The Flash Season 6 Part 2 Review
Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, The Flash’s sixth season ended on quite an awkward note. This season review will discuss and review the second half of season 6—dubbed the “Post-Crisis Arc”—as I had already written a review for the season’s “Pre-Crisis Arc”. The link to the review is here.
Taking place after Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry and Team Flash must deal with the fallout of the cosmic event. There was a lot of rebooting happening in this season to accommodate the new changes—like Supergirl and Superman living on the same Earth as them now. They also had rebooted metahuman villains—like a gender-swapped Mirror Master and a recasted Doctor Light—to fight.
The mid-season premiere had a solid beginning with Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris (Candice Patton) trying to deal with what happened Post-Crisis. Barry was learning to move on from Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) ultimate sacrifice during the Crisis with John Diggle’s (David Ramsey) help, and Iris had to accept that she didn’t have to sprint her way through life anymore.
The episode also introduced Blackhole—an evil organization—and the new Mirror Master, the two main antagonists of the “Post-Crisis Arc”. They weren’t handled as well as Ramsey Rosso / Bloodwork from the first half, but that villain set the bar pretty high.
The following episodes—“Love Is A Battlefield”, “A Girl Named Sue”, and “Grodd Befriended Me”—were essentially filler episodes. The season felt like it was spinning its wheels on the main plot of Blackhole and Mirror Master when I was watching all three episodes in a row. I liked Gorilla Grodd, but I didn’t need a whole episode on him and Barry becoming friends.
“Death of the Speed Force”—the fourteenth episode of season 6—centered around Wally West’s return to the series. The episode also introduced a subplot involving Barry gradually losing his speed, and the clunky return of Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh). Season 6 misfired with the creative direction they took with Eobard Thawne / Reverse Flash. He didn’t have an important role in Crisis—something the writers teased since the “Pilot”—but they made a lazy effort to shove him into Nash Wells alongside the other Harrison Wells of the multiverse instead. I was not impressed with how the writers handled the “Harrison Wells” situation. At least, I didn’t like how they connected it to Eobard Thawne.
The other original main characters—Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker), Cisco (Carlos Valdes), and Joe West (Jessie L. Martin)—were lacking screen time throughout the “Post-Crisis Arc”. All three characters were even given excuses for their absences. Cisco wanted to explore Earth-Prime to learn the differences between old and new Earth. Caitlin was injured fighting as Killer Frost and taken to her mother’s lab for treatment. Joe West went into witness protection to hide from Black Hole.
Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) and Ralph (Hartley Sawyer)—main characters since season 5—just weren’t around enough. I adored Cecile very much. I wished she was used more.
While Danielle Panabaker was pregnant during the production of season 6 and needed maternity leave, I wasn’t sure why everyone else was trying to miss episodes or leave the show without actually leaving. Cough—I’m looking at you, Cisco Ramon. The continued absence ruined the team dynamics as the newcomers—Chester, Kamila, and Allegra—hadn’t earned their place yet.
Overall, I loved the cliffhanger to the unplanned season finale, but the episode was definitely not set-up as a well-intended conclusion to season 6. The Flash ironically needs to slow down and figure out a better story structure for season 7. Having story arcs like “Pre-Crisis” and “Post-Crisis” was a huge step in the right direction. Looking forward to what they will plan with Godspeed and Reverse Flash next though once they wrap up the “Post-Crisis Arc” properly.