The Flash Season 9 Episode 1 Review: Wednesday Ever After
Since the beginning, The Flash has focused on several different themes. More often than not, these themes center around family, team building, and problem-solving. Within the scope of these ideas, the plot typically boils down to decision-making.
Team Flash comes across a problem, makes a haphazard plan on the fly, and deals with the consequences for the last remaining 30 minutes. It’s a bit routine, but they’ve made it to Season 9, so whatever works.
On The Flash Season 9 Episode 1, “Wednesday Ever After,” Barry Allen tries to forgo all decision-making and map things out according to everything he already knows about the future. He knows when Iris will become pregnant, where Bart will speak his first words, and how Nora chips her tooth.
If you are aware of exactly what will happen next, there is no stress in the setup of the equation.
Think about it, if you knew you were going to get that promotion at work, you would be calm, cool, and collected during the interview. No question they could throw at you would knock you off balance. It would be an easy win, right?
Well, for the most part, yes.
Life would be less complicated, and there would be less heartbreak, but as Iris points out, there will also be a lot less control.
Sadly, living life in a controlled environment doesn’t feel like life at all. This is shown through the constant time loop Barry and Iris get stuck in.
They both wake up in the morning, go their separate ways, and end up farther apart by the day’s end. The redundancy sucks any sort of joy out of them, making them miserable. I’m sure there have been weeks, or even months, where you have felt the same.
But no matter how far in a rut Barry gets, he still insists on sticking to the book. He’s afraid of missing out on everything he believes he was already promised. The thing he refuses to understand is that if you neglect the needs of today, you won’t be able to reap the benefits of tomorrow.
Never forget, tomorrow is never promised. The only thing we truly have is the next minute. Plant it, water it, and see what grows.
Barry: Whatever we do next, we do it together.
Eventually, Barry turns to Joe and Cecile for advice on how to get Iris on board with following the book. This ends up becoming the best decision he could make.
Outside sources can often be our best lifeline. Someone removed from the situation can give a different perspective you may not have thought about. Since they aren’t the person or thing you are butting heads with, their sage advice may come through more clearly.
Joe and Cecile attempt to see both sides of the scenario but overall side with Iris’ viewpoint.
This brings Barry back down to earth. He can see things for what they are — not how things are supposed to be.
As a season opener, the episode does well enough. We get caught up on the lives of Team Flash and receive a few nuggets about where the season might head.
Allegra and Chester share their first kiss, and Joe mentions leaving Central City. Nothing feels too weighty, especially when we are all well aware that this is the final season.
At least we get a glimpse of Danielle Panabaker as a yet-to-be-named character. She isn’t Caitlyn, and she isn’t Frost, so who is she? This seems to be the most promising premise of the episode.
And that brings us to the final scene, a blurred vision of what appears to be a new speedster. The show has to end with another speedster, but at the same time — uggghhh!
With the defeat of Reverse Flash at the end of Season 8, one would feel there is no place left to go. The battle was as extreme as it was definitive. Why go and mess it up with new blood?
Apparently, the writers have made some decisions of their own —whether we like it or not. We will have to see how this one plays out, after all, they only have this final attempt to get it right.
What did you think of this episode of The Flash? What do you hope to see in the remaining 12 episodes? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Flash airs Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW.
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Charles E Henning
Charles E. Henning lives in a quaint town of Illinois with his ever-loving wife since 1998. He is new to writing reviews, but has over thirty years of fictitious writing for his own personal fulfillment. His interests range from science fiction to character-based dramas, but he is a sucker for anyone in a cape.