The Flash has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CW shut down production in March 2020, causing the show to wrap up its sixth season with 19 rather than 22 episodes. This meant some quick rewrites in order to make the nineteenth installment work as a big finale, though in my opinion, it actually turned out pretty well. After that enforced break, the seventh season then began shooting at the beginning of October, only for it to be put on hiatus almost immediately after a delay in receiving the results of COVID-19 tests.
This issue affected most of the shows currently filming in the area, including Batwoman, Charmed, The Mighty Ducks, Nancy Drew, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash. Apparently, a recent rise in cases in British Columbia had caused both a shortage of tests and a long backlog to be processed, with Vancouver labs prioritizing local citizens and businesses.
But the jam seems to have cleared and it’s now being reported that The Flash is back in action. Due to the lost week, however, the schedule has been slightly altered and filming is set to run right up until May 19th, 2021. That, on top of the opening of season 7 being the end of season 6, should mean it’ll still be ready for its planned return in January 2021, when we finally get to see Barry make contact with Iris once more.
This story is a quick reminder of how the industry is changing as a result of the pandemic and the potential pitfalls in store for shows and movies filming right now. After all, as The Batman discovered, you only need one key cast member to catch the virus and the entire production grinds to a halt. I’m thinking that going forward, we’ll be seeing much less location work in general, as it’s a lot easier to keep a closed sound stage free from viral contamination.
In any case, here’s hoping it’s smooth sailing from here on out for The Flash and we can welcome the hero back to our screens in just a few months.