Since 2013, The CW show The Flash has made the Scarlet Speedster and his lore popular to new fans. For the first time in over 20 years, Barry Allen was in the spotlight again, retaking his cowl as The Flash and once again gracing us with his presence in the form of Grant Gustin.
As much as fans love the show, Flash comic book fans have picked apart and trashed the show named after their favorite hero. Whether it’s the inaccuracies to the Flash lore, the overdone CGI, or the mishandling of major flash characters, there is something that really makes the fans mad. That’s the inconsistencies and confusing rules of speedsters in the Arrowverse. Here are 10 things that make no sense about the speedsters on the CW.
Gravity
One minor inconsistency that doesn’t really affect our portrayal of the show but demonstrates lazy writing and lack of continuity, is gravity. Since the first season, the one thing speedsters couldn’t do was fly or be able to float in any way. Barry almost died because of this fact and he also used it to his advantage while fighting Savitar.
But all is defied in Season 5 when a power dampened Barry is thrown off a building with his loving wife Iris jumping after him. In a matter of seconds Iris took off the handcuffs to give Barry his speed back and the zoomed out of danger, defying gravity. Now it could be played off with Barry getting faster or maybe him being close enough to the building to run on it but chances are it was just a minor detail the writers missed.
Barry Inconsistent Feats Of Speed
On the show, Barry has been able to accomplish amazing feats with his speed, traveling through time, going through objects, even lending his speed to people for a short period of time. Every season Barry has gotten faster whether it was a help or his own experience but even so Barry has shown very inconsistent feats of his speed. Sometimes it’s within the same season, other times it’s literally within the episode. Often times it’s to move the story along, but like gravity, it’s often just lack of attention to detail or lack of continuity.
The most inconsistent was in season 3 when Barry spent half the season getting faster to move 30 feet to save Iris from Savitar. Having time traveled and able to run on the water should’ve made him more than fast enough to get the speed he wanted without the unnecessary training.
Wally Unable To Open Speed Force Portal
Barry isn’t the only speedster with speed inconsistencies. Wally West (Kid Flash) gets his powers and immediately starts training with Barry, quickly catching up and even surpassing his mentor. With Barry being slower why is he still able to open speed force portals when Wally lacks the ability?
It might be explained away by saying Wally wasn’t mentally prepared to do it but opening a portal should have more to do with his physical skills than his mental ones.
Time Travel Rules
One of the most heavily discussed topics and inconsistencies about the show is the time travel. As Flash fans know, time travel plays a huge role in the comics so it’s only natural it has a similar impact on the show. One would think the writing team would be able to keep a consistent way of traveling but as we’ve seen in seasons, the concept changes. It even contradicts the rules of time travel from the Legends of Tomorrow, who spend just about every episode traveling through time.
The fact Barry still hasn’t learned from his many time travel long adventures makes him a bit foolish given it has almost never worked in his favor.
Noras Time With The Team
Speaking of time traveling inconsistencies, Nora’s very presence in season 5 is as contradicting as it gets. One of the major rules of time travel is to never associate yourself with people from the past as knowledge could change the future and in tune with their destiny. But Nora spends almost a year with team flash, consistently causing trouble and even replaying the same hour 52 times to save her friends.
Another rule of time travel is that the moment never goes back to the way it was (remember the old coffee mug demonstration). So how exactly was Nora able to continue to live a consequence-free life after altering the timeline 52 times?
Barry’s fighting skills (Lack of)
Another big problem that Flash fans have with the show is their portrayal of Barry. In just about every episode he’s getting thrown around or beat up by the villain, only to be saved in one way.
Now Barry Allen is nowhere near Batman or Green Arrow level of fighting but he’s got enough moves to take on most of his rogues without breaking a sweat. In the show, it seems like it’s the other way around.
It was understandable in the first season when Barry was still new to being the Flash and was inexperienced but currently, in season 6 he’s still getting his bottom handed to him.
Speedsters Lack Of Mind Control Protection
One of Barry’s or any speedster’s abilities is their ability to perceive fast movements to be able to run at lightning speeds. This means Barry’s brain moves at 1000s of miles a minute which should make him immune to mid control right? Well, you would think but it’s not the case in this situation.
Barry nearly gets killed by Gorilla Grodd, gets taken over and almost kills the Green Arrow, and currently got take over by Bloodwork to become the Black Flash.
It’s safe to say this ability didn’t transfer well from the comics.
Barry’s “Fastest Man Alive” Title
Nowadays any casual DC comic reader knows that Barry Allen is not the fastest man alive. He’s second to Wally. But in the show, in just about every episode he introduces himself as the fastest man alive yet he spends every season trying to get as fast as his villains. First Thawne, then Zoom, then it was Savitar who were all significantly faster than Barry. Maybe he should retire the title.
Why Eobard Thawne is Harrison Wells Again
Perhaps the most blatant of the inconsistencies is Eobard Thawne somehow wearing Harrison Wells face again. we know there are a different Wells every season and he’s a regular but how did we miss that he’s somehow a Wells again. Does that mean Eddie Thawne died for nothing? Does it mean the timeline changed somehow? There’s a lot of questions and not a lot of answers.
