TV Show Review: The Flash - Season 8

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: The first arc, a few other episodes

Cons: Missing the spark that made the first seasons so good.

The Bottom Line:

Many story arcs

Missing spark of early years

Die hard fans only

“Staff Meeting’s Cancelled, Allen.  For the Record, You Would Have Been Late.”

It’s a shame, really, that The Flash is not what it once was.  The first few years were wonderful with a great cast and episodes that kept me engaged the entire time.  While the show still has its moments, I find myself not nearly as engaged from week to week in season eight as I used to be.

The show actually started out very well with the five episode Armageddon arc.  This arc finds Barry Allen, aka the Flash (Grant Gustin), the target of an alien who has determined that Barry destroys Earth, so Barry must be taken out first before that can happen.  Each episode featured an appearance by a cast member from another Arrowverse show, and those appearances were a lot of fun.  But the real reason this arc worked for me is that the new characters got their own arcs, too.  Or at least it looked like they were going to get arcs.  Not only that, but each character really contributed something to the storyline.  It felt like they were a team, and that felt wonderful.

Then, after a standalone episode that I kept expecting to contribute something to the story later in the season but never did, we got into the main part of the twenty episode season.  Once again, we get a few mini arcs, but they aren’t nearly as well focused.  There’s a fire meta lose in Central City.  Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) continues to deal with her time sickness.  Both Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Killer Frost (also Danielle Panabaker) kick their love lives into high gear.  And new team members Allegra (Kayla Compton) and Chester (Brandon McKnight) continue to contribute to the fights against the latest villains.

Once again, I’m putting my issues with the season squarely on the shoulders of the writers.  With several villains who last for a few episodes, we go right from one to another without really any breaks in between.  And, honestly, it’s hard to distinguish one big bad from another.  Part of this is because of some ongoing stories that cross arcs.  Part of it is because there is no real break between them.

The other thing that stand alone episodes used to do for the show was allow for the supporting players to come to the forefront upon occasion and let us get to know them better.  I really don’t feel like we have had many episodes that have really helped Allegra and Chester stand out.  Oh, they get their feature episodes, but they are so far in the background the rest of the time, it’s hard to have one episode really help define them for us.  Of course, part of the problem is they have only been on the show for a couple of years, and we had years to get to know the rest of the cast and the characters they are replacing.  To be clear, I do not blame Kayla Compton or Brandon McKnight for this is any way.  It falls on the writers who can’t seem to figure out how best to utilize them and instead seem more focused on the big bads.

Another reason the several big bads a season isn’t working is because it seems like the world is ending just about every week.  We, and the characters, need some downtime, with stories that have stakes, but lesser stakes.

We could also use some more humor.  Remember in season one when we laughed and cried with the characters?  We could really use that again.  Instead, everything is serious.  I miss the lighter moments.

Again, I’m placing the blame on the writers.  Having said that, some of the actors do seem to not be as engaged with the show and material as they used to be, which also makes it hard to get involved.  But the writers aren’t giving the actors good stories to work with, so I will keep going back to that.

This is a special effects heavy show, and the special effects are still good.

I know this sounds like I absolutely hated the season.  There were episodes and moments that worked.  If I absolutely hated it, I would have stopped watching.  But it certainly wasn’t up to pare with the show we used to have.  And I think that’s what is disappointing me.  I know how fun this show with these characters can be, and this isn’t what it could be.

If you’ve been enjoying the last couple of seasons of The Flash, you’ll want to watch season eight.  If you haven’t started the show, I definitely recommend the first few seasons.  If you’ve given up on it, there’s no reason to come back for this season.