The Flash S06E19 Review: Mirror Mistress

The Flash, Season 6, Episode 19: Success is Assured

So this is the final, forced season finale for Flash's sixth season, and it's certainly one that feels... rushed? Again, it's factors outside of the show's control, and it does at least feel like we've concluded a chunk of the ongoing storylines for the sixth season. The season's cut short a couple of episodes before what it really was intended to, and we're quickly rushed towards what's the closest cliffhanger we could've gotten while still feeling like a conclusion to a season. I'm curious how the other CW shows will play out.

Whatever the case, a lot of storylines are obviously put aside for the next season. The Artificial Speed Force, bringing back Barry's speed, Godspeed, whatever the hell Eobard's up to... and we're focusing the entirety of this episode on wrapping up at least the first chapter of the Mirror Master storyline. Interestingly, though, we don't conclude all the hanging plot threads! Sure, Eva McCulloch hunting Carver for her vendetta plays out in this episode, and, surprisingly, even Sue Dibny gets to return and hang out for this episode (I can totally see the original version of this season having the Ralph/Sue bit play out in a whole episode of its own). Most interestingly, though, the show's still keeping Iris, Kamilla and an off-screen David Singh trapped in the Mirrorverse, so that's going to be the huge thing that the seventh season will be building up towards.

It's still a pretty surprisingly intense final episode for a season, though, ending on a high note and that's not just because the show surprisingly had a budget for a bunch of stunts and fighty-fight. I thought that Eva kidnapping the light-based trio of Dr. Light, Ultraviolet and Sunshine as just that for Carver's heavy-hitters, but then Eva just lets the three of them loose against Carver and they end up fighting the rest of our heroes, with a neat little hand-to-hand action for Sue, and a neat little sequence of cousin-fight between Allegra and Ultraviolet. Not sure about the random bits of the screen being cut up into like... comic-book panels or something? But the actual fight scenes, once they get going on, is neat.

A good chunk of the episode's huge conflict comes from Team Flash attempting to protect the slimy Joseph Carver from being killed by Eva, and throughout the episode, the writing does emphasize what a terrible asshat Carver is, being a dick to everyone and trying to profit even in the midst of being protected. One by one, Eva turns all of Carver's defenses against him. She takes over the trio of light-based metahumans, she shuts down Carver's huge forcefield thing, she blows up Carver's storehouse of blackmail material and it's all Team Flash can do to even keep up with her.

Again, the episode is paced surprisingly well for a rushed finale, feeling tense as our heroes (and Carver) try to figure out how to outplay Eva. Even Sue's inclusion, with how she shows up with her parents all fine and dandy in Ralph's office, and later reveals to have taken her parents' place in Carver's organization to help clear her parents' debt, is done pretty well. Sure, the subsequent little twist of her deciding not to be evil and end up following Ralph's suggestion to not go around assassinating people is obvious, but it's a neat enough B-plot to play in the background that makes the episode feel as involved as it is. There's also the brief bit where Barry was actually even willing to hand over Carver to Mirror-Singh until Nash shakes him out of it. It's a short moment that's resolved quickly, but I really do like the display of genuine vulnerability from Barry.

Still, while all the secondary characters duke it out in the lobby of the McCulloch industries building, we get a neat little sequence of Eva facing off against Barry. And Carver is pretty much scum, and it's not just the things he's done towards Eva either, abandoning the search for her and just weaponizing and profiteering from her discoveries. We haven't been sure how much of this is just Eva's interpretation of what has happened, but the episode reveals that, well, Carver's known about the Mirrorverse all along and is a gigantic dick about everything else. And that's perhaps the more boring way out, making Carver a card-carrying villain, but it's also one that fits the fact that we got to conclude this season quickly. Barry tries to prevent Eva from killing Carver because, well, he's a superhero and that's the superhero thing to do, but Eva's mirror manipulation powers easily allows her to stab the speed-deprived Barry, shove a shard of glass through his body and turn Carver into carved.

There's a bunch of B-plot that happened in the background. The exit for Danielle Panabaker's pregnancy is kind of silly and drawn-out, and I honestly think a single short scene set in episode 17 would've been preferable. But now Frost is off with Caitlin's mom to do some rehab. Nash and Allegra also get a bit of a sorta-father/daughter bonding time when Nash gave Allegra a little gadget that saved her life in the fight, and it seems like their little conflict is now a truce for the time being?

And the episode ends with Eva winning, sort of -- her main goal of killing Carver is done, and it appears that the sunshine trio is now loyal to her. She's also done what she wants to do and taken over the company that she thinks rightfully belongs to her... but Iris, Kamilla and Singh are still trapped in the mirror-verse. Plus, Sue Dibny is framed for the killing of Joseph Carver, which is a neat bit of 'fuck you' from Eva. Eva herself is honestly pretty interesting as an antagonist, especially considering the relatively limited amount of time we've seen her. She's clearly evil and murderous, no doubt about that, but at the same time, she is working off of her own twisted sense of justice and revenge, making her a genuinely different shade of evil compared to someone like Cicada or Thinker or the many evil speedsters. If nothing else, it does actually make me really excited to see what this version of the Mirror Master (or is it "Mirror Mistress"? Master is a gender-neutral term, technically...) is going to be up to next season. If nothing else, it's a decent enough season finale with what they're given with.