Season 3 episode 9 of The Flash will mark the end of first half of the series, and it will see Barry and team facing a bigger threat than the repercussions of Flashpoint. According to showrunner Andrew Kreisberg, the Flashpoint backlash will be eclipsed by a more pressing issue that will be introduced in the midseason finale.
"The midseason finale kind of creates a new problem for our heroes that they weren't anticipating, something that they've never faced before," Kreisberg told TVLine. "It's so big, we're actually considering changing the saga sell from talking about Flashpoint to talking about that, because that's really what's driving the episodes for the rest of the season."
While it's not immediately know what this threat is, spoilers indicate that The Present and it will feature the return of Trickster. Mark Hamill's character looks similar to DC supervillain The Joker, and he is expected to be the Earth-3 version of The Trickster. Rumours swirling around also indicate that Jay Garrick, to whom Barry goes for help to take down Savitar, will die before the end of the hour.
According to the official synopsis for the episode, Grant Gustin's Barry will be unable to focus on Christmas holidays and his relationship with Iris as he will be occupied in taking down Alchemy and Savitar. It is not immediately known what the future has in store for these two longterm lovers, but Barry is convinced that him tinkering with the timelines may have ruined the course of his romance with Iris.
Meanwhile, tension between Wally and Barry arises when the former reveals that he has been training with H R Cisco and will also struggle to get into the holiday mood as this will be his first Christmas without his brother Dante.
The Flash airs Tuesdays on the CW.
