The Flash Has A Major Problem In Its Final Season, And Time Is Running Out

Warning! The following contains spoilers from The Flash Season 9 episode "Wildest Dreams." Read at your own risk!

The Flash Season 9 officially passed the halfway point with the conclusion of "Wildest Dreams," and I can't help but feel a little disappointed. I once believed it was a blessing that The CW greenlit the Grant Gustin-led series for another season, despite the show using its original finale idea at the end of Season 8. What could be bad about additional episodes and a chance to improve on what would have been the finale?

I've gotten the answer to that question in a few different ways so far in this final season, and it's getting to the point where I'm wondering if The Flash needed that final season after all. Here are some of the gripes that are on top of my mind after this latest episode.

Filler, Filler, And More Filler

When The Flash announced the final season, I expected these thirteen episodes to all lead toward one epic conclusion. Instead, the show has been all over the place, jumping from what felt like a rushed Red Death arc into two bizarre one-off episodes that don't feel connected to the greater story in any way.

Hell, one could even argue this latest episode was more about progressing the story of Supergirl's Dreamer than anything else, which is just weird. Why are we resolving the arcs of characters from cancelled shows in the final season of this series? Why are we not moving toward some epic finale? I keep finding myself asking these questions.

We Get Cameos, But None Of The Ones I Want

The Flash has made a habit of bringing back stars from past seasons in recent years, but never the ones that I really want to see. Don't get me wrong – I enjoyed seeing Goldface, The Hotness, and Pied Piper again, but I wouldn't even have listed them in a Top 20 list of people I wanted back in the final season.

I want to see Cisco Ramon, Amunet Black, or maybe even Wells the Grey. Nobody like that has appeared in this season so far, and while it's possible they're being saved for the final episodes, I feel that they should've had at least some presence throughout this season.

Obviously, no one was going to commit for an entire season, but this series has brought back plenty of past stars after they stepped away in the past. It would've been nice to see more of the legacy characters by this point in the season.

It's Not Even Fun To Watch

I could forgive The Flash's filler episodes in the final season if I was having a blast watching them, but I'm not. This isn't like last season with the whacky time-traveling adventures of the West-Allen kids, which is more along the lines of what I was hoping for.

This is more like "Iris is about to die, and Barry has to save her" for the umpteenth time, and I've seen that play out too many times before. I'm really hoping things turn around toward the end, but am fully prepared to be let down as well.

The Flash Season 9 airs on The CW on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Tune in to watch the final episodes of the series, and check out some of the other shows arriving via our 2023 TV schedule in the coming weeks.