The upcoming season 7 premiere of The Flash was originally part of season 6, but will instead be repurposed to launch the next batch of episodes. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, Hollywood's best laid plans have been thrown into disarray. Movies have been pushed out of their lucrative summer release dates, and ongoing productions have been effectively cancelled due to safety concerns. On The CW network, the Arrowverse shows have been impacted by COVID-19. While Arrow, Black Lightning, and Legends of Tomorrow were able to finish their seasons as planned (thanks to their limited episode count), The Flash, Supergirl, and Batwoman weren't so lucky.
Supergirl's 19th episode will serve as its season finale, with footage from the incomplete 20th episode bringing the season to an early end. Batwoman will air its 20th episode (of a planned 22) as its freshman finale, while The Flash was perhaps hit hardest by the COVID-19 Hollywood shutdown; the season ends with "Success is Assured," episode 19 of a planed 22-episode run. A full three episodes shy of its initial conclusion, the episode does end with an exciting cliffhanger, but was clearly not intended to be the grand finale of a season that began by teasing the biggest crossover event in television history, Crisis on Infinite Earths.
In a post-mortem interview with TVLine, The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace discussed the season finale and plans for season 7. According to Wallace, episode 20 of season 6 was 90% filmed when production was shut down, and the episode is currently set to serve as The Flash's season 7 premiere. Likewise, the unfilmed scripts for the remaining two episodes are expected to be carried over to the new season, though with potential changes. As Wallace put it, "There might be a wee bit of tinkering... maybe it’s 75, 80 percent of the original scripts, and maybe 15, 20 percent new stuff."
For season 6, The Flash adopted a "Graphic Novel" approach, essentially telling two half-season story arcs, with Crisis on Infinite Earths wedged in the middle. Had it not been for the coronavirus, the plan would have been successful. As it stands, the new season of The Flash will need to resolve its current cliffhanger before season 7 can truly begin.
Of course, there's always the fear that Hollywood (or Vancouver, in this case) won't reopen its doors in time for new television shows to debut in the fall season. Depending on how quickly the world recovers from the coronavirus, it's possible The Flash (and the rest of the Arrowverse roster) may not return until mid-season or later. Only time will tell how the whole affair shakes out.
Source: TVLine