HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The fourth season of the American television series ''
The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'', which is based on the
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
character
Barry Allen / Flash Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...
, premiered on
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
on October 10, 2017, and ran for 23 episodes until May 22, 2018. The season follows Barry, having returned from his self-imposed stay in the Speed Force, as he faces down Clifford DeVoe / Thinker. It is set in the
Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...
, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of ''
Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
''. The season is produced by
Berlanti Productions Berlanti Productions (formerly known as Berlanti-Liddell Productions and Berlanti Television) is an American film and television production company founded by screenwriter, producer and filmmaker Greg Berlanti and producer Mickey Liddell in 2000 ...
,
Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios, operating under the name Warner Bros. Television (abbreviated as WBTV; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division), is an American television production and distribution studio and the flagship studio o ...
and
DC Entertainment DC Entertainment is an American entertainment company that was founded in September 2009 and is based in Burbank, California. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery which manages DC Comics characters by working with other units ...
with
Andrew Kreisberg Andrew Kreisberg (born April 23, 1971) is an American former television writer, producer and comic book writer. He is best known as the co-creator of the television series ''The Flash'', ''Arrow'', ''Supergirl'' and ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Pers ...
and
Todd Helbing Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing are American sibling screenwriters who had formerly worked as a team. They are known for their work on the Starz series ''Spartacus'' and '' Black Sails'', and for The CW superhero drama ''The Flash''. They stoppe ...
as
showrunners A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...
. The season was ordered in January 2017 and filming began that July.
Grant Gustin Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Barry Allen / The Flash on The CW series ''The Flash'' (2014–2023) as part of the Arrowverse and as Sebastian Smythe on the Fox series ''Gl ...
stars as Barry, with principal cast members
Candice Patton Candice Patton (born ) is an American actress. She portrayed Iris West-Allen in the 2014 television series ''The Flash''. Early life Patton was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and raised in Plano, Texas. She attended Southern Methodist Univer ...
,
Danielle Panabaker Danielle Nicole Panabaker (born September 19, 1987) is an American actress. She began acting as a teenager and came to prominence for her roles in the The Walt Disney Company, Disney films ''Stuck in the Suburbs'' (2004), ''Sky High (2005 film), ...
, Carlos Valdes,
Keiynan Lonsdale Keiynan Lonsdale ( ; born 19 December 1991) is an Australian actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter. He is known for roles such as Oliver Lloyd in the ABC series ''Dance Academy'' (2012–2013), Wally West/ Kid Flash in the CW series ''The Flash ...
,
Tom Cavanagh Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in ''Ed (TV series), Ed'' (2000–2004), ''Love Monkey'' (2006) and ''Trust Me (American TV series) ...
and Jesse L. Martin also returning from previous seasons and are joined by Neil Sandilands. The series was renewed for a fifth season on April 2, 2018.


Episodes


Cast and characters


Main

*
Grant Gustin Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Barry Allen / The Flash on The CW series ''The Flash'' (2014–2023) as part of the Arrowverse and as Sebastian Smythe on the Fox series ''Gl ...
as
Barry Allen / Flash Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...
*
Candice Patton Candice Patton (born ) is an American actress. She portrayed Iris West-Allen in the 2014 television series ''The Flash''. Early life Patton was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and raised in Plano, Texas. She attended Southern Methodist Univer ...
as
Iris West Iris Ann West-Allen is a fictional character, a supporting character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She has been the main love interest and later wife of Barry Allen, the alter ego of the Silver Age version of the supe ...
*
Danielle Panabaker Danielle Nicole Panabaker (born September 19, 1987) is an American actress. She began acting as a teenager and came to prominence for her roles in the The Walt Disney Company, Disney films ''Stuck in the Suburbs'' (2004), ''Sky High (2005 film), ...
as Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost * Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon / Vibe *
Keiynan Lonsdale Keiynan Lonsdale ( ; born 19 December 1991) is an Australian actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter. He is known for roles such as Oliver Lloyd in the ABC series ''Dance Academy'' (2012–2013), Wally West/ Kid Flash in the CW series ''The Flash ...
as Wally West / Kid Flash * Neil Sandilands as Clifford DeVoe / Thinker *
Tom Cavanagh Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in ''Ed (TV series), Ed'' (2000–2004), ''Love Monkey'' (2006) and ''Trust Me (American TV series) ...
as
Harrison Wells Harrison Wells is the name of several characters portrayed by Tom Cavanagh in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, primarily on the television series ''The Flash''. Wells, created by Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg, is an original cre ...
* Jesse L. Martin as Joe West


