The Flash Season 3: Best Episode, Best Reveal, Biggest Heartbreak & More

Despite its rocky start, The Flash Season 3 found its footing faster than a man named Wells could whisper, "Run, Barry, Run."

As usual, our heroes faced off against an evil speedster hell bent on ruining Barry Allen's life. Except this speedster had a unique connection with Barry.

Because he was Barry.

We want to talk about the season's other twists, team-ups, tensions, transformations, and so much more. We've listed some of our favorite, and least favorite, moments below.

Scroll through our choices, and then feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Need to catch up or simply relive the action? You can watch The Flash online anytime!

1. Best Episode

We know its probably not fair to choose the finale, but The Flash Season 3 Episode 23, "Finish Line," deserves the title. The hour had everything. A final battle between Barry and Savitar-Barry. Iris showed off her badass skills while Caitlin reclaimed a part of herself. The team stepped up to save the day, and shared a heartbreaking goodbye. Make that two heartbreaking goodbyes. Barry finally accepted responsibility for his time manipulations, and left his friends behind to pay the price.

2. Most Disappointing Episode

The Flash Season 3 Episode 14, "Attack on Central City," was billed as part two of the Gorilla arc, aka, the return of Grodd and his army. While we love Grodd, and we loved everything about the team's trip to Gorilla City, the second hour of Grodd might have been one too many. Maybe it was a budget issue, but the gorillas played far too small of a role. Most of the hour was split between H.R.'s version of Valentine's Day, Barry's frustration, and Jesse's decision to relocate. We expected more battles and less drama.

3. Best New Character

It's impossible not to love earth-hopping bounty hunter Gypsy. Just ask Cisco. He declared his intentions to marry her a few minutes after they met. Sign us up to attend that wedding, please. But sparkly chemistry aside, Gypsy proved herself to be a badass again and again. She never wavered in her beliefs, but she did show her softer side when she allowed H.R. to live despite his law-breaking. She showed off her excellent timing when she saved Cisco, and she helped the team more than once even though she prefers vibing solo.

4. Best New Character (Runner-Up)

Yes, we're cheating a bit, but we think Julian's worth it. Obviously as Harry Potter fans we were going to cheer for any character played by Tom Felton. But we were also prepared for disappointment when Julian showed up post-Flashpoint with a bad attitude, and an arrow over his head proclaiming him Dr. Alcahemy. But we were pleasantly surprised when we learned he was an unwilling pawn rather than a criminal. He joined the team, fell for Caitlin, and worked on his interpersonal skills. Plus, he dressed like Indiana Jones for a trip to meet gorilla. What's not to love?

5. Most Underused Character

Considering how much of The Flash Season 3 was spent on finding a way to save Iris' life, wouldn't it have made more sense to give the lady in question something to do? We saw Iris being reckless for a few minutes. We saw Iris being sad for a few minutes. We saw Iris being a badass for a few moments. But, mostly, we saw her standing around while those around her acted and reacted to her perilous situation. It's frustrating, to say the least, to watch the leading lady have so little to do. Especially when her life was literally on the line.

6. Biggest Head-Scratching Transition

How and why did Dr. Caitlin Snow lose so much of her good sense, and non-criminal behavior, when she transformed into Killer Frost? Caitlin spent much of the season fearing her new powers, and then she succombed to her icy alter ego after her near-death experience. But we never received a clear answer as to why. Why was she the only Team Flash member to change personalities thanks to her powers? It was never explained. And considering Caitlin broke through twice, first when Julian expressed his love, and then again when she stopped herself from killing Cisco, her descent into evil makes even less sense.

7. Best Reveal

Villain reveals go one of two ways: everyone rolls their eyes because they saw it coming from a mile away or they're shocked, but then they're annoyed because it came out of left field. Barry being Savitar was a fantastic reveal because all of the clues were there. However, they were easy to miss if you weren't paying attention. Or, if you weren't minding your grammar ("I'm the future Flash."). What made it even better was Barry managing to figure it out on his own rather than having Savitar spell it out for him. We like when smart characters get to be smart.

8. Best Proposal

You know your ship is special when a season delivers not one, but TWO fantastic proposals. And sure, Barry's first proposal to Iris had an ulterior motive, but we loved it anyway. That being said, the second proposal blew the first one out of the water. Not only did Barry put his heart and soul into it, he sang to his lady love. We can't blame Iris for swooning. We were doing the same thing. Naturally, Iris said yes, and we all breathed a sigh or relief.

9. Worst Romance

We know it seems harsh given what happened to H.R., but as much as we love romance, we had a hard time supporting H.R. and Tracy's instant love story. They met and an episode later, they were pledging to be together forever. What?! We never imagined we'd see a more rushed romance than the Caitlin/Jay mess during The Flash Season 2, but this proved us wrong. We wish they would have introduced Tracy sooner. Then, they could have built the romance at a better pace before H.R.'s untimely death.

