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The Flash Finale Influenced by "Angel," "LOST" & "The Office" Finales

The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace explains how the series finale was influenced by the LOST, Angel, and The Office series finales.

As the days count down to the series finale of The CW's Grant Gustin, Candice Patton & Danielle Panabaker-starring The Flash, we've been a number of insights into the series and its wrap-up from showrunner Eric Wallace. Now, thanks to an in-depth interview with EW, we're learning how The Scarlet Speedster's final run has some very interesting inspirations. "Before sitting down to even conceptualize and write this [the series finale], I watched a whole bunch of series finales, and I'll tell you the ones I loved and used as inspiration: 'Lost,' 'Angel,' and 'The Office,' ironically," Wallace revealed. "I love the 'Lost' finale so much because it was two hours and it's full of emotion. They cried, and I cried, and everybody cried. But the one that I went back to as being a perfect series finale, in my opinion, was 'Angel,' the 'Buffy' spin-off. Man, I still remember the feelings I had watching that 'Angel' finale — it just blew me off the planet." Here's a look at what Wallace had to share about the influences from all three finales, as well as some additional thoughts on what The Flash fans can expect.

"The Office" Finale: "People think as I like horror movies and action that I don't like comedies, but 'The Office' was a great series finale, and if you look at 'The Office' series finale and our series finale, you might actually see some similarities in the strangest way. As a viewer who had been watching 'The Office' for nine seasons religiously, I wanted so badly for Michael Scott [Steve Carell] to come back to that show, and I recognized that feeling that I got when he showed up. I'm like, 'I have to deliver a similar feeling in our series finale.' That's when I decided there had to be a lot of faces from the past."

"LOST" Finale: "All my friends, they yelled at me about that, but I had a very emotional experience with those characters over six seasons, and to me, it was pay off for the emotion. To me that's more important than paying off a particular plot strand."

"Angel" Finale: "I could end it with them mid-battle, and some of them are going to die. That worked really well for the tone of Angel. I don't think it would work very well for 'The Flash,' but how do we get that same feeling? And so, I did a little twist on it."

Viewers Can Expect a Definitive Ending – With a Little Extra Tease of What the Future Could Hold: "It has a conclusion where there's no cliffhangers in that sense, but we threw in a little thing right at the end of the series finale. No spoilers here, but let's just say it directly hints at what the future of The Flash could be. And that's what I got out of that 'Angel' finale: I wonder what happens next? And I can write my own story from there. I thought that was so clever, and we have something like that in our series finale."

The Flash Series Finale "A New World, Part Four" Preview

The Flash Season 9 Episode 13 "A New World, Part Four": THE FINAL RUN – The Flash (Grant Gustin), the fastest man alive, is tasked with his greatest challenge yet, to save the timeline and save existence. Friends old and new gather for an epic battle to save Central City… one last time. The episode was written by Eric Wallace & Sam Chalsen and directed by Vanessa Parise.

After defeating the Reverse Flash once and for all, the 13-episode Season 9 picks up one week later following their epic battle, and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) are reconnecting and growing closer than ever before. But when a deadly group of Rogues descends on Central City led by a powerful new threat, The Flash and his team – Caitlin Snow (Panabaker), Meta-Empath Cecile Horton (Danielle Nicolet), the light-powered meta Allegra Garcia (Kayla Compton), brilliant tech-nerd Chester P. Runk (Brandon McKnight), and reformed cryogenics thief Mark Blaine (Jon Cor) – must once again defy impossible odds to save the day. But as The Rogues are defeated, a deadly new adversary rises to challenge Barry Allen's heroic legacy. And in their greatest battle yet, Barry & Team Flash will be pushed to their limits to save Central City one last time.

Joining the cast for the show's final run are Javicia Leslie (Ryan Wilder/Batwoman), Nicole Maines (Nia Nal/Dreamer), Keiynan Lonsdale (Wally West/Kid Flash), David Ramsey (John Diggle/Spartan), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Ramsey Rosso/Bloodwork), Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow), Rick Cosnett (CCPD Det. Eddie Thawne), Matt Letscher (Eobard Thawne(s)/Reverse-Flash), Jessica Parker Kennedy (Nora West-Allen/XS), John Wesley Shipp (Jay Garrick/The Flash), and Teddy Sears (Hunter Zolomon/Zoom).

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