‘The Flash’ Season 6: Team Flash Has Major Issues
The last several episodes of The Flash have built to a multilayered story with high stakes and profound emotional impact. It will take time to wrap up all of the plotlines properly, but the season still has several episodes left before the finale, so there is hope that fans will get resolutions. Unfortunately, viewers will have to wait quite a while before that happens. The CW has scheduled encore episodes of the series for the rest of March, due in part to scheduling changes that occurred after the coronavirus outbreak halted production. So, until The Flash returns in April with new episodes, here are a few points to ponder as The Flash speeds toward the end of Season 6.
How will Iris and Kamilla forgive their team for not noticing that replicas replaced them?
The first half of The Flash Season 6 focused on Crisis on Infinite Earths, which culminated with a multi-show Arrowverse event. The back half of the season is about learning to navigate post-Crisis Earth-Prime despite sadness, guilt, and confusion. Lately, Team Flash has been scattered and distracted by problems and adversaries, which may be why no one has noticed that Iris and Kamilla have been body-swapped for mirror replicas.
Iris has been trapped in the Mirrorverse since the end of Season 6 Episode 10, and Kamilla was thwarted at the climax of Episode 14 after she became suspicious of Mirror-Iris. Both mirror imitations are now working for Eva McCulloch, the meta who is behind the entire scheme.
The heroes have been stretched very thin, but regardless of the stress, Iris and Kamilla may be a bit peeved that those closest to them were fooled by fake versions of the brilliant beauties. Will they forgive and forget or hold a grudge? It is very possible that Barry, in particular, will suffer the consequences of shacking up with an imposter without realizing she is not his better half.
Will the fallout from Crisis and the mirror-verse fiasco shatter Team Flash — and Barry’s marriage — irrevocably?
Understandably, Iris and Kamilla’s friends, coworkers, and loved ones are distracted, due to the current state of affairs. After Crisis, additional strain was caused by the death of the Speed Force, which left Barry and all other speedsters with limited residual powers.
Ralph left on a mission to hunt down the jewel thief, Sue Dearbon, and Cisco was absent for several weeks working on his project to catalog Earth-Prime metahumans. Ralph is still M.I.A., but now that Cisco has finally returned home, he and Caitlin have been tasked with helping Barry to build an artificial Speed Force.
Past lessons have taught Team Flash that they are stronger together, but between all of the abductions, side projects, and rogue missions, the team has been more disconnected than ever. Most notably, the West-Allen couple has been separated for weeks, and Barry’s judgment has been too cloudy to realize it. Have recent events caused irreparable damage to Team Flash?
With Team Flash in flux, can the new recruit, Chester, pick up the slack?
Team Flash helped Chester out of a jam when he inadvertently created a deadly black hole. Later in the season, the tech whiz returned the favor by helping The Flash escape from a mental prison with Gorilla Grodd. Now, Chester has become a part of the team, and not a moment too soon.
It seems that the regulars have made a habit of disappearing from S.T.A.R. Labs whenever it is convenient for them. Whether it’s cataloging metas, tracking down socialites, or just failing to show up without explanation, Team Flash has been pretty flaky in Season 6. Thankfully, Chester’s timing with coming on the scene is impeccable.
Sure, it took Barry some time to warm up to the new guy in the chair, but it would seem that the speedster could use the back-up when he’s in the field. And even if he is a bit over-excitable, Chester has already proven himself to be a reliable team player. Here’s hoping that he can handle the steep learning curve as he settles in for the foreseeable future.
