In general, The CW’s The Flash was an incredible show, but an early adaptation of the Flashpoint storyline doesn’t hold up, actually being outshone by the wildly divisive The Flash movie. Grant Gustin really was a highlight of the Arrowverse, and even when later interpretations of the character were revealed, Gustin’s Barry stands tall.

Over the course of nine seasons, the show had its highs and lows, but it was consistently fun. Well, mostly fun. There were some moments that had audiences scratching their heads in confusion, such as the infamous lightsaber lightning battle in season 7, or season 2’s ending as Barry proves to be incredibly selfish and short-sighted.

As frustrating as it was to see Barry undo all the progress he made in season 1, the fallout from the season 2 finale, where Barry prevented his mother from being killed, went on to create one of the least satisfying stories from the entire Arrowverse. And as bad as The Flash movie was, they did a better job adapting Flashpoint.

The Flash Season 3 Opened With An Adaptation Of Flashpoint

Thanks to Barry making the decision to save his mother at the expense of everyone in his life in The Flash season 2’s finale, season 3 was left to pick up the pieces. Which meant using the incredibly popular Flashpoint storyline from the comics at this early stage of the series.

However, the entire span of the episode was spent showing Barry the error of his ways within the bounds of Central City. His friend’s lives are drastically different, with Iris and her father having a difficult relationship, and Cisco now being a hugely successful tech mogul but these seem like relatively small changes.

And even though Barry Allen now lives with both his parents, somehow, he still got his powers. It’s odd, and a far cry from the comics that inspired this story, where the world has been completely transformed, with iconic heroes never existing, and Barry himself being powerless.

The original Flashpoint sees Thomas Wayne turned into a gun-toting vigilante after his son Bruce is killed, and his wife becoming the Joker. It also sees a war going on between the Amazons and the Atlanteans, and the world has no Justice League. In short, the consequences are much bigger in the comics.

The CW’s Flashpoint Only Lasted One Episode

One significant problem is that this storyline plays out and resolves in the span of one single episode. There was no time to see what happens beyond Central City, and what could have been a stunning adaptation of one of the most popular comic book storylines in history became a watered-down version used to reverse a weak season finale.

The Flash movie still doesn’t fully capture the breadth and depth of the story, but at least it did its job in translating the scale and intensity of Barry’s choices. Other heroes pop up in the story, and two Barry’s need to work closely together to find a way to fix the world and go back to a world where heroes exist.

The CW’s The Flash, missed a huge opportunity with this storyline, and titling the episode “Flashpoint” was the nail in the coffin that meant after this solo episode, they couldn’t touch the story on a grander scale. Which is a terrible shame, considering how big and expansive the Arrowverse would go on to become.

Flashpoint Should Have Been An Entire Arrowverse Arc

Throughout the lifespan of the Arrowverse, there were a handful of big crossover adventures, with the biggest being the Crisis on Infinite Earth’s storyline. But Flashpoint could have been a bigger and better crossover arc than anything else the Arrowverse delivered.

Due to the complexities and divisions between DC’s movie and TV projects, it’s nearly guaranteed that major heroes like Batman and Superman would still be largely absent, and the Justice League wouldn’t be a central part of the Arrowverse Flashpoint story, but Barry changing the past should have had a serious ripple effect.

Instead, it doesn’t touch the other shows in the Arrowverse, and though there are consequences that result from Barry interfering in the past, it just doesn’t live up to the expectations a fan of the character may have with any peripheral knowledge of the story from the comics.

It still could have begun in the same way, but the fallout from Barry’s misguided choice should have created more far-reaching changes and pushed the world into chaos. Alternatively, if The Flash used this storyline to have the character be separate from the rest of the Arrowverse for a season, and actually explore Barry without powers, it could have been much more effective.

While Flashpoint is a story that spills out into the rest of the DC Universe, it revolves around Barry and seeing him learn about the consequences of his actions. Barry does that in The Flash, but it doesn’t feel as grand or lasting in the approach the show takes.

The Flash had a lot of potential for this storyline to be a defining moment for the character and the series, and expanding it to fill a season or Arrowverse crossover would have effectively done the job. Unfortunately, as it stands, this was one of the rare moments where The Flash movie topped its TV counterpart.