The Flash Season 7: Has Mostly Forgotten About Barry Allen’s Job?

The Flash season 7 has remembered that Barry Allen actually has a job. Before he was hit by lightning and became the Scarlet Speedster, Barry had been (and still is) a CSI and scientist. The first couple of seasons of this series showcased him frequently enough in his job, as he balanced his routine, a regular task with that of his superhero duties and private life. However, the scenes of Barry in his job be it at his office at the Central City police department or at a crime scene dwindled over recent years. Luckily, The Flash season 7 signaled it is getting back in the habit of showing Barry as a CSI using one specific scene.

The scene was surprising considering Barry hasn’t been spotted doing his actual job since at least early season 6. That was primarily to test blood retrieved from Ramsey Russo’s crime scenes afterward he became Bloodwork. Most of The Flash year 5 was spent inside S.T.A.R. Labs, a setting that admittedly became exhausting to see because it’s so overused. The show eventually revisiting Barry as a CSI is vital since it is a reminder he is also a normal citizen who has a regular old job like everybody else. He is not simply the city’s hero, nor is he speeding around in his Flash costume all the time.

The Flash season 7’s fourth episode, titled”Central City Powerful,” officially kicked off a new narrative following the recurrence of Iris West-Allen in the Mirrorverse and Mirror Monarch’s defeat. Investigating a new case, Barry arrives at a crime scene to find that a shed has been compressed to an obelisk by Abra Kadabra along with a man killed by the use of their 64th-century magician’s playing cards. It’s not pretty. But, Barry is there to find things out together with his CSI briefcase. Even Cisco Ramon, who’s been a CCPD consultant for a while now, and Chester P. Runk (newbie consultant intern) were there to help.

Showing him at his job enables the show to balance Barry as a superhero and a human being using a personal life he has to attend. What is more, Barry as a CSI is equally as crucial a job as being The Flash. At his occupation, Barry is generally seen working on things alone, which is important because the series frequently forgets he’s a scientist and a wise man in his very own right. In fact, The Flash should have more scenes of Barry performing CSI work in season 7. It provides a component to whatever metahuman situation or case he is investigating as The Flash and it retains the superhero series grounded also.

Very similar to how Iris’ job as a journalist is essential to Central City and joins her to its citizens, so, also, is Barry’s project a vital facet to his own ties to the city beyond being The Flash. It is uncertain if the rest of season 7 will last to remember that Barry has an actual day job. Frankly, it could be entirely unrealistic to continue ignoring it. Are fans supposed to believe that he’s consistently at S.T.A.R. Labs? No matter the case, seeing him out in the field once again makes it even more obvious that The Flash should get back to showing Barry as a CSI much more frequently than it has in recent season.