When viewers last saw Barry Allen, in The Flash's Season 3 finale, the heroic speedster voluntarily chose to enter the Speed Force, restoring its balance and halting the path of destruction it was wreaking across Central City. Barry's selfless actions may have saved the city, but they also deprived it of its protector and left his friends and loved ones distraught. Photographs and information about the upcoming Season 4 reveal the hardly surprising news that Barry will somehow manage to escape his captivity. But how, and what does this mean for the upcoming season?

As The Flash enters its fourth season, we take a step back and wonder if it's run off course or if the show has what it takes to go the distance. With that in mind, we run down things that fans would love to see happen when we return to Central City, and which elements of the show we think should never be seen again.

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Since it debuted in 2014, The Flash has been one of the most consistently enjoyable superhero shows, not only onThe CWm but on all of television. But while Season 3 was by no means a disaster, it contained some elements that divided fans. To their credit, the producers of the show seem well aware of this, and recent comments suggest that the show will return to the optimistic mix of light and dark that it does so well.

One of the great joys of the early years of the show was that it wasn't afraid to go against the trend of the grim and conflicted hero. Grant Gustin's Barry Allen was someone who had suffered tremendous loss in his life, yet he still retained an optimistic spirit and a hero's heart. Barry's slow spiral throughout Season 3, alienating those closest to him as he obsessed about a tragic future, was a drastic departure from the norm, and one that became rather wearing over the course of the series. Taking note of the mixed reception from fans, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg has promised that Season 4 will act as something of a restart for the character and his world, delving into "more comedy and more fun, and more brightness and more excitement."

Another topic that has been a bone of contention among fans is the nature of the main villains that Barry has gone up against in each season. The Reverse Flash in Season 1, Professor Zoom in Season 2, and Savitar in Season 3 were all evil speedsters, every one of them seemingly faster and more powerful than Barry. While individually impressive, the succession of speedster villains threatened to generate a sense of contempt among the audience, so it's encouraging that the show has declared that Season 4 is stepping back from speedster villains. Instead, we'll see Barry and the team up against the threat of Clifford Devoe, the supervillain known as The Thinker, giving Barry the chance to exercise his formidable wits as well as his leg muscles.

the flash savitar

With these encouraging signs for our favorite scarlet speedster, what else do we want to see in Season 4? One thing that would be interesting to explore is the wider world of the show. While Team Flash is a tight-knit unit, this means that characters unaware of Barry's secret, or those who don't join Team Flash tend to be kept on the periphery of the story, or written out altogether. Linda Park and Patty Spivot both vanished before their potential could be fully explored, for example, and we've yet to see a real focus on Barry's life away from STAR Labs. Secret-identity problems can be cliche if handled poorly, but if approached from various angles, they fulfill a valuable narrative purpose in a superhero show.

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Barry's allies at STAR labs play a pivotal role in the show, with both Cisco and Caitlin coping with an enhanced power-set in Season 3, to varying degrees of success. The dynamic between these workmates and friends is one of the most effective in the show, complemented by wildcards such as Tom Felton's Julian Albert. The strong bonds between teammates were what made the emotional beats in Season 3 so effective, with the repercussions of Barry's creation of Flashpoint and Caitlin's struggle with her Killer Frost persona. One of the most intriguing aspects of Season 4 will be to observe how Barry's absence has changed the team dynamic, and whether this heralds a more collaborative approach in the future.

With STAR Labs itself playing such a pivotal role in the show, it's somewhat surprising that many elements of its operation are yet to be explored in depth. The opening of the Star Labs visitor center seemed to be swiftly forgotten about, while lingering questions regarding how it remains funded and the moral implications of the facility's superhuman holding cells merit further examination.

One thing that Season 4 does appear set to deliver is a further exploration of the relationship between Barry and Iris, with wedding bells on the horizon. While there was no doubting the strength of Barry's love for Iris in Season 3, their relationship has at times failed to convince viewers of its authenticity. Hopefully the wedding will be the start of a new era for the happy couple, replacing the will they/won't they drama with the natural progression of their relationship.

The Flash Barry Iris

With luck, future episodes will also continue to flesh out the wider West family. In the form of Joe, Iris and Wally, Barry has one of the most well-developed family units in superhero shows, creating a dynamic that is rife with storytelling possibilities. Joe and Wally are both strong enough characters to shoulder storylines of their own, and it will be intriguing to see whether the time that Wally has spent protecting Central City in Barry's absence will take him to the next level of his heroic journey.

With the promise that the show will regain its sense of humor and fun, it's to be hoped that future episodes will lean into this and not be afraid to experiment. The musical crossover with Supergirl may have polarized fans, but it was a great example of areas that the show should push into, not being stuck with the downbeat style of shows such as Arrow or Gotham. Supergirl's appearances have worked well because her upbeat personality dovetails nicely with Barry's, and future appearances by Kara (such as in the upcoming "Crisis on Earth X" crossover) will be welcomed.

musical flash supergirl

The setup for the TV show, with the explosion of the particle accelerator and the resulting creation of superpowered individuals, has given the writers a huge canvas to work with. As well as well-known supervillains from the comic books, they also have carte blanche to create all sorts of super-powered beings, ranging from the fearsome to the goofy. This diverse range of rogues is a staple of DC's Flash comics, and it would be nice to see some of the less threatening powers that have been bestowed on people - if only to hear more of Cisco's distinctive code names.

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Perhaps the most exciting news about Season 4, though, is that Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, will be joining the show's cast. As a stretchy superhero and self-confessed master detective, there are a multitude of ways Ralph 9and hopefully his wife, Sue) could fit into the show. It would be a joy to see him utilizing his smarts as a freelance detective working alongside or against the Central City Police Department, or sharpening his superhero skills as the newest recruit to Team Flash. Ralph's comic personality and background make him a natural fit for the show, and with luck he'll be as entertaining on screen as he was in his Justice League Europe heyday.

Elongated Man

Time will tell, but early indications from Season 4 are promising, suggesting that the show will once again be picking up speed. Hopefully Barry Allen has many miles left in him yet.