Towelites! My most anticipated show of the year, The Flash, is here and I have TWO episodes to discuss with you! Why? Because NYCC put the breaks on any TV viewing last week, as you will also see with my Arrow post tomorrow. BUT luckily I had the chance to watch the Pilot over the summer, which I absolutely loved! Episode 2 was no different for me. The Flash quickly separates itself from its “older brother”, Arrow, by coming out of the gate as a sci-fi show. I remember back when Arrow was intent on taking the “Dark Knight road” and keeping things more “realistic”, something that is definetely starting to go by the wayside on that show, and most definitely on The Flash.
Why do I love this show so much? It is not afraid to throw superpowers as us! One of the biggest gripes of nerds on the net is that shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Arrow don’t have enough “supers” in them. Well The Flash immedietely remedies that by throwing the word METAHUMANS at us in episode one. With the event at S.T.A.R. Labs that turns Barry Allen into the Scarlett Speedster, we soon learn that he wasn’t the only one who is given a “gift”. Within the first two episodes we are introduced to two big name villains from the comics, Weather Wizard and Multiplex. With plenty more to come!
I have decided to restructure all of my recaps for this season to, A) save time, B) share my feelings more than give you a play by play, and C) I don’t want to not write about these shows and this is the best way for me to structure it. Superhero shows are making a big impact on TV this season so I think it’s super important that we discuss the positives and negatives of them on a weekly basis. Back to the recap! Here are my thoughts on the first two episodes!!
The Good:
-I love Grant Gustin as Barry Allen. He has a full range of emotions from being humorous to dealing with the tragedy of his mother and his father being framed for it. I wasn’t sure at first how he was going to do in the role but I am very confident in the casting now.
-Every hero needs a team. Arrow has one, so does Barry. It’s a nice balance of characters. I think Cisco is my favorite, he is cheesy and having a fun time with his new superhero buddy. Caitlin starts off being a pain and not supporting Barry wanting to use his powers for good, but she eventually comes around. The same thing goes for Joe, who finds out about Barry in the first episode. Being the fatherly figure in Barry’s life he is only trying to protect him, but then realizes that there are now forces that even the Central City police can’t deal with. Dr Wells creeps me out. Both end scenes make me really question what this guy’s motives are! Did they really just state there will be a Crisis in the DC TV universe?!
-The costume is amazing!
-Nice “mentor” appearance by Green Arrow in the Pilot, Ollie actually gives him his name!
-Empty Grodd cage?! Yes please!!
-Reverse Flash is on his way, and if you know anything about the comics you can deduce who it is. Time travel?! Yeah that’s totally grounded! Nice 180 DC! Love it!
-This show looks amazing! The CGI for Barry is top-notch and some of the best effects I have seen on TV. DC is really putting their all into this one.
-Metahumans! I am going to keep reiterating this one. Awesome! I am sure that some of them will make their way to Star(ling) City as well. With this being a major element of the show, who knows who is going to show up next!?
-Attention to detail. A major part of episode two was finding out why Barry was fainting when he used his power. Well that’s cuz he has a CRAZY metahuman metabolism now! Cisco even comes up with an “energy bar” for him! Love it.
-It’s a science fiction show. There is no need to copy what Arrow is doing, and Oliver Queen even states this in episode 1, Barry is different than him. Hero vs Vigilante. This also allows the showrunners to take the episodes in a totally different direction than they could in Arrow. I love sci-fi and I love this show so far!
The Bad:
-Are we really going to kill every big name villain that shows up on the show?! Weather Wizard, DEAD?! Multiplex, DEAD?! Simon Stagg, DEAD?! Seriously? I hate that formula, always have. The idea of the comic villain is that they are on a constant cycle of showing up time and time again.
-Iris West and Eddie Thawne relationship is annoying, but needed. Especially if they take the villain route for him. She’ll come around. This is the classic “The CW” element to the show, something that is way less prevalent in this show than in Arrow… so far.
Now that DC and WB have announced their upcoming movie slate, we can rest “easy” that these two shows (and beyond) will not tie into the films, so get over it. Unless they do something crazy with this Crisis event, don’t even think about it anymore. Especially now we know that The Flash in the film is right around the same age. UNLESS this is Wally West, which nothing is confirmed for that movie except the lead. I am not going to speculate on this topic anymore than I have to. The CW is banging out some amazing superhero properties and I am really excited to see where season one of The Flash takes us!
Season 1 Teaser!
Next Week on Episode 3: “Things You Can’t Outrun“!
