The Flash - Season 1

[Christopher]

The 1990 version also did a great job of fleshing out Tina McGee and establishing her relationship with Barry in the pilot. This new show didn't give us that when it came to the STAR Labs trio or even with Iris.

Well, it had more characters to work with, and more backstory to build up. We live in an age of more decompressed storytelling. Instead of telling a single story concentrated in a single episode, TV series today develop multiple stories in parallel over multiple episodes. We may get just as much development for the new characters, just paced differently.

I wonder what the red skies thing is about.

Ooh, I know this. Here ya go:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedSkiesCrossover

 

[Greg Cox]

I admit my inner fanboy let out a little squeal when we saw the destroyed cage with that name on it . . ..

 

[Christopher]

By the way, was I the only one bugged by the "Sherlock's mind palace" graphics when Barry was examining the tire tread? It didn't seem to serve any purpose, because he said the exact same things out loud a few moments later -- and they only did it the one time. It just seemed imitative and gratuitous.

 

[kirk55555]

I'd already seen the pilot before, but it was just as good as the first time. I'm not totally sold on Grant Gustin as Barry, he's still too young for me, but he was much better in this pilot than he was in Arrow, so hopefully he'll grow on me more as Flash continues (he's not bad by any means, though, he just doesn't feel much like Barry to me).

The Star Labs supporting characters are decent, although Wells is the most interesting one. I'm not a huge fan of Iris (I don't dislike her, but she's kind of bland just based off episode one), but she seems to be there just to be a generic love interest anyway, so there isn't much to be interested in. Hopefully they won't drag Barry's romantic feelings for Iris thing over seasons, stuff like that has been done to death.

I wasn't a huge fan of Weather Wizard (I don't think they called him that, but that's who he was). I mean, they don't need to wear tights, but having the villains look at least a bit distinctive, and not just wearing normal clothes, would be nice. Thewy let Deathstroke look cool, hopefully if they introduce people like Captain Cold they'll get a cool look and not just be wearing street clothes.

Overall, this pilot was decent and I'm excited for the show. I'll definitely be tuning in every week.

 

[sojourner]

By the way, was I the only one bugged by the "Sherlock's mind palace" graphics when Barry was examining the tire tread? It didn't seem to serve any purpose, because he said the exact same things out loud a few moments later -- and they only did it the one time. It just seemed imitative and gratuitous.

^Yeah, I don't think that bit will last past the pilot.

 

[davejames]

I really enjoyed it, even if it was awfully rushed and felt like 2 hours worth of story crammed into 45 minutes. But somehow, given the more overt comic book tone and the fact it's a show about, well, the Flash, it somehow seemed fitting that the story would fly by a lot faster than others on TV.

The only thing I did miss was the "Holy crap, you will never believe what I can do now!" part of the origin story. Instead it jumped right into the Star Lab team conducting their running experiment. It would have been nice to dwell a bit more on him coming to terms with his new powers, and depicting better just how much damage the superspeed could do to his normal clothes (two things I thought the 90s series did really well in it's first episode).

The effects were pretty damn impressive though, especially the side views of him running with all that energy crackling around him. It's just a really dynamic and exciting thing to watch, and much cooler than any other running effect I've ever seen.

 

[kirk55555]

One thing i forgot to mention that I like about the new show is that they don't hold Barry back as much as the old show. In the 90s Flash, I remember seeing an episode where he almost died after running 200 miles or so one time, something about him needing to eat or his body not being able to handle the speed for so long. Here, Barry can run 600 miles to Starling City easily, which was cool. I mean, obviously you need to limit him in some ways, but I think the 90s show went too far, although budget might have had something to do with that.

Also, I liked the running effects, I thought they were done well. The tornado thing was especially cool, that's practically a Flash trademark, and it was awesome to see it in live action.

 

[Icemizer]

Kirk55555, the old show was just using Wallys old reduced powers need to eat to to keep running post crisis powerset.

 

[Jax]

Huge opening for the show (It beat Agents of Shield too for the night)...

4.50 million & 1.8/6 in the 18-49 demo.

Making it the CW's most-watched and highest-rated series debut since The Vampire Diaries premiered in 2009

It will probably end up with Arrow numbers come the end of the season but nice to see a good start.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

I really enjoyed it. Especially loved the scene where he meets up with Ollie. Looking forward to more crossovers

I also liked that Det. West discovered his identity so early.

The twist at the end was awesome as well.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Yes, the way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? Besides, the stainless steel construction makes the flux dispersal – Look Out!!!

What does it say about your personality type, when you build a time machine into a treadmill?

What is the exact opposite of "style"?

 

[CorporalClegg]

Rupert Giles?

 

[theenglish]

Missed this the first time I watched, but just realized that it is Barry who saves himself when he is a kid at the very beginning. Is that the way it was in Rebirth?

