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At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Flash Thompson arrives at the airport and there is someone waiting for him. He then asks:

Did mother not come?

And the scene changes. What is the point of this scene? Is this a reference I missed? Is it meant to create empathy for the character? It seemed too random to me.

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    I thought there was more to this as well, especially after EDITH showed all the students' text messages earlier. It was only there for a moment, but Flash could be seen texting something along the lines of "Mother, I haven't heard from you in XX days..." indicating he may be somewhat neglected or ignored, or that his parents are often busy with...something. Too bad there was no real payoff.
    – raisinghellyer
    Commented Jul 12, 2019 at 13:18

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Warning: TvTropes link ahead

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LonelyRichKid

While yes, it serves to generate empathy for the character, there's another effect.

Flash Thompson was one of the snap victims who came back during the blip. We see this confirmed in the movie where

MJ tells the flight attendant that Flash isn't technically old enough to drink alcohol because he was blipped

Part of the movie deals with the theme of how people who were affected by the Snap/Blip are trying to cope with the world as it has become 5 years later. Peter Parker and Aunt May are both actively involved in helping victims.

One of the possible effects of Flash's removal for 5 years is that, if his parents survived, they would have had to deal with the grief/loss, move on, and then suddenly have their kid back in their lives. This is a trauma that would have negative effects on all people involved, and even a rich bully like Flash isn't immune to that.

Therefore, this scene ties in rather nicely with one of the main themes of the movie.

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  • One point: there's no proof that Flash was blipped; it could be just something MJ said to get him in trouble with the stewardess.
    – Luciano
    Commented Mar 5, 2020 at 13:12
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Throughout the movie, Flash is on Instagram, putting out stories of his day to day life to internet strangers. He wants to look cool, but he's seeking validation from strangers. He is craving attention from his "followers". That implies he isn't getting any from his family, especially his mother.

They survived a traumatic & life-threatening battle between Spider-Man & Mysterio. To come out of it unscathed, he does expect his family to be there at the airport receiving him because all the parents of all those students would be worried.

But his mother doesn't show up to pick him, so he's disappointed. This indicates his mother doesn't care for him much. He feels insecure hence he seeks that validation & affection from his #instafam

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    Yea, he really depended on the Flashmob as he called his followers for validation
    – m1gp0z
    Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 20:59

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