Recurring

*
Danielle Nicolet Danielle Nicolet (born Danielle Diggs; November 24, 1973) is an American actress known for roles on ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' (1996–2001), '' Second Time Around'' (2004–05), '' The Starter Wife'' (2008), ''Family Tools'' (2013), '' Born Agai ...
as Cecile Horton * Kim Engelbrecht as Marlize DeVoe * Mark Sweatman as Matthew Norvok *
Jessica Camacho Jessica Camacho is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles as FBI Agent Sophie Foster on the third season of the Fox supernatural drama series '' Sleepy Hollow'' (2015–16), Emily Lopez on the CBS legal drama series '' All ...
as Cynthia / Gypsy *
Patrick Sabongui Patrick Sabongui (born January 9, 1975) is a Canadian actor, stunt performer, and drama teacher known as David Singh in ''The Flash''. Personal life Born to an Egyptian family, Sabongui obtained a BFA in drama for human development at Concord ...
as David Singh *
Donna Pescow Donna Gail Pescow (born March 24, 1954) is an American film and television actress and director known as Annette in ''Saturday Night Fever'', Angie Falco-Benson in ''Angie'', Donna Garland in '' Out of This World'' and Eileen Stevens in ''Eve ...
as Sharon Finkel *
Richard Brooks Richard Brooks (born Reuben Sax; May 18, 1912 – March 11, 1992) was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and film producer. Nominated for eight Academy Awards in his career, he was best known for ''Blackboard Jungle'' (1955), '' ...
as Warden Gregory Wolfe *
Hartley Sawyer Hartley Sawyer (born January 25, 1985) is an American former actor known as Brian Sommers on '' Glory Daze'' (2010–11), Kyle Abbott on ''The Young and the Restless'' (2013–14), and Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man on ''The Flash'' (2017–20). ...
as Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man *
Katee Sackhoff Katee Sackhoff (born April 8, 1980) is an American actress known for being Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on ''Battlestar Galactica'' (2004–2009), Niko Breckenridge on '' Another Life'' (2019–2021), Victoria "Vic" Moretti on '' Longmire' ...
as Amunet Black *
Jessica Parker Kennedy Jessica Parker Kennedy (born October 3, 1984) is a Canadian actress known as Melissa Glaser in '' The Secret Circle'', Max on '' Black Sails'' and Nora West-Allen / XS in ''The Flash.'' She also had guest roles on ''Smallville'', '' Undercovers' ...
as
Nora West-Allen ''The Flash'' is an American television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns, based on the DC Comics character the Flash. The series premiered on The CW television network in the United States on October 7, 2014 ...


Guest


Production


Development

The series was renewed for a fourth season on January 8, 2017, earlier than usual for the series. Executive producer
Andrew Kreisberg Andrew Kreisberg (born April 23, 1971) is an American former television writer, producer and comic book writer. He is best known as the co-creator of the television series ''The Flash'', ''Arrow'', ''Supergirl'' and ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Pers ...
said on this, "The great thing about our dear friends at
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
and
Mark Pedowitz Mark Pedowitz is an American entertainment executive. From 2011 to 2022, he was the president, and then chairman and CEO of The CW, after replacing the former president of entertainment Dawn Ostroff. During his time at The CW, Pedowitz oversaw al ...
picking the shows up as early as they did has allowed us to start building the schedules for next season." In May 2017, it was announced that
Aaron Helbing Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing are American sibling screenwriters who had formerly worked as a team. They are known for their work on the Starz series ''Spartacus'' and '' Black Sails'', and for The CW superhero drama ''The Flash''. They stoppe ...
would not return as an executive producer for season four, with only
Greg Berlanti Gregory Berlanti (born May 24, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He is known for his work on the television series ''Dawson's Creek'', ''Brothers & Sisters (2006 TV series), Brothers & Sisters'', ''Everwood'', ''Political ...
, Andrew Kreisberg, Sarah Schechter, and
Todd Helbing Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing are American sibling screenwriters who had formerly worked as a team. They are known for their work on the Starz series ''Spartacus'' and '' Black Sails'', and for The CW superhero drama ''The Flash''. They stoppe ...
returning from previous seasons. Todd Helbing and Kreisberg were slated to serve as the season's
showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...
s. In November 2017, Kreisberg was suspended from his role as executive producer and showrunner on ''The Flash'' over allegations of sexual harassment. By the end of the month, he had been fired, with his name eventually being removed from the credits from all shows he worked on. In addition, Berlanti would take additional responsibilities working with Helbing to co-showrun the season.


