Posted in: CW, Preview, TV | Tagged: arrowverse, Danielle Panabaker, season 9, the cw, The Flash

The Flash Season 9 Ep. 9 Pre-Production Begins; Panabaker Directing

Earlier this week, we learned that the 13-episode ninth & final season of The CW's Grant Gustin, Candice Patton & Danielle Panabaker-starring The Flash, would be kicking off its final run beginning Wednesday, February 8, 2023. Now, we're getting a filming update from none other than Panabaker, who confirmed that pre-production was underway on the season's ninth episode. And as you're about to see from the following video, the reason why Panabaker knows this might have to do with her returning to behind the camera to direct. But before we get to that, here's a look back at the official final season overview…

"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 (Gustin) and Iris West-Allen (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 and Team Flash will be pushed to their limits in order to save Central City one last time." So with that in mind, here's a look at Panabaker's Instagram video post from earlier today offering an update on filming and announcing her final directorial gig on the long-running series:

The Flash Showrunner/EP Eric Wallace: What If Season 8 Was It?

What if the eighth season was the final season? Showrunner & EP Eric Wallace revealed in previous interviews that the Season 8 finale was first written as a series-ender, with changes needed once the renewal notice came through. Now thanks to the folks over at TVLine, we're learning from Wallace what viewers would've seen if the series ended with eight seasons. While the final face-off between Barry, aka The Flash (Gustin), and Eobard Thawne, aka Reverse-Flash (Tom Cavanagh), was kept even after the Season 9 green light came through ("We were like, 'Oh crap, we just did the ultimate battle. How are we supposed to ever top that?' Then it was like, 'Let's just kill him for now and worry about that later.'"), here's a look at what was in play for the then-assumed series finale:

A "Sexier" & "Romantic" Conversation Between Barry & Iris: "We had to change the whole final scene. We had to rewrite it three different times. Because when it was a series finale, we had to have a much more deep conversation with Barry and Iris, dealing with the fact that they were going to have kids soon. It was a little bit sexier, and it was a lot more romantic of a scene. I really liked it."

Team Flash Would've Gotten Closure: "There would have been an additional scene with all of Team Flash all getting their goodbyes on. But when we found out we had another season to play with, that meant, 'Ooh, I can tease next year's Big Bad? All right, let's do that!' So that final scene [with the blue crystal] changed radically, and then the 'Goodbye to Team Flash' group party scene got deleted entirely."

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