Top 12 'Flash' Episodes

The CW's The Flash ran for an impressive nine seasons and proved to be a main staple for the network's "Arrowverse".

Barry Allen's adventures as the Scarlet Speedster saw him going up against enemies old and new, with some of his stories being a lot popular than others. The question is, which were his best?

Keep scrolling to find out my take on The Flash's top 12 episodes.

12. “The Last Temptation of Barry Allen Part 1” - 6x8

Kicking off the countdown comes the first of an epic two-part story. One that had Barry Allen's morality hanging in the balance.

The first half of the show's sixth season had our hero dealing with the fact that Crisis was coming. This world shattering event, foretold to bring about The Flash's death, had moved forward due to a change in the timeline, meaning he had only months to live.

It was then that the big bad of the season's first half, Dr. Ramsey Rosso aka Bloodwork, to reveal that he can save him from his death with his life altering abilities.

The episode gave lead actor Grant Gustin a chance to really flex his muscles for the first time in a season or two. We watched as Barry's mind unravelled to the point that he battled between being selfless and selfish. It's an episode that has you feeling the character's stress building up the entire way through. Then just when you think Barry is safe, you get a killer cliffhanger to take you into the second part of the tale.

11. “What’s Past is Prologue” - 5x8

The Flash was fortunate enough to hit the grand milestone of 100 episodes, and it did so by honouring it's previous 99 episode legacy.

This season 5 episode sees Barry and his daughter, Nora, travelling through past seasons of the show in order to collect items needed to take down their Bid Bad at the time, the murderous Cicada.

Not only was this episode a fun, logical way to visit times from the show's history, but it allowed the character of Nora to learn more about her old man than ever before. It also gave us a chance to revisit some of our favourite villains, namely Hunter Zoloman aka Zoom, and fan-favourite Eobard Thawne aka The Reverse Flash.

10. “The Once and Future Flash” - 3x19

And here is our first of many stops to the tissue box as emotions run high for our hero.

Season three's “The Once and Future Flash” had Barry deciding to take a trip into the future in order find out the identity of their current Big Bad, Savitar, so that they can defeat him before he gets chance to murder the love of Barry's life, Iris West.

Barry's trip is shrouded in risk as he meddles with chance finding out details of his future self, but it runs deeper than that. Again, Grant Gustin brings forth a high calibre performance as he portrays his older self. An older self riddled with pain, grief and guilt as he lives in a world where he failed to save Iris.

The episode drops a few more hints to the eventual reveal of Savitar's identity, gives a first look at Barry's Season four suit, and takes us for a fun ride as he get to see Central City years in the future.

9. “The Trap” - 1x20

Things get real tense as Barry and the team creep closer to catching their first ever Big Bad.

"The Trap" sees Barry, Joe, Cisco and Caitlin finally throwing down the gauntlet and trying to set an elaborate (you guessed it) TRAP to capture Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne aka The Reverse Flash.

This episode really sees all of our main cast bringing their A-game as they prepare to spring their plan. We're on the edge of our seats from start to finish as we learn some more details about Thawne, Barry's future, his plan, and also get a plot twist or two before the episode's credits roll.

It was in this episode that the season starts to super speed towards the finale and things began to heat up quick.

8. “Flash Vs Arrow” - 1x8

We all loved a crossover in the Arrowverse, and here we bring you the debut of that trend.

Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak and John Diggle roll into Central City and end up linking with Team Flash to fight a villain of the week, Rainbow Raider. The only problem is that Oliver takes the opportunity to give Barry some hero training, sprinkled with some tough love. That comes back to bite him when Barry gets whammied by Rainbow Raider that begins to turn him evil. Queue a big battle between The Flash and The Arrow.

First off, this was our first, full on crossover between The Flash and Arrow which in itself was exciting. But we also got to properly compare Barry and Oliver's different methods of heroism and attitudes in general. It made it feel natural that these two would eventually duke it out.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a real grudge match due to this being TV, but it was still fun nonetheless.

7. “the Runaway Dinosaur” - 2x21

Yep. It's another time to reach for the tissues as things get as emotional as ever.

Before the opening scene of this episode, we believed Barry to have been disintegrated thanks to an experiment to get his speed back after they were zapped by Zoom. Alas, our hero now existed in the Speed Force, where he learns some home truths and must work to get back home and help his friends.

