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- Abandon Shipping: Caitlin/Barry was the Fan-Preferred Couple of Season 1 but as time passed and it became more and more clear that the show was not going to go in that direction, most of the support for their pairing died off. There still exists a powerful support for it; strong enough that Snowbarry rewrites of each season are a thing; but it's very much a Vocal Minority now.
- Alas, Poor Scrappy: Nora was controversial at best, but seeing her get erased from existence was hard for anyone to watch.
- Arc Fatigue: It's an Arrowverse show. If a storyline can be wrapped up in five episodes, it'll be wrapped up in twenty-five. For some standouts, see Iris finding out that Barry is the Flash, Savitar's identity and motivations, Ralph finally stepping up to the plate, the writers constantly flip-flopping on how Caitlin/Killer Frost works, how long stopping Cicada took.
- Author's Saving Throw:
- After complaints in Season 1 that Team Flash was holding people indefinitely without trial, not to mention illegally, Season 2 had Joe voice these concerns and open up a metahuman wing at the prison. In a more humorous example, the Elseworlds special shows that, yes, the S.T.A.R. lab cells do have toilets.
- After some felt that Barry was treated too harshly by the other characters due to Flashpoint (the guy only wanted to save his mom from dying), Kara and Oliver show that they have no issue trusting Barry. Oliver even calls out everyone else by telling them to save the angst until after the Dominators are defeated.
- Base Breaker:
- Barry. Is he a Nice Guy with his mistakes being understandable and preventing him from being an Invincible Hero? Or is he a whiny and selfish idiot who cannot be trusted with his powers?
- Everyone seems to like Caitlin/Killer Frost. What no one can agree on is which version of her past and how her powers work is the best.
- Iris. Just overall, is she a compelling and interesting character or just a Token Love Interest? Every season, she splits the base further. In Season 1, was her caring for Barry, even as she's Locked Out of the Loop, heartwarming or was her being Locked Out of the Loop annoying? Was it worth it to have her join Team Flash given her lack of scientific background?
- Broken Base: In 2020, a series of racist and misogynist tweets by Hartley Sawyer (Ralph Dibny) were uncovered, leading to the actor being fired. While some supported the decision, others found the act somewhat hypocritical given that Ralph's character arc was all about someone redeeming themselves following their past mistakes given that Sawyer had apologized.
- Crossover Ship: Barry Allen/Wanda Maximoff. Sometimes joined by Steve Rogers/Caitlin Snow.
- Designated Love Interest: A major complaint about Barry and Iris' relationship in Season 1. The audience is told how long Barry has loved Iris for but all of his major Character Development comes from interacting with other characters. If someone watched Season 1 without knowing anything about the comic book, they'd be forgiven for thinking that Iris was a Satellite Love Interest that Barry would soon outgrow.
- Fan-Preferred Couple: In Season 1, Caitlin/Barry (Snowbarry) was far more popular than Barry/Iris.
- First Installment Wins: Season 1. Everything that followed was seen to be weighed down by Arc Fatigue and Idiot Plots.
- Franchise Original Sin: Despite being touted as the show's best, Season 1 does contain many of the problems that fans would consider to have weighed down the show in later seasons. The difference is that, since this was the first season, fans expected the show to outgrow these problems and said problems made sense in the lore. People could look past Season 1!Barry needing a pep talk from his team or that he Forgot About His Powers because he was still new to the powers. When this trend continued for eight more seasons, fans lost patience.
- Genius Bonus: Every Hand Wave does feature scientifically accurate and relevant terms.
- Idiot Plot: Most episodes could be wrapped up within five minutes if Barry remembered to use his Super Speed rather than just stand there and politely let the villains beat him up.
- It Was His Sled: Savitar is an evil future version of Barry.
- It's the Same, Now It Sucks: Oh is the next Big Bad another speedster?
- Just Here for Godzilla: The major draw for Season 8 was Alex Danvers returning.
