The Flash Season 5 Premiere: 6 Ups & 2 Downs From 'Nora'

5. Every Character Had A Role To Play

In the past, The Flash has struggled to make full use of its ever-growing cast. As a result, certain characters have either felt redundant or have been written out due to the lack of storylines for them, and some have left us wondering why the showrunners even made them a regular in the first place. However, there was none of that in the Season 5 premiere.

While Barry and Nora were busy figuring out the future, Iris was attempting to get to know her daughter. While Team Flash were attempting to stop Gridlock, each member was struggling with their own internal demons: Cisco was hungover because he was still grieving over his breakup with Gypsy, while Caitlin was trying to adapt to life without Killer Frost. Even the briefly-returned Wally was given something to do (which made for a refreshing change) when he contacted the Legends and helped phase a plane to safety.

Ralph Dibny was also busy wrapping his head around the idea of time travel. Though this mini-arc might have seemed like a waste to the average viewer, it was nice to see Ralph learning something and in doing so, it allowed us to get to know him a little better - which is something we need to do if he's sticking around.

Not a single character felt unimportant as all of them had their own things going on and this made for a rather engaging story on all fronts.