Throughout the entirety of The Flash Season 5, Barry Allen was caught in an ever-expanding quagmire following the emergence of Nora, his future offspring, within the current timeline. But you know what he failed to do during that entire span? He never tried to look more "dad-ly" by growing a beard again, and he also failed to growing a stocky pot belly.
Star Grant Gustin let his own facial hair grow out during the hiatus, to a the point where he was looking like Barry Allen's cooler older friend for a while. Alas, Gustin shared an Instagram pic that offers up a before and after look takes Gustin from Beardy Allen to Bareface Allen. Check him out!
"Such a sad day" is one of the better ways to put it. I mean, clearly Barry doesn't need to grow a beard in order to do cool shit. He only kept a full face of facial hair for one episode, after all. So this is just more of an aesthetic thing. Maybe even a "passing of the torch" thing, if you catch my arrow's drift.
Did The Flash Reveal The First Crisis On Infinite Earths Footage?
With Arrow ending its eight-season run later this year (or possibly next, depending on how the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event plays out), it would be a fun idea to have Barry adopt a mustache and beard to honor the absence of Oliver Queen, since it's never too early to make assumptions about Oliver's death, especially if that makes my argument even minutely more sound.
The only time Barry Allen did rock a look that could comfortably be called "scraggly" was in the Season 4 premiere. He'd just escaped the Speed Force, though he wasn't exactly cognizant of that or any other facts. And then he started up with the rhyme time and all the doodles that ended up being Nora's secret language. The beard may have only been a super-temporary accessory for Barry's face, but it was there to set off some of The Flash's biggest mysteries. Ones that didn't even get answered until the next season.
So while we know Barry's facial hair won't be around in Season 6, at least in the early going, we're still scratching our heads over what's going to happen with his BFF. Carlos Valdes' tech-savvy Cisco Ramon seemed like he would be making a big exit from Team Flash when Season 5 ended. And that was coupled with rumors about how Valdes himself was looking to move on from The Flash after the fifth season.
However, other recent rumors have Cisco around early on to witness the introduction of a new S.T.A.R. Labs team member that is yet to be cast. Will Cisco be hiring his own replacement before making his actual exit?
And perhaps the biggest question of all: where's Reverse-Flash's beard at?
We'll find all that out and more when The Flash debuts Season 6 on The CW this fall on Tuesday, October 8, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Before that, though, fans are sure to find out all kinds of great details when The Flash, Arrow and other CW favorites touch down in San Diego Comic-Con next month.
