"The Flash (2014)" Season One Talkback (Spoilers)

The Penguin

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In Arrow season two, we met Barry Allen, a CSI from Central City. He helped Oliver and company and returned home in time for S.T.A.R. Labs' launch of the particle accelerator. It created a climatic event and Barry was struck by lighting and doused in the chemicals in his lab.

The series premiere of The Flash is tonight at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

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Barry Allen was just 11 years old when his mother was killed in a bizarre and terrifying incident and his father was falsely convicted of the murder. With his life changed forever by the tragedy, Barry was taken in and raised by Detective Joe West, the father of Barry's best friend, Iris. Now, Barry has become a brilliant, driven and endearingly geeky CSI investigator, whose determination to uncover the truth about his mother's strange death leads him to follow up on every unexplained urban legend and scientific advancement that comes along.

Barry's latest obsession is a cutting edge particle accelerator, created by visionary physicist Harrison Wells and his S.T.A.R. Labs team, who claim that this invention will bring about unimaginable advancements in power and medicine. However, something goes horribly wrong during the public unveiling, and when the devastating explosion causes a freak storm, many lives are lost and Barry is struck by lightning. After nine months in a coma, Barry awakens to find his life has changed once again--the accident has given him the power of super speed, granting him the ability to move through Central City like an unseen guardian angel.

Barry has always had the heart of a hero and now he has the legs to match, but he quickly learns that being a superhero is not as easy as it seems -- and he can't do it alone. While Barry struggles to understand his new abilities, the people around him also have to adjust to a new reality. Joe West, Barry's surrogate father, is coming to grips with the fact that the world of the extraordinary actually does exist. Joe thought he understood what it meant to chase criminals, but now he's facing opponents who can do more than just rob a bank, they can control the weather. Though he knows this remarkable turn of events is Barry's destiny, every time Barry faces danger, Joe is terrified for his surrogate son.

While Joe worries about Barry, Barry worries about Joe's daughter Iris, and how his new life as The Flash will change their relationship. Iris and Barry grew up together, and she has always believed in Barry's conviction that unknown forces were at work the night his mother was killed. Barry has kept his romantic feelings for Iris hidden, and now feels he must protect her by keeping his new identity a secret as well. And Iris has a secret of her own -- she has been dating her father's partner, Detective Eddie Thawne, who is such a good guy, even Barry finds it hard to hate him. Still, there is tension between Barry and Thawne, who is jealous of Iris' newfound fascination with The Flash and is determined to unmask him. Barry realizes that keeping the secret of his new identity separates him from Iris, even as her growing obsession with uncovering the truth brings her ever closer to The Flash.

Barry has found another kind of surrogate family in the team at Harrison Wells' S.T.A.R. Labs. Wells himself is quickly becoming a second father figure to Barry, who learned about morality and justice from Joe, and is now learning about science and technology from Wells. Wells' ultimate agenda remains somewhat mysterious, but Barry is excited by the grander worldview that has been opened for him, and the friendship he's building with S.T.A.R. lab team members Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon. For Caitlin, who lost her fiancee in the catastrophic explosion, working with Barry is providing a much-needed sense of purpose and a way to deal with her grief. Caitlin's excitement at seeing Barry learn to use his new power is balanced by her growing concern for his safety--she and Cisco have both learned that accidents have devastating consequences. Cisco was a close friend of Caitlin's fiancee and secretly blames himself for the tragedy. A mechanical genius who comes up with amazing gadgets that help Barry control his speed, Cisco is happy to suddenly have a new project--and a new friend in Barry.

While he struggles to combine these two very different groups of people into a crime-fighting unit, Barry is still excited every day by his newfound powers. He is also shocked to discover he is not the only "meta-human" created in the wake of the accelerator explosion--and not everyone is using the new powers for good. In the months since the accident, the city has seen a sharp increase in missing people, unexplained deaths and other strange phenomena. Barry now has a renewed purpose--using his gift of speed to protect the innocent, while never giving up on his quest to solve his mother's murder and clear his father's name. For now, only a few close friends and associates know that Barry is literally the fastest man alive, but it won't be long before the world learns what Barry Allen has become--The Flash.

The series stars Grant Gustin ("Glee," "Arrow") as Barry Allen/The Flash, Candice Patton ("The Game") as Iris West, Rick Cosnett ("The Vampire Diaries") as Eddie Thawne, Danielle Panabaker ("Necessary Roughness," "Justified") as Caitlin Snow, Carlos Valdes ("Once" on Broadway) as Cisco Ramon, with Tom Cavanagh ("Ed," "Eli Stone") as Harrison Wells and Jesse L. Martin ("Law & Orde") as Detective West.

THE FLASH is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti ("Arrow," "Everwood"), Andrew Kreisberg ("Arrow," "Eli Stone"), David Nutter ("Arrow," "Game of Thrones") and Sarah Schechter. This series is based upon characters published by DC Entertainment.


