Turns out there're other reasons for at least some of this last season's choppy abbreviated feel: https://ew.com/tv/the-flash-showrunner-reveals-everything-cut-from-final-season/ :disappointed:
My name is Jack Bauer. For twenty months, I was stranded in a Chinese political prison with only one goal: survive. Now I will fulfill my President's pleading wish: to use every skill at my disposal and bring down those who are attacking my country. To do this, I must become someone else. I must become something else.
