TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 03 Episode 21: Cause And Effect

With three episodes left, Savitar revealed, and the future getting ever closer, you had to wonder how things would escalate. Turns out…it didn’t, and instead of moving forward they did a bit of a sidestep. And while “Cause and Effect” won’t be known as the greatest Flash episode, I will acknowledge it had merit, and used the theme of the episode in some good ways.

So, first off, the first like 10 minutes of the episode was great, as we learned how Barry became Savitar. Turns out, it’s not Barry, not really, but rather a Time Remnant that future Barry (the one from four years in the future) created to try and stop Savitar. After surviving the battle (because of Savitar) and being shunned by the others, the grief and pain turned that Time Remnant into Savitar. Now, this doesn’t save the reveal from last week from being anticlimactic, but it does help a little in the overall scheme of things. Because if it was just “future Barry” then you’d have to wonder how he went from Goth to God. But with it being a remnant, they have more wiggle room.

Seeing the two fight, and finding out the Savitar suit was autonomous was pretty cool, and then watching as the others react to the news was very interesting. Cisco nerding out as he tried to comprehend it all was great stuff.

So, how could they beat the future form of Barry? Easy, by making him not remember the present. Which actually was a pretty brilliant idea for reasons I’ll get to. But naturally, it couldn’t go right, and so Barry got amnesia. Like fully and completely.

Don’t get me wrong, seeing Barry in this state was funny, for sure, but we’re three episodes away from the end and we’re having a comedy filled episode where Barry’s amnesia of course comes at the worst possible time. There’s a knock-off Heat Wave about to be released from prison because Bary can’t testify against him, Barry’s lack of memory caused Savitar to have no memory, which cause Wally to lose his powers, and so when Barry reactivates his powers, he has no idea how to use them.

Again, it was a little cliche, and you KNEW that he would get the memories back. So…what was the point? Well, they were right in that the memories Savitar didn’t have would be important. But sadly, the opportunity was wasted. On the other hand though, Killer Frost stepped in to “save” the day and it led to many beautiful and tragic moments.

And with Barry so free and innocent, it left Iris to wonder if this was best. The answer though should’ve been obvious. Yes, he’s free of the weight of his burdens, but those burdens drive him. And through his tragedies he became a better person. Thankfully, she realized that by the end, but it was still a sad thought to have.

The less I talk about HR and Tracy…the better…but I will say that the Speed Force Bazooka is pretty cool. Oh, and the power source needed to fuel it is being guarded by King Shark! YES!!!!

In the end, “Cause and Effect” did some things right, and made the most out of an eye-rolling situation. Let’s just hope that Bart…I mean, Barry…will get to shine more in the final episodes. Speaking of which….Bart’s a really good name…sounds like a perfect name for a son…