‘The Flash’ villains: The possible merits of Black Flash in season 3
At the end of “The Flash” season 2, we had a twist come our way courtesy of the Zoom character seemingly becoming Black Flash and being sucked away by Time Wraiths. What this meant for the story in the long-term remained unclear, but this transformation was obviously a deliberate move with one primary thought in mind: Setting the stage for something crazy to happen down the road.
Could that something crazy happen on season 3? First and foremost, we have to begin by recognizing that the odds of a Black Flash appearance are fairly low. The first reason for this is merely a matter of getting Teddy Sears back, if you want him to continue playing the character. The actor is now a part of “24: Legacy,” so you may have to hope that there is time for an episode or two and that is about it. From there, it’s all about finding a proper use for him in the story.
In the comics, this character is the speedster form of the Grim Reaper, who shows up and functions to transfers souls back to the Speed Force. The specific mechanics of this have never been quite clear, including the idea of it as almost a swirling force of dead speedster energy. It almost feels reminiscent to the Lifestream from “Final Fantasy VII,” but with the Black Flash as its gatekeeper. If you think of him as the Grim Reaper, he’s more of an inevitability than a villain.
With the inherent difficulties of creating such a story for this character in mind, what do you do in order to bring him on the show in a major way? One thing you could do is have a speedster, whether it be Barry or someone else, suffer a near-death experience and then have the Black Flash arrive, ready to take them back. Or, it could be somewhat more complicated. Given that Zoom before the transformation was a character who refused to follow rules, why would he now? Could we see the Black Flash try to become a dealer of death in his own way, trying to determine when it is time for speedsters to go?
Ultimately, this is a character that cannot be ignored, and while he had a specific presence in the comics, there is so much more that you can do to explore this character on the show. Mortality has been taken on with the Lazarus Pit on “Arrow,” but never exactly in the way it could be here.
For now, we’ll keep waiting to see if Black Flash turns, but let us know in the comments what you’d like to see from him on the show — or even if you want him to turn up again at all. (Photo: The CW.)