YMMV / The Flash (2016)

• Anti-Climax Boss: Paradox is introduced at the end of Flash War, established to be seriously dangerous, so much so that Eobard Thawne was the one who had to lock him up. Over the next three years, he's established to be working in the background, looking to destroy the Flashes, while having knowledge of the original Crisis and Flashpoint. When he does finally step onto center stage, he goes down in a handful of issues.
• Ass Pull: Most people consider the attempt to salvage the horrible behavior Barry, Wally, and Bart engaged in as the result of Thawne using the Negative Speed Force to fuck with their minds as this, given he hadn't displayed this ability before and it has no relation to any other power either. At the same time, however, many are more forgiving since...well, it's Thawne and the out of character moments were really disliked.
• Audience-Alienating Era: Generally, the entire era post-Heroes in Crisis up to "Finish Line" is seen as one, focusing on the uninteresting other Forces, followed by an extended Origins Episode, while Barry suffers yet more Aesop Amnesia as he puts all the burden of the world on himself and isolates himself from the Flash Family.
• Broken Aesop: Despite the fact that multiple people get angry at Barry because of his lying and because his causing Flashpoint ruined everyone's lives, they eventually forgive him just because he admits he screwed up and is sorry...which is the full extent of what he does for atonement instead of actually doing anything to fix what he caused, like making a genuine effort to help Wally find Jai and Irey. So basically, it goes to show as long as you apologize and say you're sorry, the scope of your misdeeds (no matter if it's literally a universe-violating screw-up that erased and ruined the lives of untold billions of people) doesn't matter.
• Catharsis Factor: Thawne having a complete Villainous Breakdown when Barry forgives him...leading to Barry 'anchoring' Thawne and erasing him from existence. Seeing such a petty, vindictive, smug person as Thawne eventually start begging Barry not to do this and not to leave is satisfying to say the least.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • At least for Barry, Leonard Snart crossed this when he killed Commander Cold.
  • While Eobard Thawne was always an asshole, for some readers, what pushed it over the edge was the revelation that he caused most of the events of Heroes in Crisis by making Wally cover it up, ruining his reputation as a hero and making him suicidal.
• Take That, Scrappy!: While he isn't hated in-and-of himself, the run did see Barry finally get called out on the more selfish actions he took since his return, having him finally deal with the fallout of destroying his relationship with Iris and Wally's life, trying to keep Iris in the dark with "Sins of the Father" finally allowing her to learn the truth, "The Perfect Storm" deconstructiing Barry's post-resurrection Protagonist-Centred Morality and the focus sorely on him at the expense of others, "The Flash Age" seeing Paradox outright say Barry was only remembered due to his death and he should've stayed dead. Granted, fans of Barry themselves, find this controversial, but fans of other characters who've gotten annoyed with how DC pushed him, they do enjoy seeing Barry finally being put to task for his actions of late. That said, others argue that the use of this trope rang hollow due to the fact that Barry never actually makes a genuine effort to fix his mistakes other than standing around and looking sorry. It comes across more like Williamson is paying lip service to the fans who wanted Barry to answer for the awful things he's done without actually punishing him for them.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • A common complaint about the run as a whole is that it often teases what could be an interesting idea or storyline, and then for whatever reason (either executive meddling or because some other writer might've called dibs)...doesn't follow up on it or quickly resolves it. Jay Garrick's continual teases? They amount to nothing within the series itself. The Shade having some history with the Flashes? Turns out he's seen retconned as just another Barry bad guy, despite being a Jay enemy usually. Paradox's "crisis-level" power? He's taken out within an arc. Wallace West's relationship with Daniel West? Swiftly resolved in one issue once Wallace finds out he's dead, and the only drama comes from Wallace's explicit lack of closure regarding his dad.
  • Hunter Zolomon's Heel–Face Turn and subsequent sacrifice, which is executed across the length and breadth of two whole issues, making it feel incredibly rushed. Even more so since it's Hunter interacting with Barry, rather than Wally, "his" Flash, and the one who actually had a personal connection to him. Flash #800 in The Flash (Infinite Frontier) would later totally undo this, with Hunter's obsession over turning Wally into a better hero is reinvigorated with the realization he was right the whole time about the Clown not having a gun and thus decides to be Zoom regardless of whatever Thawne did.