11 things nobody wants to admit about The Flash

9. The Flash became directionless without Crisis as an endgame

If you’ve read our 10 things nobody wants to admit about the Arrowverse piece, you’ll know that this one very much applies to the Arrowverse as a whole too, but no show suffered post-Crisis On Infinite Earths more than The Flash.

The Crisis was teased as early as the show’s pilot episode, with the promise of a future that would see the Scarlet Speedster vanish in a Crisis a decade in the future. That gave the show an endgame to work towards, one that could have served as an endgame for the entire Arrowverse, as The Flash could battle the Reverse-Flash in a multiverse-changing event that very well could have served as the finale for the whole shared universe. Instead, it was brought forward to 2019 because of Arrow‘s impending conclusion, the Reverse-Flash was nowhere to be seen, and it was made all about Oliver Queen instead.

The Crisis came and went, and suddenly The Flash had no direction. It evolved into a ’70s-ish procedural that relied on quick and ineffective storytelling, cheesy villains, and infuriating supporting characters to force story. But the story just wasn’t there.

After the Crisis, Arrow ended, Supergirl and Black Lightning prepared to do the same, while Legends of Tomorrow thrived as a kooky standalone, Batwoman carved out its own identity, and Superman and Lois divorced itself from the Arrowverse. But The Flash withered, losing its own identity, sense of purpose, and focus, becoming a meandering and cheesy shell of what it once was.