The Flash - Season 1

[Guy Gardener]

Although the special effects did seem samey from what they did use for Crusher Creel on Agents of Shield. (Body paint?) (Animated bodypaint?)

It's like how when we all saw Species 8472 on Voyager for the first time and wondered what the Shadows from Babylon 5 were doing in Star Trek?

 

[The Old Mixer]

I liked that they finally had Barry using his speed to avoid blows and such, rather than just standing there getting punched like in the earlier episodes.

The "former elementary school bully" angle was played up a little too much for my tastes...seemed pretty juvenile.

 

[davejames]

I suppose they can explain that Barry can avoid punches like that if he's really focused and prepared for them, but he can still be caught off guard now and then if he's not.

After all, even with his heightened reflexes, he still doesn't have any "spidey sense" to help him anticipate things ahead of time.

 

[Christopher]

After all, even with his heightened reflexes, he still doesn't have any "spidey sense" to help him anticipate things ahead of time.

Yeah, but "ahead of time" means something different when you can accelerate your perceptions a thousandfold. It took a few seconds for Girder to pull down those heavy shelves on top of Barry, and Barry was looking right at him while he did so. From his accelerated standpoint, he should've had subjective minutes to step out of the way before the shelves hit him.

Then again, Barry got his powers when a shelf of chemicals fell on him after he was struck by lightning. So maybe shelves are his Kryptonite.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Although since Cromagmon died off, maybe they were shitty hunters?

Aren't Cro-Magnons pretty much "us"? The current term for them is "European early modern humans" and like ourselves are Homo sapiens sapiens.

 

[theenglish]

It seems to me like Wells is entirely a Red Herring regarding his possible reverse flash connection. I would be willing to bet that he may be killed off by the end of the season as well. In fact, it is entirely possible he is actually Bart Allen who is capable in the new 52 of doing all the things Wells has done.

Regarding the sonic punch--aggh, awful.

I was hoping that Barry would learn to vibrate his body and let the punches go through him...just tire the guy out. I like Guy's Judo idea in connection with that as well.

 

[theenglish]

After all, even with his heightened reflexes, he still doesn't have any "spidey sense" to help him anticipate things ahead of time.

Yeah, but "ahead of time" means something different when you can accelerate your perceptions a thousandfold. It took a few seconds for Girder to pull down those heavy shelves on top of Barry, and Barry was looking right at him while he did so. From his accelerated standpoint, he should've had subjective minutes to step out of the way before the shelves hit him.

Then again, Barry got his powers when a shelf of chemicals fell on him after he was struck by lightning. So maybe shelves are his Kryptonite.

I think the idea was that he was hurt and fatigued. The show has given him a subtle weakness in that he can run fast for a while but maneuvering and fighting at super speed seems to tire him out and leaves him vulnerable to attacks at normal speed.

 

[davejames]

Either that or maybe he just hadn't eaten yet and his blood sugar was low again.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Either that or maybe he just hadn't eaten yet and his blood sugar was low again.

Nah, that was a story point just to hand wave the "yeah, he has to eat a lot", used once because they had to add that piece of exposition but with little intention of making it a thing because they'd literally have to do it every episode which takes away time from the story. So it's unlikely it'll be mentioned again.

Like how going through a stargate makes you cold, or how Voyager needs to conserve power.

 

[Christopher]

Aren't Cro-Magnons pretty much "us"? The current term for them is "European early modern humans" and like ourselves are Homo sapiens sapiens.

That's right. People sometimes get them confused with Neanderthals (recall the apelike "Kromaggs" in Sliders), but the term refers to the oldest modern-human fossils found in Europe.

 

[theenglish]

Either that or maybe he just hadn't eaten yet and his blood sugar was low again.

Nah, that was a story point just to hand wave the "yeah, he has to eat a lot", used once because they had to add that piece of exposition but with little intention of making it a thing because they'd literally have to do it every episode which takes away time from the story. So it's unlikely it'll be mentioned again.

Like how going through a stargate makes you cold, or how Voyager needs to conserve power.

It's happening just off camera--but this is the weakness they wrote into the character and it is illustrated in the types of scenes I mentioned.

 

[DWF]

Either that or maybe he just hadn't eaten yet and his blood sugar was low again.

