The third season of the American television series The Flash, which is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at super speeds, follows Barry as he deals with the consequences of his decision to save his mother, which creates a timeline called "Flashpoint", and the resulting emergence of a new foe in Savitar.

The season was produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Entertainment, with Andrew Kreisberg, Aaron and Todd Helbing serving as showrunners.

Alongside Grant Gustin, who reprises his role as Barry Allen, principal cast members Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Keiynan Lonsdale, Tom Cavanagh, and Jesse L. Martin return from the second season.

[1] Barry investigates a meteor crash outside Central City that turns out to be a spaceship from which aliens emerge.

Needing help, Barry assembles the original Team Arrow, Thea Queen, the Legends, and Supergirl.

Supergirl leads most of the others in a rescue effort, but the Dominators kill the President and ensnare everyone with a mind control device.

Barry and Kara are forced to work as singers in a nightclub run by gangster Cutter Moran.

Barry and Kara find Moran's son, Tommy, and Foss's daughter, Iris, in a forbidden relationship.

In March 2016, The CW president Mark Pedowitz announced that The Flash was renewed for a third season,[62] which was initially reported to be given a 22-episode order.

[69] In June 2016, Grant Gustin confirmed that the season premiere would be titled "Flashpoint" and adapt elements from the comics storyline of the same name which showed Barry Allen traveling back in time to save his mother from being murdered, creating a new timeline in the process,[70] though he later noted that "We're definitely doing this [Flashpoint] thing our own way....

[75] Tom Felton joined the cast as Julian Albert, a fellow crime-scene investigator at the Central City Police Department.

[86] Andrea Brooks, who plays Eve Teschmacher on Supergirl, briefly reprised her role in the episode "Dead or Alive".

[88] A teaser promo titled "Time Strikes Back" was released on August 23, 2016, featuring John Wesley Shipp as Jay Garrick talking to Barry.

[89] The official poster for the season was released on September 20, 2016, starring Grant Gustin as Barry Allen sporting The Flash's iconic bright red suit with the tagline: "New Destinies.

ListenFirst analyzed fan growth, responses and conversation volume across Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Google+.

[95] The five most recent episodes are available to stream for free on the new mobile CW app, instead of on Hulu like the previous two seasons.

[127] In 2016, according to an analysis from Parrot Analytics, which used ratings data (where available), peer-to-peer sharing, social media chatter, and other factors to estimate viewer demand for various shows, The Flash was the 5th most popular show in the world with 3.1 million demand expressions per day, behind Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Pretty Little Liars, and Westworld.

[128] From January to July 2017, The Flash was the 7th most popular show in the world with 5.47 million demand expressions per day.

The website's consensus reads, "Taking its most compelling and emotionally resonant turn to date, The Flash shifts focus in its third season, turning from the grandiose and bizarre toward the characters who inhabit its core universe -- all while remaining action-packed, funny, and dramatic.

"[131] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 80 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".