Writing

In March 2017, Kreisberg confirmed that the main villain for the fourth season would not be a speedster, like the previous three seasons. Executive producers Aaron and Todd Helbing also mentioned that there would be less time travel in the season, with Aaron saying, "We like playing with the timelines and the different time periods and future and past. For now, I think we're going to focus on the present." In June 2017, Clifford DeVoe / Thinker was reported to be the main villain of the season. He was first hinted in the third season episode " Abra Kadabra" when the titular villain mentions him among the Flash's greatest enemies, and again in the season finale " Finish Line" when Savitar mentions facing DeVoe but states that the Flash has not dealt with him yet. At the series'
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
panel, the speculation was confirmed, with Todd Helbing saying, "With three Speedsters in a row, this year it's the fastest man alive against the fastest mind alive." He added that the writers were "making a conscious effort this year to get the fun quotient back up". Regarding the possibility of
Wally West Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics as the original Kid Flash and the third Flash (DC Comics character), Flash. His power consists mainly of speedster (fiction), superhuman speed. T ...
taking on the mantle of the Flash in Barry's absence,
Keiynan Lonsdale Keiynan Lonsdale ( ; born 19 December 1991) is an Australian actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter. He is known for roles such as Oliver Lloyd in the ABC series ''Dance Academy'' (2012–2013), Wally West/ Kid Flash in the CW series ''The Flash ...
said that "It's not something that's on my radar. I feel as though there is so much story to tell and Wally has so much growing to do... We need to see how these characters realistically get to where they are headed for." With the action picking up six months after season three, Kid Flash and
Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...
are left to protect Central City, with Carlos Valdes saying "the team is sort of clutching at straws to keep the city together,... there is a unanimous feeling amongst the remaining members that it's just not the same without Barry... So in light of that, Cisco does whatever it takes to get his friends back." Valdes also confirmed the return of Cisco's more lighthearted joking manner.
Candice Patton Candice Patton (born ) is an American actress. She portrayed Iris West-Allen in the 2014 television series ''The Flash''. Early life Patton was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and raised in Plano, Texas. She attended Southern Methodist Univer ...
explained
Iris West Iris Ann West-Allen is a fictional character, a supporting character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She has been the main love interest and later wife of Barry Allen, the alter ego of the Silver Age version of the supe ...
's larger role within Team Flash as "a way of distracting herself," adding that "
ris RIS may refer to: * Radio Information Service, a reading service for the blind in Pennsylvania, US * Radiological information system, for the electronic management of information related to medical imaging * Radiologically isolated syndrome, sugg ...
is forced to deal with that anger and resentment and abandonment by kind of focusing on protecting Central City... We're seeing a very different Iris, almost a very hardened Iris." Kreisberg also hinted at some major growth for Iris this season, and noted that "the season premiere is all about Iris and Cisco, not Barry". In July 2017,
Sterling Gates Sterling Gates (born March 1, 1981) is an American comic book writer, comic book and television writer. Early life Gates, whose father owned a used book store with a large selection of comics, became a comic book fan at a young age, describing hi ...
,
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
comic book writer A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost al ...
, joined the season's writing staff. At the
TCA TCA may refer to: Chemistry and biochemistry * Toxin complex a, an insecticidal toxin complex produced by ''Photorhabdus luminescens'' bacteria * Tricarboxylic acid cycle, an alternate name for the citric acid cycle pathway in cellular metabolism ...
press tour in August 2017, Pedowitz stated that the fourth season of ''
The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'' is "going to try to find the lightness... of the Barry Allen of the first two seasons," and said that the show was likely "done with Speedster villains". Later in the month, Kreisberg confirmed the return of Harry Wells from Earth-2, saying that "season 4 for Harry is really realizing what he's missing in his life and what it is he needs to become a better, more complete person, and so he's going to be going on a fairly epic emotional journey this season that is tied to the Thinker's plan," in addition to confirming the introduction of a new version of the Wells character. In September 2017, Helbing noted "There's a lot of love in the air this season," and compared Barry and Iris' reunion to "somebody going off to war for six months and coming back. There's a lot that Iris experienced that Barry didn't when he was gone, and it's really
bout Bout can mean: People *Viktor Bout, suspected arms dealer *Jan Everts Bout, early settler to New Netherland *Marcel Bout Musical instruments * The outward-facing round parts of the body shape of violins, guitars, and other stringed instrume ...
the fun and the emotional component of making up that time when they weren't together." Helbing also explained that the Speed Force "let
arry Arry is the name of the following communes in France: * Arry, Moselle, in the Moselle department * Arry, Somme, in the Somme department 'Arry is also a nickname, an example of H dropping in the name Harry. Those with such a nickname include: * Har ...
deal with all of the baggage rom the past three seasons When he comes out, he's sort of left that all behind." That month, Kreisberg also confirmed that Barry and Iris will be getting married this season, while also revealing that the pair will be going to couples therapy since " heykeep comically clashing inadvertently because oth areused to being in charge, and so they wind up going... to work through it." He added, "The two of them with the therapist is some of the funniest stuff we have ever done on this show, but it also leads to a deepening of their relationship."


