The FLASH TV SERIES

[Anarchist]

Saw the finale now, and well, that was.....certainly anticlimactic.

I mean seriously, why bring all these Big Bads back if all you're gonna do is job the hell out of them? And the way Eddie / the Negative Speed Force was dealt with was also lame as hell.

I also agree about the comment somebody made about Cecile earlier. She was such a great supporting character, but what they did with her this season was just cringe as hell. Her suddenly flying takes the cake.

Also, what did I miss, since when are Iris's reporter colleagues in on Team Flash's secret?

Two probably minor things that annoyed me personally: Why were all the evil Speedster's lightnings suddenly red?
And I'm still sad they never brought Julian Albert back.

[Frontier]

Saw the finale now, and well, that was.....certainly anticlimactic.

I mean seriously, why bring all these Big Bads back if all you're gonna do is job the hell out of them? And the way Eddie / the Negative Speed Force was dealt with was also lame as hell.

I also agree about the comment somebody made about Cecile earlier. She was such a great supporting character, but what they did with her this season was just cringe as hell. Her suddenly flying takes the cake.

Also, what did I miss, since when are Iris's reporter colleagues in on Team Flash's secret?

Two probably minor things that annoyed me personally: Why were all the evil Speedster's lightnings suddenly red?
And I'm still sad they never brought Julian Albert back.

I guess they were there to celebrate the baby and not because they actually knew about Team Flash. At least that's how I rationalize it.

It's weird Cobalt Blue didn't have blue lightning. Maybe it was as Negative Speed Force thing.

[LordMikel]

Saw the finale now, and well, that was.....certainly anticlimactic.

I mean seriously, why bring all these Big Bads back if all you're gonna do is job the hell out of them? And the way Eddie / the Negative Speed Force was dealt with was also lame as hell.

I also agree about the comment somebody made about Cecile earlier. She was such a great supporting character, but what they did with her this season was just cringe as hell. Her suddenly flying takes the cake.

Also, what did I miss, since when are Iris's reporter colleagues in on Team Flash's secret?

Two probably minor things that annoyed me personally: Why were all the evil Speedster's lightnings suddenly red?
And I'm still sad they never brought Julian Albert back.

I agree about the Big Bads, personally I'd have liked each part of the storyline to be about fighting one of those villains again. And yes, very anticlimatic. The return of Oliver episode would have made such a better series ender.

Edited to add. The reports discovered about the secret earlier in the season when they were all taken hostage with Allegra and she outed herself to them.

[LifeIsILL]

Well at least for once it's not the Flash getting jobbed, which is probably even more annoying

[Frontier]

Well at least for once it's not the Flash getting jobbed, which is probably even more annoying

I dunno, felt like Barry was getting pretty jobbed here while he was fighting Eddie.

[Anarchist]

Also, now that the series is over, how would you rank it's Seasons?

1. Season 1. I think this one's self-explanatory, it had the most originality, engaging villains, a great overarching storyline, and regarding the Arrowverse as a whole, it also brought in Crossovers.
I mean, Arrow was the OG show, but Flash Season 1 is what gave birth to the overall Verse.

2. Season 2. I actually used to prefer it over Season 1 back in the day, but I agree with Thawne's comment in the final episode, that Zoom was a bit derivative. Still great Big Bad, emotional storyline, and Wally, Harry and Jesse were nice additions to the cast.

3. Season 6. This was really a much needed breath of fresh air. The first half obviously tied into Crisis, but it did so in a fitting way. Nash, Allegra and Chester were all great additions and I also think Bloodwork worked as a villain. While the second half was a bit weaker, I still enjoyed it, Mirror Monarch was a refreshing change as a Big Bad and had a fine performance. I also liked Sue very much.