10. Best Crossover Moment

Sorry, Dominators. We prefer our aliens to sing and dance when they drop by Central City. Or, in this case, when The Flash and Supergirl are trapped in an alternate reality in order to sort out their love lives. Sure, the plot was silly, but we were more than okay with that. Because we had singing and dancing and our favorite characters popping up in new roles. It was fun. And we needed fun in the midst of the seriousness of Savitar. We hope the musical becomes an annual thing along with the four-show crossover events.

11. Least Surprising Death

Speaking of H.R.'s death...we might not have guessed the exact circumstances, but it wasn't hard to connect the dots as to which character would die before the end of the season. And if there was any doubt, the reapperance of the apperance-altering technology was the final nail in H.R.'s coffin. It took us a while to warm up to H.R., but we still think he deserved a better ending than this one. And considering the team lost Barry right after, and Harry agreed to stay, the low key feel of it all makes us think the team won't mourn for long, either.

12. Best Death

Obviously the bad guy needs to die in the finale. That's how superhero shows work. So Savitar-Barry's death was probably less surprising than H.R.'s, if we're being honest. However, we did not expect Iris to be the one to pull the trigger! Not only did she take out the man determined to end her life, she saved her Barry's life in the process. It was a badass moment, and a super fulfilling one.

13. Most Annoying Storyline

Wally wanting to be faster than Barry was the worst. As soon as he received his powers, Wally let them go to his head. He didn't want to listen to the experts. He didn't want to be cautious. All he wanted was to be faster than Barry. And he kept repeating it and repeating and...you get our drift. Eventually, Barry tried to help Wally get faster so he could save Iris, but that plan backfired. We're happy Wally's Kid Flash, but no more races, please.

14. Story that Ended Too Soon

Flashpoint made our heads spin. After waiting the entire summer to see how things would change, we were treated to a new version of Barry's life. One that included a billionaire Cisco, eye doctor Caitlin, a brother and sister crime fighting duo, and a chance to see Barry and Iris fall in love under different circumstances. And then it was over after one hour. What?! Sure, there were consequences, but what a letdown it turned out to be after that long wait between seasons.

15. Best/Saddest Alternate Reality

In order to save Iris, Barry took a trip to the future to try and find Savitar's identity. Guys, 2024 was DARK. The team was in pieces, Barry had fallen apart over Iris' death, Julian held Killer Frost prisoner, criminals ran rampant, and all Cisco wanted was his friend back. There were too many heartbreaking moments to count, but thanks to Cisco, Barry managed to pull his future self out of his depression and reunite the team.

16. Best Friend

If we could have any TV character be our friend, we would pick Cisco. How could you not? He's got his friends' backs all the time. Even at the cost of his own. He refused to fight against Killer Frost because he couldn't hurt Caitlin. Future Cisco was broken because he'd lost Barry. Despite his reservations, Cisco went out of his way to help H.R. adjust to the new Earth. Even when he annoyed him. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a friend like Cisco.

17. Biggest Heartbreak

Sorry, Barry. Nothing hurt more than watching Joe West believe he'd just witnessed his daughter's death. As the best father on TV (sorry, Jack Pearson), Joe West's heartbreak is our heartbreak. And we'd seen what his life looked like without Iris thanks to a trip to the future. As bad as seeing him at her grave was, it was nothing compared to watching him fall apart on that rooftop. Thank God Iris arrived (looking like H.R.) to fix things fast.

18. Best Team-Up

We're never disappointed to have Wentworth Miller on our screens. When Barry needed help breaking into ARGUS, he tapped Captain Cold for the mission. Clearly, a wise choice. Sure, he broke his rules by time traveling to borrow him from the time he was running with the Legends, but we can forgive the slight. Because it was fun. Snart's snark gives us life and then when they threw in King Shark as their adversary? We loved it.

19. Worst Decision

Who thought making Cisco sad was a good idea? Seriously, we understand needing a rift between Barry and Cisco due to Flashpoint. And Carlos Valdes did a fanatastic job with the emotional heft of the story. But, wow. It was so depressing watching Cisco have no interest in the team. No quips, no naming the criminals. Our spirits plummeted right along with Cisco's. And it dragged and dragged and dragged...please don't ever hurt him this way again.

20. Overall Season Grade

We're giving The Flash Season 3 a solid B. It had a bit of a villain problem. Savitar-Barry was great, but some of the week to week villains lacked excitement. We're disappointed Flashpoint didn't last longer, but we love Barry making the decision to pay for his mistakes. We loved the character drama (minus sad Cisco), and the lighter moments (the musical, Grodd, Barry's amnesia, King Shark), and we can forgive most of the slights (as long as Wally doesn't get competitive again). We're looking forward to entering the next chapter (hopefully with even more Iris).