The Flash - Season 1

[Saul]

Ok, I watched this series and am wondering about the episode 'The man in the Yellow Suit'. Wells created an after image of himself while his real self in the yellow suit fought flash, but surely while they tended to the supposedly injured Wells they would have noticed he wasn't real, right?

 

[Christopher]

Of course, but it's a happy coincidence for Berlanti that she's a quirky blonde girl with glasses.

I honestly don't know how anyone couldn't see the resemblance...it's not subtle.

Umm, because there are millions of women who happen to be blonde and wear glasses? It's not like Felicity has a trademark on it. And Benoist is a darker honey blonde as Kara. To me, her hair color looks closer to Caitlin's than Felicity's.

Sure, if you start from the arbitrary assumption that the characters are meant to be similar, then of course you can cherrypick a couple of details to "prove" that preconceived notion, but that's circular reasoning. I think it's pretty insulting to assume that any writer has so little flexibility.

 

[The Old Mixer]

You can rationalize it all you want, but it's a blatantly obvious and deliberate similarity when viewed in context.

 

[Christopher]

What's obvious to me is that if a superhero from Krypton is portrayed as bespectacled and bumbling in their secret identity, that's a reference to Clark Kent, a character who's been around many decades longer than Arrow's version of Felicity Smoak. And, by extension, to the even older tradition of heroes assuming ineffectual secret identities, going back to Sir Percy Blakeney/The Scarlet Pimpernel and Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro. Those referents are so clear and self-evident that any intentional similarity to Felicity would be an incidental consideration at best. Kara would probably have been portrayed the same way even if Arrow's Felicity had never existed.

 

[The Old Mixer]

One also has to consider that they made a deliberate departure from how Linda Lee Danvers traditionally concealed her identity (brunette wig, no glasses) in order to play the Clark card which oh, just happened to make her look a lot like the character on the other show whom she's also acting like, and whom the showrunner seems determined to clone into every show.

Also, if you stayed true to your principles, I've seen more of Benoist as Kara Danvers than you have.

 

[FPAlpha]

The casting call has gone out for new love interest for Barry in season two.

It would seem that they are trying to re-create the dynamic and chemistry between Barry and Felicity.

TVLine has learned that for Season 2, the CW hit is casting the major recurring role of Wendy, a “spunky, fun and funny” romantic interest for one Barry Allen.

A cop for the Central City PD, Wendy is described as bright and scientific-minded — more specifically, “Think ‘Felicity Smoak’ from Arrow,” the casting call reads.

Smells like the time Barry dated that girl he met at the bar while going out with Caitlin (forgot her name). If so it's another round of relationship drama for Barry and Iris so they won't become a couple too soon.

However if they think they can just make a carbon copy of Smoak and expect her to have the same chemistry as Rickards/Amell they might be in for a rude awakening.

I seem to recall that the original plan for Arrow was for Oliver and Laurel to become the couple of the show but out of left field Smoak came along and became a fan favorite not undue to the chemistry with Amell so they changed the plan.. wise move.

May happen here too, i have my doubts.

 

[Christopher]

Smells like the time Barry dated that girl he met at the bar while going out with Caitlin (forgot her name).

You forgot the name of Linda Park? You must not be much of a Flash comics fan. Linda was the main love interest, and eventual wife, of the Wally West Flash.

If so it's another round of relationship drama for Barry and Iris so they won't become a couple too soon.

That does seem to be the case, and that bugs me. I'd rather see them let Barry and Iris's relationship develop organically.

However if they think they can just make a carbon copy of Smoak and expect her to have the same chemistry as Rickards/Amell they might be in for a rude awakening.

Actually it sounds like it's the Rickards/Gustin chemistry they're trying to emulate. But as I've said before, Rickards seems to have chemistry with everyone. She would be a tough act to follow.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Well, it would be unseemly for both Barry and Iris if Iris jumped into Barry's arms immediately after losing Eddie....

 

[Christopher]

^Even so, that doesn't mean there has to be an alternate love interest plugged into the story.

 

[The Old Mixer]

What I'm more concerned about is if this new character is supposed to replace Caitlin...it seems like she was already filling the show's Felicity niche in her own way.

 

[Christopher]

What I'm more concerned about is if this new character is supposed to replace Caitlin...it seems like she was already filling the show's Felicity niche in her own way.

I will never understand why people think that. If anything, Cisco's the Felicity equivalent, the comic-relief tech genius. Caitlin is the more serious one, though nobody on this show is quite as serious as most of the Arrow gang. Sure, Caitlin's a sciencey sort too, but other than that, she doesn't really have much in common with Felicity beyond being an attractive young woman. Which is hardly a rare quality in these shows.

 

[Reverend]

^Two is a coincidence, three is a pattern.


But yeah, I wouldn't count Caitlin in that either.

 

[sojourner]

Caitlin is closer in character to Simmons on AoS.

 

[Morpheus 02]

The casting call has gone out for new love interest for Barry in season two.

It would seem that they are trying to re-create the dynamic and chemistry between Barry and Felicity.

TVLine has learned that for Season 2, the CW hit is casting the major recurring role of Wendy, a “spunky, fun and funny” romantic interest for one Barry Allen.

