Five Takeaways from The Flash Season 3 Episode 9: “The Present”

These are the 5 things that kicked us in the gall bladder (and sometimes in a good way) as we watched The Flash Season 3 Episode 9: “The Present.” And, our observations are a little “spoilery,” so…if you’re catching this tomorrow, I would bookmark this article and join us afterwards. Still with us? Good, we’re always glad to have ya’.

1. The Yellow Kid

   

Man, we’ve all been waiting for Wally West to ‘for real’ procure his classic yellow Kid Flash costume. We’ve been waiting, and waiting. And waiting. We had a Flashpoint tease, but the Earth-1 proper Wally West has been on the super hero sidelines since his introduction. For real, we’ve been waiting for this moment since before the character was introduced. And now we get it, because this week, Wally receives his classic costume on Christmas! Yes, the yellow, iconic hero garb was gifted to Wally by his friends and family for the holidays — because The Flash is made up of puppies kissing kittens combined with warm gooey awesomeness.

2. Double Trouble

   

So, to no one’s surprise, Julian Dorn has been officially revealed as the high priest of Savitar, God of Motion. This week, we learn that Alchemy is Savitar’s voice and vessel. So, in other words, Dorn is Savitar’s avatar (drops mic). This actually syncs up with the comics in a pretty cool way. The classic comic book Doctor Alchemy suffered from a multiple personality disorder. The Alchemy identity was separate from his civilian identity and as a result, the villain had this cool Doctor Jekyll air of tragedy. Dorn has the same feel as Savitar uses the police scientist as a puppet.

Dorn is welcomed into the Flash family in a very heartwarming moment this week. We are also treated to Dorn’s tragic origins, so it’s pretty cool that Alchemy isn’t just going to be a typical villain or a corrupt foil to Barry Allen.

3. It’s Tricky

   

Okay, so we took a trip to Earth-3 this week and revisited Jay Garrick. On Earth-3, we get to see that reality’s version of the Trickster. Of course, this Trickster is played by Mark Hamill. But this time, Hamill plays the Trickster by way of the Joker — which basically allowed Hamill to play the Joker in live-action. Amazeballs. Hamill only popped by for a hot minute (hey, it was longer than his appearance in The Force Awakens). But to see Hamill chew scenery with the Joker voice. Paradise, man. Simply paradise.

4. Back to the Future

To defeat Savitar, Team Flash found a way to shunt Alchemy’s philosopher’s stone into the Speed Force. As a result, Flash was blown into the future and was forced to witnesses his beloved Iris West murdered by Savitar. Now, with all the lessons of Flashpoint, Barry must find a way to prevent his beloved from being gutted by the God of Motion. This reveal is like a gut-punch as the death of Iris really mirrors the death of Barry’s mom. This should set the focus of the second half of this season, and boy, the visual of an impaled Iris really leaves a scar.

5. Flash of Two Worlds

   

I will never, ever get tired of seeing Barry Allen and Jay Garrick racing side by side on live-action TV. Jay is such a vital part of Flash history and John Wesley Shipp is everything that Jay is supposed to be — heroic, noble, mature, and earnest. I never dreamed Jay Garrick would ever get live-action love and Team Berlanti really needs to figure out a way to hook Jay up with the JSA. Can you only imagine?