Real Time Review: The Flash

In case you don't want spoilers for the show, I put a spoiler-free summary of my RTR at the beginning. If you've seen the show, or don't care about spoilers, feel free to read past the TL;DR summary for my moment-to-moment reactions.

The Flash premier is everything I wanted it to be and the ending pushed it over the top. The acting is solid, though not spectacular. The effects were brilliant. They focused on all the aspects of Barry I love (intelligence, criminal investigator, caring, heroic) and wove the Flash elements, like his suit, into the overall story in a way that made sense. Though I said the acting wasn't spectacular, there were two moments in the episode where I teared up. Though I'm known for my emotional reactions to movies and TV shows, tearing up only happens when the writers have done their jobs well.

TL;DR:

I heartily recommend The Flash to comic and non-comic fans, and can't wait to see more.

Spoilers Below







Real Time Reactions

• Well done history. I assume they’re going with the current New 52 version of Barry’s history where his mother was killed and his father was jailed for it. Seems a little obvious that the speedster involved has the colors of Prof. Zoom, but most people don’t know who that is, so it works.
• Aha! They’re using the Sherlock method of clue presentation. I love it. Shows his intelligence.
• The CSI procedurals are simple but already better than Gotham.
• They changed Iris’ race, which is an understandable choice. Well, him being an adopted brother to Iris is a little creepy, but her first lines help to clear that a bit.
• Keystone reference. Eddie Thawne. Linda Park?! Interesting. Makes me wonder if Wally will make an appearance.
• Confirmation that Barry’s dad is in jail.
• “I’ve got a plane to catch,” is a weird line.
• Classic Barry origin. Handled solidly.
• ARGH!!!! Shocking a flatline! Blah.*
• He was in a coma for 9 months! Wow. “Lightning gave me abs?” I like the explanation of his lack of muscle atrophy. Caitlin Snow. Excellent.
• Grodd in a cage. Lol. Can’t wait for that to pay off.
• A good balance of giggles and exposition.
• Special effects are excellent.
• Damaged himself when he hit the water barrels. Excellent. Shows his healing powers.
• They should have skipped the intro and just went with the exposition after the running experiment.
• Weather Wizard is handled pretty well, though I’m not sure continuing being a bank robber after gaining that much power makes much sense. People do what they’re familiar with, I suppose.

Commercial Break Catch-up

So far, I really like it. Though they do introduce several heroes and villains in the first half (Dr. Snow, Thawne, Vib, Grodd references, Prof Zoom colors, Weather Wizard), they are more subtle about it than Gotham. They are handling the discovery of his powers very well and the special effects really hold up.

• Ouch. The confrontation with Detective West is awesomely rough.
• There’s a Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock shirt.
• Nice! I like Wells’ practical argument for experimenting with his powers.
• Tearing up at the flashback to his mom.  Still wish they hadn’t put in the intro now.
• Crossover with Arrow was great. I like their mutual admiration.
• The explanation of his suit is brilliant. A design for a firefighter suit that monitors vitals, has built-in communication, an air mask and is heat and friction resistant. Also explains the red color. I love it.
• Oh, Mardon went crazy. I like it. Also addressed the bank robbery issue.
• Classic running opposite a whirlwind.
• The effects are amazing, though he needs to lean forward more when he’s sprinting.
• West knows Barry is Flash from the start? Huh. I like that. Opposite of Arrow.
• J. Wesley Shipp is looking old, but I love that he’s in this.
• Wow. Talking to his dad is making me tear up again.

HOLY CRAP! What an awesome ending. That final scene is...I don’t even know what to say. I love it! Reference to Barry's death in the Crisis? Implications of Flash's time-travel adventures? Seriously!? I already love this show!



* = Turns out, even though they were shocking a flatline, they were actually doing something right since Barry wasn't actually flatlined, but massively tachycardic. Shocking him in that case may have helped.