After defeating the Reverse Flash once and for all, the ninth season of The Flash picks up one week after their epic battle, and Barry Allen aka The Flash and Iris West-Allen are reconnecting and growing closer than ever. When a deadly group of Rogues descend on Central City, led by a powerful and unknown new threat, The Flash and his team including Meta-Empath Cecile Horton, the light-powered meta, Allegra Garcia, brilliant tech-nerd Chester P. Runk and reformed cryogenics thief Mark Blaine, must once again defy the odds to save the day. But as The Rogues are defeated, a deadly new adversary rises to challenge Barry Allen’s heroic legacy. In their greatest battle yet, Barry and Team Flash will be pushed to their limits, to save Central City one last time.
For previous thoughts on The Flash: The Complete Seventh Season, please see my Blu-Ray review here.
For previous thoughts on The Flash: The Complete Eighth Season, please see my Blu-Ray review here.
For in-depth thoughts on The Flash: The Complete Ninth Season, please see my colleague Andrew Fukui’s review here.
Video Quality
The Flash: The Complete Ninth Season arrives on Blu-Ray with a wonderful AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. A strong encode ensures that there are no unfortunate instances of aliasing or compression artifacts detectable. The CGI is typically hindered by the network television budget, but the transfer represents it to the best of its ability. The series ends its run with a bright and colorful visual palette with some rich hues radiating off the screen thanks to the costumes and environment. The highlights of the show are stable and do not fall victim to any blooming. Black levels are very deep and provide a notable amount of detail in shadows. This is a very consistent production with a stellar amount of detail on display including subtle facets within the production design. Skin tones remain natural across the entire ensemble. The Blu-Ray presentation is a fetching representation of the show.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a valiant DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that realizes this world in thrilling ways. The score remains one of the most enjoyable aspects of the series as it permeates the room with soaring music that perfectly complements the material. Action sequences and more kinetic moments are in full effect in this final outing, and they are given the necessary weight in the mix with a serious showing in the low end. Ambient sounds such as lightning from the speed force are also meticulously placed in the rear channels for maximum effect. Dialogue comes through clearly without being drowned out by the score or any sound effects. The audio track sends this show off on a high note. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.
Special Features
- Deleted Scenes: There are nearly 10 minutes of unused material provided here including more conversation between Barry and Iris, an emotional conversation between Iris and Cecile, and more.
- The Flash – The Saga of the Scarlet Speedster: A really cool 37-minute overview of the iconic character and his journey over the years in the comics and different mediums. While it would have been nice to get a larger focus on the series itself, we are glad to have this deep dive included.
- Gag Reel: Nearly ten minutes of joking around on set, laughing fit, flubbed lines, and more that are pretty fun.
Final Thoughts
The Flash: The Complete Ninth Season finds the Scarlet Speedster finally reaching the end of his race after a lengthy journey on the small screen. The road has been a bit bumpy at times, but when the show was operating at its best, it was one of the best small-screen DC shows around. One thing that has remained consistent is the quality of performances put forth by the ensemble. They are the reasons you fell in love with these characters and wanted to follow them for so many years. This final outing exhibits both the best and the worst tendencies of the series, but we appreciate all the good times the series gave us over the years. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment delivers a tremendous A/V presentation along with a decent assortment of special features. If you followed the show until the end, this final set will send you off on a good note.
The Flash: The Complete Ninth Season is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.