“"Marathon" deals with the fallout of Crisis while setting up the second half of the season... it manages to be more gripping and heartfelt than that boring, anticlimactic waste of a crossover was.” Geeks + Gamers · 6 years ago
"Marathon" effectively transitions Iris West-Allen from a supporting love interest back to her roots as a fearless investigative journalist. [S6E10] Marathon
: Iris pursues the secret organization "Black Hole," which has been using metahumans as assassins. This storyline grounds the season’s second half in a more grounded, noir-inspired mystery. “"Marathon" deals with the fallout of Crisis while
" Marathon ," the 10th episode of The Flash 's sixth season, serves as a grounded, emotional "breather" that pivots the series away from the cosmic scale of Crisis on Infinite Earths and toward a new, more intimate central conflict. Narrative Pivot & Post-Crisis Fallout This storyline grounds the season’s second half in
: Barry receives a parting gift from Oliver Queen—Oliver’s original mask—which he obsessively treats as a clue to a final mission. His struggle to let go of the "hero's burden" reflects the episode's central theme: the difficulty of slowing down.
The episode excels at managing the somber aftereffects of the multiverse-shattering crossover. It avoids a jarring jump into lightheartedness, opting instead for a "glum exploration" of Team Flash's survivor's guilt and identity crises.
Reviewers and viewers highlighting the emotional weight and thematic depth of the episode: