The fifth season of the American television series The Flash, which is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, premiered on The CW on October 9, 2018, and concluded on May 14, 2019, with a total of 22 episodes.[1] The season follows Barry dealing with the consequences of his future daughter's time traveling, while confronting a new foe in Orlin Dwyer, the Cicada. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of Arrow. The season was produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Entertainment, with Todd Helbing serving as showrunner.
Team Flash meets Nora, Barry and Iris' daughter from the future. While Iris expresses excitement, Barry is concerned that she could alter the timeline based on his own mistakes with time travel. When Barry tries to send Nora home, Wally reveals that Nora's blood is saturated with negative tachyons, preventing her from using the Speed Force or the Legends' Waverider to time travel. Barry asks Nora what happens to him in the future, so she reveals that he never returned after disappearing in 2024 and that she traveled back in time to meet him. A new metahuman named Gridlock, who is able to harness kinetic energy, causes a plane to fall, so Barry, Nora, Wally, and Cisco team up to save it, with Nora providing Barry a Flash ring suit. They phase the plane through the buildings so it lands safely in the river. While Gridlock is being transported to prison, the convoy is attacked by a masked individual, who tells Gridlock that he plans to wipe out all metahumans before approaching him with a lightning-shaped dagger.
Barry struggles to train the overeager Nora, who gets herself hired as a CSI intern to spend more time with her father, much to Iris' discomfort. Caitlin and Ralph try to help Cisco following his breakup with Gypsy, with Cisco eventually accepting he needs to move on. Caitlin refuses to pursue the idea that her father might still be alive, despite Ralph's insistence. Cecile starts to lose her telepathy and struggles to connect with her child without being able to know her thoughts. Meanwhile, a new meta called "Block," who can create blocks of dense air, steals weapons from her old gang and, while trying to stop her, the team has their first encounter with Cicada, the masked man who killed Gridlock. He stabs Block, but Nora manages to speed her away from the scene. Cicada then uses his dagger, which he has telekinetic control of, to neutralize the team's powers, beat them severely, slash Cisco's hands, and nearly kill Barry before Nora drives him off. Cisco vibes Caitlin, learning that her mother is involved with her father's disappearance. Iris reveals that she has been investigating the masked individual and the team discovers that Nora already knows about him.
The team recruits Harrison Sherloque Wells to help them catch Cicada, who Nora reveals is unstoppable in the future. Caitlin and Ralph confront Caitlin's mother, Carla Tannhauser, who denies forging her husband's death certificate. They later break into her files and find a suicide note from Caitlin's father. Sherloque pinpoints Cicada as David Hersch, as he was previously correct 37 times. As a result of Nora's tampering with the timeline, however, his identity on Earth-1 is different. Cicada attacks Joe to lure out Vibe and, when Cisco arrives, Cicada stabs him and breaks his arm. Barry arrives, but is easily defeated. Nora enacts an explosion to drive Cicada off, which results in Cisco's apparent death. However, Cisco reappears, having used a breach machine to escape. With the public and Cicada believing that Vibe is dead, Sherloque agrees to help the team. Caitlin deciphers a hidden message from her father, Thomas, asking her to come find him. Cicada visits his comatose niece in the hospital. Nora agrees to stay with her parents, despite her seemingly strained relationship with Iris. Sherloque begins to suspect that Nora is not in 2018 for the reasons she gave.
The team discovers articles about XS written by Iris' former colleagues Spencer Young which are all published just before the events take place. Iris contacts Spencer to ask her to refrain from putting XS in her articles in order to protect Nora, but fails. Spencer is revealed to be in possession of a cell phone that allows her to control the minds of people she texts about so she can create articles for her blog. Iris learns from Nora that she does not like her because in the future, the former implanted her with a meta-dampening chip that disabled her powers. Barry and Nora go to the stadium when a bomb threat is reported. There, Spencer uses her tech to hypnotize XS into trying to kill the Flash. Iris eventually stops XS by shooting her with a tranquilizer dart, allowing Nora to regain her mind and Barry to arrest Spencer while confiscating her cell phone. The team discovers that Spencer's cell phone and Cicada's dagger have meta abilities, created from DeVoe's satellite explosion, meaning meta-tech could be in the hands of anyone. It is later revealed that Cicada has acquired super-strength.
