What I Saw: October 7th, 2016

I finally got to watch The Flash! I was also surprised to find out it was no longer on Hulu, but managed to watch it online through the CW's new streaming site (it was totally worth the trouble, I might add). I used up a lot of time just walking around and enjoying the nice weather here in Bakersfield before it gets hot, and then freezing, so only two episodes today.

What I Watched:

Master of None S1.E10 - "Finale"
The Flash S3.E1 - "Flashpoint"

What I Saw:

Wrapping up Master of None.

This finale was filled with the theme that I like most, the Existential crisis. Dev and his friends attend the premier of the movie he was working on, just to find out his character was cut out from the entire film. Distraught from what he thought was going to be the movie to help put him on the radar for more movie gigs, he starts to question whether acting is really what he wants to do anymore. His dad gives him some advice by telling him of a story where a man is staring at metaphorical figs on a tree, where each fig represents a choice and direction his life can take. He takes so long trying to decide which fig to choose that he starves to death. Meaning, Dev needs to make some kind of choice or else his anxiety about what he should accomplish will cause him to accomplish nothing in his life. He isn't the only one who is going through something like this, as Rachel had hinted a couple episodes back that she wanted to pursue an opportunity with her company in Chicago because she is running out of time to start making her mark in life. She had also talked about wanting to travel in her lifetime.

Which leads to the HUGE bomb that was dropped for the ending. Dev and Rachel attend a wedding, and upon hearing the vows of the seemingly happy couple they imagine a scene where their own vows are more realistic. The vows included all the doubt and fear that people when it comes to relationship. Is this person really the one? Will I miss out on my true soulmate just because I am dating this person at the time most people get married?

Instead of taking his dad's advice about making decisions, Dev comes up with the idea of having each other write down a percentage of the likelihood of the relationship continuing to marriage; which is to say, he effed up. That actually reminds me of the scene in Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy. In this scene the main character is given advice which tells him point blank that he needs to be confident in that the woman who loves him loves him for who he is, regardless of some of the more, shall was say, adventurous, types that she dated before. Instead he does this (warning, there is foul language in this clip):



Back to Dev. He gets good advice from his friend Benjamin (who I might add is my favorite character) where he is told straight up that there is no way of knowing, and you have to take a leap of faith and figure it out as you go along. That there is no perfect relationship where you are happy all the time. Unfortunately the advice comes too late and Rachel decides to take her a leap of faith, but instead of taking the leap to be with Dev she does it by flying off to Japan. Dev then follows suit and flies to Italy to learn how to be a noodle chef, and then the season ends!

This episode is very relatable to those who are reaching full blown adult-hood and are in a position to make some serious decisions in their lives. The important thing to take away is you have to make a decision because then, and only then, do you get an answer.

On to The Flash!

If you couldn't tell, I've been excited to watch the new season. And I must say it was well worth the wait. This new Flashpoint world (named after the comic series Flashpoint Paradox that this episode is loosely based on), is one where everything seems better than the world Barry left behind. With the exception of Joe and Iris not talking because Joe is a drunk, everything is great! The best lines were carried out by the Reverse Flash, where he points out that Barry is deluding himself that everything will be the way he wants it to. Because, let's face it, in life things never come out exactly the way you want. Barry still tries to ignore this truth and starts to rebuild Team Flash by literally collecting (or hilariously in Caitlyn's case, kidnapping) everyone to put together in one room.

However, after Wally gets seriously injured to the point he is not healing, Barry realizes that he can't have everything he wants without someone else having to pay the price. He then releases Reverse Flash to reset everything by letting his mother die again. Of course, since the Reverse Flash is his archenemy, he adds an extra cost for all the trouble Barry has caused him. Upon returning Barry realizes Iris and Joe are still not talking, and he has no idea what the Reverse Flash did to change the past. The moral of the story: life is messy, and as much as we sometimes hate what life throws at us, sometimes the alternative can be worse. Not only that, but life will always be throwing things at us that we don't like, so might as well accept the things in the past we can't (or in time travelers' case, shouldn't) change, and focus only on what we can change, which is our future. I can't wait until next week's episode to see what was changed.