4. Season 3. Unfortunately, this is already were the issues were beginning to show. The third Speedster Big Bad in a row, Flashpoint being over in a single episode and the second half being a bit drawn out. Still, I enjoyed it more than most, I especially loved HR Wells (my favorite Wells of them all), I really liked Julian (shame he never returned) and Wally got the most spotlight he had throughout his entire stint. Also, you gotta love that Musical episode

5. Season 5. I know a lot of people hated Cicada, but I am one of the few people who actually liked him. He was very different from all the previous villains, and Cicada II was cool as well. The Thawne storyline, on the other hand, didn't really interest me, and Nora was pretty annoying, most of the time. Best episode was probably King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd. Sherloque Wells was okay, but why did they have to make him french?

6. Season 8. It started off quite well with Armageddon. Deathstorm was good too, but the Final Arc just....lost me. Also, Mark started to receive more focus, which annoyed me. To this day, I also still don't understand what the whole Iris time sickness thing was about, and I really don't care either.

7. Season 9. Well, we just experienced it. The Khione storyline was pointless, what they did with Cecile was cringy, Red Death was just way too over the top, the final arc was disappointing. But hey, at least we had one last hoorah with Oliver!

8. Season 4. Oh boy. Ralph was the only good thing that came out of that mess. Other than that, it hurts to think back. After the extreme gloominess of Season 3, they went into the exact opposite with Season 4, and it just didn't work at all. Don't even get me started on DeVoe, he was probably the laziest and most boring take I've seen on the "Evil Genius" type Supervillain since like ever.
Invincible up until the very last episode, where the power of love defeats him. Jay!

9. Season 7. Oh God. Oh my fucking God, this freaking Season. I don't know what lead to this clusterfuck, whether it was Covid, creative burnout or both, but this was definitely the absolute worst. Just thinking back on that stupid "Forces" storyline makes my head hurt. Poor Cisco did not deserve to have this as his final Arc. And Godspeed was hardly better. Oh, and let's not forget Frost being sentenced for life without parole.....only to get out like 5 minutes later. Overall, this Season did absolutely nothing to advance anything, it was just a gigantic waste of time.

[Frontier]

If I had to rank them...

Seasons 1-2-3 would probably be in that order or alternate. I think 1 and 2 would definitely rank above 3 but it was still one of the stronger seasons despite it's issues.

Season 6 would probably come after that because it was probably the most consistent and solid of the later seasons, had the best Crisis build-up outside Arrow, even if it got curtailed by COVID. I wonder how different the show might've been had that not happened.

Season 4 was pretty solid for the first half but when Thinker started switching up bodies, The Flash started working with morally ambiguous women who we just accept is okay, and once again the team was powerless to stop the baddie for 99% of the season...it just didn't turn out as well as it could have (in my opinion).

I don't think season 5 was a terrible season but I thought Cicada was one of the weaker Big Bads on several levels (especially when Cicada 2 showed up) and the cure plotline (especially with Cisco) wasn't handled as well as it could have. But it ended pretty well.

Season 8 Had stronger arcs and felt like it had more meaningful development and impactful stuff even if the shows' writing issues under Eric Wallace still shown through at times, but it wasn't as outright bad as some other seasons.

Season 9 was not the best final season but it had the final Green Arrow and Flash team-up and the full circle Flash/Reverse-Flash episode which elevate it and were the only two exceptional episodes. If only we'd gotten more of that.

Season 7 for obvious reasons. The way they wrote out Ralph, Frosts' storyline, the resolution to Mirror Monarch, the start of the Speech Force, the Forces plotline, Godspeed...and just in general a lot of stuff that just did not work. It felt like the beginning of a trend of writing issues for the show.

[AnakinFlair]

Two probably minor things that annoyed me personally: Why were all the evil Speedster's lightnings suddenly red?
And I'm still sad they never brought Julian Albert back.

When Eddie brought all of the villains into the Negative Speed Force, it was basically offering to power all of them up even more to take on The Flash. So when they were back in the real world, they were all running on Negative Speed Force energy. That's why all of their lightning was red.

And not just Julian. They couldn't find a way to bring back Patty Spivot? Actually, what I'm more upset about was that we never got Harry and Jessie back. It could have at least been revealed at some point that they were restored after Crisis.