Barry and Nora go to stop some art thieves, with Iris getting frustrated when Nora cuts her off. Nora reveals that, in the future, Iris is cold, distant, and critical of her actions. Nora goes to spend some time with Cecile, finding out more about Iris from her. Later, a new meta called Rag Doll attacks an architect and destroys his office, though the Flash saves him. Iris and Barry try to investigate the new meta, but the latter gets captured by Rag Doll and held hostage on a rooftop with power-dampening cuffs (though the villain is unaware of Barry's abilities). Ralph and Iris go to save Barry, Iris jumping off the building to remove Barry's cuffs while he is falling and allowing him to save them just as Ralph defeats Rag Doll. Iris later reconciles with Nora and the two start to grow closer. Meanwhile, Cisco, Caitlin, Ralph, and Sherloque investigate Caitlin's father and track him to a university office and chem lab before Cisco suddenly collapses. As his damaged hands negatively affect his health while using his powers, Cisco takes control of DeVoe's satellites so he can try and find both Thomas and Cicada.
Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin find her father, Thomas, in an arctic facility and bring him to S.T.A.R. Labs, where he reveals that both he and Caitlin developed ice powers as a result of his experiments in trying to treat their ALS gene. Thomas claims he is dying as a result of never having manifested an alternate personality like Killer Frost, but Cisco is suspicious. He returns to Thomas' lab, where he discovers "Thomas" is actually an alternate personality wearing skin grafts to pose as him. Caitlin realizes that a serum she created to cure her father would actually kill his human side. Cornered, Thomas' alter ego, "Icicle", emerges and attempts to kill Team Flash with absolute zero temperatures, but Caitlin proves to be immune. With the rest of the team incapacitated, Killer Frost returns and defeats Icicle, forcing him to flee. Team Flash determines that Dominic Lanse / Brainstorm's powers caused Killer Frost's disappearance and they also learn the name of Cicada's niece, Grace.
Barry attempts to see Grace, but Cicada's reluctant ally Dr. Ambres impedes him. Barry and Nora later stop a freak lightning storm from hitting Central City's power grid. Team Flash suspects Mark Mardon, even though he's in jail, but Nora and Barry instead encounter his estranged daughter, Joss Jackam / Weather Witch, who wields a weather control staff like her father. Barry and Nora bring Mardon to her in order to appease her, but to no avail. An angered Joss attacks an airport with a lightning tornado, so Barry uses Mardon's wand to absorb Joss' lightning and subdue her. Team Flash finally discovers Cicada's identity: Orlin Dwyer.
In flashbacks, Orlin is shown adopting Grace after the death of her parents in a metahuman attack and, while bonding, debris from DeVoe's satellite put Grace in a coma and impaled Orlin with shrapnel that would later become his dagger. Blaming metahumans for what happened, Orlin vowed to exterminate them all on Grace's behalf.
Barry and Nora time travel to gather items needed to stop Cicada; a highly magnetic alloy from Savitar's armor, Harry Wells' Speed Force transmitter, and dark matter. They first travel to Team Flash's final battle with Savitar. After a Time Wraith appears, Barry distracts it so Nora can retrieve a piece of the armor. They next travel to when Zoom stole Barry's speed for the transmitter, which Barry obtains from Harry. Zoom discovers Barry and Nora and gives chase before he is stopped by the Time Wraith, though this breaks the transmitter in the process. Even though he is reluctant, Nora convinces Barry to ask Eobard Thawne for help. Despite some initial difficulty, Barry convinces Thawne to fix the transmitter by claiming he will never get home if he does not. Finally, Barry and Nora travel to the night of the particle accelerator explosion. In the Time Vault, Gideon reroutes part of the dark matter through the shard and transmitter, and Barry reveals to Nora that Thawne killed his mother. Back in the present, Team Flash separates Cicada from his dagger temporarily before he escapes. Nora returns to 2049 to confront Thawne at Iron Heights.
On a decimated Earth-90, the Flash is seen crawling towards a book, but a mysterious stranger picks it up and uses it to destroy that reality, though the Flash escapes. On Earth-1, the stranger presents the book to Arkham Asylum psychiatrist Dr. John Deegan and instructs him to rewrite reality as he sees fit. The following morning, under threatening red skies, Oliver Queen and Barry discover that they have swapped lives, with everyone believing they are each other. When they seek the assistance of Team Flash, they are not believed and locked in the pipeline. Barry and Oliver use each other's abilities to escape and convince a reluctant Iris to allow them to flee to Earth-38 to enlist the help of Kara Danvers / Supergirl and her cousin, Clark Kent / Superman. Back on Earth-1, the heroes join forces to stop A.M.A.Z.O., an android that can copy their abilities. They stop the android and, after seeing a vision of the stranger from Cisco, realize they must travel to Gotham City.
