The Biggest Unanswered Questions From The Flash Season 7
Another year has come and gone, and with it, another season in the story of Barry Allen of The CW's favorite iteration of Earth-1. Season seven of "The Flash" brought plenty of twists, turns, and very fast running, while at the same time wrapping up the story of Godspeed, at least for the time being.
That said, there were still a few loose ends at the end of "Heart of the Matter: Part 2," the emotional conclusion to the Flash family's latest go-'round. The good news is that "The Flash" has already received the go-ahead to continue its epic tale in an eighth season, scheduled to debut in Fall of 2021. The bad news is that we still have a long time to ponder the implications of this latest story, and just what the Scarlet Speedster has set up for himself in days to come. Here are the biggest questions left unanswered at the end of season seven of "The Flash."
Why did Barry let Thawne leave if he was so much faster?
Among the biggest reveals in "The Flash's" season seven finale was a new, definitive pecking order in the Speed Force bureaucracy of quickness. In the aftermath of the battle with Godspeed, Barry shows Eobard Thawne the true meaning of being faster than another guy who is also fast. It's all terribly dramatic.
What it isn't, from a narrative standpoint, is super-duper sensible. Thawne has been a real pain in the scarlet underoos for Allen since back before most of our hero's friends developed metahuman abilities, and his enthusiasm for murdering the Flash is a matter of public record. He even said as much during the final bow of this season, informing Barry that he only helped him to make sure that nobody but Thawne would ever have a taxidermied Grant Gustin on his wall.
All of which makes you wonder: aside from setting up further adventures for "future us" the way Barry alluded to towards the end of the episode, why would a now-demonstrably faster Barry Allen allow his greatest foe to get away? Is there more at play here, or was he just tuckered out at the end of a long lightsaber fight?
Speaking of which...
Where did those lightsabers come from, though?
We all love a lightsaber fight. Their zappy promise has kept audiences coming back for more "Star Wars" movies for the better part of half a century. "Spaceballs" did one. Jay and Silent Bob did one. Every mid-budget sci-fi/fantasy flick made between 1977 and 1989 found a way to "homage" its way to dropping some sort of mystical glowing weapon into the proceedings.
That said, even with Barry and Company's not-unimpressive laundry list of talents, it feels like their sudden ability to shape the Speed Force into a lightning-shaped laser sword came just the teensiest bit out of nowhere, right? The third act of "Heart of the Matter: Part 2" brought not one, but three out-of-nowhere Speedsaber wielders into the fray, with barely a sternly focused look between them to explain how they turned Speed Force-flavored lemons into mystical stab-party lemonade. Yes, the whole thing goes a long way towards implying how Nora would go on to utilize that same Speed Force to generate a lasso in 2049, as well as Bart's ability to create Speed Force shuriken in the fight against the Godspeed clones, but it all just happens a little — stay with us here — fast.
How did Kramer get Godspeed's powers?
At the tail end of "Heart of the Matter: Part 2," audiences learned that Kristen Kramer had a perfectly good reason for having survived as long as she did, and for having Speed Forced her way to heroism earlier in the story — sort of. According to Kramer, she had recently tested positive as a Metahuman, rocking the ability to mimic the metahuman powers of anyone with whom she was in close contact.
That's all well and good. The liberal application of Peter Petrelli powers has been a staple of superhero stories since the Silver Age of comic books. But, and here's the thing, it doesn't explain how Kramer managed to copy Heart's abilities.
Godspeed, if you'll recall, wasn't a proper metahuman. He was granted his abilities through artificial means. It was sort of his whole rigamarole through the season seven finale — he wanted legitimate Speed Force powers because his lab-grown facsimiles would never measure up. So how could Kramer have copied his super-science-induced speed if her ability is to copy the powers of grass-fed, organic metahumans? Maybe season eight will fill in some gaps.
Who told you that the Flash's day was about you, Bart?
Honestly, there were plenty of questions left open by the season seven finale of "The Flash." Will Godspeed's imprisonment change history for Bart and Nora? Is Thawne still a swiftly moving piece on the board game of Barry's life? How many more Cisco appearances can viewers expect after the heartfelt goodbye we saw earlier in the season?
But the biggest question, to quote Kelly Kapoor, is "number one, how dare you?" That goes out to Bart West-Allen, who apparently decided that his parents' wedding vow renewal was all about him. Fine, his mom cried, and yes, his dad looked as proud as a father can be, but honestly, man. You've been in this time period for maybe a day, and all of a sudden Barry and Iris's special day is all about your ability to sing like an angel? Jonah Mutono is a sometimes food, and not to be employed when your audience feels less than prepared to feel feelings.
We're not crying, you're crying.