One thing that occurred to me today- wouldn't it have been perfect if at least one of the people that Barry powered up at the end was the ORIGINAL Wally West? The red-headed former Teen Titan? Hell, bring back the actress who played Linda Park and show them together. That would have been so much better than a throw away Max Mercury, Jess Chambers (who's only been around for five minutes in the comics), and some random chick who apparently appeared last season in an episode.

[90'sCartoonMan]

I didn't exactly have high expectations for the finale. Just things I wanted to see for the last time. And Nora's birth I knew was going to be heartwarming (especially the bit with Joe). Wait, did adult Nora stay there for a week?! How can they just shrug off how that might mess up time?

I am probably not as critical of it as I should be. I liked seeing the speedster villains back and interacting with each other, but a lackluster final appearance for Thawne. He didn't kill Chester with his preferred method, and then Allegra just blasted him. At least Cavanagh got to play a Wells one last time. No Wally or Bart to aid fighting the speedsters. At least Jay was there (when could he have met Earth-90 Flash?).

No Cisco for that matter. Not counting Iris, I guess that kind of makes Caitlin Barry's best friend? She was with him from the beginning, and they have been through a lot. Khione was pointless, but I was happy to see Caitlin back, and she and Barry patching things up.

Max Mercury! Too little, too late. But in this day and age, I have my hopes that a character from a past show or movie in a DC project can show up in another one.

I really wish we had a better or more interesting Team Flash lineup to go against the Legion of Zoom. Like no Vibe, Elongated Man, Frost, Kid Flash, etc...it just doesn't feel as powerful when they're trying to still sell Cecile, Allegra, and Chillame.

Virture really out there doing her best discount Jean Grey. At least they just had her fighting Godspeed, which is about right on several levels.

Oh yeah, Ralph fighting a speedster would have been cool. I'm surprised Sue didn't show up for the finale. Cecile flying...sure, why not?

I guess it's a testament to Eric Wallace's era of The Flash that the final fight is basically Barry getting wailed on until he gets through to Eddie using the Speech Force. So now Eddie is at peace with himself, and Iris being with Barry, and will remain the Negative Speed Force avatar to keep it in check and do...nothing, I guess? Still, it's nice to see Eddie shaking hands with Barry and being at peace.

Thank goodness this show ended before they tried to turn Chester into a Superhero, though it was fun to see them finally call him "Chunk." Also, did he namedrop Dwayne McDuffie?

That's sort of the best ending we could hope for concerning Eddie. And it is in character for Barry. I caught the McDuffie thing too, that was funny.

Oh yeah, Joe and Cecile weren't officially married? I guess we needed that? Will Bart sing at their wedding too?

Yeah, what's up with that? Joe being super traditional about marriage was a plot point in season one. And now he'll have a baby with a woman and live with her for years before popping the question?

To its credit Flashes Seasons 1,2,3, & 5 go from pretty good to great and Grant and the Cast did a great job all these years. It's funny Ezra was cast as Flash when this shows 2nd episode aired and now that it's over after 9 seasons Ezra's movie is finally coming out.

Part of me thinks they all lasted longer than they should've (except Naomi and probably Batwoman), but I think I would be happy with shorter episode counts per season. As for Ezra Miller, he did initially play Barry in 2016 and then went on to play him in two or three more movies and two episodes of TV shows before starring in a movie in 2023. So it's not like he hasn't been used this whole time.

Arrow still had the best final season of an Arrowverse show and one of the best final seasons of a Superhero show.

Considering how little Red Death or any of the filler episodes impacted the plot they really should have just done a full season on Cobalt Blue and bringing the villains back while also bringing back as many people as possible.

I'm going to assume there were budgetary/availability reasons. Maybe they had to save on the effects for some episodes and could only use guest stars like Teddy Sears for the finale. It reminds me of the final season of Buffy where the First took on the form of all the Big Bads in the first season of episode 7 but then only a couple of them appeared again. Would have been cooler to sprinkle them throughout the season.