Nora refuses to continue working with Thawne upon learning he killed her grandmother. Barry and Nora encounter a new villain, Silver Ghost, who possesses meta tech allowing her to access any car. An encounter with her and her tech leaves Barry phasing uncontrollably, so Nora and Team Flash help him into the pipeline, where he can stabilize for 24 hours. Silver Ghost frees Joss Jackam from CCPD's custody so she can help her steal a WayneTech car in A.R.G.U.S.'s possession. Silver Ghost uses the car's tech to evade capture until Cisco patches Nora's voice into the radio, urging Joss to turn herself in and offering a second chance. Joss secretly disables the car before escaping with Silver Ghost. Caitlin helps heal Cisco's hands and they agree to try to develop a meta cure with the caveat that it is never forced on anyone. Nora returns to the future and reluctantly agrees to help Thawne, who has less than an hour left to live. Sherloque gains access to the Time Vault, but discovers the files on Nora West-Allen have been deleted by her.
Cicada returns, killing metahumans from an arrest log provided by someone inside CCPD. When Team Flash tries to stop him, the villain paralyzes Nora and slows down her speed healing. Once the team determines Cicada's pattern, Cecile tracks down the informant while the rest round up the remaining metas on the log. Caitlin continues working on the metahuman cure, but needs blood from a recently created one. Cicada finds the meta group protected by Team Flash. While Ralph helps the metas escape, Flash and Killer Frost distract Cicada, the latter drawing blood from him for the cure. Incensed from what happened to Nora, Flash nearly kills Cicada before she rushes over to stop him, inadvertently allowing the killer to escape. Sherloque ignores Iris' order to stop investigating Nora and discovers two handwriting styles in her journal. While having dinner with Iris and Nora, Barry comes up with the idea to appeal to Cicada's heart by trying to wake up Grace.
The team plans to wake up Grace using Sherloque's Memory Machine from Earth-221. Against his instructions, Nora enters Grace's memories by herself to prevent the others from learning about her secret alliance with Thawne. To her horror, she discovers that Grace is consciously aware of Orlin's actions and wholeheartedly supports him in his anti-metahuman agenda before being attacked by a female version of Cicada. Meanwhile, Barry and Iris discover what Nora did and go in after her, only to end up in her memories of the Flash Museum and attacked by the Reverse-Flash exhibit. Despite heavy resistance, Barry and Iris manage to escape Nora's memories and save her from Cicada, but they are unable to bring Grace, as she refuses to wake up and believes Nora is a liar. Upon further review of their adventure, Caitlin learns that a satellite shard became lodged in Grace's brain and created a barrier around it, meaning they cannot try again. Iris establishes the Central City Citizen, which Nora reveals was originally founded in 2021, meaning Iris is changing the future. Cisco makes some headway on the meta cure, which Barry decides to use on Cicada.
Team Flash completes the metahuman cure, but requires Cicada to hold still long enough for it to take effect. Ralph finds a device capable of doing so in the hands of a metahuman crime boss called Goldface. Despite Barry's hesitation, he and Ralph go undercover as criminals to retrieve it from him. Though he is suspicious, Goldface decides to take the heroes on a job to steal a 3-D printer from Ivo Labs in exchange for the device. Even though they are discovered, Barry and Ralph are able to stop Goldface and his men. Elsewhere, Iris starts investigating Cicada for the Central City Citizen and discovers where he lives. She is able to get inside, but he sees through her and tries to kill her. After a protracted fight, she discovers his weakness but, when Team Flash investigates, they find Cicada gone. Under orders from Thawne, Nora tries to steer Sherloque away from her by helping him fall in love with a woman named Renee Adler. Despite a bad first meeting, Sherloque and Renee eventually fall for each other. After discovering she is a meta, Sherloque devotes all of his attention to protecting her from Cicada.
