First Thoughts on 'The Flash' Season 4 (Episode 1)

I'm not sure if I wrote any posts about The Flash season 3 on this blog, or even on season 2 - perhaps the latter was simply a full-season review, as the second season of the series seemed to dawdle quite a bit in terms of narrative progression. Last time we left Barry and co though, our scarlet speedster had vanished into the speed force, leaving Team Flash, and his fiance Iris, behind.
This new season picks up six months later, with Iris trying to move on from Barry's loss, and Wally and Cisco taking care of Central City's meta-human population as Kid Flash and Vibe respectively. Nowhere to be seen are Jay Garrick, Gypsy, Tom Felton, Jessie or Harry Wells, but considering the third season's sprawling cast, a much tighter set feels a bit more comfortable. There is such a thing as too many good-guys in these superhero shows.
When the Samauroid attacks though, Cisco decides that it's time to bring Barry back from the speed force, despite initially stating that the speed force needed a speedster prisoner for it to not destroy all of Central City. How does he solve this? Technobabble. Will Barry's escape be key to the rest of the season? Probably not. When he does return though, it seems that Barry isn't quite himself, and instead is babbling nonsense. Whilst initially trying to decipher some form of communication, Cisco soon realises that his friend is lost. That is until Iris decides to let herself be kidnapped by the Samauroid - in a...reversal of the kidnapped love interest cliche? - and Barry, upon hearing this, whips into action, grabbing his new suit and defeating the Samauroid once and for all.
This...doesn't really flow with much narrative progression. It's as though the episode wants to tell its story, but also feels obliged to keep this as just one episode, preventing it from dragging out over multiple episodes, but also preventing any kind of natural development. Barry's sudden "return", being back to normal, seems a bit odd. The episode never justifies it beyond narrative convenience, and that's a bit of a shame really.
That being said, when Barry does rescue Iris in his new suit, there is the genuine sense of return and rebirth as DC had promised. Season 3 was far too dark for the show, but Season 4 seems to want to sell itself as being back to the show's roots - even going so far as to semi-cue Caitlin's Killer Frost persona. I'm wondering if the showrunners took a page out of Arrow Season 5's book and decided to go as far back to early Flash popularity as they could, referencing Season 1 elements whilst not forgetting the newer elements people liked: Barry's future suit, Cisco suiting up as Vibe, Wally as Kid Flash, Killer Frost, etc.
For the most part, this decision works. It just results in a rather clunky first episode with far too many narrative conveniences, and also one that pits Iris as the new Felicity for the show - which doesn't bode too well. If the next 22 episodes of The Flash Season 4 are more up-beat and closer to Season 1 than the middle two seasons, I'll get on board with this approach. It worked for Arrow, so I can't see why it wouldn't work for The Flash.

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