We made it to the end, Flash fans. Last night was the Season 1 finale and it was a doozy. Let’s take a look at some of the big moments and what they mean for Season 2, with some commentary by executive producer Andrew Kreisberg.
There will be spoilers in this article.
1. Eddie Thawne and the Reverse Flash
Perhaps the biggest moment and twist was the fate of Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett). After learning he’s an ancestor of Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh) and realizing he can change his fate and do something good, he shoots himself. After all, if Eddie dies, then Eobard is never born. It was a heroic sacrifice and very well played out.
About the shocking moment, Kreisberg said:
“When we decided to name him Thawne, we hoped the audience would suspect Eddie was the Reverse-Flash because of his last name. We always knew Eddie would be his ancestor, but we weren’t quite sure how we would end the season. The way things were moving forward, it felt like it was the best thing to do for his character. The story sort of tells you what it wants to be and as much as it broke our hearts, we knew this was the way the season needed to end.”
Of course, The Flash is a show that deals with time travel, so there’s absolutely a chance we could see Eddie again, but we should take this moment at face-value.
Eddie’s death didn’t just affect himself, though. Not only will there be an emotional impact on the characters, but what will now happen to the Reverse Flash and actor Tom Cavanagh? Kreisberg reassured us: “Tom Cavanagh will be back. That is not in question. Tom Cavanagh will continue to be a regular.”
Whew. Cavanah is one of the best actors on the show so that’s good news. But who will he play? Might we finally get to see the real Harrison Wells?
2. Jay Garrick’s Helmet
What do you know? The Jay Garrick easter egg was from this finale, as we suspected, not Legends of Tomorrow.
It was a great moment for fans but could it mean something else? After all, we’ve seen that exact helmet on another CW superhero show from years past so could there be validity to the Tom Welling rumor?
3. Killer Frost and Vibe
While Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) runs to open the wormhole, he gets several glimpses of the past, present, and future, including this one of Killer Frost a.k.a. Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker). When or how she’ll become the icy villainess is a future story, but just a look was exciting. This is what Panabaker meant when she said the costume was already made.
Killer Frost wasn’t the only meta-human we got a hint at. In a wonderful scene, Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdez) confronts Eobard and learns he was affected by the particle accelerator explosion as well. They don’t name-drop Vibe (the superhero Cisco becomes), but they do talk about his powers. It’s happening!
4. Hawkgirl
In an awesome nod to the future, we saw Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée)! As the wormhole opens up over Central City, she’s one of the many characters looking up at it in awe. Kreisberg said it was a last-minute decision:
“I read somewhere online, it said, “CW confirms Hawkgirl not in Flash season finale.” I said, “That’s so weird that the CW put out this thing about it. I don’t remember anyone asking us about that.” Literally, when I read that, I was like, “Well, why can’t she be in the finale?” It really wasn’t part of it, but we already had this sequence designed where we were going to go around the city and have everybody look up into the sky and see the singularity. We were up there shooting the Legends presentation, so Ciara was going to be there anyway. I asked our line producer, “Look, I know this is last minute, but is there anyway we could stage her as part of the crowd?” We picked up that shot.
That wasn’t the only reference to the upcoming spin-off. Eobard also name-dropped Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill).
See? Jam-packed is an understatement and this is only scratching the surface! We got a glimpse of Barry’s new suit, the Flash museum, and more.
The season finale left us on a cliffhanger, with Barry entering the wormhole so what can we expect from the future?
“We are going to introduce a few more speedsters next year and a bunch more villains. How they and those villains come about is part of the surprise of season two. We’re really excited.”
Will it be Wally West? Bart Allen? Perhaps it’ll be Jay Garrick – after all, we’ve seen his helmet!
All we know is that Season 2 can’t get here fast enough.
What did you think of The Flash season finale? What are your predictions for Season 2? Sound off in the comments!
