The show itself is frustratingly wishy-washy when it comes to reinforcing this decision. The rest of Team Flash understands that, and they won’t let Barry make that executive decision. However, it’s also not fair for Barry to prioritize his own revenge over the fate of infinite worlds filled with infinite people who are heroes in their own ways. It’s not fair that Barry risks his life every day to save the innocent, but he can’t even save his own parents. This is the second parent he has more or less seen die in front of him and it’s not fair. In the immediate aftermath of Henry’s death, Barry is distraught, angry, and not thinking straight. I see where The Flash was going with the initial thrust of this episode’s plot. Perhaps if The Flash had chosen just one of those motivations for Zoom and given us a fully-developed understanding of how he came to think in such a destructive, selfish manner, then this season finale (and the episodes that came before it) would have worked. Because he wanted to prove that Barry would be just like him, if he lost everything, too.
Because he wanted to prove that he was the fastest. Why did Hunter do what he did? Because he wanted to destroy the multiverse. When it comes down to it, The Crazy Supervillain is a lazy archetype and one that usually isn’t very interesting to break down on the thematic level. TV is never particularly good at selling “crazy” villains.
Unfortunately, this generally leads to underdeveloped plots and characters. In a time too often defined by “OMG moments” that will make for good live-tweeting, it is becoming increasingly common to withhold information from the viewer until the last possible minute for maximum effect. With Zoom, The Flash fell victim to a common drama mistake of a contemporary TV era: it prioritized the plot twist over the well-developed character arc. The Flash finished off an uneven season with an uneven finale that couldn’t overcome the burden of an underdeveloped, illogical villain.
0 kommentar(er)
