The New Season (2022)

[ClarkKent_DC]

It's that time of year again!

Continuing the tradition started by Doctor Hmmm? back in 2010, and followed inconsistently since (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021), here's a catchall thread about any and all shows debuting or returning this fall, with an emphasis on the shows that don't generate their own threads.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

[SPOILERS for The Flash series finale] Tracy was doing okay with it... right up until they brought Kaitlyn back, then she started bawling. Right around this time she said, "You know what would make this perfect? If cisco dropped by." I agreed, but that didn't happen.]

Getting Kaitlyn back was one of the two things I wanted to see, although I totally did not expect or even anticipate it.

The other was Joe proposing to Cecile. Well, I actually, for years, have wanted to see their wedding, but I'll take this. Like Cecile said, "FINALLY!" 

[ClarkKent_DC]

As for Cisco not being part of the finale, Carlos Valdes told Entertainment It's Not Even in Print Any More "I couldn't really make it work, which was really heartbreaking to me because I thought, if I decided to step away from the show, at the very least I have to be there for the finale to round this thing out and to really honor the full circle-ness of it. It was really heartbreaking to not be able to make it work."

Valdes was occupied filming a show called Up Here for Hulu. Still, I wish there had been something -- a video call, a word that he's off exploring other dimensions for A.R.G.U.S., anything!

We did get Wally a couple of episodes ago, so that's okay. Might have been nice to get Sue Dearborn, although Ralph Dibny is off limits because Hartley Sawyer got himself fired.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"The other was Joe proposing to Cecile."

Maybe we haven't been paying close enough attention, but both Tracy and I thought they were already married.

"Entertainment It's Not Even in Print Any More"

Ha! (Even my "replacement" People magazine subscription finally stopped coming after three cancellation notices.)

[ClarkKent_DC]

Last night we watched the series finale of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in a movie theater; Prime Video arranged screenings in movie theaters in select cities, so we signed up. 

The episode was preceded by a trailer clip reel of scenes from the five seasons, and it was nice to see all those production numbers and sets and locales on a big screen. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel always pulled out all the stops on its production design and costuming. 

The story was satisfying, too. This season was building up to the moment when Midge got her big break, performing on The Gordon Ford Show, and it delivered. Also during the season, there were several flash-forwards that let you know of Midge's fate and how her family and platonic partner-for-life Susie Myerson fared in the years after Midge became a star.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I'm so glad Joe & Cecile's engagement worked so well for you, CK! Like Jeff & Tracy, I had thought they were already married. 

I'd seen the reports that Cisco wouldn't be back, and it bummed me out too. It would have been great to see him one more time. But it was wonderful to see Kaitlyn back, and that really surprised me, too.

Maybe the funniest line of the whole season was in the penultimate episode, when someone in 2049 (Iris, I think) says "Eddie Thawne? You're back... and you haven't aged a day!" Meanwhile, everyone on Team Flash is running around looking almost exactly the same after 26 years, aside from maybe a little gray in their hair that was barely visible on an HDTV.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Joe and Cecile make such a lovely, natural couple that I was pulling for them to tie the knot. But no, there wasn't a proposal, let alone a wedding -- not even off-screen -- before the finale.

[ClarkKent_DC]

TV Club has a nice retrospective/post mortem for the Arrowverse: "R.I.P. to the Arrowverse, the Most Ambitious Experiment in the History of Superhero TV"

[Captain Comics]

I haven't watched Flash for the last two seasons, but I also thought that Joe and Cecile were already married! 

I do want to watch this last season, but my wife is lukewarm to the idea and there's always something better to watch. We don't have unlimited time to watch TV together, given our opposing schedules. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Great article, CK! It's a welcome reminder of how good those high points were.

Cap, a couple seasons ago Flash became a show I watched solo... and while I wouldn't say I enjoyed it more after that, it was at least easier to hear, since I wasn't distracted by the sound of Kathy's eyes rolling with every new* plot development. 

*new, but pretty much the same as any earlier development. (Oh, you mean he has to fight another evil speedster? And run faster than ever before?)

[Richard Willis]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

"The other was Joe proposing to Cecile."

Maybe we haven't been paying close enough attention, but both Tracy and I thought they were already married.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought they were already married.

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

Cap, a couple seasons ago Flash became a show I watched solo... and while I wouldn't say I enjoyed it more after that, it was at least easier to hear, since I wasn't distracted by the sound of Kathy's eyes rolling with every new* plot development.

*new, but pretty much the same as any earlier development. (Oh, you mean he has to fight another evil speedster? And run faster than ever before?)

I think I've said before that I hated their overuse of speedster villains. In the comics, if all of his enemies were speedsters The Flash wouldn't have been around for decades. It had gotten to the point that if Eobard Thawne came back again, whichever face he wore, I was going to have to figure out how to kill him myself.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

Maybe we haven't been paying close enough attention, but both Tracy and I thought they were already married.

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

I'm so glad Joe & Cecile's engagement worked so well for you, CK! Like Jeff & Tracy, I had thought they were already married. 

Captain Comics said:

I haven't watched Flash for the last two seasons, but I also thought that Joe and Cecile were already married! 

Richard Willis said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought they were already married.

Sometimes I feel like I'm not watching the same show everyone else is. Now I know I'm not. 

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

I thought they were already married, too! I'm guessing this is some kind of time reset artifact.