 

[Captain Qwert Jr]

Saw it. Thoughts:

Pilot-y goodness:
-Going big with supervilliany. Yay!
-Looks like it's avoiding the Dark Vigilante route. Double Yay. No need to go full silver age. Just have him be a somewhat popular do-gooder that's known to work with the police.
-Harrison Wells. Clearly Abra Kadabra...what? One can hope. Glad they're running (tee-hee) with the Flash's time travel history (double tee-hee).
-I am not a fan of the Barry's mother getting murdered in the book, because I feel it adds nothing but a tacked-on, phoney sturm und drang to him, but it might work here, if they have a good time travel blueprint worked out for the series.

Pilot-y awkwardness:
-That's an odd place to put a gorilla cage.
Wells:"OK everyone, I must remind you all (again!) to walk along the outer wall when going to the restrooms. The ape keeper is complaining that all the arms that Grodd is ripping off are interfering with his diet."
-Barry grew up with Iris? Icky. And then having Detective West being the guy who put his father away and adopt him?!?
Detective West: "Honey, Our neighbor just went bat-shit insane and killed his wife and I didn't have the slightest inclination he was a woman killer. Also I'm having his son move in with us. Also, on an unrelated note, I'm taking out a 2 million dollar insurance policy on you and Iris."

Initial verdict: A simple, pleasant diversion. That's all I need really. I hope the Rogues are compelling.

 

[Christopher]

Puzzled by something... Barry said his dad was in Iron Heights prison. Hasn't that been established as being in Starling City? Why would he be there?

-Harrison Wells. Clearly Abra Kadabra...what? One can hope.

I gather that Hunter Zolomon, the second Reverse Flash, is a candidate, because he spent some time in a wheelchair.

-That's an odd place to put a gorilla cage.
Wells:"OK everyone, I must remind you all (again!) to walk along the outer wall when going to the restrooms. The ape keeper is complaining that all the arms that Grodd is ripping off are interfering with his diet."

Fun fact: Gorillas mostly eat foliage, sometimes fruit, and occasionally insects. They're also the gentlest of the great apes, except when provoked. The myth of savage, predatory gorillas was invented by French explorer Paul du Chaillu, the first European to see the species. Except he didn't just look at them; he shot them. A lot. And then lied about defending himself from rampaging, man-eating beasts in order to make himself look manly and heroic rather than like a creep shooting harmless creatures for sport. Unfortunately, comic books have done little to counter the myth. (It's the chimps that are the really aggressive ones. Aside from humans, that is.)

Also, gorillas are highly social beings, so imprisoning one alone in a small, barren cage is a deeply abusive and cruel act. If Grodd comes back with a vengeance, I'm not sure I'd blame him.

 

[Guy Gardener]

A criminal from Gorilla City would have to find a way to hide in the human world after he had been banished from Gorilla City.

Just because he got more super powers in the pilot, it doesn't mean that he wasn't already a super intelligent telepath from an ancient secret city of Gorillas.

 

[dragunzng]

Saw the first Episode, had a few thoughts. I'm not up on my Flash lore at all, so please forgive me:

- Seeing John Wesley Shipp again was sooooo good. I hope Amanda Pays gets to come back too.

- Why does the CW write youung women so badly? Our introduction to Iris is her having no clue what CERN is (just in case the audience is clueless!) and her response to Barry nerding out is "dude, you need a girlfriend, lol!

- So it looks like we're going to do the whole villain of the week thing? I guess?

- The effects were decent. Not quite sure I like the suit, I'm not a fan of dyed leather. I can't stand Oliver's suit for the same reason, I feel it should be made entirely of the material used for the flap on his chest/back.

- Despite my negativity, I thought it was an alright pilot, no better or worse than the CW's other super-shows

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ Amanda Pays will be playing a different version of Tina McGee on this new show.

As for the suit, I wasn't all that fond of it either but it does come off better on the show than it did in those production stills from a few months ago. The right shots can make a difference. I wonder if they'll ever upgrade it. Would doing so contradict the newspaper shot? Not necessarily. It could have been an old photo... He could have gotten the old suit out of mothballs...

I found a nice concept suit on deviantART...

Spoiler: the outfit.

 

[dragunzng]

^ Amanda Pays will be playing a different version of Tina McGee on this new show.

Yay! Looking forward to that!

As for the suit, I wasn't all that fond of it either but it does come off better on the show than it did in those production stills from a few months ago. The right shots can make a difference. I wonder if they'll ever upgrade it. Would doing so contradict the newspaper shot? Not necessarily. It could have been an old photo... He could have gotten the old suit out of mothballs...

It's definitely not a BAD suit, but I think we're starting to get used to seeing superhero suits done right on film, so standards are higher.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I like how the suit came equipped with a blank circle ready to mount a symbol. Pretty cheesy.