Since Crisis, the Arrowverse crossover, and Arrow ending, The Flash has seemed to lose its way. It hasn’t had the same hopeful vibe that has made The Flash, The Flash. Most of the characters have been struggling to find their way in a post-Crisis world.
I know I’m not the only one feeling this way. While I live-tweet the show with my fellow TV geeks, people are just not liking the mirror storyline. And we all want Iris (Candice Patton) back. We were fed up with the fake and were impatiently waiting for someone to figure it out. Barry (Grant Gustin) finally figured it out last week, in an episode that was starting to get back to the show that we love.
It’s sad and frustrating that The Flash is finding its way again and will not be able to finish its season because of production shut down due to Covid-19.
While the characters of The Flash have been trying to find their way through post-Crisis, we’ve been trying to find our way during our crisis. It’s been a confusing time, and just like Cisco (Carlos Valdes), a lot of us are not sure where we go from here.
Barry’s speech from Tuesday’s episode is something that we all needed to hear. We all have lost a lot. Some of us have lost our jobs, a lot of people are separated from the people they love, and some have lost people. We can relate to Team Flash and are thinking about how we move forward in an uncertain world.
We may not have a villain like Eva (which by the way we know so little about. It’s probably one of the worst build-ups for big bads in The Flash’s history, but that is a whole different discussion.) But we do have the invisible enemy the coronavirus and a crumbling economy that is a probable next crisis to face. There’s a lot in Barry’s words that you can take to heart:
“We’ve all lost so much this year. Our power, our love, our family. At times it’s felt like there’s nothing left to lose, like everything that matters has already been taken, our lives feel empty, hollow inside. Somethings can’t be taken. Look around this room. We still have our faith in each other and our will to fight for those we love. This we’ll never lose. Eva McCulloch has never faced us head-on, and that’s about to change. Were’ going to find her, beat her, and get back everyone.”
If you are feeling lost, alone, like everything has been taken from you, remember that you still have your friends and they will be there if you need them. Also, remember the fight that you have as an individual, and we have as a nation — or the fight your country has. There are doctors and nurses on the frontlines right now, risking their lives to treat sick people. We also have local governments trying to make sense of the science and find a way forward for their communities.
For me, Barry’s words spoke to me for finding my way forward to come back stronger than ever out of this disaster. As you may remember, I wrote about Gossip Girl, helping me through being laid off. Now I’m separated from my boyfriend and friends, quarantining with a roommate I barely speak to, and I’ll have to move in less than a month. I’m sad when the usual girl at the register is out because I miss my dose of human interaction for the day. I was also about to start a business before the lockdown. I’m finding my way forward, but it hasn’t been easy.
I’m thankful that The Flash found it’s “hope” again before the end of the season because that’s what I needed right now, but I think other people need a sense of hope, too, and a reminder that they will overcome this.
I hope the writers can finish this storyline with justice when season seven returns. It hasn’t been the greatest of storylines, but sometimes you don’t see the entire picture until you’ve come to the end of the story.