Casting

Main cast members Grant Gustin, Candice Patton,
Danielle Panabaker Danielle Nicole Panabaker (born September 19, 1987) is an American actress. She began acting as a teenager and came to prominence for her roles in the The Walt Disney Company, Disney films ''Stuck in the Suburbs'' (2004), ''Sky High (2005 film), ...
, Carlos Valdes, Keiynan Lonsdale,
Tom Cavanagh Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in ''Ed (TV series), Ed'' (2000–2004), ''Love Monkey'' (2006) and ''Trust Me (American TV series) ...
, and Jesse L. Martin return from previous seasons as Barry Allen / The Flash, Iris West, Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost, Cisco Ramon / Vibe, Wally West / Kid Flash, Harrison Wells, and Joe West, respectively. Cavanagh primarily portrayed Harry Wells from Earth-2 in the season, in addition to several other versions of Wells in smaller roles: Herr Wells of Earth-12, Wells 2.0 of Earth-22, H. Lothario Wells of Earth-47, Wells the Grey of Earth-13, Sonny Wells of Earth-24 and H.P. Wells of Earth-25. Also returning from earlier in the series is
Jessica Camacho Jessica Camacho is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles as FBI Agent Sophie Foster on the third season of the Fox supernatural drama series '' Sleepy Hollow'' (2015–16), Emily Lopez on the CBS legal drama series '' All ...
as
Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...
. It was revealed that
Tom Felton Thomas Andrew Felton (born 22 September 1987) is an English actor. Born in Surrey, Felton began appearing in commercials and made his screen debut in the role of Peagreen Clock in ''The Borrowers'' (1997). He portrayed Louis T. Leonowens in ...
, who joined the cast as Julian Albert in the third season, would not be a series regular in the fourth season, and that there were no plans for him to appear. Julian's absence will be addressed "pretty quickly — there's a reason why he's no longer with the team," said Helbing. In the season premiere, it is revealed that Julian has returned to London. Kreisberg also confirmed that he had put on hold the planned return of Violett Beane as
Jesse Quick Jesse Belle Chambers is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Chambers, who mainly uses the superhero name Jesse Quick and briefly Liberty Belle, is the daughter of Golden Age of Comics, Golden Age heroes Johnny Qui ...
due to the high number of speedsters on the show, but did not rule out a possible return in the future. Beane eventually appeared as Jesse in "Luck Be a Lady".
Britne Oldford Britne Oldford is a Canadian-American actress best known for a variety of roles, including portraying Cadie Campbell on '' Skins'', Alma Walker on '' American Horror Story: Asylum'', Remy Beaumont on '' Ravenswood'', Regan on ''Hunters'', Missy i ...
, who previously appeared as Shawna Baez / Peek-a-Boo in the first season and the web series '' The Chronicles of Cisco'', reprised her role in the season premiere. In July 2017, Neil Sandilands was announced to be cast as Clifford DeVoe, a
metahuman In the DC Universe, a metahuman is a human with superpowers. The term is roughly synonymous with the terms '' mutant'', '' inhuman'' and '' mutate'' in the Marvel Universe and '' posthuman'' in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In ...
genius who embarks on a season-long battle with the Flash in order to fix all that he deems wrong with the world; while Kim Engelbrecht as Marlize DeVoe, DeVoe's loyal wife, a highly intelligent engineer who designs devices for him; and
Danny Trejo Danny Trejo (, ; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor. Known for his Danny Trejo filmography, large body of work as a character actor, films in which he has appeared in have grossed over $3.7 billion worldwide. A native of Los Angeles, Tr ...
as Breacher, a bounty hunter from Earth-19 and the Gypsy's dad. Also in June, the series was looking to cast a role that "should put the visual effects department to the test", with the role later revealed to be Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man, a metahuman with the ability to stretch his body to superhuman lengths and sizes.
Hartley Sawyer Hartley Sawyer (born January 25, 1985) is an American former actor known as Brian Sommers on '' Glory Daze'' (2010–11), Kyle Abbott on ''The Young and the Restless'' (2013–14), and Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man on ''The Flash'' (2017–20). ...
was cast in the recurring role that July as the fast-talking private investigator who after discovering his abilities will help Team Flash solve one of Central City's greatest mysteries. The character was previously mentioned in the first season, as one of the fourteen people who seemingly died as a result of the particle accelerator explosion. The next month,
Katee Sackhoff Katee Sackhoff (born April 8, 1980) is an American actress known for being Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on ''Battlestar Galactica'' (2004–2009), Niko Breckenridge on '' Another Life'' (2019–2021), Victoria "Vic" Moretti on '' Longmire' ...
was announced in the recurring role of Amunet Black, who operates an underground black market of metahuman supervillains.


