The Flash Season 5 Finale: 6 Ups & 2 Downs From 'Legacy'

5. Quickly Wrapping Up The Cicada Storyline

On the surface, Cicada, was the Big Bad of the season. However, on reflection, it's clear that all three versions (the original timeline's iteration, Orlin Dwyer and his niece Grace Gibbons) were merely pawns in the Reverse-Flash's master plan. Unfortunately, that didn't save viewers from a series of disappointing episodes that revolved around one of uninteresting Cicadas.

With all that in mind, it was an incredibly wise choice on the creative team's part to wrap up the metahuman-slaying monster's arc rather promptly so that the finale's main focus could be on Thawne's manipulation of Nora and his eventual escape.

Not only was this the more intriguing of this season's two main narratives, it has direct ties to next season's Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover and, as a result, made the finale a lot more engaging than the vast majority of Season 5. Moreover, it once again treated the Reverse-Flash like the biggest of bads that he is while also being a clever way of bringing him back into the fold before his crucial role next season.