Jessie Robertson reviews the second episode of The Flash…
We’re two episodes into the adventures of Barry Allen and I can’t help but compare and contrast this show to the beginning of Arrow. When that show began, Oliver was dispatching criminals left and right, leaving arrows where their arteries were. This weeks’ episode opens with Barry saving people from a burning building, at his own peril. There was a ton of focus this week on the men who have watched over Barry, father figures so to speak and what role they have played in his life. Arrow begins with Oliver losing his father and having to make good with simply a book of the people who had wronged his city. Barry is starting out with a support crew, helping him figure his hero-ing out as he goes while Oliver has slowly built up his confidants over time.
This week’s show focused on Barry growing into his abilities more, learning his limitations and developing the background of how central Joe West is to him. There were some really nice scenes with Jesse L. Martin who plays Detective West where he’s being yelled at by Barry at Star Labs for not being his real father and not able to tell him what to do like one and back at Barry’s office as the episode ends when he’s being praised by Barry for raising him like he were Barry’s father. Martin only reacts with his face, holding back pain at Star Labs, withholding dialogue for several tense seconds and later on, fighting back tears of joy as you get the feeling Barry may not have shared those sentiments to him before, about feeding, clothing him, taking him to college, etc. I think they were both nice moments and it helps cement their bond moving forward as Joe also knows about Barry’s secret.
Our villain this week is Danton Black, a biochemist who worked for scientific entrepreneur Simon Stagg on cloning research when he was fired just as it was being completed. His entire motive is to kill Stagg, in revenge for his treatment of him and stealing his research. It turns out his ability is to clone himself, having tested his formula during trials on himself, further powering the chemical reaction when he was hit by the Accelerator’s energy wave. Now, Black can replicate himself into multiple copies. That’s a mouthful for what amounts to not much. With so many copies of himself (looking like nearly 100 or more in the episode’s final fight) why was it so damn difficult for him to take out 1 chubby scientist in a 3 piece suit? He filled in exposition literally moments before Barry sealed the deal, just to make sure you knew he wasn’t all bad, but instead, complex. I’m actually fine with “Multiplex” being the villain in this early of an episode, as he’s mostly inconsequential and a unique test for Barry as it tests his speed and reflexes but he’s not against a criminal mastermind, just a rookie.
I’m liking Tom Kavanaugh more and more in his role as mysterious Harrison Wells. His smooth, mostly quiet delivery is unique and as he’s showing more personality, his character could be a stand out on the show. His assistants, however, are pretty one note so far. Cisco delivering stunted cheesy dialogue even the Ninja Turtles and Spicoli would snicker at, while also being a scientific genius is already annoying. Caitlin as the overprotective nursemaid, not wanting to see Barry get hurt after losing her fiancée, feels like it has something but hasn’t been developed enough yet. Also, not sure how I feel about Barry’s crew in his ear during his nights out; Felicity’s one thing, with her great clever banter with Oliver, but during the final scenes, Barry had 4, count them 4 people speaking to him as he was trying not to die.
A good second episode that isn’t getting too ahead of itself (yes more speed puns) but has a lot of fires burning.
Other Notes:
– Barry running on a specialized treadmill, alluding to the ever popular “Cosmic Treadmill” once used by the original Flash Jay Garrick was pretty funny
– During the first robbery, there’s a store in the background called “Hex’s Gunshop”
– Simon Stagg was a central character in this episode, who in the comic books was responsible for the chemical accident that turned Rex Mason into Metamorpho, but alas looks like Stagg won’t be contributing much more to this show
– And Cisco quickly becomes another problem solver as they find out Barry’s metabolism is so high now he needs to eat 780 tacos a day to keep up his body mass, that is until Cisco hands him a protein bar that looked like something Krypto left in the Kent’s backyard and tells him that should do.
Jessie Robertson
Originally published October 15, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
