We’ve taken some dark turns in the DC realm as both The Flash and Arrow end their second and fourth seasons, respectively. Superheroes on TV takes a look at why ego is fragile and unpredictable, and we’ll also look at where this leaves us for the next seasons.

If you didn’t hate Zoom before, how could you not hate him after he killed Henry right in front of Barry? Henry, the man whose name we spent the entire first season trying to clear for the murder of his wife, Barry’s mother. The man who encouraged Flash to always do right and refused to let Flash break him out of Iron Heights. Henry was the last relative in Barry’s actual bloodline, and the last tether Barry had to his mother.
It is understandable why Henry would be used as a plot device to move Barry forward, but that doesn’t lessen the pain of watching Barry lose his father. The act, which sent Barry over the edge and into a fit of rage, is exactly what Zoom has wanted from the beginning. We have never seen Barry lose control, and all sense of purpose, like he did when he admitted to Joe that he not only wanted to kill Zoom, but he also wanted to see him suffer. “Now you and I are exactly the same,” Zoom kept repeating in “The Race of His Life.” Was this was a sick and twisted attempt at finding common ground, or is it really as banal as Zoom needing an equal so he can prove he’s better?
Without giving himself time to properly mourn Henry, Barry is so obsessed with beating Zoom that he refuses to listen to reason; not even Joe nor Iris can pull Barry from his insistence on racing. Blinded by both his ego and rage, Barry is tranquilized by the rest of the team. While he is out, they come together to formulate their own plan to send Zoom back to Earth-2.

Team Flash’s plan works, except that Joe gets pulled into Earth-2 with Zoom. Barry is furious when he learns what happens and now has to both save Joe and defeat Zoom before the Multiverse is destroyed. Though somewhere between being a prisoner and racing Zoom, Barry finds some humility and is able to outsmart Zoom by creating a time remnant. It causes enough of a stir that Time Wraiths find them and take Zoom away while Barry’s remnant destroys himself in the process of shutting down the Earth(s) ending machine.
However, once Zoom is gone, they learn that the REAL Jay Garrick is actually a Henry doppelganger; a revelation that rocks Barry to his very core. (An “ah-ha” moment from a few episodes back when Henry told Barry that his mother’s maiden name was Garrick.) As Barry and Iris share a quite moment (and a sweet kiss!), he reveals just how hollow and broken the experience has left him. For all the selfless behavior it took to defeat Zoom, that ego rears its head once more as Barry travels back in time to the night of his mother’s death. Only this time, he stops Reverse Flash from killing Nora.
What will this do to the timeline? How will stopping Reverse Flash alter all of the events from the first season? Utterly empty on the inside, Barry goes back in time to stop the single most defining moment of his life from ever happening. As mentioned earlier this season, family has a way of being a point of weakness for our heroes, and it feels like this is going to take a lot longer for Barry to recover from.

Oliver’s ego has been in flux for most of Arrow‘s fourth season. Unlike Barry, Oliver finally acknowledged his arrogance when talking to Felicity after Darhk’s Ghosts shoot up their HQ.
“I just can’t believe that I thought I’d be the one to unite this city while Damien Darhk was trying to kill it. It was arrogant. The same arrogance that made me feel like I could be the Green Arrow without descending into darkness. Bottom line, it was foolish.”
It’s about time a character acknowledge that their ego has gotten in the way of their success. His realization hits when we also see a flashback of Amanda Waller telling Oliver, “Sometimes killing is the only path to justice.” That’s a tough pill to swallow because heroes are supposed to believe that justice belongs in the hands of the proper authorities. Yet one of the most frustrating things about that narrative is that the bad guys don’t play by the same rules.
Think back to how malicious Andy was in the threats he was making to John. He flat out said nothing his brother could do would ever stop him from coming after his family. While John Diggle had a hard time coming to terms with having killed his brother, was there any other possible course of action that would have kept his family safe?

