Review: The Flash

PHOTO CREDIT: OFFICIAL TRAILER

BY SARAH SHARPE

Let me first mention that I have never picked up a comic book. If you want a DC aficionado’s point-of-view, this isn’t what you’re going to get. These are random observations of a girl who loves and appreciates great acting, great story-lines, and great heart. Luckily, the spin-off of The CW’s Arrow, The Flash, has all three.

A little less than a year ago, a familiar face appeared in Arrow’s Starling City, CSI scientist Barry Allen (Grant Gustin). At the end of a two-episode guest appearance on Arrow, Barry went back to Central City and was subsequently struck by lightning caused by the explosion of S.T.A.R. Labs’ particle accelerator and fell into a multitude of spilled chemicals. (The Flash picks up the morning before the explosion.) Upon waking up from a nine-month coma, Barry and the team at S.T.A.R. Labs (Caitlin Snow played by Danielle Panabaker, Cisco Ramon played by Carlos Valdes, and Dr. Harrison Wells played by Tom Cavanagh) discover that Barry is now able to move at super-human speeds. Barry wasn’t the only one affected by the explosion, however. The aftermath created a variety of “meta-humans”, normal civilians of Central City who were exposed to the accelerator’s energy wave and now possess superpowers. With a suit created by Cisco and a name inspired by The Arrow himself, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), Barry decides to bring the meta-humans who are using their powers for evil purposes to justice and becomes the superhero we all know and love, The Flash.

Barry’s origin story has been retold countless times, but The CW’s reincarnation of the fastest man alive has Barry’s mother (Michelle Harrison) being murdered by a mysterious man in a ball of lightning when he was only 11 years old. Barry’s father, Henry (John Wesley Shipp), was wrongly convicted for the murder and has been behind bars ever since. Barry was taken in by Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) and grew up in his care alongside his best friend, Iris (Candice Patton), Joe’s daughter. After being told that “the man in the lightning” was only his imagination, Barry devotes his life to investigating “the impossible” in hopes of one day freeing his father.

As for the cast, executive producers Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Berlanti, and Geoff Johns could not have picked a better batch. Gustin might be known for his incredible voice and dance moves showcased on Glee, but he really is an amazingly talented actor. From adorable science nerd to daring superhero, Gustin never loses sight of Barry’s innocence and caring heart. Martin, another song-and-dance man best known as Rent’s original Tom Collins, blends seamlessly into the Flash universe. He truly cares for Barry, especially after he learns of his adoptive son’s new powers. Cavanagh takes a break from his usual light and comedic roles to portray a man with a million secrets. The final scenes of the first two episodes have featured Wells and it looks like there’s definitely a lot more to him than meets the eye. (I should mention that this is a new character not seen in the comics. It’ll be interesting to see which side he eventually lands on: good or evil.) Panabaker, best known for her role in Sky High, and newcomer Valdes are hilarious as Dr. Wells’ two lab assistants and their opposing personalities (Caitlin being the strict and somber one and Cisco being the outgoing and fun one) are great to watch.

I’m very excited to see some of the new characters The Flash will be encountering in upcoming episodes. These include The Tomorrow People’s Robbie Amell and Legally Blonde’s Victor Garber as the two halves of the Firestorm team, Ronnie Raymond and Dr. Martin Stein, respectively, Smash’s Andy Mientus as Hartley Rathaway, aka Pied Piper, and Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller as Leonard Snart, aka Captain Cold.

Not only is the cast amazing, but so are the special effects. So far, we’ve seen characters run at speeds up to 700 mph, form massive tornadoes, and create hundreds of clones of themselves. All of these effects have looked very impressive and I can’t wait to see what else this show has up its sleeve.

The only episodes of Arrow that I’ve ever seen are the two that Gustin appeared in. I instantly fell in love, as he was the only likable character on the show. There will, however, be an Arrow/Flash crossover coming up in episode 8 of both shows that fans are eagerly awaiting to see. I’m not a fan of Arrow, but I was a huge fan of another one of Berlanti’s CW series, The Tomorrow People.The Flash has the same lighter tone that TTP did. I’ve also heard The Flash be compared to Smallville, sharing its subtle (and not-so-subtle) comic book references and “freak-of-the-week” formula.

The Flash already has a huge following and while the future for the actual character of The Flash may not look too good (as revealed at the end of the pilot episode), the future for the show itself looks bright. Its cast and scriptwriters are top-notch and tuning in for the past two weeks has been so much fun. The pilot episode achieved the amazing feat of being The CW’s most watched premiere in its history, so I’m very confident that this show will score an extremely long run (pun intended).