Disclaimer: This article features major spoilers from The Flash season six, episode one, so read this at your own risk if you have not seen the episode yet.
With the Arrowverse’s biggest crossover coming this fall with Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Flash is going to be one of the shows to truly set it up as we get closer to December. Since the end of the pilot in 2014, the build-up has been slow and steady until they ramped it up in last year’s Elseworlds crossover. The sixth season has finally kicked off as it’s now a countdown to the coming Crisis while also beginning Barry Allen’s (Grant Gustin) next chapter as a hero. As the Crisis is looming over Team Flash and a new big bad for the first half of season six has arrived, the season premiere came packing with a lot of meat.
Into the Void began big and finished even bigger as it setups the first block of episodes before heading into the crossover with the rest of the Arrowverse. From all the emotional beats, the big action and handful of surprises, there’s a lot to take in from the season premiere. With that said, we’ll be going through the five best moments from the episode as well as five questions that it raised.
BEST MOMENT: New Costume Reveals
With a new season, new showrunner and new stories came a few costume upgrades. For starters, after being teased in the season five finale, fans finally got to see Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker) suit up in her new costume by Cisco (Carlos Valdes.) Unlike the previous looks she has had, this one is here to stay. But the Scarlet Speedster himself also got a shiny upgrade and it’s a biggie.
Now sporting a brand new cowl design, Barry’s newest costume is, without doubt, the best one he has had in the whole series. After what became a bit of a controversy with his season five look, Into the Void took care of that issue as Barry has his best look ever. Hopefully, that still includes the Flash Ring!
QUESTION: Where is Sue Dearbon?
Ralph Dibny (Hartley Sawyer) has a mission of his own in season six that connects him to his iconic love interest from the comics. Revealing to the team that his latest case involves finding Sue Dearbon, this marks as the first tease of the iconic character.
The big question now is wherein the name of the Speed Force is she? Is she missing because someone took her? Is Sue missing because she is up to something nasty? Sue is right now one of the biggest mysteries of the season.
BEST MOMENT: Team Flash Does Barbecue
With all the madness and meta-craziness that this deal goes through, how often do we see them do normal things? Something as little as a backyard barbecue is a major deal for this show. As awesome as it was to see the team do this, it’s also extremely hilarious. The idea of Team Flash doing one of the most normal activities in the world is more comedic than it should be.
Hopefully, when that little Crisis is over, these people will actually be able to do more normal things like this. A Magic-8 ball would probably say “unlikely,” if you were to ask it.
QUESTION: How Long Will Caitlin/Killer Frost's New Status Quo Last?
A big reveal from the premiere is the switch-around for Caitlin and Killer Frost as the ice-friend is taking over the wheel for a bit.
While it will definitely be fascinating to see Frost getting to build her own life, how long will this last? In addition to that, how will this work? Will we only hear Caitlin’s voice in Frost’s mind or are they not doing that? This will be a story to follow very closely, to say the least.
BEST MOMENT: Ramsey Rosso's Introduction
Season six is changing things up a bit with its big bad format. Rather than having only one for a full season, each half will have its own specific main antagonist. Leading up to the Crisis, we’ll be following Ramsey Rosso (Sendhil Ramamurthy) a.k.a. DC’s Bloodwork.
The episode introduces him in a big way by establishing that he will be a force to be reckoned with. While we have only scratched the surface, Ramsey had one massive debut in this premiere.
QUESTION: What Is the Deal With Godspeed?
Something that didn’t really get solved was the mysterious situation with Godspeed or, to be more precise, Godspeed-wannabes. Throughout the episode, we learn that they have now faced four fake-outs that all lack language skills.
Since it’s not August Heart running around, what the heck is going on with these copycats showing up? Who is causing these copies to show up randomly? How come they can’t speak, but only make that disturbing sound? It definitely feels like this mystery is somehow coming back into play at some point this season.
BEST MOMENT: Iris and Barry's Heart-to-Heart
Throughout the premiere, Barry and Iris (Candice Patton) are both dealing with the loss of Nora in their respective ways. While Barry eventually does get out of his over-optimistic shell, it’s the moments with Iris that breaks so many hearts. Barry and Iris have always been one of the healthier and stronger relationships in the Arrowverse and this episode is a big reminder of that.
While they can run away from a lot, grief is not one of them and it’s perfectly understandable. Their moment when they have their heart-to-heart is when Into the Void gets even stronger as a premiere.
QUESTION: Are Cisco’s Powers Really Gone?
Cisco finally got rid of his meta-human abilities in the previous finale, hanging up his mantle as Vibe... but is it really that simple? In various DC stories across comics, TV, and film, meta-powers have always had its fair share of complexity.
Even if it seems like Cisco is finally living a life as a regular human, is it meant to be that easy? Could there, in fact, be a chance for his powers to, at some point, slowly come back to him whether Cisco wants it or not? Only time will tell.
BEST MOMENT: The Monitor Returns
With the Crisis coming, it only made sense for The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) to make his way back into Barry’s life. But unlike last time where he was screwing with the DC TV trinity, the powerful being makes it clear why he has come to Barry.
On December 10, 2019, in order to save the lives of billions of the many universes out there, the fastest man alive has to die. This is where The Flash as a show begins its setup for the crossover.
QUESTION: Will Barry And Oliver Cross Paths Pre-Crisis?
While Barry is supposedly destined to die in the Crisis, he isn’t the only Arrowverse lead to be facing the same fate. Arrow’s Oliver Queen a.k.a. Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) is on the same path as the Monitor revealed in the season seven finale that the Emerald Archer will fall too. Despite the crossover coming up in December, could Star City’s protector and the Scarlet Speedster possibly be seeing each other sooner rather than later?
With Arrow’s final season set to premiere on October 15 right after The Flash, it wouldn’t be that shocking if a surprise mini-crossover is in store between the two shows. With their destinies pretty much being the same, it would be a missed opportunity if they somehow don’t run into each other before the big five-hour event.