When it comes to television – and season finales – you’re never safe until the final scene. Even when everything has worked out and the big bad Zoom has been defeated, you can never really relax until the final credits roll. Especially when it comes to The Flash’s Barry Allen.
While we all love Barry, there’s no denying that he had his share of missteps and selfish decisions last season. But of course the biggest misstep he made came in the final moments of the season finale when Barry went back in time to save his mother and essentially rewrote history.
“[It was] a pretty selfish decision, obviously,” Grant Gustin told us during a roundtable interview at SDCC. “I think he’s a little blind to that when he makes it. I think the reason he makes it is he’s sitting on that porch, they’ve just defeated Zoom. Everything is essentially how it should be and Iris says to Barry what he’s always wanted to hear, and he still feels empty. It’s not until that exact moment that he decides I need to change this; this isn’t how things should be.”
Of course Barry’s decision had its consequences as it launches the series into its craziest feat yet: Flashpoint. And while you’d think that Barry would find himself trapped in this world and wanting to escape, that’s not necessarily the case in the beginning.
“When we see him in Flashpoint some time has passed,” Gustin said. “He’s been in this timeline for awhile now. He’s loving it. He’s kind of taking a backseat. There’s another speedster – Kid Flash, who is The Flash in this timeline – and Barry’s okay with that. He kind of takes the year off. He has absolute gratitude for the fact that both of his parents are alive and well in front of him because he knows still what the other timeline was. So he’s just enjoying this new life.”
But of course paradise won’t last forever for Barry as time is bound to catch up with him.
“He will definitely learn a lot from this decision that he’s made,” Gustin said. “He’ll actually get some time travel advice and messing with the timeline advice from another speedster. I’ll let you guess who that is. He’s going to learn plenty.”
Watch our interview with Gustin below where he discusses Barry’s stubbornness and impulsivity, his hope for Joss Whedon to direct an episode of The Flash, and more.
The Flash season three premieres Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 8/7c on the CW.
