11 things nobody wants to admit about The Flash

7. The graphic novel format ran its course very quickly

When Eric Wallace first introduced his “graphic novel” format to The Flash, it was a breath of fresh air. The show had been struggling under the weight of too many episodes, so its storylines were often long and repetitive as the writers attempted to stretch out the story as much as they could. The graphic novel format changed that, as it allowed the show to split its lengthy seasons into two halves – each of which focused on a separate storyline.

It worked like a dream in season 6, with the eight-episode Bloodwork arc gifting the show with its best storyline in years and setting up Crisis On Infinite Earths well. The Mirror Monarch arc in the back half of the season was flawed but it also did what it needed to do without overstaying its welcome. But it all went horribly wrong after that.

With The Flash‘s episode-count getting reduced post-pandemic, the creative team still soldiered on with the graphic novel format, cramming complicated storylines into just a few episodes. To make matters worse, they also wasted three-four episodes between those storylines with an interlude that often dropped the leading characters in favor of spotlighting the underdeveloped supporting characters instead.

Somehow a beautiful device concocted to waste less time ended up wasting more. The Forces storyline in season 7 was far too complicated for such a short format, while the long-teased Godspeed arc crumbled with just four episodes to tell it. And then, of course, we have the final season, which introduced a new villain, and storyline, only to drop them four episodes in, waste time with a trilogy of filler episodes, and then tackle the show’s final ever storyline with just four episodes remaining.

The graphic novel format was great for longer seasons, but the shorter seasons should have just had one focused and concise storyline. This did not happen, and something designed to give The Flash more life ended up leaving it crawling to the finish line a lot earlier than it should have been.

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