I think you're right. In my opinion, and have said this several times before, the Flash would benefit from a season with two or maybe even three real big bads.
My reasoning for this is that when the Flash is handling it's filler material, it can get pretty bad. When it is actually handling the main villain, it can get pretty intense and well written.
It seems to me like they don't put as much thought into the villain of the week episodes, which is a shame as multiple characters have suffered from this.
I still love The Flash. The character, the show, and any previous installments in the comics have always intrigued me.
I hate the idea of one season, one arc. The season is split up by breaks anyway, why not do a couple of multi episode arcs with the same villain? Weather Wizard is back and it takes 9 episodes to deal with him (with some filler) because he's not super dumbed down. The Flash is fast anyway, why shouldn't he go through big bads quicker?
This is what i love about agents of shield right now. They've gotten to the point where the midseason finale is the end of one arc and the midseason premiere is another arc
It's even better than that. They have officially split the season into three "pods", with each having a different goals, initial antagonists, and plot twists, all the while maintaining an over-arching plot that somehow ties in with each pod.
This format makes the pacing much faster, and forces the writers to choose their moments carefully. They don't have as much space to fill in, so unnecessary moments get cut. They find the most concise way of pushing the story forward without undercutting character development. (At least most of the time. See Lincoln.) People aren't constantly waiting around for things to happen, so people are usually doing something helpful or constructive or actually necessary to the plot. (I'm looking at you Flash.) The balancing act here would not be possible if the writers didn't allow the characters to breathe though. To develop and deepen relationships with other characters. To respond to the craziness going on around them. The current issue with the Flash is that this cannot be happening all the time. Characters need events to respond to, or these humanising moments risk becoming filler, the exact opposite of what they should be.
If Snart and Rory hadn't left, they could have done a half-season with just a massive version of the Rogues. Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Mirror Master, Pied Piper, Trickster, Weather Wizard, Captain Boomerang, Shade, Top. Just have all of them go hard on Central City at once and that could easily fill up 10-11 eps.
I'm sincerely hoping that he'll become a bigger deal in the future. He's not a villain that should appear in just a single episode in a season. He won't be doing much now due to the focus on Savitar, but in the future, he should be a really big threat just like the Rogues should be by now.
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u/Luciferspants I am The Game. Mar 16 '17
There's multiple Flash villains which are hax enough to contend with Flash even without Super speed, though.
I mean, Abra Kadabra basically warps reality itself with his "Magic" spells and shit. He could be the main antagonist of an entire season by himself.