Filming

Filming for the season began on July 4, 2017, in
Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, and concluded on April 21, 2018.
Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He came to prominence with the low-budget buddy comedy film ''Clerks (film), Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted i ...
returned to direct an episode in January 2018.


Music

In August 2017, series composer
Blake Neely Blake Neely (born April 28, 1969) is an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He has been nominated for seven Emmy Awards for his work on '' Everwood'', '' The Pacific'', ''Pan Am'', '' Pamela, a Love Story'', '' Good Night Oppy'' and ...
and Nathaniel Blume began to compose the music for the fourth season.


Arrowverse tie-ins

In May 2017, The CW president Mark Pedowitz officially announced plans for a four-show
Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...
event, crossing over episodes of the television series ''
Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...
'', ''The Flash'', ''
Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, ...
'', and ''
Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
''. The crossover, ''
Crisis on Earth-X "Crisis on Earth-X" is the fourth Arrowverse Crossover (fiction), crossover event, featuring episodes of ''Supergirl (TV series), Supergirl'', ''Arrow (TV series), Arrow'', ''The Flash (2014 TV series), The Flash'', and ''Legends of Tomorrow' ...
'', began with ''Supergirl'' and a special airing of ''Arrow'' on November 27, 2017, and concluded on ''The Flash'' and ''Legends of Tomorrow'' on November 28. Prior to that, ''Arrow'' actress
Emily Bett Rickards Emily Bett Rickards (born July 24, 1991) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Felicity Smoak (Arrowverse), Felicity Smoak on The CW series ''Arrow (TV series), Arrow'', her first television credit. She reprised the role in the Ar ...
appears as
Felicity Smoak Felicity Smoak is a fictional character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. Her first appearance was in ''The Fury of Firestorm'' #23 (May 1984), created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Rafael Kayanan. She was originally the manager of ...
in the fifth episode of the season. Following the crossover,
Katie Cassidy Katie Cassidy (born November 25, 1986) is an American actress. Following several minor television roles, she came to attention as a scream queen after starring in the horror films ''When a Stranger Calls (2006 film), When a Stranger Calls'' (2006 ...
(who has previously appeared on ''The Flash'' as both Laurel Lance and Black Siren) appears in the nineteenth episode as Siren-X, an alternate version of Laurel from Earth-X. ''Arrow'' actor
David Ramsey David Paul Ramsey (born November 17, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in The CW Arrowverse series ''Arrow'', ''The Flash'', ''Supergirl'', and ''Batwoman'' as John Diggle / Spartan, portraying Diggle and Bass Reeves i ...
appears as John Diggle in the twenty-second episode.


