Last year, TV productions were forced to shut down early due to the pandemic, and several of the Arrow-verse shows didn’t get to properly complete their seasons, leaving some written episodes unfilmed. So the first three episodes of The Flash‘s seventh season close out the sixth season’s second “graphic novel” storylines, before jumping into this season’s new story arcs. When we last left off, Eva McCulloch (Efrat Dor) had escaped from the Mirrorverse and was now out for revenge, trying to destroy all of Black Hole’s tech. Meanwhile, the real Iris (Candice Patton) was still missing, trapped inside the Mirrorverse. The Speed Force had been killed, leaving Barry aka The Flash (Grant Gustin) with only 1% of his power, and in cryo-freeze when not on duty to preserve what little speed he had left. While Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) is off cataloging the changes from the Crisis collapse of the multi-verse, Chester P. Funk (Brandon McKnight) has taken over tech duties at S.T.A.R. Labs. He has been monitoring Eva’s activity and waking up Barry when needed. If Barry has any hope of stopping Eva and rescuing Iris, he’s going to need to create an Artificial Speed Force, which he tasks Nash Wells (Tom Cavanagh) with. Ever since Crisis, many of the other multi-verse Wellses have been co-occupying Nash’s mind, and they quickly discern that they can combine their molecules in order to power a new ASF. However, doing so would mean that Nash Wells would need to sacrifice himself to become the Artificial Speed Force’s organic receptor. Can Team Flash find some other way to restore the Speed Force without Wells sacrificing himself?!

Like the show’s sixth season, the seventh season is also broken into two main “graphic novels”/story arcs, with a short Interlude between them. The first part, “God Complex” (episodes 4-11), picks up just a week after the events of the first 3 episodes. While Iris tries to come to terms with what she experienced in the Mirrorverse, the rest of Team Flash finds themselves up against a mysterious new monster they nickname Fuerza. As they try to hunt this creature down, the team also encounters various other villains and Forces, including Abra Kadabram who plans to detonate an anti-matter bomb on Central City; Psych (Ennis Esmer), whose fear waves can trap people in an endless nightmare; time god Deon Owens (Christian Magby) who’s trying to turn back time to prevent the injury that ruined his high school quarterback career; and bartender Mark Blaine (Jon Cor) aka Chillblaine who manages to duplicate Frost’s powers. Meanwhile, Kristen Kramer (Carmen Moore), a liaison from one of the governor’s task forces shows up at the CCPD on a mission to arrest Frost, and she’s not going to let Joe (Jesse L. Martin) or any of Team Flash get in her way. Can the newly-separated Frost (Danielle Panabaker) and Caitlin Snow find a way to prove their innocent/that they are reformed? In the “Interlude” (episodes 12-14), Team Flash says goodbye to an old friend, but not before one last mission to stop metahuman bank robber Rainbow Raider, and deal with the mind-controlling Psycho Pirate and the resurfacing of Allegra’s cousin Esperanza Garcia (Alexa Barajas Plante) aka Ultraviolet. And finally, in “The Godspeed Imperative” (episodes 15-18), the team finds themselves in the middle of a deadly civil war among the Godspeed drones that threatens all of Central City. The key to ending this war may lie in 2049, with Barry and Iris’s daughter Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) and her younger brother Bart (Jordan Fisher) aka Impulse.

The seventh season of The Flash sees the exit of two main, beloved characters, who are given nice sendoffs, as well as the somewhat abrupt exit of Ralph Dibny. Hartley Sawyer, who played Ralph was fired/canceled just before the season started due to some controversial old social media posts, so Ralph pops up in an early episode as an unrecognizable blob (played by another actor) to close out Ralph’s storyline—it’s a bit awkward, but at least it’s somewhat of an ending. However, in a sci-fi show like this, there’s always a way to have characters come back—in fact we even see John Diggle (David Ramsey) and Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp) make appearances this season. Even with the loss of three of the show’s main characters, the seventh season never feels lacking, with plenty of new characters to step in and take their places.