Barry takes the meta cure into the Speed Force for an hour to help speed up the synthesizing process, leaving an uneasy Nora behind. Elsewhere, Cicada kidnaps Iris, but she manages to alert Nora and Killer Frost to her location. They arrive, but Cicada slays Killer Frost, distressing Nora to the point where she runs so fast that she resets the timeline. When Nora tries to prevent Iris' death, Cicada ends up kidnapping Sherloque instead and, although the situation plays out like last time, Cisco dies this time. Nora repeatedly resets the timeline but, on each new attempt, at least one person on Team Flash always gets killed. Eventually, Cisco reveals the loops to the team, forcing Nora to confess what has happened. Cisco consoles her and, together with the rest of the team, works on a new plan to stop Cicada. This time, they make it so that Cicada accidentally stabs himself with his dagger, forcing him to flee. Once Barry returns and learns what Nora has done, he warns her against altering time any further. Elsewhere, Sherloque manages to decode Nora's entire journal using symbols she unwittingly revealed during the meeting with the team.
With the metahuman cure finally finished, Team Flash decides that King Shark would be the ideal test subject. The team travels to A.R.G.U.S. and asks Lyla to get in contact with King Shark, who aggressively attacks the team while under Gorilla Grodd's mind control. Barry reacts by injecting the cure into King Shark, turning him back into his human form – Shay Lamden. Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin discovers that, although the cure worked, there is still dark matter in Shay's pituitary gland, causing his body to rapidly change back and forth between his two forms. Shay's wife Tanya is convinced by Sherloque to talk with Shay. Later that night, Grodd controls Cisco and Caitlin so he can steal Dr. Lamden's telepathy crown and amplify his powers, enabling him to control all of Central City. Seeing no other option and wanting to make amends for his crimes as King Shark, Shay volunteers to change back to help Team Flash stop Grodd, in spite of the possibility that he may never be human again. Meanwhile, Joe returns home to Cecile and trains Iris to overcome Cicada, to whom Barry suggests they offer the cure instead of forcing it on him.
In 2049, Thawne warns Nora that they have to act fast to stop Cicada once and for all, because a new timeline is trying to push its way into being, bringing something really big with it. In the present, Nora and Barry confront a new metahuman named Acid Master whose burn mark was on a newspaper article shown to Nora in the future, leading her to deduce that the final confrontation with Cicada is upon them. Meanwhile, Joe and Cecile interrogate Dr. Ambres about working with Orlin. She then reveals to them that Grace is a metahuman now. When Barry tells Orlin, he reconsiders his vendetta and is convinced to take the metahuman cure because of the possibility of curing Grace. Orlin is taken to S.T.A.R. Labs and given the cure but, during the operation, the facility is attacked by a new Cicada who gains control of Orlin's dagger and uses it to kill Dr. Ambres before abducting Orlin. At a cabin in the woods, the new Cicada unmasks herself to reveal an adult Grace.
In 2049, Thawne is surprised by the appearance of the new Cicada and, with no other options, asks Nora to reveal the relationship between them to her father. The adult Grace reveals to Orlin that she came from a future where metahumans thrive so that she can complete what she believes is still his mission. Team Flash discovers that the new Cicada arrived in a Time Sphere, stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs' storage in the future. Following some leads, including a police file stolen by the new Cicada, they correctly deduce her identity. Cicada II targets Vickie Bolen, the metahuman who accidentally caused the explosion that killed her parents, but Team Flash intervenes. Orlin arrives and tries to talk his niece into abandoning her vendetta, which leads to her killing him. Meanwhile, Sherloque finds out that Thawne, when he was posing as Dr. Wells, cracked a source code for the multiverse. Identifying Thawne as the second person who wrote in Nora's journal, Sherloque exposes her partnership in front of the team, causing Barry to lock his daughter in the pipeline.
Team Flash reads Nora's journal and learns that she discovered her powers and relation to the Flash after subsequent encounters with two speedsters: August Heart / Godspeed and Thawne. Flash-forwards show Nora working as a forensic scientist like her father. After being hit by Godspeed, Nora discovers she had a chip implanted into her that dampened her powers, causing a rift between her and her mother. After Godspeed's citywide rampage kills Nora's best friend and co-worker Lia, Thawne helps Nora control her newfound powers and defeat the rampaging speedster, after which he becomes her mentor as he was for Barry. With Thawne's help, Nora finds the Time Vault, where she learns that her father was the Flash. In the present, Iris releases Nora out of guilt after learning of her future self's deception, but Barry sends her back to her time out of distrust, stating that he would be able to sense any future attempts made by her to time travel. Barry then visits Thawne at Iron Heights, glad that he is awaiting execution for his crimes.
