Release Date: September 22, 2015
Rating: 979 minutes
Running Time: Not Rated
Central City forensic investigator Barry Allen is, always charming and – as a result of a scientific experiment gone awry – now the fastest man alive! He’s The Flash, zigzagging through the action-packed new series from the creative team behind Arrow and based on the supersonic DC Comics character. With his life shadowed by his mother’s murder and his father wrongly convicted of the crime, Barry finds that his newfound power of super speed grants him the ability to move through Central City like an unseen guardian angel. Barry quickly discovers he’s not the only “metahuman” created by the explosive disaster – and not everyone is using their new powers for good. Now, to protect the innocent, Barry and his close friends who know his secret, race to combat evildoers in one astonishing adventure after another.
While The Flash may have been on my radar growing up, I never actually got into the comics or the TV show or anything in regards to this fandom. This show was my introduction to The Flash. I was nervous but excited and am so glad that I stayed with this show because for a second there, I just wasn’t connecting with this show like I did Arrow. And that’s saying something because I didn’t immediately fall in love with Arrow. And who has time to stick with shows until they really get it together? I made time for this show. I invested my time into this show and for anyone out there considering doing the same…. I say, DO IT.
First, the cast of characters. I love the chemistry between Grant Gustin, Danielle Panabaker, and Carlos Valdes. They bring so much energy and life to their characters and together, these three make the perfect team. A team anyone would be lucky to entrust their lives to. It’s really quite beautiful to see, especially since friendship relationships are so under-appreciated on TV. I also loved the character arc for Dr. Wells. Without going too in depth here…whoa! Then it comes as no surprise to most that I’m a huge Jesse L. Martin fan, so I am partial when it comes to the character of Joe. Joe is great! As is Iris and I loved, loved, loved how her relationship with Barry was handled so delicately. The pacing and storytelling for this relationship was near flawless. And it was so much fun to see The Vampire Diaries star, Malese Jow on many episodes this season as a love interest to Barry while he figured out how to handle his feelings for Iris.
Story wise, I was intrigued in more episodes than not and completely captivated by about the same ratio. This show really knows how to lay it all out and bring tension and mystery and fun all at the same time. I really enjoyed The Flash – Arrow crossovers as well as seeing many characters from the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow. But in regards to the crossovers, I loved them for two reasons: 1) We got to see the characters of Arrow relax a little because the tone of this city is not as dark and moody 2) It always made me appreciate even more just how light this show is in regards to tone.
This is easy to overlook but I must stress that it’s such an important factor of the show as The Flash is sure to bring a smile to your face every week even though there are life and death situations in the mix of the many conflicts the team has to deal with. The balance in tone (and with case of the week vs. overarching plot lines) has almost been perfected in the very first season and that is almost unheard of. Bravo! Another round of applause for all of the planning the writers had to do to plant all of the foreshadowing for what would be revealed in the final episodes of the season. One word. Brilliant.
As for the world building and special effects, it was easy to fall into this world and the special effects are solid, often times very impressive, which makes me anticipate what we can expect during season two. But I’m getting ahead of myself. All in all, this was a really great first season. This show knew what it wanted to be and achieved that and more, it just took me a bit to get used to this new ride. The Flash is just as thrilling and entertaining as you expect it to be so don’t waste anymore time thinking about checking it out. There’s still time to watch the entire season before the next season begins! Happy viewing!
Behind the Story: The Trickster Returns! (8:39 minutes) – In this behind the scenes feature, cast members, Mark Hamill and John Wesley Shipp talk about their 1990s roles on The Flash and working on the 2014 series which was fascinating for me to watch since I never followed The Flash before this show and had no idea that two originals had made their way to this show!
The Fastest Man Alive! (30:39 minutes) – This is a great feature in which the executive producers discuss many details including putting together this version of Barry Allen and The Flash, having fun with the villains, and the themes of the show which mean so much to us. A number of cast members are interviewed for this feature as well which makes this half hour feature a solid retrospective of the series so far.
Appearing in this Feature:
Executive Producers, Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti
Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment, Geoff Johns
Cast Members, Grant Gustin, Jesse L. Martin, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Panabaker, Tom Cavanagh, Rick Cosnett
Creating the Blur – The VFX of The Flash (26:25 minutes) – I don’t know if I’ve seen too many special features like this that this one bored me or if it bored me because I just didn’t particularly care about the nitty gritty of the special effects for this show…either way, this feature didn’t hit the mark for me.
Appearing in this Feature:
Executive Producers, Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti
VFX Supervisor, Armen Kevorkian
Lead CG Artist, Stefan Bredereck
Compositing Supervising Editor, Andranik Taranyan
The Chemistry of Emily and Grant Screen Test (4:20 minutes) – This feature shows the screen test of Grant Gustin as well as the chemistry screen test between Grant and Emily Bett Rickards in between talking head interviews from Grant and Executive Producers, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg who discuss these talents and finding the magic for this show. It’s a fun feature and best of all, it’s quick and to the point.
DC Comics Night at Comic-Con 2014: Presenting Gotham, The Flash, Constantine, and Arrow (29:31 minutes) – If you missed the big DC panel at San Diego Comic Con this year or were there and just want to see a portion of it again, it’s here for you right now! I missed it, so it was great to finally catch it (and see how they answered their questions before the seasons of their respective shows aired which have since aired in full). There’s not a whole lot here dedicated to The Flash though so if that’s what you’re seeking out, you might be disappointed.
Appearing in this Feature:
Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment, Geoff Johns
Executive Producers, Bruno Heller, Danny Cannon
Cast Members of Gotham, The Flash, Constantine, and Arrow
Executive Creators from Gotham, Constantine, and Arrow
Gag Reel (8:24 minutes) – Truly funny gag reels from drama series are the most hysterically funny gag reels out there and this one meets those standards so go ahead and press play and be prepared to laugh.
Deleted Scenes (Approx. 21 minutes) – There is one deleted scene each for “Fastest Man Alive,” “Things You Can’t Outrun,” “Power Outage,” “The Man in the Yellow Suit,” “Revenge of the Rogues,” “The Sound and the Fury,” “Fallout,” “Rogue Time,” and “The Trap.” There are multiple deleted scenes (2-3) for the “Pilot,” “Crazy For You,” “The Nuclear Man,” “Tricksters,” “Grodd Lives,” “Rogue Air,” and “Fast Enough.” The two unaired scenes from the Pilot include Jesse L. Martin and I’m biased because I love this guy but I loved these scenes. Although I like the version of the second scene they ended up going with for the final edit of the episode.
I liked the unaired scene from “Power Outage” and the two unaired scenes from “Crazy For You” quite a lot as these were standout episodes to begin with so it was great to see that the unaired scenes were just as captivating. The two unaired scenes in “Grodd Lives” and the three unaired scenes from “Fast Enough” were very emotionally gripping as well. If you’re on the fence about watching these, I’d recommend you go ahead and do it.
Commentary – The commentary for the “Pilot” is conducted by Executive Producers, Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns and while not necessarily entertaining, I did find it very insightful and appreciated watching the Pilot for the first time in a long time with even more perspective. So with that said, definitely watch the commentary for the Pilot.
Watch the season two premiere of The Flash Tuesday October 6, 2015 at 8/7c on The CW.