When you’re dealing with relentless killers, there comes a certain point where “kill ’em with kindness” no longer applies. Good reason I’d never be a good hero, but it seems to me that some criminals deserve a certain finality so they will not have another opportunity to wreak havoc. Does that mean there’s a good side to Oliver’s ego that made him think killing was not a solution? Or was his arrogance wrapped up in the thought that he could lead two separate lives while also keeping said lives separate within himself?
Oliver’s “descent into darkness” as he calls it, however, does not look anything like the villain’s he’s fought in these four seasons. The Green Arrow may spend an inordinate amount of time on the wrong side of the law, but it does not inherently make him a bad guy. There is no perfect formula for being a hero; which is exactly what allows Arrow to keep its humanity.
What happens now that the team has gone their separate ways? What becomes of a world where we’ve now got to deal with the fallout of a nuclear attack? “Schism” left absolutely everything up in the air for Arrow‘s fifth season. There was no hint at a new big bad, and no sign of who will step in now that we’ve lost some of Team Arrow.
The Flash and Arrow (along with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and now Supergirl) all return to The CW this fall. Despite not knowing which direction each show is heading just yet, we can rest assured that a massive 4-way crossover event is sure to happen.
Jasmin
Related posts
Classics
Dennis Heaton Talks The Imperfects
Longtime readers at TV Goodness will know that Motive is one of my ride-or-die series, and as such, I am fiercely loyal to its creator, Dennis Heaton. He followed up that fantastic reverse procedural with Netflix’s The Order and is back on our streaming screens with The Imperfects, which dropped…
Kelly McCormack Talks Favorite Moments in A League of Their Own
[Warning: Mild spoilers for season 1.] Now that you’ve had a chance to watch A League of Their Own, here’s the rest of my chat with Kelly McCormack about her favorite moments of the season. Seeing the iconic Peaches uniforms for the first time wasn’t just a goosebump moment for…
John Griffin and Harold Perrineau Talk From on EPIX Season 1 Finale
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] How are we doing, #FROMily? In case you missed it this morning, the very good news is that that cliffhanger will be followed by a second season, which was gifted this morning ahead of the linear broadcast of the finale. I always legitimately appreciate when we…
Elizabeth Saunders Talks EPIX’s From
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] One of the things that makes EPIX’s From such a fun ride is the abundance of Canadian cast members. Elizabeth Saunders, who plays Donna, is a favorite from her turn on the third season of Mary Kills People [streaming on Global TV in Canada and Roku…
Corteon Moore Talks From “Broken Windows, Open Doors”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight’s episode of From had us all in our feels as we learned through flashbacks about the Sophie’s Choice Boyd had to make to save his son, and back in the present as Boyd said his piece with Ellis before heading into the woods with…
Pegah Ghafoori Talks From “All Good Things…”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode] Tonight on From, Fatima’s anniversary celebration turned into a Colony House of horrors when a misguided Kevin let his monster bae in and she promptly killed him and left the window open for her crew. While the party devolved into terror and sent everyone running,…
Shaun Majumder Talks From “Book 74”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight on EPIX’s From, Father Khatri made a bold move, kidnapping Sara instead of turning her in, and then recognizing her as a vessel for some big messages. That startling realization speaks to him on multiple levels–as a man of faith, a man trapped in…
Avery Konrad Talks About Sara’s Struggle in From “Silhouettes”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Over the course of the season so far on From, we’ve witnessed Sara’s battle against the voices telling her to to do terrible things, and tonight we saw her unravel further, threatening the Matthews and lashing out in a moment of terror with horrifying results….
Hannah Cheramy Talks From “Choosing Day”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight, on EPIX’s From, the Matthews participate in the show’s version of the sorting hat, choosing where to call home–the town or Colony House. At the end of the episode, Julie makes the decision to split from her family and instead settle in with Fatima…
Ricky He Talks From “The Way Things Are Now”
[Warning: Spoilers for episode 102 of EPIX’s From.] Epix’s new series From is two episodes in and it’s already laying the groundwork for a seriously spooky season. Tonight’s episode demonstrated the careful balance of relief and horror that the show hits, with our characters’ worst fears realized, just not when…
What They Said: Three Revealing Conversations from Survivor’s Remorse “Closure”
WARNING: Spoilers for Survivor’s Remorse “Closure” The latest episode of Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse featured conversations that showed characters really digging deep into their thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Two Takes: The Catch “The Knock-Off”
Who can you trust? If this episode of The Catch was any indication, the answer is just about nobody. Betrayal was running rampant as Felicity (Shivani Ghai) arose from the dead to seduce-con Margot, Gretchen (Maria Thayer, Gotham, The Mindy Project) played gold-hearted Alice 2.0 before swindling Ethan, Tessa jumped…
What They Said: Top 3 Quotable Moments from Preacher “El Valero”
Both Quincannon and Jesse refuse to give up on what they each think is rightfully theirs. While Jesse is struggling to face the consequences of his actions, Quincannon has laid his past demons to rest and is hellbent on moving forward and putting Annville on the map again. Despite a…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Supergirl “Worlds Finest”
Oh, Supergirl. That ending was cold. But I can’t hate on you because the latest episode has quickly become one of my favorites.
What They Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Black Sails “XXIII”
The dialogue in “XXIII” is phenomenal. It’s always a fun ride when Black Sails carries its viewers along without giving them the chance to catch their breath. When an episode moves at this unforgiving pace, there is no chance for a breather nor is there a respite from the information…
What Lucifer Said: Favorite quotes from Supernatural “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Supernatural episodes are almost always funny but thanks to the dialogue and a certain man speaking said dialogue, I laughed a lot during “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” You know, when I wasn’t busy fearing for Sam’s life or wondering what in the world was going on with Dean and…
What They Said: The Flash, “Legends Of Today” and Arrow, “Legends Of Yesterday”
Two nights of Arrow + The Flash = what more could we ask for?! I don’t know what it is about blending these shows, but I can’t help but feel that every time they come together, they somehow become greater than the sum of their parts. And that’s saying a lot…
What they Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Graceland “Little Bo Bleep”
Shoot outs. Fake outs. And long-awaited revelations. “Little Bo Bleep” was a jam-packed episode that wrapped up some loose ends and totally frayed others. Â It finally gave us one Sarkissian in jail and pulled back the curtain on Briggs’ master plan, but it also set up Jakes for a world…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Poldark “Part 4”
“What have I told you, I don’t require my wife to crochet and sip tea, but I do require her to remember she’s not a beast of burden.†No, I’m not talking about The Rolling Stones! I have to admit though, just for a second, the lyrics popped into my…
3 Moments of Goodness from Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Johnny and Dora”
The most satisfying part of this season’s finale has to the Jake and Amy kiss. Well, they kiss three times but the last one is the best one — and it means something. The Charles and Rosa dynamic was also great. I love how she’s convinced he doesn’t know anything…