The Ten Best Episodes of The Flash

The CW’s The Flash debuted in 2014 and quickly became perhaps the most universally-beloved superhero shows of all time.

In the three seasons of TV that have aired since, the series has surpassed the fifty episode mark and seems a lock to make it at least to 100. During a recent interview at Comic Con, series star Grant Gustin even suggested that a ten-year run, which could theoretically culminate with a season that dealt with Crisis on Infinite Earths, could be a realistic possibility.

“We don’t really talk about it on a yearly basis, but it was mentioned early on that was a goal,” Gustin told us. “Obviously we would have to go I think ten years to reach that….There’s a possibility, for sure. It would be fun to get there. I don’t see why not.”

After a Comic Con panel full of exciting news and a sneak peek at the future of the series, though, it seemed like as good a time as any to look back at the first act of The Flash and take stock in what got us this far.

Together with contributing writer Craig Byrne, we put together a rundown of The Flash‘s ten best episodes (in chronological order, so it’s more a journey through the show’s best moments rather than nitpicking bits and pieces to come up with what’s “better.”

You can check ’em out below.

PILOT

Where it all began. DC Entertainment’s Geoff Johns joined Executive Producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg in developing this Arrow spin-off that brought the light in a world where Arrow brought the darkness.

With cool visual effects and a likable performance by Grant Gustin combined with an impressive supporting cast and direction from David Nutter, it wasn’t all that surprising when it was one of the highest-rated broadcasts in The CW Network’s history.

 

GOING ROGUE

While early episodes of The Flash involved characters like The Weather Wizard and Multiplex, it was the series’ fourth installment that brought in one of the best and most famous of them.

Wentworth Miller’s chilly performance as Captain Cold incorporated the character’s iconic look and was so well-received that Miller was recruited for the later spin-off DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

If anything showed that this series could develop its own great set of Rogues, this would be the one.

 

THE MAN IN THE YELLOW SUIT

The Flash as a series wasted no time, and it took only nine episodes to get to the point of seeing The Flash’s evil rival, the Reverse-Flash.

New wrinkles were added to the season’s core mystery even as some answers are supposedly given. It’s just the midway point for Season 1 but it is a sign of more greatness to come.

 

OUT OF TIME

There was once a time when time travel wasn’t overused on The Flash, and this is the first and possibly best instance of it, when Barry Allen runs so fast, he finds himself traveling through time.

Of course, this time trek means that a key moment between Barry and Iris didn’t really happen – yet – but it sure was surprising to watch as it happened, as was Cisco’s confrontation with Wells that ended tragically.

 

TRICKSTERS

Star Wars’ Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill, played the villainous James Jesse, aka the Trickster, on the original The Flash TV series, and for the new show, he reprised the role, complete with a new sidekick.

Hamill effortlessly gets back into his old part, which surely helped him land the iconic Joker role for the Batman animated series, and this episode has several intentional nods to the original Flash show that Barry’s TV dad, John Wesley Shipp, starred in.

 

WHO IS HARRISON WELLS?

Not only is the Harrison Wells plot pushed forward a bit, we also see two characters from Arrow – Quentin and Laurel Lance – in a much lighter place than usual! Laurel gets her Canary Cry and Quentin smiles for once.

 

FLASH OF TWO WORLDS

Before later revelations may have told us otherwise, “Flash of Two Worlds” gave more of an introduction to the series of “Jay Garrick” of Earth-2, as played by Teddy Sears.

It also introduced Patty Spivot to the show, and featured a sequence literally ripped from the pages of issue #123 of The Flash from over 50 years ago.

Beyond that, the CG design of the alternate Central City of Earth-2 was otherworldly.

 

WELCOME TO EARTH-2/ESCAPE FROM EARTH-2

If you’re going to do an alternate universe story, do it right.

The Flash’s “Earth-2” two-parter – counted here as one long episode – did exactly that. While having fun with very different versions of the characters we all know and love, we also got to see Killer Frost for the first time beyond a cameo, and we learned more of what kind of power Cisco may actually have.

Best of all, it’s just really good storytelling.

 

INVINCIBLE

The comics’ most famous “Black Canary” was actually the Dinah Lance of Earth-2 so it’s not that shocking that an alternate universe version of Arrow‘s recently-deceased Laurel would show up as a metahuman from another world.

As the Black Siren, Cassidy played evil very well… but that’s not all we got in this one! Original The Flash actors John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays got a scene together, right before it all got taken away.

 

DUETS

In a season full of a bit of darkness and impending doom, it was fun to let it all out and see the cast sing, with special guest stars from Supergirl and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Several original compositions were made for the Flash musical, and Grant Gustin’s performance of “Running Home To You” when proposing to Iris’ is one of the series’ all-time best scenes.

 

MORE THE FLASH

Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) lived a normal life as a perpetually tardy C.S.I. in the Central City Police Department. Barry’s life changed forever when the S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator exploded, creating a dark-matter lightning storm that struck Barry, bestowing him with super-speed and making him the fastest man alive — The Flash.

But when Barry used his extraordinary abilities to travel back in time and save his mother’s life, he inadvertently created an alternate timeline known as Flashpoint; a phenomenon that gave birth to the villainous speed god known as Savitar, and changed the lives of Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Wally West (Keiyan Lonsdale) forever.

With the help of his adoptive father, Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), his lifelong best friend and love interest Iris West (Candice Patton), and his friends at S.T.A.R. Labs — Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), C.S.I Julian Albert (Tom Felton), and an Earth-19 novelist named H.R. Wells (Tom Cavanaugh) — Barry continues to protect the people of Central City from the meta-humans that threaten it.

Based on the characters from DC, THE FLASH is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “Supergirl”), Andrew Kreisberg (“Arrow,” “The Flash”), Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”) and Todd Helbing (“Black Sails”).

More The Flash news:

• The Flash Casts Its Season 4 Big Bad, Adds Danny Trejo & More To Cast
• The Flash Season 4 Trailer Released
• DC TV Stars Share Awesome Comic-Con Arrival Photos
• The Flash Vs Reverse Flash In New Mondo Poster