Did ‘The Flash’ Finally Answer Its ‘Crisis’ Question for Season 4?
The Flash finally put an end to Savitar with Tuesday’s Season 3 finale “Finish Line,” and in the process, might have answered its longest-running question. Did Barry finally avert a certain “Crisis” teased in the pilot? What might it mean for Season 4?
You’re warned of full spoilers for Tuesday’s finale (and you can read our full review here), but the closing minutes of “Finish Line” saw Barry Allen accepting his fate with a stint in the Speed Force prison, and dubbing Wally the new Flash of Central City. Barry disappearing through the wormhole brought an end to the city-wide lightning strikes and reddish skies, a scene that rang familiar for fans of the series.
As early as 2014, The Flash series premiere introduced a 2024 newspaper with the headline “FLASH MISSING – VANISHES IN CRISIS,” with a sub-headline of “RED SKIES VANISH.” Seeing as Barry managed to avert a city-wide crisis with his own disappearance, clearing up the sky in the process, many a fan have theorized that Season 4 will follow a similar path to the comic “Crisis,” after which Wally West indeed took up the mantle of The Flash.
One small hitch, perhaps, is that the original 2024 newspaper (which was rewritten from the pilot to feature Iris West-Allen in the byline) also mentioned a battle with Reverse-Flash, Green Arrow, The Atom and Hawkgirl. It’s plausible The Flash intended to re-purpose its 2024 headline for Barry’s sacrifice here (the original battle with Savitar did end closer to that future date), though we’d hope the 1985 “Crisis on Infinite Earths” title that inspired its wording gets more focus than the lip-service “Flashpoint” arc that started Season 3.
At the very least, it’s likely we’ll pick up Season 4 with some variation on Wally having become the official Flash until Barry’s return (and don’t think we forgot those Bart Allen hints in earlier episodes), but will Grant Gustin’s Barry be out of the limelight for long? Boy, Season 4’s a Thinker.
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