The Flash Season 4: 7 Theories On How Barry Allen Will Return
Whatever happened to the Scarlet Speedster?
Every season of The Flash thus far has each ended on a terrific cliffhanger, which have kept us eagerly awaiting the show's return.
Season 3's might just have been the best yet, though. The finale, titled Finish Line, ended with the skies going red above Central City. The only cure was for Barry Allen to sacrifice himself and vanish into the Speed Force, effectively dying and disappearing into speedster heaven.
It made for a heck of a final scene to leave us on, and has left us pondering ways it could be resolved next season. There can't be anyone out there that truly believes this is the last we have seen of Grant Gustin on the show - The CW are hardly going to let the star of their most popular superhero TV series go, are they? So the mystery surrounding the finale and Season 4 is not whether or not Barry Allen will return, but just how that's going to happen.
In a show with as rich a mythology as The Flash, there are myriad ways for the Scarlet Speedster to return from the Speed Force, each of which would affect him differently as a character and change the shape of next season.
7. He Doesn't (At Least For A While)
Before we get onto the ways that he could come back, let's for a moment entertain the idea that, hey, maybe Barry is actually stuck in the Speed Force for the foreseeable future.
Now, obviously I don't believe for a second that Grant Gustin is going to disappear from the show. Yes, Wally West was the Flash for a long time in the comics, but the TV show belongs to Gustin. Not to mention the fact that we 100% know that the actor is still on board next year.
It is, however, possible that he could be absent for at least a few episodes at the start of the year. There are enough characters inhabiting STAR Labs at the moment that we probably wouldn't miss Barry for a few weeks and there could be lots of drama and entertainment to be had from the gang trying to protect Central City without him. Specifically, it could grant Wally some much-needed character development, as he would have to step out of Barry's shadow.
Season 3 got a lot of flak from fans for setting up something as massive as Flashpoint and then dispensing with it within a single episode. Maybe The Flash's writers have taken that on board and will keep the 'Barry in the Speed Force' storyline going on for a while.