oliver killed a bad guy but the bad guy has his own family which now feels justify to punish Oliver for what he did. The whole back-half of the season is to explain the character and his plans. The producers said a long time ago that what the show is built around is the mistakes that Oliver makes while doing something right.

Now the rest of the season will play out why and what Prometheus will do to destroy Oliver and how Oliver will cope-up with these.

I am really happy that the show is kind-of back to basics. For more such content follow.

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