Summary
- The Flash season 7 was the show's worst due to the loss of key cast members and a convoluted story with underwhelming special effects.
- Season 8 attempted to make up for the previous season's shortcomings but fell short with underused characters and a disappointing conclusion to the Reverse-Flash arc.
- The Flash season 9 had its moments with the return of beloved villains but was dragged down by filler episodes and a lackluster final season overall.
The Flash had nine seasons, and while all of them had their fair share of entertaining moments, some were clearly better than others. The Flash was the second series to premiere as part of the TV DC Universe, the Arrowverse, debuting two years after Stephen Amell's Arrow began. From 2014 to 2023, Grant Gustin gave life to Barry Allen, aka The Flash, in the Arrowverse series. Gustin also appeared as Barry in multiple other DC TV series as part of the Arrowverse's yearly crossover events or in more contained crossovers between two heroes. While the actor was consistently good throughout his appearances, the same can't be said about The Flash.
There is a lot to be loved in the DC speedster's series, with each season of The Flash having exciting characters and stories; however, the show was not always the best it could be. The reasons that lead to the difference in quality between the nine seasons of the Arrowverse's longest show range from who was the main villain of each season, how The Flash's VFX became worse with time, decisions to split seasons into multiple story arcs, shortened seasons, cast, and more. All those factors combine to reveal which seasons of The Flash deserve to be ranked higher than others.
Your browser does not support the video tag. 9 Season 7 
The Flash season 7 is easily the show's worst. The Flash season 7 was the first of the series after Hartley Sawyer was fired, which meant The Flash lost the comedic Elongated Man and all the work that had been done to set up Ralph Dibny and Sue Dearbon getting together. The season also included two other major exits, with original The Flash cast members, Cisco actor Carlos Valdes and Harrison Wells/Reverse-Flash star Tom Cavanagh, leaving as series regulars. Season 7's story was convoluted thanks to the introduction of multiple "Forces," and The Flash clearly didn't have the VFX budget to give an epic end to its Godspeed arc.