- Memetic Loser: Barry Allen. He's undoubtedly very powerful but fans tend to remember his defeats against slower opponents, his unwillingness to dodge projectiles, and his STAR Labs support team constantly giving him updates/pep talks throughout each and every fight. A further point of contention is that every problem is solved by giving Barry more speed, rather than him learning something. Contrast the fourth season of Supergirl where the eponymous heroine realized that she couldn't punch her way out and had to fight as Kara Danvers rather than Supergirl.
- The most popular variants seem to be "DAMN IT BARRY!", usually featuring a timeline being changed in some way, or another speedster calling BS on Barry's claim of being the fastest man alive.
- Memetic Mutation: "Schway."
- More Popular Spinoff: Thanks to its Lighter and Softer tone, as well as Arrow undergoing a Seasonal Rot, The Flash drew higher ratings than Arrow in its first season.
- Narm Charm: One opinion on the show. It tries to play everything for drama and keep raising the stakes but everything is just a bit too silly to take seriously. There are even some "So Bad It's Good" sentiments as a result.
- Older Than They Think: "Schway" was not thought up by this show. It's from Batman Beyond.
- One True Threesome:
- Barry/Iris/Eddie was very popular in Season 1 owing to Iris' clear feelings for both men and Barry and Eddie eventually coming to like each other.
- Barry/Cisco/Caitlin but the more popular route for this is a platonic True Companions one.
- Rescued From the Scrappy Heap:
- Cisco Ramon/Vibe. His comic self was, at best, viewed as a somewhat lame stereotype (the breakdancing didn't help). His depiction here has made him one of the most beloved characters in the show.
- Jay Garrick. Initially, owing to Adaptational Wimp, fans weren't very fond of him. When he revealed himself as Zoom, a lot of people changed their minds.
- Ralph starting in Season 5 as he becomes more of a heroic character.
- Rooting for the Empire: Rational!Barry in Season 7. As a result of how many plots have been kicked off by people letting their emotions trump their logic, many found a Barry who thinks things through to be Unintentionally Sympathetic.
- Ron the Death Eater:
- Given the massive Superhero Paradox that he created and the fact that he never uses his powers to their full potential (often needing others to explain them to him), Barry Allen. Even beyond that, it's rather easy to find fans who exaggerate him into a whiney and selfish cry-baby.
- Iris, mainly from those who ship Barry with someone else. Her detractors have labelled her as being useless all the way to being a manipulative abuser that forced herself into the team.
- Seasonal Rot: Like its parent show, many consider Seasons 3 and 4 to be low points for the show. It only seemed to decline in quality from there.
- Squick: When Barry/Iris haters aren't playing the race card, they usually fall back on this. Barry and Iris may not be blood siblings but both were raised under the same roof and outright call Joe West "dad".
- Super Couple: Barry and Iris for the Arrowverse, with even the first part of "Crisis on Earth-X" being dedicated to their wedding. Unusually so given that Iris is contested character.
- Testosterone Brigade: Sue Dibny's appearances invariably draw more fans.
- Vindicated by History: Season 2. While it was originally viewed as a step down from Season 1, and there exist fans who claim it still is, the Seasonal Rot of Seasons 3 and 4 caused people to look more fondly on it, Zoom in particular.
- Vocal Minority: Snowbarry shippers. They're a rather minor segment of the fanbase, but they make a lot of noise.
- Unfortunate Implications: Season 7, in the wake of the George Floyd protests, promised to better address police brutality. As some reviewers uncomfortably pointed out however, the team's main concern in the season is keeping Killer Forst, a white woman who pled guilty, out of prison. And after getting a life sentence, she then gets a plea deal and is out free in less than five episodes.
- The Woobie:
- When Barry was 11, his mother was killed and his father wrongfully arrested for her death. When Barry finds his mother's killer, he has to let him go and loses two of his friends in the process. Then when his father is released, another villain kills him.
- Caitlin. She lost Ronnie twice, tried to fill the void with Earth-2 Barry but he turns out to be evil and gives her PTSD. You really want to hug the poor girl.
- Back to The Flash (2014 series)