The CW’s The Flash has had some exceptional seasons and some poor ones, the latter being more prominent now as the show progresses through. There’s no doubt that the first portion of Season 7 was absolute trash and only saved by Godspeed.
The Flash hasn’t had a STRONG season since Season 3 with Savitar. Despite The Thinker being the big bad for the entire season 4, it was just bad.
After that, we had two versions of Cicada for Season 5, Orlin who was actually a good villain you kind of sided with. Then the second portion had Grace who ruined the entire season.
Season 6 had Bloodwork who deserved more time to make an impact than Eva, who let’s be honest was the weakest villain The Flash has had thus far in the show.
The more recent season had The Forces which were lackluster from the moment they were introduced with the exception of Dion. Godspeed was the best villain we’ve had in 4 seasons.
Of course, this is my own opinion, but it proves that when a season does half and half with villains, they just don’t get enough time to properly make an impact. Thankfully for Godspeed, he had little moments here and then through the previous seasons which gave him that edge so fans know who he is.
This is where the upcoming season 8 comes in. We know we’re getting the very exciting crossover with Armageddon which I don’t doubt will be a fantastic 5 part mini-series but after that, I’m worried.
We all know The Flash doesn’t have a lot left in the tank before it ends for good, and Supergirl had this problem where they never used some of the bigger villains so the seasons suffered a lot as a result. The Flash needs to come in with a bang this season – and it needs to be a speedster.
I did write an article that listed 5 villains I’d love to see in the next season which you can read here. If you haven’t read it then you guessed it, all 5 are speedsters.
The majority of problems with the seasons do tend to be based on the fact that half-season villains don’t work. It’s a proven formula that a full-scaled villain is needed to make the series that little bit better. I don’t understand how that’s not a given, to be honest.
It’s worked a treat with Superman and Lois and Stargirl albeit if they have a lower number of episodes, a topic for another day anyway.
When you have a villain that’s given the time, care, and attention they’re vastly more likely to succeed as a memorable villain. Especially when you look at the likes of Reverse-Flash and Zoom. Giving one villain 9 episodes and the other 14 or whatever just doesn’t work.
If you pick a villain with enough hype and clout from the beginning, then that’s half the battle, isn’t it? Giving us Red Death would be a statement from The CW and it’s definitely something the show needs.
After all, the ratings are the lowest they’ve ever been for the show as more and more people are switching off as the show goes on. I do feel like if Red Death was announced it would definitely drive up those numbers again.
Although the signs do look good with the crossover, I just hope The CW has plans to ensure The Flash lives back up to its truly untapped potential.