The episode is really charged as Barry comes face to face with the embodiment of the Speed Force for the first time. He learns to accept his mother's death for the first time. Him and Iris finally move forward with some romance.

This was and remains a real staple in Barry's journey.

6. “Therefore I Am” - 4x7

We didn't really expect a villain-centric episode to make the list. Low and behold, The Thinker's story holds up too darn well.

“Therefore I Am” finally gives us answers on this Big Bad's backstory, revealing the emotional story of Clifford Devoe's efforts to give the world intelligence that left him battling for his life. With that came some bitter moments crossing from flashbacks to the present. Whilst we learned where Clifford's villainous turn came from, we watched as Barry grew convinced that Devoe was a villain, against everyone else's judgement.

Not only was a fun episode that peeled back the layers of Devoe's backstory, but it was a fun twist for Barry. We've always been used to Barry being the hero and everyone being on his side, whether his actions were misguided or valid. But here, we got to see everyone view him in a darker light as he had to try and prove Devoe's guilt on his lonesome for once.

This episode shown us more than ever just how tough The Thinker was going to be to defeat.

5. “A New World, Part 1: Reunions” - 9x10

This is the only episode back from seasons 7 through 9, so enjoy it while it lasts.

The final four episodes of the show's entire run had us FINALLY echoing back to the show's origins with some long-missed faces reappearing. In this first part of that story, we got one ultimate event that we had yearned for over the years. The night of Nora Allen's murder.

Yes, the event had been glimpsed over the years, but here we got to finally see it up close and personal. We got to see everything from the point of view of The Flash and Reverse Flash who actually fought that night. We go callbacks to events in earlier seasons. Outside of this, we got the surprising reappearance of Eddie Thawne that really strengthened the beginning of this four-part arc.

Say what you want about the show's final few seasons, but you can't deny that we got some special at the beginning of the end.

4. “Welcome To Earth 2” - 2x13

The multiverse was a big part of the show's second season. It echoed into later seasons, but it was this season, and this very episode, that everything got crucial for Team Flash.

This epic second part of the two-part story follows on from the team arriving on Earth-2 to save Harry's daughter, Jessie. But by now, Barry has been captured and everyone is on hot coals as they work hard to save him and get home.

The episode continues all the cool revelations of us getting up close and personal with Earth-2. We get some hints as to who is behind the iron mask in Zoom's lair. We get to see more of Killer Frost. There's some stuff going on back on Earth-1 that's worth keeping a close eye on. Then we get that tragic final moment that had our jaws on the floor.

A fun end to a kickass two-part adventure, and a lot to unpack for the remaining episodes of the season.

3. “Enter Zoom” - 2x6

Get ready to see The Flash defeated like never before.

"Enter Zoom" sees the team go into uncharted waters as they finally come face to face with their big villain of season two, Zoom, like never before. It was in this early episode that Barry and the team learned just how formidable this evil speedster was, and how they were going to have to attack from a different angle than that of Reverse Flash.

The episode is a strong one, and the third act is tense as Zoom wipes the floor with Barry and leaves him in real trouble. A powerul episode for properly displaying how this villain could possibly top season one's villain, paired with a killer ending as Barry is lumbered with a shocking cliffhanger.

2. “Tricksters” - 1x17

If you want a masterclass in plot twists and real shocks, this episode is where it's at.

This episode does some fun delving into Flash history, and I mean that in two ways. Not only do we get a glimpse at the night Reverse Flash killed Nora Allen and his aftermath, but we also get the reintroduction of Mark Hamill's James Jesse aka The Trickster, the actor's comic book villain from the 90's Flash TV series.

Hamill's zany portrayal paired with revelations we didn't expect about Eobard Thawne becoming Harrison Wells make this one of the show's strongest episodes of the entire run. No question.

1. “The Man in the Yellow Suit” - 1x9

Nabbing the top stop, it just had to be this episode, didn't it?

“The Man in the Yellow Suit” was a very early episode in the show's run, but it was a golden one. It brought Barry face to face with The Reverse Flash for the first time since the night his mother was killed.

We got to see Barry grapple with the fact the man in yellow was back on the scene. We saw the shock return of Ronnie Raymond. We also got that cliffhanger moment right before the show went on Christmas hiatus as it was finally revealed Harrison Wells is the Reverse Flash.

A top notch episode that is worthy of the number one spot in my eyes.

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Agree with my choices for The Flash's top 12 episodes? Disagree? Let me know in the comment section!