There were missteps along the way, and some weak storylines. But the longest-running of DC's CW TV series had more successes than failures and -- especially when compared to the many failings of The Flash movie -- it ended up being the best of the lot.

There were a few lackluster chapters in its nine-year, 184-episode run. There were some questionable plot decisions and some iffy casting choices. But overall, the series succeeded where so many did not.

It rode primarily on the coattails of its star, Grant Gustin, who portrayed Flash and Barry Allen as a sincere, well-intentioned hero. Certainly his Flash was more believable -- and more inspiring -- than his movie counterpart.

But a long-running series like this one depends heavily on its ensemble cast, and The Flash did pretty well in that arena. Besides Gustin, the primary cast members include Candice Patton as Iris West, Barry's love interest (and adopted sister, so chalk that up as one of the questionable plot twists), and Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow, who was excellent as the team's scientific heavy hitter, as well as her alter-egos Frost (good but not great) and Khione (who was over the top and unnecessarily omnipotent).

Losing Carlos Valdes as Cisco, the tech guy and Barry's best friend, after 147 episodes was a blow. Tom Cavanagh (146 episodes) was always top-notch, whether he was playing the villain Eobard Thawne or one of the multiverse's many variations on the brilliant Harry Wells character. As Barry's adopted father, police captain Joe West, Jesse L. Martin (177 episodes) was a pillar of the series, the moral compass of the group and a steadying influence on Barry.

Other recurring characters, each of whom added some strength to the core, included Danielle Nicolet as Cecile Horton (107 episodes), Kayla Compton as Allegra Garcia (63 episodes), Brandon McKnight as Chester Runk (54 episodes), Hartley Sawyer as Ralph Dibney/The Elongated Man (50 episodes), Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West/Kid Flash (46 episodes), and Jessica Parker Kennedy as the from-the-future Nora West-Allen/XS (35 episodes). A genius casting coup was bringing in John Wesley Shipp, TV's original Flash from the short-lived series of the early 1990s, for 32 episodes, appearing as both Barry's father Henry Allen and an older alternate-universe Flash named Jay Garrick.

The series offered a mix of villain-of-the-week stories along with season-long story arcs and various "big bad" adversaries. While a few too many of Flash's foes were similarly speed-based, the series also cherry-picked some of the better villain options from the comic-book source material. (One of the most fun decisions was bringing in Mark Hamill -- who, like Shipp, starred in the '90s series -- as James Jesse, aka the Trickster, for three episodes.)

Some of the poorer plotlines that stand out in my memory include turning the Khione character into a literal goddess and setting up the Barry/Iris romance as the purest love in the multiverse. The team sometimes seemed to forget just how fast the Flash can run, looking for complicated solutions to problems that his superspeed could have easily resolved. And maybe a few too many of Barry's friends and co-workers also ended up with superpowers, but hey, it's the comics.

Overall, TV's The Flash was a lot of fun and stood tallest among its peers on the CW and HBO ... which included Arrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning, Batwoman, Doom Patrol, Titans, Stargirl and Legends of Tomorrow. (Don't get me wrong, some of those shows were excellent, too.)