The Flash Review: Armageddon Part 3 (Season 8 Episode 3)

The Flash Season 8 Episode 3, “Armageddon Part 3,” corners grief and gives it a long stare in the face. 

With the death of a long-standing character, every person that knows them is affected differently. Each member of Team Flash reflects on Joe West, allowing many of the actors to put forward an excellent performance — especially Danielle Nicolet. 

Throughout the episode, Joe’s death is examined through emotional turmoil and video surveillance. Cecile straight-up refuses to watch the train bearing down on her husband in his final moments. Honestly, who can blame her?

The thoughts of a recently deceased loved one can haunt our every waking moment. Reliving their demise in real-time seems to be unimaginable. The idea of Iris forcing Cecile to watch this footage comes off as nearly heartless.

While I understand her premise, Iris needs to understand that not everybody can look at the evidence objectively. This footage gives Iris hope, but Cecile doesn’t want hope at this moment. 

Cecile explains to Iris and the others that she has had hope for so long. Hope that this is all a bad dream, and hope that there was a mistaken identity. Alas, when she watched them put her husband in the ground, she lost that hope. 

This is what grief does, it tears at both sides of our belief system. Part of us wishes for a miracle. We pray to God that this could all be one huge mistake.

The other part of us knows that it is all true. We understand that somewhere beneath all the hurt, this is all real. No amount of wishing or bargaining will bring them back. 

The near-constant tears in Cecile’s eyes are heartbreaking. We can feel her pain as she pours it out to Iris. This is not a path that Cecile is ready to go down, and again, nobody can blame her. 

Truthfully, Iris isn’t ready to go down this path either, but as a reporter, she can put that part of her aside and look at what is going on. 

Cecile: We need to take care of him today, just like he did to me.

Iris and Cecile are at different parts of the grieving process. Although Cecile feels she has reached the end of the cycle, that is far from the truth. She hasn’t allowed herself to feel all the emotions that come with this kind of loss, and this is shown throughout many scenes in the episode. 

The most important scene is when Rosa Dylan tells Cecile to forget about Joe. She flat-out tells Cecile to bury her feelings for him altogether. Caitlyn is wise to point out that this is horrible advice. 

Iris seems to be handling the death of her father in a much more reasonable fashion. It is obvious she is still hurt, but she refuses to let that hurt steal her hope for the impossible. Iris has seen many miracles in her lifetime, and she won’t put her faith in jeopardy for selfish reasons.

The way these two play off of each other is truly beautiful. 

Although Cecile and Iris go their separate ways, neither wishes harm to each other. Different viewpoints can cause heads to butt up against each other, and they simply don’t want to add that to the pain they are already feeling.

Elsewhere in the episode, Barry and Jefferson discuss loss as well. Jefferson relates to Joe’s death by comparing it to Henderson’s death. 

Henderson was a father figure to Jefferson, much like Joe was to Barry. His death deeply affected Jefferson similar to the way Joe’s death continues to affect Barry. The major difference is the solution to the equation.

With Joe’s death, Barry simply wants to give up. He sees all the cards lined up on the table and wants to fold. Despero is right, and there isn’t a damn thing they can do about it.

But Jefferson uses Henderson’s death, and sacrifice, as inspiration. If Jefferson gives up allowing evil to win, then Henderson’s death will be in vain. 

Unfortunately, Jefferson can’t convince Barry that his way of thinking is wrong. It isn’t until fisticuffs and destruction of property that Barry realizes there must be another way. 

When Barry is thrown through the glass case containing Oliver Queen’s costume, reality finally begins to set in for him. Jefferson takes the opportunity to send the message loud and clear to him. Oliver sacrificed his life for him because Barry is the best of them.

The way Jefferson delivers this message gives me chills. You can tell the character means every word he says. The conviction in his voice is undeniable.

Other characters throughout the episode share their thoughts on grief in effective ways as well, but Caitlyn’s hit home. Her pep talk to Cecile saves the day when everyone’s back is against the wall. Ronnie’s death has affected her in profound ways, and the healing she has done has truly made her a better person for it.

I believe that is the moral of the story here. Use the pain. Push yourself through it, and allow yourself to feel every single emotion. Once you reach the end, use what you’ve learned to help others. 

Every experience we go through isn’t for us alone. We can use our gained wisdom to help us in similar circumstances. Let no pain go to waste.

What did you think of this episode of The Flash? Will Barry be able to recover all the power he lost? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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