A cop for the Central City PD, Wendy is described as bright and scientific-minded — more specifically, “Think ‘Felicity Smoak’ from Arrow,” the casting call reads.

Between this and the way Kara Danvers is being portrayed, I'm seeing a pattern here. To borrow a metaphor from Joey Tribbiani, somebody needs to tell Berlanti that there's more than one flavor of ice cream....

I think it's too early for a strong pattern... Arrow is solidly PG-13, Flash is PG.... Supergirl is a lighter PG (which is great for young girls...like my 4 year old girl whose favorite hero is Supergirl; my 10 year old daughter will REALLY get into the show too). And don't forget Legends of Tomorrow, which i suspect will be PG-13, around the same intensity of Arrow... so don't fret.

Smells like the time Barry dated that girl he met at the bar while going out with Caitlin (forgot her name).

You forgot the name of Linda Park? You must not be much of a Flash comics fan. Linda was the main love interest, and eventual wife, of the Wally West Flash.

If so it's another round of relationship drama for Barry and Iris so they won't become a couple too soon.

That does seem to be the case, and that bugs me. I'd rather see them let Barry and Iris's relationship develop organically.

However if they think they can just make a carbon copy of Smoak and expect her to have the same chemistry as Rickards/Amell they might be in for a rude awakening.

Actually it sounds like it's the Rickards/Gustin chemistry they're trying to emulate. But as I've said before, Rickards seems to have chemistry with everyone. She would be a tough act to follow.

I really feel like the Felicity - Oliver romance was super-forced. The Felicity - Barry chemistry was far more natural... so much that i hoped it would be revealed that Felicity was actually her middle name, which she thought was cooler than Iris!

It's pretty sad that the crew hasn't been able to make the comic "destined' romances not able to work at all. (Like Black Canary on Arrow)... in a way, Joe West has been the inspiration Barry needs instead of Iris...

 

[Guy Gardener]

The pilot's magnificent violence suggests that Supergirl should be PG 13.

Caitln is going bad. Badgirls are not allowed to hang out with Teamflash.

There needs to be a reason that Barry and Iris don.. Heisenberg said it best on Malcolm in the Middle "Of course I love you more than you love me, because if you loved me as much as I love you, we'd never get out of bed."

 

[Turtletrekker]

Caitln is going bad. Badgirls are not allowed to hang out with Teamflash.

I suspect, or at least fervently hope, that "Killer Frost" will be an Earth-2 character. Hopefully regularly recurring, yes, but not "our" Caitlyn. I like "our" Caitlyn just the way she is.

 

[The Lensman]

The casting call has gone out for new love interest for Barry in season two.

It would seem that they are trying to re-create the dynamic and chemistry between Barry and Felicity.

TVLine has learned that for Season 2, the CW hit is casting the major recurring role of Wendy, a “spunky, fun and funny” romantic interest for one Barry Allen.

A cop for the Central City PD, Wendy is described as bright and scientific-minded — more specifically, “Think ‘Felicity Smoak’ from Arrow,” the casting call reads.

Between this and the way Kara Danvers is being portrayed, I'm seeing a pattern here. To borrow a metaphor from Joey Tribbiani, somebody needs to tell Berlanti that there's more than one flavor of ice cream....

Whaaaat? MCU fanboys, as well as some DC ones have been screeching and screaming that DC's stuff is too dark, dour and lacks "FUN!!!" Warner's got the message and made their shows more in the "FUN!!" mode. And they're killing it with these shows. I was more interested in what happened on the season finale of The Flash than I was in seeing Avengers 2.

Jay Garrick's helmet was more awesome than the entirety of Marvel's output for me. Bring on Earth-Two and some kind of JSA!

 

[Christopher]

And don't forget Legends of Tomorrow, which i suspect will be PG-13, around the same intensity of Arrow... so don't fret.

Really? I would've expected it to be in the same vein as The Flash, given how larger-than-life and fantastic the premise is.

It's pretty sad that the crew hasn't been able to make the comic "destined' romances not able to work at all. (Like Black Canary on Arrow)... in a way, Joe West has been the inspiration Barry needs instead of Iris...

I think that's just because Iris was kept in the dark. The moment she was in on the secret and part of the team, she totally worked as a character like she never had before. And let's not forget, it was entirely Joe's idea to keep her ignorant for so long.

 

[MacLeod]

I shall reserve judgement until I've seen the character.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I think it's too early for a strong pattern... Arrow is solidly PG-13, Flash is PG.... Supergirl is a lighter PG (which is great for young girls...like my 4 year old girl whose favorite hero is Supergirl; my 10 year old daughter will REALLY get into the show too). And don't forget Legends of Tomorrow, which i suspect will be PG-13, around the same intensity of Arrow... so don't fret.

Whaaaat? MCU fanboys, as well as some DC ones have been screeching and screaming that DC's stuff is too dark, dour and lacks "FUN!!!" Warner's got the message and made their shows more in the "FUN!!" mode. And they're killing it with these shows. I was more interested in what happened on the season finale of The Flash than I was in seeing Avengers 2.

It sounds like you guys are completely misunderstanding what I was getting at. I was referring specifically to an apparent need to clone the Felicity character into each show, not the relative degree of fun and darkness in the shows.