Barry and Iris fight over him sending Nora back without consulting her. Iris reprograms the Time Sphere and travels to 2049, where Nora wants Thawne to teach her to use the Negative Speed Force to time travel without detection. After an unsuccessful attempt, Nora and Thawne are confronted by Iris. Instead of going with her, an angered Nora enters the Negative Speed Force. Thawne admits he made a mistake and tells Iris to reunite her family. Meanwhile, Icicle steals a cryo-atomizer from Tannhauser Industries and kidnaps Caitlin and Carla, planning to eliminate their human sides. Killer Frost fights Icicle while Barry saves Carla from the cryo chamber. Unbeknownst to everyone, the chamber turns Carla into a meta. Before Icicle can kill Caitlin, Thomas finds the strength to return to his human form. Cicada II, who earlier kidnapped her younger self, arrives and fights Killer Frost. Thomas sacrifices himself for his daughter by stepping in front of Cicada's dagger, after which the future villain escapes with the cryo-atomizer. Barry admits he was wrong and agrees to work with Iris to help their daughter. Elsewhere, Nora emerges from the Negative Speed Force with glowing red eyes.
Nora plans a heist at McCulloch Technologies, who have made weapons from the satellite shrapnel. Needing accomplices who will not be affected by the meta-power dampeners on-site, she recruits Brie Larvan, Rag Doll, and Joss. After getting through the dampeners, Nora's Rogues turn on her and threaten to kill all the employees unless the Flash reveals his identity. While Sherloque distracts the Rogues as a hologram of the Flash, Iris and Joe help the hostages escape and take down Rag Doll while Barry and Nora team up to disable the dampeners and apprehend the others. Nora reveals she was trying to steal a mirror gun capable of destroying Cicada's dagger. She makes amends with her parents and agrees to abandon Thawne's plan. Barry, however, wants to use the gun. Meanwhile, Caitlin and Ralph discover that Cisco's metahuman cure prototypes have been stolen and realize that Cicada II can weaponize a lethal version of the cure with the cryo-atomizer. Elsewhere, Cicada II works on the cryo-atomizer, envisioning her uncle beside her.
Team Flash decide to gather Central City's metahumans at CCPD and distribute the cure to protect them against Cicada II. Sherloque goes to get Renee, but she refuses to take it and is sent to safety on his Earth. Nora reveals she is still connected to Grace's mind and feels her anger through the Negative Speed Force. She wants to look through Grace's eyes to locate her, but her parents decide it is too dangerous. Ralph tries to figure out Thawne's plan, but the others are more interested in stopping Cicada II. After Cicada II collects the final pieces for her weapon, Barry and Iris agree to let Nora connect with her and expose herself to the Negative Speed Force. She locates Cicada II just as she attacks CCPD and uses the metas' dark matter as a battery for the cryo-atomizer. While the others engage Cicada II, Cisco disables the cryo-atomizer. Ralph figures out Thawne's plan just as Barry shoots Cicada's dagger with the mirror gun. In 2049, Thawne's time runs out and he is about to be executed. As he is strapped down, it is revealed that his powers are being dampened by Cicada's dagger.
Ralph saves the dagger, which Cicada II reclaims before escaping. After Sherloque explains Thawne's plan, Nora realizes she was played and comes up with a plan to stop Cicada II without destroying the dagger. Once the team tracks Cicada II to her younger self, Nora enters her mind and successfully convinces her to take the cure. However, the shard in Grace's head counteracts it, so Barry's forced to destroy the dagger anyway; resulting in the adult Grace being erased while in 2049, Thawne regains his powers. The entire team confronts and fights Thawne, with Barry and Nora finally subduing him. However, the new dagger-less timeline threatens to erase Nora. Thawne escapes after revealing the only way she'll survive is if she reenters the Negative Speed Force. Ultimately, Nora refuses to become like Thawne and is erased while hugging her parents. Sherloque returns to his Earth to find Renee while Cisco takes the cure. Captain Singh gets promoted to chief of police and names Joe as his replacement; revealing he knows Barry is the Flash. Barry and Iris discover a farewell message from Nora. The date of the Crisis in the future newspaper changes from April 25, 2024, to December 10, 2019.