The Flash finds the perfect blend of action, humor and drama, giving some stakes to the characters and situations, but without ever feeling too dark. The breakdown of the season into the “graphic novels” helps keep the show moving. I much prefer these smaller arcs, rather than trying to stretch a single villain or storyline for an entire season, which was one of the issues with the show’s earlier seasons. There’s always new characters coming in and out to assist or attack Team Flash. Chester P. Funk becomes a main character this season, and fills the role of the team’s tech and pop culture nerd perfectly. Allegra Garcia (Kayla Compton) also gets a bigger role assisting Team Flash this season, while also continuing to work with Iris at the Central City Citizen. In the final few episodes of the season, we see a new version of Nora, plus the addition of Bart West-Allen, who help make the season’s final chapter a lot of fun. I hope we get more of them next season! The rest of the main cast are also given their own storylines throughout the season, allowing them to develop and grow. Barry and Iris further their relationship, Frost learns more about being her own person without Caitlin, Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) faces some big challenges and new powers, and Joe (Jesse L. Martin) finds himself butting heads with new partner Kristen Kramer. The season has a great mix of villains of the week and these mini arcs, making it a great binge on disc.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds excellent. The picture is clean with a nice level of detail. This is a very colorful and effects-driven show, and the presentation always looks great. The audio track provides clear dialogue and makes nice use of the stereo and surround channels to bring the viewer into the fast-paced action and provide an immersive viewing experience. This is especially noticeable in the final chapter of the season with the Godspeed drones, but also whenever there is some new metahuman of Force wreaking havoc on Central City. The episodes are spread across 3 discs, which are packed in a standard multi-disc HD keepcase with a cardboard slipcover, along with an insert containing instructions for redeeming a digital copy of the episodes on Vudu. The bonus material, which primarily resides on the third disc, consists of 22 minutes of deleted scenes, last year’s DC FanDome panel for the series, a 10-minute tribute to the two main characters leaving in the seventh season, a 10-minute gag reel, and a 21-minute look at DC sidekicks from across the Arrowverse (this featurette also appeared on the recent Batwoman Season 2 release).

What’s Included:

Episodes: (12:00:02)
Blu-ray:
• All 18 episodes of the seventh season:
  Disc 1: “All’s Wells That Ends Wells”, “The Speed of Thought”, “Mother”, “Central City Strong”, “Fear Me”, “The One with the Nineties”
  Disc 2: “Growing Pains”, “The People vs. Killer Frost”, “Timeless”, “Family Matters, Part 1”, “Family Matters, Part 2”, “Good-Bye Vibrations”
  Disc 3: “Masquerade”, “Rayo De Luz”, “Enemy at the Gates”, “P.O.W.”, “Heart of the Matter, Part 1”, “Heart of the Matter, Part 2”
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH​

Digital: (expires 12/31/2022)

• Digital HD copy of the season redeemable via Vudu.

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (22:00)
  Collection of 14 deleted scenes across 7 episodes, which reside on the discs with their respective episodes. There is a Play All option for each disc’s episodes.
  • Mother (6:29) – 4 scenes
  • The One with the Nineties (1:48) – 1 scene
  • Timeless (2:37) – 2 scenes
  • Family Matters, Part 2 (1:02) – 1 scene
  • Good-Bye Vibrations (5:19) – 2 scene
  • Masquerade (:36) – 1 scene
  • Heart of the Matter, Part 2 (4:09) – 2 scenes
• 2020 DC FanDome: The Flash (Watchverse) (33:52)
  This virtual panel for the series was part of the 2020 DC FanDome event. It is moderated by Chancellor Agard of Entertainment Weekly, who talks with the cast and showrunner about show’s sixth season, and previews the seventh. The panelists include stars Grant Gustin (“Barry Allen”/”The Flash”), Candice Patton (“Iris West-Allen”), Danielle Panabaker (“Caitlin Snow”/”Frost”), Carlos Valdes (“Cisco Ramon”), Danielle Nicolet (“Cecile Horton”), Brandon McKnight (“Chester P. Runk”)& Kayla Compton (“Allegra Garcia”), and showrunner/executive producer Eric Wallace.
• Gag Reel (10:10)
  Fun with the cast and crew as they laugh, flub their lines, and have fun on set.
• The Journey Ends: Carlos and Tom (9:41)
  The cast and crew look back at the characters of Cisco and Wells, their relationship with one another, and the actors behind the roles. Includes clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producer/showrunner Eric Wallace, writers Lauren Barnett & Kristen Kim, and star Danielle Panabaker.
• Never Alone: Heroes and Allies (20:49)
  The cast and producers discuss the history and changing role of the sidekick in the DC Comics universe, how the sidekicks are heroes in their own right, and some of the sidekicks that appear in the various Arrowverse TV shows. Includes clips, comics footage, and interviews with Stargirl executive producer/creator Geoff Johns, Batwoman executive producer Caroline Dries, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow executive producer Phil Klemmer, Superman & Lois executive producer Todd Helbing, The Flash executive producer/showrunner Eric Wallace, and actors Danielle Panabaker (“Caitlin Snow/Frost”), Camrus Johnson (“Luke Fox”) & Javicia Leslie (“Ryan Wilder/Batwoman”). This featurette also appeared on the recent Batwoman Season 2 release.

Final Thoughts:

In its seventh season, and despite losing three of its main characters, The Flash is just as fun an exciting as ever. Making use of smaller arcs and changing villains throughout the season, the show is able to keep things fresh and moving at a faster pace. The Blu-ray release features excellent picture and sound as well as a solid selection of bonus material. This is an easy recommendation for fans of any of the Arrow-verse shows, especially those that are a little on the lighter side.