This season of the Flash finally shook things up a bit and gave us a main villain that was not a speedster, The Thinker. While the overarching story certainly had its issues, it was a refreshing change of pace and the right move for the show. Clifford Devoe aka The Thinker was, for the most part, an interesting and menacing antagonist. Another way in which this season mixed things up was with a lighter tone which was also a good move. The Flash is at its best when its great cast of characters are interacting and making jokes and season 4 delivered plenty of that. Barry, Cisco, Harry, Caitlyn, Joe and new addition, Ralph, are what keep me coming back to this show. (Seriously how good is Tom Cavanagh???!!!) However I'm sure you've noticed there's a pretty big omission from that list, Iris West. I can't stand her. The Flash is another example of a superhero show that has absolutely no idea what to do with their side characters/love interests with no superpowers. Iris has no real value in Team Flash and the fact that she is leading the team is cringeworthy. To be fair I don't hate Iris and I want her and Barry to stay together but she should not be a part of the team and the romantic scenes between her and Barry need to be better written because almost every scene they had together this season was cheesy. However she was not bad enough to completely derail the season for me. The fact is that, thanks to its (mostly) great cast, this season of The Flash provided me with approximately 20 hours of enjoyable superhero action. However I'm sure that isn't enough for most people and that is why every season of The Flash gives us a new main antagonist and overarching story to keep us engaged. This season's main story had a few missteps in that occasionally solutions to problems were a little too convenient and out of nowhere and things definitely get more than a little bit weird but overall I found this story of Team Flash taking on The Thinker to be quite engaging. Telling a story over the course of 23 episodes is incredibly difficult but this season was definitely not the most poorly paced season that DC's CW shows have given us so far. In fact, I would say that this season's overarching story gave us some truly great and exciting moments including.a string of episodes where Barry deals with being framed for murder. Another cool thing about this season is that every single character has there own side story or challenge to overcome. This does become frustrating at times because the show is supposed to be about Barry Allen/The Flash but I do really love this supporting cast and I've definitely become more attached to them as a result of their individual struggles this season. Even Iris had her own challenges to overcome and, although it was a little annoying to watch, she is a slightly better character because of it. This season was not received well and honestly I think the response was a little unfair. Aside from Iris this season was really entertaining and took the show in the direction it needed to go after some really dark moments in seasons 2 and 3. To all those fans who are annoyed that Barry did not stay in the speed force for longer probably need to understand the kind of show this is and that it is a show about Barry. The supporting cast are great but NO-ONE wants to watch a show where Wally is the lead. I don't dislike Wally and I know he takes on the mantle in the comics but, I'm sorry, Grant Gustin is the star of this show (and Wally West is kinda sulky). At the end of the day the comics are only source material and the writers have to do what's best for the show. As comic book fans we should make sure that our expectations and connection to stories told in a completely different medium do not impact out enjoyment of shows like this too much. One problem I do have with the show is the consistency of Barry's powers. This season introduced the idea of Flash Time which occurs when Barry movies so quickly time and every one else is almost completely frozen. But somehow Barry can still get taken out by some pretty unthreatening villains? It's pretty infuriating but this problem is not specific to season 4 and Flash fans should be pretty used to it by now. My favourite episodes from this season were The Flash Reborn, Therefore I Am, The Trial of the Flash, Enter Flashtime, Lose Yourself, Think Fast and We Are the Flash. Overall season 4 of The Flash is a fun and relatively light-hearted watch that prioritises character development. It is certainly not the most ambitious or amazing season of superhero television you'll see but it's still pretty darn good.