I purchased a Blu-Ray copy, so the following comments are based on that. There is a DVD edition that uses five discs instead of the Blu-Ray's four. The discs' content should be the same, just presented in standard definition. The Blu-Ray contains a code to redeem for the Ultraviolet digital copy of the twenty-three episodes of Season 4. The DVD edition does not. (Note that certain retailers may have arranged to sell a digital copy with the DVD, and that used copies might not contain valid codes. My comments are on the general release versions.)
Season 4 of The Flash consists of twenty-three episodes pitting Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and his team against Clifford DeVoe, aka the Thinker (Neil Sandilands). A busload of metahumans was created when the team released Barry from the Speed Force, and it seems DeVoe was manipulating the events. As Team Flash learns more about DeVoe's machinations, they realize everything seems to be going according to his plans. Can they get a step ahead before his ultimate goals are achieved?
Bringing additional humor and even heart to the season is Ralph Dibny, one of the newly created metahumans with the power to reshape his body by stretching or altering his appearance. Beginning as a down on his luck and morally questionable private eye, Team Flash helps Ralph become the heroic Elongated Man over the season.
A bonus to this season is Crisis on Earth-X, a crossover event between The Flash and its sister shows Arrow, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. The four episodes form one narrative as the heroes of the four shows (with a saddening lack of Ralph) gather to attend Barry and Iris' (Candice Patton) wedding, which is crashed by Nazis from Earth-X, an alternate world in which they won World War II and moved forward to world domination. What do they want with Earth-1? All of the episodes of the crossover are included on Disc 2 of the Blu-Ray set. (The digital copy only contains the third episode, which was The Flash's episode. Episode 1 was an episode of Supergirl, Episode 2 was Arrow, and the finale was part of Legends of Tomorrow.)
To achieve 26 episodes on four discs, the first and third discs have seven episodes, the others have six. The bonus features are a little lighter than the previous seasons. Regardless of the extra episodes, the video and audio quality doesn't take a noticeable hit. For clarification, if I refer to an episode, it is the number given to it in the set's packaging, which after episode 7 is different from proper episode listings of the season due to the inclusion of the Crisis on Earth-X episodes.
Onto the bonus features! Eight episodes across the discs contain deleted scenes, which can be accessed via a scissors icon next to the episodes in the episode lists, or via the special features menu. There aren't many that are very notable. Some are fun, though. The best one is likely from episode 17 in which Barry and Iris share a loving moment over burnt toast.
The downside to the deleted scenes is that some "Stretched" scenes featuring Ralph were shown along with episodes 6, 7 and 12. These doubled as advertisements for the Microsoft Surface, showing Team Flash using the device, but they did play into the narrative of the episode. In addition, a humorous deleted scene for episode 12 that also featured Ralph (which Hartley Sawyer said was his favorite scene to film) was released online. None of these scenes are on the discs.
Disc 1 also features the gag reel, which is always fun as the main cast of The Flash are hilarious goofballs when left to their own devices, and Hartley is seen fitting in quite well.
Disc 2 has a roundtable with the executive producers of The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow discussing the crossover, running for about 41 minutes.
Disc 3 features a spotlight on the Elongated Man, using some animated comic book artwork and clips from the show around interviews from the creative team on the show (no cast members, not even Hartley, are included), discussing their approach to adapting the character for the show and even hinting at some of their future plans, mentioning clearly that they do intend to bring Sue onto the show (and also mentioning that some elements from Identity Crisis do figure into the long-term plans). Also included is a spotlight on Amunet Black with actress Katee Sackhoff and two writers, discussing how they brought the character of Blacksmith to the show.
Disc 4 features a spotlight on the character of Clifford DeVoe, and a highlights reel of DC TV panels at San Diego Comic Con 2017.
The set is packaged in a 15mm wide (when it comes to the spine) Viva Elite Blu-Ray case. The discs are placed on two dual-sided swinging platters inside. Also inside is the code for the digital copy and a fold out leaflet detailing the episodes, their original airdates and which discs the bonus episodes are on. The case comes in a slipbox with the same artwork on the case artwork on it. The package looks quite handsome and is in uniform with previous Blu-Ray releases of the series' seasons.
The Flash continues the issue of not including online video extensions of the show on its home media releases, something it has shared with its fellow DC TV shows. Still, that content is currently still out there and easy to find with a little searching. The actual episodes of the season are present, accounted for, looking and sounding great, along with subtitles for the deaf or hard of hearing (or if you just want to be sure what they said). Plus, the rest of Crisis on Earth-X is included so you can see Barry and Iris' wedding along with the rest of the series. And while the deleted scenes don't amount to much, the other bonuses are no slouches, especially the gag reel.
If you're a fan of the show who enjoys rewatching it, getting Season 4 is a no brainer. For Elongated Man fans, this is the debut of Ralph Dibny in live action, so even though he's only in half of the episodes on this set, that should make adding it to your collection worth considering.
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