TV Series - The Flash s6 to s9 (2019-2023) [/]
Sep 20 2023
I previously reviewed s1 to s5 several years ago then watched s6 then stopped watching for a couple of years. Last year and this year I took the time to watch the rest of the series.
The Flash s6 had Crisis on Infinite Earths which redid continuity for all Arrowverse shows (and that was also the last big crossover event ever). Later on Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) is stuck in a Mirror Dimension and gets out maybe early s7. Ralph "Elongated Man" Dibny (Hartley Sawyer) leaves the show at the end of s6.
The Flash s7 introduces two new regulars -- Allegra Garcia (Kayla Compton), who has radiation powers, and gadgeteer Chester P Runk (Brandon McKnight). Chester replaces Cisco "Vibe" Ramon (Carlos Valdes) who leaves the show mid-season. Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Killer Frost are separated and for a while Snow leaves and Frost remains as part of the team. The last Harrison Nash (Tom Cavanagh) emerges and then goes into retirement as Nash leaves the series.
Nora "XS" West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy) comes back for a few episodes in s7 and s8 which is cool because I love her character who goes from sort of a young headstrong pre-Crisis to more responsible post-Crisis because we also get her younger brother Bart "Impulse" West-Allen (Jordan Fisher) who pushes irresponsibility.
The Flash s8 starts with Armageddon 5-parter where Despero (Tony Curran) arrives from the future to kill Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) because The Flash ends up destroying the Earth. Then in the next arc Caitlin's dead boyfriend Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) comes back from the death but he's actually Deathstorm and Frost dies stopping him.
Mark "Chillblaine" Blaine (Jon Cor), Frost's boyfriend, spends the rest of the season trying to resurrect Frost and with the help of Caitlin and an experiment gone wrong we get in s9 Khlone, sort of the third Snow sister, with life force powers.
In The Flash s9 Blaine becomes a regular. Joe West (Jesse L Martin) goes from regular to recurring. s9 is a half season with two arcs. In the first Barry recruits some super villains to fight the Red Death (who turns out to be an evil version of Batwoman (Ryan Wilder)). Arc 2 is the Negative Forces (and the Speed Force (Michelle Harrison) is one of the Positive Forces) wanting to stamp out the Positive Forces. Barry and other speedsters have to stop him (XS and Impulse return).
The series ends with Barry and Iris together and happy with a newborn baby Nora. Khlone ascends which allows Caitlin to reclaim her body. Joe West and Cecile "Virtue" Horton (Danielle Nicolet) finally get engaged. Barry released some of his speed energy into the world and creates three new speedsters.
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Looking back there are a lot of high points though a lot of episodes are kind of ho hum. It's episodic but because arc base (6 to 8 episode arcs) and for the surprises and excitement you need buildup. The last two or three season had several Flash-light episodes where he makes a token appearance and then it's the rest of the team doing the heavy lifting. The show sort of became less about The Flash and Iris as the supporting characters got more and more story time.
In the end a fairly good super-hero series that borrowed a lot from the comic books whilst making it its own thing.
The Flash s6 had Crisis on Infinite Earths which redid continuity for all Arrowverse shows (and that was also the last big crossover event ever). Later on Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) is stuck in a Mirror Dimension and gets out maybe early s7. Ralph "Elongated Man" Dibny (Hartley Sawyer) leaves the show at the end of s6.
The Flash s7 introduces two new regulars -- Allegra Garcia (Kayla Compton), who has radiation powers, and gadgeteer Chester P Runk (Brandon McKnight). Chester replaces Cisco "Vibe" Ramon (Carlos Valdes) who leaves the show mid-season. Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Killer Frost are separated and for a while Snow leaves and Frost remains as part of the team. The last Harrison Nash (Tom Cavanagh) emerges and then goes into retirement as Nash leaves the series.
Nora "XS" West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy) comes back for a few episodes in s7 and s8 which is cool because I love her character who goes from sort of a young headstrong pre-Crisis to more responsible post-Crisis because we also get her younger brother Bart "Impulse" West-Allen (Jordan Fisher) who pushes irresponsibility.
The Flash s8 starts with Armageddon 5-parter where Despero (Tony Curran) arrives from the future to kill Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) because The Flash ends up destroying the Earth. Then in the next arc Caitlin's dead boyfriend Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) comes back from the death but he's actually Deathstorm and Frost dies stopping him.
Mark "Chillblaine" Blaine (Jon Cor), Frost's boyfriend, spends the rest of the season trying to resurrect Frost and with the help of Caitlin and an experiment gone wrong we get in s9 Khlone, sort of the third Snow sister, with life force powers.
In The Flash s9 Blaine becomes a regular. Joe West (Jesse L Martin) goes from regular to recurring. s9 is a half season with two arcs. In the first Barry recruits some super villains to fight the Red Death (who turns out to be an evil version of Batwoman (Ryan Wilder)). Arc 2 is the Negative Forces (and the Speed Force (Michelle Harrison) is one of the Positive Forces) wanting to stamp out the Positive Forces. Barry and other speedsters have to stop him (XS and Impulse return).
The series ends with Barry and Iris together and happy with a newborn baby Nora. Khlone ascends which allows Caitlin to reclaim her body. Joe West and Cecile "Virtue" Horton (Danielle Nicolet) finally get engaged. Barry released some of his speed energy into the world and creates three new speedsters.
---------------
Looking back there are a lot of high points though a lot of episodes are kind of ho hum. It's episodic but because arc base (6 to 8 episode arcs) and for the surprises and excitement you need buildup. The last two or three season had several Flash-light episodes where he makes a token appearance and then it's the rest of the team doing the heavy lifting. The show sort of became less about The Flash and Iris as the supporting characters got more and more story time.
In the end a fairly good super-hero series that borrowed a lot from the comic books whilst making it its own thing.