The Flash is currently on its sixth season and while its main villain isn’t a speedster (hasn’t been for a while, really), the show still features a couple of them during its run.
This article will cover content up till Season 6 Episode 18, so there will be spoilers.
There were a couple of episodes that built up to a possible return of the Reverse-Flash. Ultimately, though, his efforts were thwarted towards the end by Team Flash.
Despite that, the show still teased his return, and I’m sure fans will actually want that to happen. It’s only because he’s a really compelling villain, and well, The Flash’s true arch-nemesis, so there’s that.
The other speedster to make an appearance is Godspeed. He made his first appearance on the first episode of the season and most recently, the eighteenth.
And boy, what a disappointment he’s been.
Though Godspeed has only appeared in about three episodes, I think his introduction was the most unappealing of all the villain speedsters so far.
A Weak Start
Godspeed/ August Heart made his first official appearance all the way back in Season 5 in the self-titled episode “Godspeed”. He went up against The Flash’s future daughter Nora Allen, otherwise known as XS (who’s now erased from existence).
His portrayal was very different from his comic counterpart, obsessing over speed as Zoom did. That carries over to Season 6, though viewers are introduced to “another” Godspeed.
It was explained that he was a “duplicate” and not the “original” Godspeed, which is presumably still August Heart. It doesn’t help that these duplicates can’t talk either, releasing a weird modem-like sound instead.
Viewers were led to believe the Godspeed in the eighteenth episode was the original, but he ended up being a duplicate, too. The episode did, however, provide a little more context about what’s going on.
This Godspeed is shown to be capable of stealing speed and kind of teases another villain, likely a speedster, that wants “infinite velocity” before he starts making those modem-like sounds too.
I sure hope whoever this villain is actually the original Godspeed himself, though fans have come up with theories of who else it could be.
Then again, though, if it ends up being someone else, that just makes Godspeed look even more pathetic, acting as some sort of lackey instead of being his own speedster.
This is disappointing not only because of how cool his comic counterpart is, but also because of how his character has merely been used as a plot device this entire time.
I mean, think about it. He only showed up to fight against Nora Allen because the plot needed something—or someone—to make the plot move forward.
He barely had a role in the first episode of Season 6, only appearing at the start and never heard from again until the eighteenth episode. Even then, he wasn’t the main attraction at all.
Don’t get me started on the suit. While it seemed cool at first, over time, I found his cowl to be oddly designed. It just doesn’t look as good as Zoom’s, and certainly not as menacing.
Comparison To Other Villain Speedsters
If you think I’m being unfair just because he’s different from the comics, then allow me to explain myself. The CW has made changes to a number of other speedsters for its TV show. The likes of Zoom and Savitar were vastly different from their comic counterparts but still served as a decent villain right to the end.
I’m not even bringing up their backstory, because that’s simply not fair to Godspeed. I’m talking purely about his motives and how much of a threat he poses to The Flash. At the moment, he’s off to a bad start.
Most other villain speedsters had a strong introduction, showcasing how menacing they are to the show’s protagonist, but Godspeed? He didn’t even feel like a proper threat when he first fought Nora Allen because she was at a disadvantage. She was very inexperienced with her powers, which lead to an unfair battle between the two.
While The Flash did struggle against him in the eighteenth episode, it’s only because he lost touch to the Speed Force and wasn’t as fast, also putting him at a severe disadvantage.
The only reason he wins both fights against The Flash and his daughter, is because he had an advantage. It just seems to me that Godspeed pops up in scenarios that fail to showcase the same level of threat other speedsters established at the start in previous seasons.
I somehow remembered The Rival during this writeup, and yeah, he wasn’t that great of a villain either. To be fair, though, he was probably never meant to take centre stage so I suppose that’s forgivable.
Future Hopes For The Character
Deep down, I’m rooting for Godspeed to still be written as an anti-hero. His background may change and that’s fine, but if they stuck to the character’s core, he could turn to be a more compelling character than previously thought.
He’ll likely return in Season 7, though it’s unclear if he’ll be the main villain. If he is, The CW better turn him to a proper character and showcase why he’s a threat to The Flash at full strength.
The Flash’s season finale will air Wednesday, 13 May 2020 at 9.05 PM on Astro channel 712 (Warner TV).
