'The Flash' Almost Explored More of Barry's CSI Work

For years, The Flash has given fans a unique take on the DC Comics universe, but it left one key element on the cutting room floor.

Grant Gustin, who stars as Barry Allen/The Flash on the hit The CW series, recently spoke about the show on Glass Half Full with Riker Lynch. As Gustin explained, The Flash initially had a specific way of presenting Barry's work as a CSI, but they were ultimately neglected as the series went on.

"We actually, in the pilot of Flash, we almost started to go down a [Sherlock] road with Barry's CSI work." Gustin revealed. "You'd see how he solved things a little bit. And I thought that was going to be something we were going to do, but someone, I don't know who it was, thought that it was too similar to Sherlock. But I was like 'It's cool, though! Let's use that cool thing from Sherlock!' Now, we hardly ever see Barry do CSI work, so..."

For diehard fans of The Flash, this notion is certainly nothing new, as the Sherlock-inspired visuals did make their way into the pilot episode. In one early moment in the pilot, Barry bent down to analyze a piece of evidence for tire tracks, and the various angles and information were physically shown onscreen.

Over the years, some have periodically wondered where that physical representation of Barry's CSI work went -- or, really, Barry doing CSI work at all. And while the trope returned a bit last season, with Barry hunting down Clifford DeVoe/The Thinker (Neil Sandilands), it sounds like Gustin wouldn't be opposed to having more of it.

"We don't see him too much as a CSI." Gustin told reporters during a set visit last year. "There's been a little bit less of the like, 'Guys, what do I do?' and more of the problem solving on his own. We'll still see some of the, 'Guys, what do I do? I'm not fast enough!' but he's been trying to solve more problems on his own, a lot more detective work and Ralph and Barry have been doing that together a lot which has been cool. And the DeVoe storyline calls for it because we're just solving a problem from the beginning of the season on."

And with Season 5 having two new mysteries to solve - the rise of Cicada (Chris Klein), and the "big mistakes" that brought Nora Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy) from the future - fans will just have to wait and see if Barry's CSI work plays a larger role.

Would you have liked to see more of Barry Allen's CSI work on The Flash? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The fifth season of The Flash will debut on Tuesday, October 9th, at 8/7c on The CW.