Tonight's episode...

"Pilot" - Series Premiere
Tuesday, October 7, 2014 @ 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on The CW
Barry Allen has always had the heart of a hero and now he has the legs to match, but he quickly learns that being a superhero is not as easy as it seems.

CWTV.com - The Flash
 

Dudley

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The pilot to this is way more fun in the first 20 minutes than SHIELD's pilot's 45 minutes!
 

Spider-Man

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A fantastic show. Way better than Gotham, so much better than S.H.I.E.L.D. and neck-to-neck with Arrow. This show seems really influenced by Spider-Man. It was such a great pilot. A few little problems but they were so small compared to how much this show got right. I am 100% in for this season! So great to see lots of quality superhero programming and I'm surprised that the best superhero shows are on TheCW! (CTV in Canada)
 

Nygma

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The pilot to this is way more fun in the first 20 minutes than SHIELD's pilot's 45 minutes!

I wouldn't go that far. AOS had a stronger pilot, but that went downhill VERY QUICKLY IMO.

"The lightning chose you." Please tell me I'm not the only 1 who facepalmed @ hearing that line?

Also I assume Barry Allen's dad probably had the WORST defense attorney EVER! If he was convicted w/ allegedly little evidence.

The guy who played Weather Wizard was AWFUL.

Is anybody else put off by the incestuous undertones that a potential Barry/Iris relationship would have?

Other than those things, it was alright I guess. Not atrocious, but I wasn't wowed or anything either.
 

RoryWilliams

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Also I assume Barry Allen's dad probably had the WORST defense attorney EVER! If he was convicted w/ allegedly little evidence.

Uh, people in the U.S. are convicted on little evidence all the time. There's entire groups like the Innocence Project dedicated to looking over miscarriages of justice in the legal system.

Also who is going to believe "I didn't kill my wife, an electric ball of energy in the shape of a man did!" as a viable argument?
 

Nygma

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Uh, people in the U.S. are convicted on little evidence all the time. There's entire groups like the Innocence Project dedicated to looking over miscarriages of justice in the legal system.

They are ALSO acquitted when there's little evidence all the time as well. There's also places called the Appellate Courts which can overturn convictions IF they believe there was little evidence to support a murder. It didn't sound like there was much in the way to say he did it beyond a reasonable doubt. I'll withhold SOME judgment on this until more info comes out, but this just reeks of adapting an origin revision that I hated the first time around in a tepid way.

Also who is going to believe "I didn't kill my wife, an electric ball of energy in the shape of a man did!" as a viable argument?

Noted, but it's also not evidence that he was the one who killed her.

Also Barry noticed those things happening in his room like water floating from the fish tank. Who's to say that nothing eerie like that wasn't happening at the neighbors houses?
 

hobbyfan

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1. The explosion creating all sorts of metahumans, such as Flash, Weather Wizard, and, as we'll see later on, Firestorm, is loosely based on a similar storyline used in Milestone/DC's Static and related books in the 90's. Took me a while to remember that, and it wasn't until after the show signed off before I did.

2. Joe & Iris West are African American. I know they did that with Pete Ross on Smallville, and Nick Fury over at Marvel, so this is nothing new. To me, this is just an excuse to get Jesse L. Martin another gig playing a cop. Question is, if Wally appears, would they reboot him the same way (as African American)?

3. Yeah, Weather Wizard looked weak. LIke, real wimp-level weak. No personality. Casting fail.

4. John Wesley Shipp, who played Barry in the 1990 series, plays Henry Allen this time. Nice touch.

5. I'd say it's on a par with Gotham, largely because both have similar over-arching storylines that will always be there.
 

RoryWilliams

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Wally being black isn't that big a deal, tbh. It's the criminal thing I hope they avoid since that has all sorts of nasty implications.
 

Dudley

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I guess I'm also not happy about Weather Wizard, mainly that he DIED. Would've loved for him to come back later. Building a powerful rouges gallery.

Also, I knew that guy in the wheelchair would end up being Zoom. I hate when it's known to the audience who the big bad guy is long before the hero figures out.

Other than that, it was pretty fun.
 

Michael24

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Wow! The series premiere was fantastic and better than anything we've gotten out of these first three weeks of Gotham, which is proving to be a real disappointment. Arrow's cameo was a great touch, and the duel "cool" as they parted ways was funny. Iris dating her dad's partner is pretty contrived and unnecessary, IMO, and some of the effects were a little less than stellar (as is common with most genre TV to begin with), but otherwise I thought it was a very solid premiere. Enjoyed the whole cast (even Tom Cavanagh for a change) and, being a fan of the earlier series, John Wesley Shipp's presence just makes me smile. So awesome that those behind this show wanted him to be involved.

Yeah, I really loved this and think it's going to be a really fun show.

