Following two weeks of gorilla warfare, The Flash came full circle this week to focus on the presence of Savitar and just how he is set to pull the team apart with his immense power and abilities. An episode that reminds us just how strong the villains are within the show, “The Wrath of Savitar” proves to be one of the best episodes of the season so far.
With last week closing with Wally having a vision of Savitar, we all knew that trouble was lurking and, low and behold, the chief villain of Season 3 was officially back. Haunting Kid Flash with a series of visions that would slowly break him down at the core, Savitar would strategically look to infiltrate his opponents from the inside. Not content with simply getting back to Wally, the speed god would proceed with warning Barry and co that he was coming for them and that he would be ruthless and unforgiving.
These warnings from Savitar would soon transpire in the team discovering that part of the Philosopher’s Stone was still lingering, despite them believing that it had been thrown into the Speed Force. Caitlin was revealed to be the responsible party, citing her own battle with her Killer Frost alter ego the reason why she simply had to look to use the stone for her own benefit. This would in turn lead to the discovery of Savitar lingering in the Speed Force awaiting the final piece of the stone to be let free. For him that would be a task of simplicity, coaxing a struggling Wally into delivering him what he needed and releasing him from his prison. Swapping places with Wally, Savitar was back face-to-face with Barry to remind him that he is almost ready to rip his world apart…
The Flash has never been better than the episodes where we really get the essence of the villain that Barry and the team are facing and this week was the perfect representation of just that. In Savitar, voiced expertly by Tobin Bell, the show has a villain more commanding and scary than last season’s Zoom – something we thought an impossibility – and he had some stellar moments this week. Having taken over Julian to deliver his message of fear, we as an audience really got the sense of an unrelenting and unforgiving force of power who will stop at nothing to make Barry suffer. From Savitar’s precision use of Wally’s weaknesses to his powerfully intimidating speech to Barry, we got a stark reminder that this could be one battle that truly has some massive repercussions and possible losses come the conclusion of season 3.
We already witnessed a breakdown of sorts between Barry and Iris (pass the tissues because that was sad) and the fear is slowly creeping into the pores of Team Flash. Savitar’s brilliant ‘you’re only tech support’ notion towards Cisco may bolt him into further action and Caitlin is still struggling with her own meta-human issues, leading to real uncertainty as to where those fighting alongside Barry will ultimately end up.
It’s a fascinating prospect for the show and only heightens its strengths in being an ultimately unpredictable and exceptionally engaging superhero entity. Filled with emotion, drama and constantly impressive action, The Flash continues in leaps and bounds and, with next week entering the Speed Force, things look to be even more exciting as we approach at later stretches of this season.
The Flash airs on The CW on Tuesdays.
Jon Dingle Editor
A film journalist, writer and a filmmaker in business for over 20 years. I am passionate about movies, television series, music and online games.
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