Nah, that was a story point just to hand wave the "yeah, he has to eat a lot", used once because they had to add that piece of exposition but with little intention of making it a thing because they'd literally have to do it every episode which takes away time from the story. So it's unlikely it'll be mentioned again.

Like how going through a stargate makes you cold, or how Voyager needs to conserve power.

Barry's massive eating binges don't have to mentioned all the time. Barry Allen on the old series had the same problem and it was mentioned every so often.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Busted. I learnt all my science from reruns of Sliders.

 

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Although since Cromagmon died off, maybe they were shitty hunters?

Aren't Cro-Magnons pretty much "us"? The current term for them is "European early modern humans" and like ourselves are Homo sapiens sapiens.

Very close, but not "us." If they were, they wouldn't be labeled as EEMHs. They had some distinct physical differences from us, and you can tell them and us apart just by looking at their skulls.

So yes, they did "die off." Or at least disappeared after breeding in with us.

 

[JD]

I enjoyed this one. The main plot with Girder wasn't anything amazing, but we still got some nice scenes, like Iris calling Barry The Flash at the end, and the last scene with Reverse Flash and Joe.
I was wondering if perhaps Thawne, if he is Reverse Flash, didn't realize he had gotten powers yet. The end pretty much rules that possibility out.
I'm curious if they are eventually going to introduce The Speed Force in the show.
The interview in the link up thread said that they will be dealing with time travel in the winter. I'm very curious to see exactly how it's going to come into play, and who all it will involve.
I'm also curious to see how they plan on doing Grodd. If this were a movie I would just assume he would be 100% CGI, but I could see them doing a suit/puppet kind of thing too, especially if he plays a big role in multiple episodes.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Absorbing Man!

Wrong universe! Absorbing Man is from Marvel--and was recently seen on Agents of SHIELD.

As for the battle, the one thing that bugged me was that the Flash didn't immediately carry Iris to safety, miles away from the school, before rushing back to fight the bad guy. Instead, he arrives in the nick of time to grab Iris and transport her . . . a few feet away?

Yeah, this guy was closer to Colossus from the X-Men.

And Barry was clearly subconsciously trying to impress Iris.

Really? I could've sworn I also saw Jamie Maddrox (episode 2). I wouldn't be surprised if Dr. Wells turned out to be a Hydra operative.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Multiplex is a Firestorm villain from the 80s.

Firestorm was based on Nuclear fusion (2 (or more) men joining into one being.)

Multiplex was based on Nuclear fission (One guy dividing into many copies.)

They were both created in he same origin. An exploding nuclear power plant.

 

[Christopher]

I was wondering if perhaps Thawne, if he is Reverse Flash, didn't realize he had gotten powers yet. The end pretty much rules that possibility out.

Unless the yellow-suited figure is his future self. Or perhaps a descendant. The detective is Eddie Thawne, but Reverse Flash is Eobard Thawne. People have been assuming that Eddie is an alias for Eobard, but some have suggested that he's an ancestor instead.

I'm also curious to see how they plan on doing Grodd. If this were a movie I would just assume he would be 100% CGI, but I could see them doing a suit/puppet kind of thing too, especially if he plays a big role in multiple episodes.

We already saw a CGI Grodd in the tag scene last week (or was it the week before that?) By now, CGI is sophisticated enough that it's doable on TV, although it won't look as real as it does in the Planet of the Apes movies, say. A number of TV shows in recent years have featured CGI creatures on a regular basis. Primeval featured CGI monsters every week. Grimm uses CGI to create its Wesen faces.

And the Flash himself is pretty clearly a CG construct in a lot of his big action shots on the show, most notably the "supersonic punch" slow-motion shot in this episode.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I can see an episode where Professor Zoom has done the unthinkable and all seems lost.

So Wells shoots Zoom's ancestor Eddie dead and the timeline folds in on itself.

This is of course the end of Looper and a fucked up episode of Continuum.

I looked it up yesterday, there's no word on renewal or cancellation of Continuum.

Hell Rachel Nichols was a recurring on Rush, and even that's been aired, murdered and buried in he time it's taken Shaw to not make it's damn mind up about Continuum.

HURRYTHEHELLUP!

 

[USS Firefly]

I thought Continuum had good ratings?
I love that show