The Flash Season 5: 4 Ups & 3 Downs From 'The Flash And The Furious'

Ups...

4. Explaining Joe's Absence

Let's start small, shall we.

Jesse L. Martin's absence has been quite noticeable to say the least. It's not that the show has been bad without him, it's that it hasn't exactly handled his absence in the best possible way because, they never really addressed it. Well, not long-term anyway.

Back when Season 5 debuted, it didn't take long to notice that mainstay Joe West was barely appearing on screen and, when he occasionally did, he was almost always sitting down. So, when it was revealed that Martin would be taking some time off, we all completely understood and wished him well.

However, we didn't really get the chance to miss Joe because he wasn't written out. Being a new father was the perfect excuse for him to remain absent from the major hard-hitting stuff, but when characters started showing up at his house, we were handed a series of temporary explanations like "he's on a walk with Jenna" (which lasted all day apparently), and this only drew more attention to his absence.

Thankfully, it was finally addressed in the midseason premiere, with Iris explaining that he was still a little shaken up by Cicada's home invasion at the beginning of the season and thus, he took Jenna to visit Wally. Just like that, Joe's mini absences are no longer glaringly obvious and now, Martin's absence will no longer be danced around.

Most of all, we can all eagerly anticipate his return.