Also, I knew that guy in the wheelchair would end up being Zoom. I hate when it's known to the audience who the big bad guy is long before the hero figures out.
I have no idea who Zoom is, but then again I'm not as familiar with the Flash mythos as I am other superheroes, so that final scene was a surprise to me. Didn't see it coming.
 

Rick Jones

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I guess I'm also not happy about Weather Wizard, mainly that he DIED. Would've loved for him to come back later. Building a powerful rouges gallery.
I believe this guy was just the brother of the real Weather Wizard. Traditionally , Clyde was the one that developed the powers while Mark was the major Flash rogue. I think there might still be a possibility Mark will show up
 

Wonderwall

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Only caught a bit of it, thought it was about on par with Arrow which is a show that I think is pretty awful. But on the plus I always like being able to spot the very obvious Vancouver landmarks, heck even the Skytrain made a cameo.
 

hobbyfan

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First off, there is some confusion.

From what I understand, Eddie Thawne, Joe West's partner, would be either set up as the Reverse Flash, or is an ancestor, since the original Reverse Flash came from the future, like Abra Kadabra. Zoom, meanwhile, without a title next to his name, was a more recent version, compliments of---wait for it--Geoff Johns. Maybe Wells is meant to be someone else in the Rogues Gallery.

As for the death of the villain, that's nothing new from the people behind this show and Arrow, as they've killed off villains over on Arrow from the jump.
 

Frontier

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I believe this guy was just the brother of the real Weather Wizard. Traditionally , Clyde was the one that developed the powers while Mark was the major Flash rogue. I think there might still be a possibility Mark will show up
Yeah, there was that whole mention of "The Mardon brothers" and the pair's mugshots, not to mention Mark was in the plane too. While I agree that Clyde wasn't the best villain, I think the reason he was kinda weak(After he knocked Flash out of the hurricane the first time he pretty much just stopped trying) and was killed off at the end was because he's not actually Weather Wizard. Just a warm up villain for Flash to prepare him to fight the rest of the Supervillains in Central City and, eventually, his brother Mark. I don't think they'd actually kill off Weather Wizard before the Rogues come together, or at least I'd hope they wouldn't :(.

Overall though, I thought the premier was very fun and enjoyable. I had a few issues with it, but most of those were just the general problems that you find in most pilots, and just like Arrow I'm sure Flash will find its footing eventually :).

Cisco and Joe seem like they'll be really fun to watch, so definitely looking forward to seeing more of them. Barry was also pretty fun in a dorky kinda way, in no small part thanks to Grant Gustin's performance, and looking forward to seeing him learn the ropes of being a Superhero ;).

Not much to say about Thawne, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy which is something considering his last name. I'd say he's as much of a mystery as Wells is, which is fitting.

As for Iris... well, I think she's one character who could definitely use a bit more to her and hopefully investigating the Flash will lead her to become more like her comic counterpart. I doubt Barry's love life is going to get as complicated as Oliver's, and I definitely expect him to end up with her in the end, but so far I'm no quite feeling their relationship, at least in a romantic context... which might be the point. I did feel bad for Barry getting friendzoned, hard, and then learning that Iris and Thawne are an item. On the one hand that seemed contrived just for some drama on Barry's side, but I'll give the creators the benefit of the doubt and see where they're going with it.

Dr. Caitlin Snow seemed quite "cold," not that she didn't have reason to be and fitting for who she becomes in the comics, so I'm looking forward to seeing how she develops especially when they bring in Ronnie.

Wells struck me as an interesting character even before the reveal, as a brilliant scientist whose experiment to help better the world turned to disaster and left him crippled and full of self-loathing. But that reveal that he's not only faking his injury but is from the future, or at least has access to info from it, I was definitely not expecting. And along with that yellow streak at the end, he's looking quite likely to really be Reverse-Flash. Suffice to say, he definitely knows more about Barry's destiny and future than he does at the moment. I wonder how Wells will interact with Thawne :ack:?

But wow at the info from that paper... Wayne Tech merging with Queens Industries, Flash with his white chest emblem, and our hero vanishing during a "Crisis" with red Skies in 2024? Could the Arrow-verse be in for a Crisis of Infinite Earths type event in the future :eek:?

I can see why it would stretch belief that Barry's dad, played by John Wesley Shipp in a cool piece of casting, would be convicted of his wife's murder with little evidence even if there was no other explanation for how she could've died. I think the comics got around this a little by presenting the Allen marriage as being a little strained during that period, but that was obviously not the case here. Looking forward to more appearances by Mr. Shipp :cool:.

I thought the effects were decent, and Flash's debut against Clyde was fun to watch. Seeing the suit in motion, and the Flash in live-action and running to stop Clyde's tornado left me with a pretty big grin on my face. Can't wait to see Flash take on Multiplex next week :D.
 

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