I'm a huge fan of Arrow so my anticipation for The Flash spin off was at a high, Arrow started off a little weak and frankly I, as well as many other viewers, was a little underwhelmed with it. I don't think anyone will be saying that The Flash was underwhelming at all, I'll even go as far as saying that I (currently) rank it higher than Arrow (I apologise for the continuous comparing but of course that is going to happen with a spin off). I feel the cast of The Flash is superior to Arrow, don't flame me but as much as I adore Stephen Amell he can be a bit wooden at times. Him and certain sisters and love interests in the show. Grant Gustin (Barry Allen) and the rest of the cast seem to have made their characters multi-faceted and the ones that interacted within the pilot have great chemistry with each other. Again, I still love Arrow and most of the characters.
The Flash starts off the typical route of a freak accident turns mere man, Barry Allen, into a superhero but it's quite refreshing because he doesn't turn away from his responsibilities and go back to normalcy (I'm not naive, it'll probably happen at some point if the show lasts more than two seasons), he embraces his powers and wants to make his city a safer place. Another way it differs from it's superhero adaption predecessors (that makes sense right?) is its lack of "no one can no my secret" in a sullen voice even though everybody, even superheroes need people to talk to and help them. Barry Allen knows he can't do this alone so embraces the help of the remainder of S.T.A.R. labs as well as Detective West (seriously, I'm glad that the token cop character in this show isn't going to be working against our hero). We most likely have Arrow to thank for this as Barry spent time over there before his accident and saw how well the team worked together, it wasn't just the Green Arrow saving Starling City, it was team Arrow.
The pilot tells us quite clearly that the show will quite clearly have an episodic nature which isn't uncommon for freshman shows but also manages to plant the seeds for a story arch that could last the whole season or more which seems easy to do, but it's not so easy to get people to care about in the first 45 minutes of a show. I personally can't wait to watch Barry attempt to find his mothers murderer and clear his fathers name, and the interaction between him and his father (played by John Wesley Shipp who has played The Flash previously, this show is already winning with the stunt casting) was emotional and I don't think I've felt that deeply for characters on the initial outing of a show (bar Supernatural), so it'll be brilliant to see those events unfold. Also, are you kidding me with the last scene? I seriously can't wait to find out more about Dr. Harrison Wells!
I'm so glad that the show didn't skimp on the SFX, because you can tell it is very well made. The CW doesn't exactly have a big budget and I fear for any science fiction or superhero show in their hands (do you remember Superman's final costume?). It was easier for Arrow as that was based in reality and only recently has featured super-powered beings so that get's a pass. It would've been easy for the show to feel cheap and just slapped together with minimal effort but it really didn't and if keeps up the quality then it's another reason for me to keep watching.
Of course theres no such thing as a perfect show, and although I loved the pilot there were obviously some flaws, the main one for me being a useless love triangle. I hate love triangles. I hate romantic entanglements that take away from the main events of a television show anyway, so a love triangle is a no go anyway. The only places a love triangle should show up are teen television drivel, Sex And The City or Desperate Housewives. Hopefully this show doesn't descend into that because I actually quite like Iris, she doesn't seem one dimensional and her interactions with Barry are promising. Another thing I'm not particularly looking forward to is the meta-human arc. I mentioned before that the show will most likely be episodic, which I understand as the show needs to be able to gain viewers, but the meta-human arc feels a bit like the Smallville meteor freaks, they showed up on every street corner and it became ridiculous, I hope that either The Flash uses it sparingly or that Barry manages to get them all within the first season. Scratch that, I hope they don't last past the first season, sparingly used or not.
Also, it was lovely to see Oliver Queen pop up (although I thought a reference would be made a lot sooner) and I welcome crossovers but hopefully they come few and far between to begin with as The Flash is its own show and needs to stand on its own two feet. Watching the pilot i'm glad that it wasn't just a back door pilot within Arrow, a show like this needed its own episode rather than sharing with another, and even then it felt slightly rushed. To sum up, thank you Flash for ruining my Summer, I'll just spend the rest of it waiting for you to come back. Don't feel bad, I was sitting here and waiting for many others anyway,
Bring on October!
Live Long and Blog!
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