‘The Flash’ Can't Give the Arrowverse the Sendoff It Deserves

The Arrowverse may have technically begun with Arrow in 2012, but it’s safe to say that the CW’s DC television universe wouldn’t exist as we know it today without The Flash. The moment that Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) walked onscreen in Arrow’s second season was the moment the Arrowverse was truly born, expanding the CW’s aspirations from a single show to an interconnected universe of television. Throughout its run, The Flash would be the beating heart of the Arrowverse, the strongest piece of connective tissue through every show and crossover event. And now it is all that remains, given one final truncated season to wrap up not just its own story but the rest of the Arrowverse as we know it. And it is wholly unequipped for that task.