I guess Arrow really was the best, huh? It beats out Supergirl and Flash for me. Black Lightning had the problem of not knowing what to do with Jennifer. Legends and Batwoman didn't get proper finales.

[Frontier]

When Eddie brought all of the villains into the Negative Speed Force, it was basically offering to power all of them up even more to take on The Flash. So when they were back in the real world, they were all running on Negative Speed Force energy. That's why all of their lightning was red.

And not just Julian. They couldn't find a way to bring back Patty Spivot? Actually, what I'm more upset about was that we never got Harry and Jessie back. It could have at least been revealed at some point that they were restored after Crisis.

It's funny you mention them because Wallace actually came up with an idea for bringing both of them back as a now married couple of crime-fighters called "Hot Pursuit."

One thing that occurred to me today- wouldn't it have been perfect if at least one of the people that Barry powered up at the end was the ORIGINAL Wally West? The red-headed former Teen Titan? Hell, bring back the actress who played Linda Park and show them together. That would have been so much better than a throw away Max Mercury, Jess Chambers (who's only been around for five minutes in the comics), and some random chick who apparently appeared last season in an episode.

All due respect to Jess Chambers, it would've been a great chance to show us Earth-Prime Jesse Quick and bring Violett Beane back.

[KabutoRyder]

It's funny you mention them because Wallace actually came up with an idea for bringing both of them back as a now married couple of crime-fighters called "Hot Pursuit."

Good lord tell me that was an April Fool's joke bit of news...because my god....just more reason why Wallace should never have been let near the Flash.

[AnakinFlair]

It's funny you mention them because Wallace actually came up with an idea for bringing both of them back as a now married couple of crime-fighters called "Hot Pursuit."

All due respect to Jess Chambers, it would've been a great chance to show us Earth-Prime Jesse Quick and bring Violett Beane back.

Okay, after a moment's consideration I'm guessing he was talking about Julian and Patty being married. Because if Wallace's idea was for Harry and Jesse to be married, that sure would have been pushing some boundaries.

[Jokerz79]

My Flash Postmortem now I can only judge season 1 thru 6 as I quit early on in Season 7 and never went back nothing I heard online or saw in Youtube Clips made me want to go back. Also, the only characters I cared about by then were Barry and Iris as everyone else left and Danielle Panabaker was usually playing someone else than Caitlin.

Ranking Seasons best to worst 1, 2 (Although my personal favorite due to being a sucker for Parallel Earths and Harry was my favorite Wells still pissed him and Jesse were unceremoniously killed in crisis but getting off topic so, I concede Season 1 had a better story arc), 3, 5, 6, & 4.

Now one issue the show had all through the run was big season cliffhangers where it would be solved within the 1st episode of the next season sometimes within minutes. When I think of Flash Season Finale Cliffhangers, I think of the YouTube Channel Pitch Meeting "Super Easy Barely an Inconvenience".

As for its place in the higher ranking of the Arrowverse I'd place below Arrow. While Superman and Lois & Black Lightning had better overall quality throughout their runs (Sorry for using past tense with S&L just easier when talking about it and BL) Arrow and Flash both had some major lows but also the highest high of the Arrowverse and the highs force me to place them above S&L and BL. Ranking the Arrowverse Shows for me it goes Arrow, Flash, Superman and Lois, Black Lightning, Supergirl, Legends, & Batwoman.

[Captain Smith]

Seeing Ollie was great. The finale pointed out why I stopped watching religiously. Bunch of made up 'cosmic' babble and speedsters forgetting their abilities just to talk, blah, blah.

Yeah, should have ended with Ollie as compared to whining about the Speed Force, Neg. Speed Force - ended up being the Bore Force.

[Doctor Know]

I finally caught up with season 9 and man was that a clusterf*ck. Everything that has been said about it is 100% accurate.


Am I alone in thinking season 7 should've been where the show ended?

I would've made season 6 the final season, but accounting for Covid shutting down productions everywhere. I'd have to accommodate season 7.