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- The Flash 's fifth season maintains the show's high standard for compelling visuals, chilling villains, and well-scripted moments of humor, but also turns a more focused gaze on the role of family dynamics amongst the increasingly complex characters.
www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_flash/s05
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The Flash 's fifth season maintains the show's high standard for compelling visuals, chilling villains, and well-scripted moments of humor, but also turns a more focused gaze on the role of...
- (294)
- October 9, 2018
- Grant Gustin
- New heroes and villains make for a disappointing fifth season for Team Flash.
- The 25 Best Arrowverse Episodes
- Verdict
By Jesse Schedeen
Posted: May 30, 2019 3:07 pm
Note: This is a mostly spoiler-free review of the fifth season of The Flash, which is now available to stream on Netflix. I'll discuss basic character and plot details but save direct spoiler chatter for the end of the review.
For most of its life, The Flash has followed a fairly similar pattern to that of Arrow. The first two seasons set a high standard that the show has never really been able to match since. Like Arrow, Season 3 marked a significant drop-off in quality, while Season 4 really dove off a cliff. Were The Flash to continue following Arrow's example, Season 5 would see the series rebound and recapture some of its lost glory. Sadly, this is where The Flash finally changed gears and stopped following Arrow's example. Season 5 may not quite rank as the show's worst to date, but at some point that's an almost meaningless distinction.
The problem was simply that there wasn't enough to the character to justify such a long-term presence on the show. Orlin Dwyer's desire for vengeance is understandable, but the writers struggled to build on that foundation and add more layers to what ultimately proved to be a pretty straightforward villain. It didn't help that Dwyer's chronic injuries and resulting vocal tics forced Klein to play him as a much campier villain than was really necessary.
Throughout Season 5, Team Flash's battles with Cicada followed the same boring pattern. They tried to neutralize his power-draining weapon, failed and watched helplessly as Cicada slipped away to lick his wounds. Even the big shakeup in the latter half of the season did very little to reinvigorate a tired villain. Only by bringing another familiar face back into the fold did the show manage to salvage this ill-conceived storyline. He's simply a villain that should have been reserved for a handful of episodes at most, not a months-long storyline.
On top of languishing under the reign of a bland villain, Season 5 suffered from many of the same flaws that have become all too familiar in recent years. Most of the season's minor villains were predictably underdeveloped (though to be fair, "Gone Rogue" managed to redeem some of its villains for Round 2). The series' supporting cast also continued to be far too cumbersome. There's simply never enough room to give characters like Cisco (Carlos Valdes), Ralph (Hartley Sawyer), Joe (Jesse L. Martin) and Cecille (Danielle Nicolet) their proper due. The fact that Martin was forced to drop out of the show for several months because of a back injury didn't help. The series needs to streamline its supporting cast going forward. Fortunately, the finale hinted that may be a goal heading into Season 6.
Caitlin/Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker) continues to be the biggest sore point in the series. After three seasons gradually setting up her descent into darkness, the series has completely shifted course and begun treating Caitlin and her alter ego as a bizarre sort of slapstick metahuman buddy comedy. As in Season 4, the Caitlin-centric episodes ranked among the worst of the year. The introduction of her long-lost father (Kyle Secor) initially seemed like it might reinvigorate Caitlin's arc, but that potential failed to pan out in episodes like "Snow Pack."
Season 5 continued the tradition of bringing a new incarnation of Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) into the mix. Sadly, Sherloque Wells is a far cry from HR Wells, Harry or the OG Harrison Wells. Where usually Cavanagh is able to differentiate these different versions through subtle intonation, body language and personality changes, Sherloque relied far too heavily on a silly French accent. He felt gimmicky in comparison to his predecessors. And while Sherloque definitely had his moments in Season 5 (mainly as he turned his considerable skills of deduction against his own teammates), the character too often felt superfluous. Better to end the running joke that is the annual Wells cycle if it's only going to bring the series diminishing returns.
Most of what did work in Season 5 centered around the dynamic between Barry (Grant Gustin), Iris (Candice Patton) and their time-displaced daughter Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy). Season 4's drawn-out "Mystery Girl" subplot wound up paying off for the series. Suddenly Barry and Iris found themselves faced with a literal piece of the future, confronting the challenges of parenthood well before they were prepared. As for Nora, she found herself finally face to face with the father she barely remembers but spent most of her life idolizing. This odd, time travel-induced family dynamic continued to pay off over the course of the season, especially as the more unsavory aspects of Nora's back-story came to light and she began to wrestle with her dark side. All of this culminated in a satisfying way in the season finale "Legacy."
Any hopes that The Flash might bounce back in Season 5 like Arrow did before it were quickly dashed. This season isn't quite as disappointing as its predecessor, but there's still far too much wasted potential amid the ill-conceived plot twists, roster additions and lackluster choice of villain. Only the addition of Barry Allen's time-displaced dau...
- Andy Behbakht
- Senior Writer
- BEST: Legacy (Episode 22) The fifth season finale doesn't just end the Cicada arc but also turns the Reverse-Flash into the real threat. Things get worse when Nora is erased from the present following the timelines' changes.
- WORST: Gone Rogue (Episode 20) As Nora was on her bad girl phase in the twentieth episode, it becomes XS’s final bad episode in the season. In “Gone Rogue," Nora teams up with a few members of the new villainous Rogues team that had been established throughout the season.
- BEST: Elseworlds, Part 1 (Episode 9) The Elseworlds crossover kicked off with The Flash as we got to see Barry and Oliver (Stephen Amell) switch lives.
- WORST: The Girl With the Red Lightning (Episode 21) This penultimate episode is a frustrating one simply because no one would listen to Ralph. At this point in the game, it had become evident how exhausting the Cicadas had become.
Oct 9, 2018 · The Flash's fifth season is one of many problems, mainly the many acts of stupidity from Team Flash, but there were a few highlights from certain cast members, at least... Full Review |...
Is the Flash Season 5 worth watching? Question. How is the Flash Season 5, does it have less forced comedy, a real plot, and is not 'cringy'? I used to be a big fan of DC, I still like the comics, but the CW shows just got really bad. I stopped Arrow After Season 5 and haven't watched anything after the Flash Season 4 ended.
Oct 6, 2018 · News. The Flash Season 5 Review. Odd as it may sound, The Flash may very well now be the flagship show in the Arrowverse. When you think about it, the series' ascension to that spot makes...
Oct 10, 2018 · TV Reviews. The Flash Season 5 Premiere Review: New Season, Same Problems To Solve. By Sarah Moran. Published Oct 10, 2018. The Flash season 5 is a promising start that continues the tone of season 4, focusing even more on family while teasing the West-Allens' futures. Warning: SPOILERS for The Flash season 5 premiere ahead! -