Marketing

In July 2017, cast from the series appeared at
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
to promote the season, where exclusive footage was shown. During the panel, a trailer for the season was shown, with James Whitbrook at
io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...
feeling that despite the "grim" tone, there was "some fun signs of the team coming together to protect the city without
arry Arry is the name of the following communes in France: * Arry, Moselle, in the Moselle department * Arry, Somme, in the Somme department 'Arry is also a nickname, an example of H dropping in the name Harry. Those with such a nickname include: * Har ...
... Sprinkle in a few wacky things, like, say a goddamn Samuroid ripped straight from the comics, and ladies and gents, you've got a good season of ''The Flash'' lined up." Ben Pearson with
/Film ''/Film'', also spelled ''SlashFilm'', is a blog that covers movie news, reviews, interviews, and trailers. It was founded by Peter Sciretta in August 2005. The site's reviews appear on Rotten Tomatoes, and as of 2024, two of its leading film cr ...
felt seeing Iris West deal with the absence of Barry was "a nice change of pace for that character", but anticipated that "Barry
ould Ould is an English surname as well as an element of many Arabic names. In Arabic contexts it is a transliteration of the word wikt:ولد, ولد, meaning "son". Notable people with this surname include: English surname * Edward Ould (1852–190 ...
be back two or three episodes in at the latest."
Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
's Allison Keene also noted Iris "getting an actual storyline" with Barry gone, and similarly presumed that he "
ould Ould is an English surname as well as an element of many Arabic names. In Arabic contexts it is a transliteration of the word wikt:ولد, ولد, meaning "son". Notable people with this surname include: English surname * Edward Ould (1852–190 ...
be back in the fold by the end of the first episode" alike to Flashpoint in the third season. She added, "There are some new foes, lots of action, plenty of tech — it's great!"


Release


Broadcast

The season began airing on October 10, 2017, on The CW in the United States, and on CTV in Canada. The season concluded on May 22, 2018.
Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
acquired the rights to air the season in the UK & Ireland, airing it alongside the other
Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...
shows. The season premiered October 17.


Home media

The season was made available for streaming on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
in late May 2018, soon after the season finale aired. It was released on
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on August 28, 2018.


Reception


Ratings


Critical response

The
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reported an 80% approval rating with an average rating of 6.95/10 based on 19 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "After an unsteady turn in season three, ''The Flash'' returns to its roots with a fourth season packed with humor, spectacle, and a whole lot of heart." Reviewing the first two episodes of the season, Allison Keene writing for Collider, felt the premiere "wipes the slate clean, fixing a lot of the issues that plagued the end of the last season, and setting up a much more toned-down storyline. Most importantly, it's brought back some fun." She added that with a "streamlined team," the core characters now have time to interact and have meaningful plot lines. On the second episode, Keene described it as "truly a delight" with the show taking "the time to focus on character relationships, and not just romantic relationships" and each character "feeling like a refreshed version of themselves, with new narrative purpose". She also highlighted the setup of the Thinker "as an
Alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...
-like villain who manipulates evil metas into the Flash's path as part of some kind of masterplan", saying "''The Flash'' is a series that truly works best as a procedural, with the team finding creative ways to bring down
Villains of the Week "Villain of the week" (or, depending on genre, "monster of the week", "freak of the week", "alien of the week", or "dinosaur of the week") is an antagonist that only appears in one episode of a multi-episode work of fiction, commonly British, Ame ...
." In reviewing the finale,
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
's Jesse Schedeen gave the episode "We Are the Flash" a rating of 4.6/10, opining that, "As troubled as the series has been this year, it's disappointing but unsurprising to see ''The Flash''s fourth season end on such a bland note." Mike Cecchini of ''
Den of Geek! ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...
'' similarly assigned the episode a rating of 2.5/5. In his review, Cecchini felt that the finale was "the weakest season finale 'The Flash''has ever produced," and that, "despite several high points, wasn't really enough to salvage the season." In a more positive review from ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'', Scott Von Doviak gave the finale a B+, praising the light tone and character moments, while adding that "None of this can make up for the long stretches of mediocrity this year, but at least it doesn't leave me with a bad taste in my mouth."


