The Flash Season 8 Review

Overview

The Flash season 8 was a hectic season, to say the least. The season began with a 5-part crossover focused on Armageddon. This crossover was mainly focused on The Flash in a new timeline and trying to lose his powers to save the world from being destroyed. With the help of his super-friends Barry goes up against The Reverse Flash and Despero.

The season then went into a weird transition of laying the groundwork for Iris and her time sickness and introduced a new villain Death Storm with returning actor Robbie Amell as Ronnie Raymond, Caitlin’s husband.

I can’t lie and say that the season was perfect when it wasn’t. Death Storm was a fantastic villain, his design was incredible. It was literally ripped from the Blackest Night graphic novel. I wish we had seen more. But a major gripe for me was he wasn’t a “Flash” villain but more so a Frost/Caitlin villain.

The season once again transitioned into another story, Iris’s time sickness. This story was great, it had an element of a thriller in it. Iris (Candice Patton) was fantastic in the episodes we have seen, however, she did get written out of four episodes per Candice’s contract in case the border between Vancouver and LA closed because of Covid-19.

The way the season portrayed the four forces, Still, Sage, strength, and speed were actually really interesting. We got to see elements of the negative forces for them. The villains for the season were truly good and had a “horror/pure evil” vibe to them which made them stand out as second-half season villains.

The final part of the season consisted of Reverse-Flash returning and ultimately ending his story in the “Arrowverse”. Season 8 did have its ups and downs within the season but it was mainly a positive season for me personally.

Characters

Surprisingly I enjoy most of the characters in this season, albeit two characters. Caitlin and Cecile. I’ll explain why shortly. I’ll begin with Barry Allen. Barry felt different this season compared to most seasons. He felt, perfect. He was literally such a perfect character this season that it’s ultimately made Grant Gustin be pushed into a conversation to be the main Flash in the DCEU.

Iris was sort of “forgotten”. What I mean by this was that in the story arc of her time sickness, when a previous episode had made it very clear that Flash and Team Flash want to look for her, in the next episode they completely stop and focus on something else while Iris is missing. I don’t know why this was the case but it did fit with Candice’s contract, although it was stupid on part of the writers of the show.

Chester and Allegra were their usual selves. These bubbly, happy-going, caring heroes. It feels like at least once a season Chester gets a standout episode where it showcases his range and we received that this season when his father was being used against him by Death Storm. Allegra doesn’t get character development all that often but we finally got some more this season which I loved.

Now for Cecile and Caitlin. I’ll begin with Caitlin. Her story this season was obviously changed with the pregnancy of Danielle Panabaker who portrays Caitlin and Frost but the story surrounding the sacrifice of Frost and Caitlin immediately wanting to bring her back after she got manipulated by her dead husband was such a stupid story that each time it appeared in an episode it instantly went into my dislikes.

Cecile, while not technically her fault was bad. Simply put. Her character’s powers and abilities only come in handy when the writers want and this is a bad thing that puts the character down. It was more than a few times throughout this season where Cecile magically had the power to answer a problem Team Flash faced and at the end of the season, her powers changed once again. Cecile at the end of the season could levitate objects… like what?

A new addition to the character list was Meena Dhawan aka Fast Track. While only appearing in a handful of episodes. Her character was instantly likable and enjoyable to the point I hope she returns. Fast Track was played by Kausar Mohammed and she was absolutely incredible.

Standout Character

I can not think of a solo standout character for the season so I’ll do this somewhat differently.

The Flash: He was amazing in each episode. He felt so comic-accurate that it was hard to tell the difference between watching him in live-action and reading a comic each Wednesday. Honestly one of the better acting seasons by Grant Gustin.

Eobard Thawne (both versions): Eobard Thawne no matter what version we see always brings horror, serial killer, ruthlessness, brutalness, and murderous tone to the series. In season 8 fans were treated with both versions of the character portrayed by Matt Letscher and Tom Cavanagh.

Meena Dhawan: As I stated before, only appearing in a handful of episodes, I instantly loved her character and want more. She was a welcome addition to the series and someone that The Flash could truly trust immediately. Her suit was beautiful too.

Favorite Episode

My favorite episode would have to be Armageddon Part 4. It was the return of Eobard Thawne in the most disturbing way possible. A marriage to Iris West instead of Barry and Iris. In this timeline, Eobard stole The Flash’s identity and made Barry the Reverse Flash so he had to go to Damian Darhk for help.

This is one of my favorite stories from the comics and graphic novels. While it did only last an episode basically it was still great to see. If they ever wanted to do an origins series for Eobard Thawne, this would have to be a thing we see him do in the future.

Worst Episode

A Funeral for a Friend would have to be my worst episode of the season. This was pretty much the aftermath of Frost receiving the same powers as Death storm to fight him head-on and save Caitlin as well as Team Flash. With the death of Frost, this episode and this emotional, impactful, powerful, and well-deserved sacrifice of Frost was completely ruined by the writers deciding Caitlin will want her back to life even though she has just brought an evil version of Ronnie back to life.

Episodes & Their Ratings

Episode 1: Armageddon, Part 1 – 8.8/10
Episode 2: Armageddon, Part 2 – 8.5/10
Episode 3: Armageddon, Part 3 – 9.2/10
Episode 4: Armageddon, Part 4 – 10/10
Episode 5: Armageddon, Part 5 – 5.8/10
Episode 6: Impulsive Excessive Disorder – 8.8/10
Episode 7: Lockdown – 7.3/10
Episode 8: The Fire Next Time – 8.7/10
Episode 9: Phantoms – 8.2/10
Episode 10: Reckless – 7.3/10
Episode: 11: Resurrection – 8.2/10
Episode: 12: Death Rises – 8.1/10
Episode: 13: Death Falls – 9.2/10
Episode: 14: Funeral for a Friend – 4.2/10
Episode: 15: Into the Still Force – 7.3/10
Episode: 16: The Curious Case of Bartholomew Allen – 8/10
Episode: 17: Keep It Dark – 9/10
Episode: 18: The Man in the Yellow Tie – 9.2/10
Episode: 19: Negative: Part One – 9.5/10
Episode: 20: Negative: Part Two – 9.4/10

Average rating – 8.2/10

Our Overall Rating: 8.9/10

Honestly, a great season overall. While it did have its moments of lackluster episodes, the season was held down with fantastic acting from Grant Gustin and the characters from heroes to villains were superb.

Does It Deserve Another Season?

For me yes. There are still many stories, villains, characters, and moments we have yet to see involving The Flash from the graphics novels, comics, and more which would be translated well into live-action.

Availability

To watch The Flash you can get it on The CW or Netflix in the USA or you can wait for them to debut on Sky in the UK.

Season Trailer