“Is It Always This Crazy?” “Well, It’s a Wednesday.”
Honestly, I would have been fine with The Flash ending at the end of season eight. I hadn’t been enjoying the show for several years, which is a shame because it was so much fun when it started out. And season eight wrapped things up well. But we got a short season 9 that did nothing to help the legacy of the show.
This season finds Barry Allen, aka The Flash (Grant Gustin), and Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) preparing for the next stage of their lives. Oh, Iris might not be pregnant yet, but they know it is coming soon from the time traveling that has happened over the course of the show. Barry is ready to embrace it, but Iris is a bit upset that they are just playing into their futures. Meanwhile, Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) has made a decision that impacts his relationship with Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) and Chester and Allegra (Brandon McKnight and Kayla Compton) work toward their own relationship.
And yes, there are villains. Honestly, we once again get a couple of smaller arcs. They are okay, but nothing spectacular.
Now, this is going to be a negative review (as if you hadn’t figured that out already), but I am going to say there were a couple of episodes I really did enjoy. The season opener was fun even if it is a familiar plot device, especially in the Arrowverse. We also revisited the pivotal season one storyline of what happened to Barry’s mom for an episode, and I really liked it. Yes, even though we’ve been there multiple times.
I will also give them this, they do a good job of bringing back many actors from this show. They also work in Olive Queen and Diggle, although I’ll admit to being disappointed by that episode overall.
Part of the problem with this season involves the actors. Oh, I’m not saying that they were bad at acting this season. They are all still doing their best with the material they are given – it’s just that the material is subpar.
No, what I’m talking about is the actor’s desire to do something different. In the case of Jesse L. Martin, he wanted to do another show, so he only does a handful of episodes this season. That’s his choice (this is a job, after all, and we all change jobs), but the way the writers handled it was poor. I’m more bothered by the writers’ choices than his choice.
Likewise, original cast member Danielle Panabaker wanted to play someone new. On this show, that’s a possibility, but the way the writers handled it was absolutely horrible. Seriously, they weren’t even trying.
Then there’s the characters brought in from other shows. Batwoman (Javicia Leslie) plays a part in the opening arc. I felt like we had a good send off for her character on her show even if it was cancelled without much warning. Dreamer from Supergirl (Nicole Maines) also shows up so we can get an update on her even though Supergirl got a final season to wrap up the characters. While both of these shows were part of the Arrowverse, they weren’t a direct spin off of The Flash like Legends of Tomorrow was, at least when it first began. And you know what we didn’t get? Any resolution to the cliffhanger on that show. Since Legends of Tomorrow was my favorite Arrowverse show when it ended, this really hurt, as you can see.
Then there’s the final fight. All I have to say is, given what we’ve seen over the last nine years, it was way too easy.
All told, season nine consisted of 13 episodes. There were moments I enjoyed, and a couple of fun episodes, but for the most part, these episodes were immediately forgettable.
If you’ve managed to stick with the show, you’ll want to see how it ends with season 9. If you’ve enjoyed the last few seasons of The Flash, you’ll probably enjoy this one, too. But me, I’ll be over here wishing that the wonderful writing of the first few seasons had continued throughout the entire show.
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