Accolades

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
ranked ''The Flash'' the second-best superhero series of 2017. , - ! scope="row" rowspan="12" , 2018 , BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards , BMI Network Television Music Award , data-sort-value="Blume, Nathaniel" , Nathaniel Blume and
Blake Neely Blake Neely (born April 28, 1969) is an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He has been nominated for seven Emmy Awards for his work on '' Everwood'', '' The Pacific'', ''Pan Am'', '' Pamela, a Love Story'', '' Good Night Oppy'' and ...
, , , - , rowspan="2" ,
Kids' Choice Awards The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, also known as the KCAs or Kids' Choice, is an American annual awards ceremony show produced by Nickelodeon. Usually held on a Saturday night in March or early April, the show honors the year's biggest in te ...
, Favorite TV Actor , data-sort-value="Gustin, Grant" ,
Grant Gustin Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Barry Allen / The Flash on The CW series ''The Flash'' (2014–2023) as part of the Arrowverse and as Sebastian Smythe on the Fox series ''Gl ...
, , , - , Favorite TV Show , data-sort-value="Flash, The" , ''The Flash'' , , , - ,
MTV Movie & TV Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards is a film and television awards show previously presented annually on MTV. It began as the MTV Movie Awards in 1992, when its first edition was held, and adopted its current name in 2017, beginning with its 26th editio ...
, Best Hero , data-sort-value="Gustin, Grant" , Grant Gustin , , , - , rowspan="3" ,
Saturn Awards The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...
, Best Guest-Starring Performance on Television , data-sort-value="Sawyer, Hartley" ,
Hartley Sawyer Hartley Sawyer (born January 25, 1985) is an American former actor known as Brian Sommers on '' Glory Daze'' (2010–11), Kyle Abbott on ''The Young and the Restless'' (2013–14), and Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man on ''The Flash'' (2017–20). ...
, ,
, - , Best Superhero Television Series , data-sort-value="Flash, The" , ''The Flash'' , , , - , Best Supporting Actress on a Television Series , data-sort-value="Patton, Candice" ,
Candice Patton Candice Patton (born ) is an American actress. She portrayed Iris West-Allen in the 2014 television series ''The Flash''. Early life Patton was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and raised in Plano, Texas. She attended Southern Methodist Univer ...
, , , - , rowspan="5" ,
Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...
, Choice Action TV Actor , data-sort-value="Gustin, Grant" , Grant Gustin , , , - , rowspan="2" , Choice Action TV Actress , data-sort-value="Panabaker, Danielle" ,
Danielle Panabaker Danielle Nicole Panabaker (born September 19, 1987) is an American actress. She began acting as a teenager and came to prominence for her roles in the The Walt Disney Company, Disney films ''Stuck in the Suburbs'' (2004), ''Sky High (2005 film), ...
, , , - , data-sort-value="Patton, Candice" , Candice Patton , , , - , Choice Action TV Show , data-sort-value="Flash, The" , ''The Flash'' , , , - , Choice TV Ship , data-sort-value="Gustin, Grant" , Grant Gustin and Candice Patton , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2" , 2019 , rowspan="2" ,
Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...
, Best Guest Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series , data-sort-value="McGillion, Paul" ,
Paul McGillion Paul McGillion (born January 5, 1969) is a Scottish-Canadian actor, who has worked in television, film and theatre. He is best known for his role on the television series ''Stargate Atlantis'' as Dr. Carson Beckett. Early life McGillion was bo ...
(for "True Colors") , , , - , Best Visual Effects in a Dramatic Series , data-sort-value="Kevorkian, Armen V." ,
Armen V. Kevorkian Armen V. Kevorkian is an Armenian-American visual effects supervisor and television director. He is best known for his work on television series such as ''Ghost Whisperer'', '' Hawaii Five-0'', ''Banshee'', ''The Flash'', ''Supergirl'', and ''L ...
, Joshua Spivack, Marc Lougee, Shirak Agresta, Andranik Taranyan (for "We Are the Flash") , , , -


Notes


References


General references

* *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flash season 4, The 2017 American television seasons 2018 American television seasons The Flash (2014 TV series) seasons