The Season Of The Flash That Fans Agree Should Be Skipped
While Marvel Studios has more or less secured its position as the king of comic-book film adaptations, Warner Bros. has largely cornered the market when it comes to the small screen's coverage of comic-book material. The CW's "Arrowverse" began in 2012 with the premiere of the Stephen Amell-led "Arrow," following Oliver Queen's quest as the Emerald Archer to save Starling City. The series quickly became the cornerstone of an expanded universe of a whole seven different series, including "The Flash," which had a backdoor pilot in Season 2 of "Arrow" introducing the character of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin).
"The Flash" follows Allen, a crime scene investigator who gains superspeed after he is struck by lightning in a scientific accident. The same accident creates numerous other metahumans, many of which Barry and the rest of Team Flash are forced to fight on occasion. While the first season used a meta-of-the-week format, the series eventually began to add additional villains, a number of which create season-long arcs. These arcs pit the Flash against some of his greatest rogues, many being other so-called "speedsters." Some of the more famous "Flash" villains include Reverse Flash (Tom Cavanagh), Zoom (Tony Todd), Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), and Savitar (Tobin Bell).
Each of the seven series that make up the "Arrowverse" have high points and low points, as pointed out by a Reddit thread begun by u/Harry79130 ranking all 26 of the seasons available at the time of the ranking. But what do the fans say is the worst season for our beloved Scarlet Speedster?
Fans didn't enjoy Season 7
In a thread on the r/FlashTV subreddit, u/omikrok posed an interesting question to longtime fans of the series. After admitting that they stopped watching the series after Season 6, Episode 13 ("Grodd Friended Me"), this user asked if they should finish it or skip to Season 7. The answer was probably more than they bargained for.
The general consensus of the responses didn't just tell him to skip to Season 7; they actually told him to skip all the way to Season 8. In fact, u/No-Perspective-518 posted a very straightforward answer, telling the questioner, "I'd finish Season 6, watch a YouTube recap of Season 7, and then watch Season 8." Interestingly, another user got even more specific with which episodes they should skip, and which they should watch. "Finish Season 6 and watch the first 2 episodes of Season 7," u/stephenxcx wrote. "Then skip to 7x15 and continue normally from there."
The thread inspired u/LukeCloudStalker to ask how lousy Season 7 is, prompting u/No-Perspective-518 to elaborate. This user wrote, "IMO it's the worst season of the show. It wasn't unbearable for me, but I certainly didn't enjoy large chunks of it." The user went on to discuss the anticlimactic approach to wrapping up Season 6 storylines, including an underwhelming climax for the villain.
However, not everyone gave the simple advice to skip the season. In another response, u/dcsennin told the poster that they quit the series just as it starts to get better. This user said that beginning with Season 6, Episode 14 ("Death of the Speed Force"), the series ramps up until Season 7, Episode 3 ("Mother"), where an important story arc comes to a close. While many on the thread argued to skip Season 7 entirely, others noted that they believed the series fell off long before that.
Some fans argue it devolved much earlier than Season 7
Some fans of "The Flash" believe the series began to dip in quality long before Season 7. Although Barry and Reverse Flash's Season 7 "Duel of the Fates"-style lightning-saber battle with Godspeed was the last straw for many, some had evidently already checked out long before this moment.
In another post to Reddit, u/Equivalent-War-430 posed a question for fans of the series. This user wrote, "Does anyone else agree that after Season 5, 'The Flash' kinda fell off, and then Season 7 really fell off?" In response, u/Ok_Pianist_5511 quickly agreed, writing, "Season 5 wasn't good for me. I stopped watching the show, and I'm just pretending the show ended in season 3." In an even more adamant reply, u/Emsizz upped the ante considerably, asserting that it has been a gradual process from Season 1 and has progressively gotten worse. This user wrote, "'The Flash' has fallen off EACH season, that's creating an exponential falling off that no show has ever before reached."
"The Flash" had fans seeing scarlet through Season 7 and, apparently, feeling a little more disenchanted with each and every season. Unfortunately, for many, the show has fallen a long way since director Kevin Smith praised it in a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly. In an interview to promote an episode of Season 2 he directed, Smith said, "I came here to learn, because you guys are like Tibetan ninjas or wizards of turning a show about a guy who solves all of his problems simply running real fast, and they turn it into something even better, something more artistic, something special, something emotional."