‘The Flash’ season 3: Examining ‘who is Dr. Alchemy’ all over again
Through much of “The Flash” season 2, the CW series gave us a pair of central mysteries that were powerful in nature: Who was Zoom, and who was the Man in the Iron Mask.
Now moving into season 3, we’ve got similar questions worthy asking when it comes to Dr. Alchemy, our mysterious Big Bad who seems born out of Flashpoint in some way. He’s allowing meta-humans to regain their old powers, and he’s got almost a cult-like vibe surrounding him with the robe and the mask. No matter how you look at it, this is one of the most dangerous people Barry Allen’s encountered. He’s got the ability to play god perhaps more so than any other villain we’ve seen to date.
Now, the main question is simple: Is this character someone we’ve already met? There are a few different possibilities that are out there.
Julian Albert – The obvious one is that this is Tom Felton in disguise, given that more than likely, you don’t cat the “Harry Potter” star unless you’ve got an excellent role in mind for him. We think personally that he’d be better off as Savitar, the other upcoming Big Bad, than Alchemy — but either way, this is extremely predictable.
Someone dead in the original timeline – What if Eddie Thawne was still alive, or what if this is some other meta-human who Barry presumes is dead or gone? It’d be an interesting reveal to see a familiar face who is not on the show anymore under the mask.
A character from another earth – Hey, we haven’t met Earth-3 versions of many characters! Still, this feels reasonably unlikely since the motive for him to come over to Earth-1 and attack The Flash is rather flimsy.
Alchemy in the comics has had a number of different monikers over the years, whether it be Albert Desmond, Alvin Desmond, or others. If these names ever pop up, then maybe we could have an a-ha moment similar to when we first saw Hunter Zolomon last season.
For now, who do you think is Alchemy? Vote in the poll below, and head over here to preview more of what’s ahead on “The Flash”! (Photo: The CW.)
Jack The Bodiless
October 21, 2016 @ 2:37 am
I think it’s Barry. Specifically, one or more of his time remnants; from the Flashpoint timeline, and maybe from this one. The show’s never explained what happened to the Barry Allens that grew up in both these new timelines – when he changed the past and returned to the present, he just took over his old life as if he’d been away on a trip, but that’s not the way time travel works.
If Barry Allen took their lives and shunted them off into the Speed Force, I can imagine they’d be a wee bit pissed off at him, and it suits the current MO Alchemy has, in restoring to people the abilities they had in a former timeline. He had his life stolen, so he’s giving back to others what was stolen from them and co-opting them into his revenge schemes.
Steven Bryce
October 19, 2016 @ 10:16 am
I think its Ciscos brother. why go to all the effort to show us the rift in Cisco and Barrys relationship then patch it up in half an hour? The first two series the villain has been very personal to Barry. Imagine the impact all around if it was personal to Cisco. Cisco would blame himself, Barry would obviously blame himself and it could the team apart
Matt Carter
October 19, 2016 @ 3:39 pm
Personally I think it’ll end up being someone closer to Barry, but that idea would be GREAT.
StephOMac
October 19, 2016 @ 8:43 pm
I think it actually is Cisco himself:
– Cisco (and Reverb) can see through other timelines/realities rather easily.
– Cisco has seemingly learnt how to master his powers even more and let’s not forget what Reverb told Cisco last season “You don’t even know how powerful you are.” Being able to alter one reality using elements from another could be in that character’s possible skills (maybe it all started with him wanting to have Dante back from another reality to his, since Barry refused to help him).
– As you mentionned, the Barry / Cisco thing is a Chekhov’s Gun and Cisco doesn’t feel like he’s Cisco anymore. Grief is one thing but it also feels like it could be something else.
– Cisco being afraid to go to the darkside but Barry told him he’d be there to prevent that from happening, Cisco is blaming Barry for not being there.
– Dr Alchemy is not the only big bad of the season and this issue is probably going to be resolved before Savitar enters the scene. When there’s 2 villains in a season, if not in cohort, one is often a lesser villain or a misleading one or one causing the main one to appear like the Troika in Buffy playing the faux big bad of season 6 only to cause Dark Willow to reveal herself as the real one.
– Dr Alchemy didn’t feel that tall (though it doesn’t really matter since it’s likely a different actor under the mask for now).
– The overall colorimetry and lighting on the show this season on the Flash, in this timeline, is very oppressing, dark and gloomy (Barry’s lab and Star Labs in particular, in contrast with episode 1 in Flashpoint), maybe setting the stage for such a downer confrontation between these two friends. Last season they used such color filters to differenciate Earth 1 from Earth 2 giving the latter a more yellowish/sepia tint.
– Dr Alchemy seems to only be interested in giving people back what has been taken away from them from another reality (his brother has been taken away from him).
– Julian is way too obvious for now to be Dr Alchemy as such it’s probably not him, maybe he’ll turn out to be Savitar.
SAGG1
October 19, 2016 @ 2:52 am
Nah. It’s Julian.
Dan Wilson
October 19, 2016 @ 2:19 am
I think aAlchemy is a pawn for a collective of badies. Evidence prime is in how Alchemy sends his message. Could be Grod using telekenesis, and is certainly (as his appearance has been confirmed)mirror master writing Alchemy on reflective objects
Matt Carter
October 19, 2016 @ 3:16 am
If this is a Grodd setup I’d be cool with that — I gotta imagine he’s hard to write for on this show