At the Television Critics Association winter press tour in January 2018, The CW president Mark Pedowitz said he was "optimistic" and "confident" about The Flash and the other Arrowverse shows returning next season, but added that it was too soon to announce anything just yet.[65] On April 2, The CW renewed the series for its fifth season.[66]Todd Helbing, who had previously served as a co-showrunner for the series' first four seasons, emerged as the series' first sole showrunner following Andrew Kreisberg's firing during the previous season.[67][68]
Writing
In October 2017, Kevin Smith revealed that then-executive producer Andrew Kreisberg already had plans for the next season of the show and had told him the story for The Flash's fifth season, which got Smith very excited and jokingly commenting, "I now have to stay alive one more year".[69]
At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Todd Helbing revealed that "legacy" would be a theme during the season, adding, "I think everybody's thinking about what it means after they leave". On the arrival of Barry and Iris' future daughter, Nora, Grant Gustin teased the different headspaces the characters would be in. "[Nora]'s kind of attached to [Barry] when she arrives and a little more distant with Iris", Gustin said. "It's a weird thing for Iris to see them bond so easily... obviously something happened in the future, which worries Iris", added Candice Patton. The season also sees Barry, Ralph and Iris returning to their professional careers as a CSI, detective, and journalist, respectively. Patton noted that, "We live in such precarious times where we don't know what the truth is... I feel like [journalists] are superheroes... I hope that's a concept we bring to the show and give journalists the praise they deserve".[70]
Helbing also revealed that there will be "a lot of deaths this season" and that the main antagonist would not be a speedster for the second season in a row. The new antagonist, Cicada, instead possesses powers that "present a challenge for Team Flash that they've never had to deal with before". He is not a cult leader as he is in the comics, but is portrayed as a "grizzled, blue-collar everyman whose family has been torn apart by metahumans" and who views the rise of metas as an epidemic, and seeks to exterminate them one by one.[71][72]
The season introduces a new Flash suit, which Todd Helbing described as the series' most "accurate incarnation" of the Flash suit from the comics. The season also introduces Barry's "Flash ring" from the comics.[86] The new suit adopts brighter colors than previous suits – which had maroon overtones – and, unlike prior incarnations, does not have a chin strap.[87]
Filming
Production for the season began on July 6, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia,[88] and concluded on April 10, 2019.[89] Danielle Panabaker made her directorial debut this season.[90] Tom Cavanagh directed the eighth episode of the season, which served as the 100th episode of the series and led into the annual crossover.[91] In October 2018, it was announced that Martin would take a medical leave from the series due to a back injury he sustained over the hiatus.[92] Due to Martin's injury, the majority of his scenes in the first half of the season were shot depicting Joe seated.[93] In January 2019, it was announced that Martin had returned from medical leave and that Joe would return in the fifteenth episode of the season.[94]
The main cast of the season as well as executive producer Todd Helbing attended San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2018, to promote the season.[73] Starting on September 14, 2018, several billboards advertising Ralph Dibny as a private investigator were seen around Vancouver, the city where the show is filmed.[98]
Release
Broadcast
The season premiered on The CW in the United States on October 9, 2018.[99] The annual crossover episode swapped time-slots with Supergirl for that week and aired on Sunday, December 9.[100]
Home media
The season began streaming on Netflix in the United States on May 22, 2019.[101] The season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 27, 2019.[102]
Reception
Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of The Flash season 5
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating for the fifth season with an average rating of 7.73/10, based on 11 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "The Flash's fifth season maintains the show's high standard for compelling visuals, chilling villains, and well-scripted moments of humor, but also turns a more focused gaze on the role of family dynamics amongst the increasingly complex characters."[124]
Reviewing for Den of Geek, Mike Cecchini gave the premiere a rating of 4.5/5. He called it "a genuinely special episode" and "an excellent return to form for the series", naming it the best season premiere in the show's history, while directing specific praise to Gustin, Kennedy, and the show's composer Blake Neely.[125]IGN's Jesse Schedeen also praised the addition of Kennedy, but expressed concern over the introduction of yet another speedster character, "especially with certain existing characters continuing to be so poorly served". He gave the episode a rating of 7.4/10, adding, "in a lot of ways, things do seem to be looking up for The Flash. Unfortunately, there are plenty of other reminders that the series has chronic difficulties in juggling its ensemble cast."[126] Chancellor Agard of Entertainment Weekly and Scott Von Doviak of The A.V. Club further praised Kennedy's performance, and gave the premiere a "B+" and "B" grade, respectively, with Agard concluding, "The Flash is now in its fifth season, which means the show's accumulated history is one of its greatest strengths it has. I'm glad it's finding both humorous fun and poignant ways to use it as we head towards the 100th episode."[127][128]
