That is exactly where I am with The Flash at this point. It has taken me a long time to reach the decision to stop reviewing the show. I had held out hope after seasons 4, 5, 6, and 7 that the show would somehow find its way back into my heart. Sadly, it hasn't. I'm not going to lay blame on anyone except myself for my decision, but for good measure I'll tick off a few things that helped to push me to this extreme. As I do that though, I'll also do my actual job of recapping "Resurrection".
Catilin & Ronnie/Deathstorm
I have made it no secret that I don't care for Caitlin/Frost. Her character(s) have been poorly written and flatly portrayed for several seasons. However, once in a while they do her justice. It was nice to see her find a way back to "Ronnie". The flashbacks were cute and it made perfect sense that she would fall on the side (no matter how wrong) of trying to save him. She never seemed to be anchored after he left and her character was just left to drift around the lab.
Frost was and is an altogether annoyance. Why Frost and Caitlin always find the need to needle Barry about how much room he gives Iris to make hard choices is baffling. We know why. She knows why. The writers know why. Yet, here we still are.
The fact that Ronnie turns out to be Deathstorm made me really rethink putting the show down, but no matter how much I love Robbie Amell, I can't stick around. It's a good thing there's Upload.
Barry
Barry has always been my favorite character and Grant Gustin does a hell of a job being Flash. The CW version of Barry has a heart of gold and he loves his family above all else. Other things we've been shown are that he is extremely intelligent, funny, and an amazing husband. The sad thing is we just don't get to see much of any of that anymore.
Between the bloated, boring other Team Flash members, Barry gets swallowed whole. I don't know why that is and won't speculate but it has helped to make the show unwatchable. And this episode, it was much of the same. Barry feels one way about The Black Flame while Caitlin/Frost feel another way. She has now helped aide Black Flame into becoming Deathstorm. What will Barry do? Probably nothing.
The best characterization of Barry in this episode came in the last scene where he was rendered frozen at the thought of losing Iris. All of senses seemed to leave him and that's the Barry we love!
Iris
The time sickeness idea is very interesting, but I can't help but wonder after Iris spent several episodes in a mirror not too long ago, why this particular storyline seemed like a good idea. Just sayin? And now she has disappeared AGAIN. I can't....
Team Flash
Joe leaving is the best thing Jesse Martin could have done for himself. Iris and Barry have outgrown the need to have a dad hanging around, and the show never really found much use for him after that happened. He gave up the career he loved, has a fake baby, and just isn't much of a factor. Because he is so sparesly used, even his Joeisms don't land anymore.
Cecile- I won't even spend more time on the depths to which I have come to loathe her character. It has been such a creative disaster for the show. Cecile started out a dynamic district attorney that most fans liked. She came into Joe's life and made him very happy. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? She became a meta and then a defense attorney and is now something I can't even name. When she comes on screen, I literally turn the channel. How could they have gotten this character so wrong?
Poor Allegra and Chester. They have to try and fill the shoes of Cisco and Wells. It just isn't going to happen. While they are perfectly mediocre characters (Chester a bit above that and Allegra has gotten better.), they don't have the charisma to keep me invested.
Other Reasons I'm Signing Off
* I don't want to be a hate watcher. There aren't many good things to say about the show anymore, so why say anything? I know from experience that creating and sharing something with an audience is difficut. When people don't connect with it the way you hoped, that's even harder. The creatives have chosen a path that I don't vibe with, and they don't need me to keep hating on it once I've had my say.
* I miss West-Allen. They were my favorite tv ship for a long time. The slow burn, the angst, the finally being in love at the same time, the sweet talks- those were the good days. And every Tuesday, I was ready to tune in because I was gonna get what I came for. Now, I never know what I'm going to get-if I get anything. It can't be lost on the creative team that Barry and Iris's relationship is what draws many of the viewers they have and yet, they continue to let that fall to the wayside. Whatever the reason is, a powerful creative team and one that was invested in making sure their show stayed viable would get everyone in a room and fix it. And they would have done it by now if they cared about their fan base.
* That season 8 was being written as several graphic novels makes me guess that Eric knew the end was coming, so he chose to shoe horn all of his favorite Flash stories into the final season. No matter how messy and how disconnected it feels, this was his vision. Instead if taking the story of Barry to a more natural ending of his journey at this point, this season feels very jagged.
* Iris. She has never gotten a break from the show or from some of the fans. Finally getting her media career off the ground (though we got to see very little of her making the leap), she's still not given the chance to be the dogged reporter she's known to be. She and Barry barely work in tandem. I can count on my fingers, the number of times they've been shown working on cases together in eight years. She is written in a race neutral way, which is okay except for the fact that there could be nuance. I know for a fact, most people won't stand for being berated by employees or their children. I know for sure, for sure a Black woman won't. Yet, Iris has endured this lots of times without sticking up for herself.
She chooses to be strong all the time and people around her allow it. Barry is the Flash for god's sake. He doesn't have to let Iris do anything alone, but he does. She asks for this most of the time, but she shouldn't always get it. I could go on and on but I've made my point.
I wish nothing but the best for the cast and the for those of you who decide to hang in there. It has been my pleasure to write and talk about the show with so many great people. I hope that we can find something new to love together.
You can catch The Flash on the CW on Wednesday nights. As always, thanks for reading.
