The Flash: 7 Things That Season 1 Has Done Right (And 3 It Hasn't)

2. Inconsistency

Part of the fun of The Flash has been the way that it breaks all of the rules of typical television storytelling, and The Flash has been boldly making its own rules from its first moments on air. Sadly, The Flash has been breaking its own rules for nearly as long, and not in a good way. It's perfectly understandable for a program to sacrifice its own continuity every once in a while to service a plot, but The Flash has made a habit of sacrificing continuity for the sake of a silly gag or a cool stunt. Felicity Smoak's shirt caught on fire after being carried at top speed because it was funny and there's been a dearth of half-naked ladies for a CW show; Barry raced the Reverse Flash all over Central City in his civvies and sneakers without smoking up because it was convenient. Joe and Dr. Wells assert that the Arrow is morally reprehensible for using torture as a means to an end because torture is wrong; Joe and Dr. Wells are eagerly complicit in detaining individuals without trial in the secret solitary confinement of a condemned laboratory because the show needs to get rid of the bad guys without killing them. Barry's healing powers are infinitely more valuable to the scientific community than superspeed; superspeed looks cool. Most of these inconsistencies could be resolved or at least brushed aside with a comment or two, and the show needs to make the effort to maintain a distinct continuity as the series progresses.