The Flash (CW) - Possible Spoilers

Yeah, I hear ya.

That's why I thought of Buffy in the previous post. I remember first watching it in '99 or so and thinking, this is the kind of female-driven show I'd have loved as a kid*. As opposed to the one female-led action show I remember from then, Charlie's Angels. Buffy filled a very distinct hole in the cultural ladscape as I knew it at the time.

There was a survey some time in the 70's that showed boys were less likely to identify with male heroes than females. A lot of publishers took that into their stride and just stopped pushing female characters altogether. (I forgot where I read about that and if it was a European or American study, sorry.) I was a kid in the Seventies, and I would have told them the same, mostly because the contemporary female characters I knew at the time mostly sucked. I wanted confident heroes, and that niche was mostly covered by guys. (And it wasn't about gender at all for me, at least consciously. I loved Miss Marple for exactly that quality. And Harriet the Spy. Peppermint Patty. Emma Peel. But they were all pre-70s, and even so few and far between.)

*) Well, except for the Angel romance sub-plot. I'm still not shipping for that.

...I loved Charlie's Angels. (Well, the movie one with Drew Berrymore, anyway.) I loved Miss Marple, too! Alongside the Poirot books and movies, of course. Have you seen the Australian TV series (also on Neflix), Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries? She's so awesome.

And, yeah, Hollywood tried to say movies with female superheroes (or female protagonists in general) wouldn't sell or be popular because of failures like Catwoman and Elecktra movies, blech.

Heh, just noticed I wrote 'cultural ladscape' up there.

Never heard of 'Miss Fisher'. I'll check it out some time.

Did we watch it last night? At first, I was confused. Then I was kinda pissed 'cause I thought they were going to skip over the whole how did they manage the big hole in space thing. I still feel a little cheated. I imagine a lot of people died that day. That building collapsed. People probably got sucked into their and their bodies were never found. They could play on that through the season.

But beyond that, it was still good to have it back.

Yeah, and WTF with Henry Allen? Kind of a dick move.

The Henry deal was that they wanted the emotional moment of Barry watching the video, yet they either didn't want to make Henry a regular or Shipps couldn't do it on a weekly basis. But it fell flat to me. How would having his dad there hinder him becoming the Flash?

Vince524 said:

The Henry deal was that they wanted the emotional moment of Barry watching the video, yet they either didn't want to make Henry a regular or Shipps couldn't do it on a weekly basis. But it fell flat to me. How would having his dad there hinder him becoming the Flash?

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Yep, that was my thoughts on the Henry thing too.

I enjoyed the premiere but I could NOT remember everything that happened on the finale so I felt a little lost. It's awful but I can't even remember what happened to Wells!

Vince524 said:

The Henry deal was that they wanted the emotional moment of Barry watching the video, yet they either didn't want to make Henry a regular or Shipps couldn't do it on a weekly basis. But it fell flat to me. How would having his dad there hinder him becoming the Flash?

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I think, and it's a darned weak argument, that it'd make him a target for Captain Cold, for example - who knows Barry Allen is the Flash. We've already seen that when Dad's in danger, Barry tends to be in a rush to do something and it could go bad.

I'm hoping Henry moves to Star City. And moves in with Amanda Pays. Because it'd be perfect...

I'm ok with Henry going on a vacation somewhere, the show doesn't need him right now and it makes sense - it's every superhero's main problem, risking your loved ones. Now, they could've handled it a bit better, Barry could argue a bit, stuff like that, but it's no biggie for me. Plus, it makes sense on Henry's side - yeah, he's happy to be with his son, but he had his son over the years. He hadn't had a life tho. I'd go away to live a little too if I was him.

I think that they botched the scene with his dad. It was too quick of a turn-around. They could have at least implied that he stayed around Barry for a week or so before heading off on his own. (Gee, thanks for getting me out of prison and never losing faith in me, kid, but I'm outta here!)

A better choice might have been to leave the group in tact, and then have Barry find a note from his dad in the next episode, explaining why he left and promising to come back or something.

I think my biggest problem with Henry leaving was it being rushed.


Also, Ronnie! He'll probably come back, giving Sara Lance a run for her money in the "coming back from death or presumed death" category.

Sheryl Nantus said:

I'm hoping Henry moves to Star City. And moves in with Amanda Pays. Because it'd be perfect...

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Especially since the poor guy's been in prison for 15 years.

A part of me wants to get frustrated over the fact that the entire timeline hasn't changed Post-Wormhole since Eobard Thawne (or at least the version of Eobard Thawne that masqueraded as Harrison Wells) is kaput and, therefore, everything from Season 1 SHOULD have come undone, but the other part of me is willing to acknowledge that this huge hole in the plot will be answered as Season 2 goes on. I just kind of wish that the first episode had some kind of line or scene where Cisco or somebody made a reference to the fact technically something is probably wrong with the timestream. It just seems odd not to comment on the massive paradox implications.

*sigh* Maybe in this season's second episode will bring more details to light. ...Yeah. Maybe in the second episode. >_<

I agree. I was just thinking that.

Also love the bromance/geekfest between Cisco and Stein.

52 portals, eh?

Pterofan said:

52 portals, eh?

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They were so fanservice-y this episode and I loved it.

And the recreation of the "Flash of Two Worlds" cover.

Yes, that one was great. It got lessened for me because it came right after the second time this season that Barry killed somebody, or at least facilitated their dying. What is this, Arrow? I would have liked them to at least address that.

I like the Flash, but every episode I can't help but have the faint hope that someone will drop a piano on Iris. I know it will never happen, but she is one of my least favorite love interest/unrequited conflict characters ever.

Max Vaehling said:

Yes, that one was great. It got lessened for me because it came right after the second time this season that Barry killed somebody, or at least facilitated their dying. What is this, Arrow? I would have liked them to at least address that.

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They might. It took them awhile last season, but they ended up addressing their illegal prison.

Pterofan said:

And the recreation of the "Flash of Two Worlds" cover.

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I know they did the re-creation as a promo but I wasn't expecting it to be in an actual episode (for some reason.)

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brswain said:

I like the Flash, but every episode I can't help but have the faint hope that someone will drop a piano on Iris. I know it will never happen, but she is one of my least favorite love interest/unrequited conflict characters ever.

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I still don't understand the hate that Iris gets.

brswain said:

I like the Flash, but every episode I can't help but have the faint hope that someone will drop a piano on Iris. I know it will never happen, but she is one of my least favorite love interest/unrequited conflict characters ever.

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I'm curious why? I like her.

AnOldBlackMarble said:

I'm curious why? I like her.

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She is clueless and self centered, completely self absorbed to the point of endangering people around her. In season one the easiest way to get her to do something was to ask her not to for a reason that had to do with anyone but herself. Dad says it's a bad idea and he's afraid for her life? Barry says it's causing him personal pain? The Flash asks her to quit drawing attention to him? Too bad guys, Iris needs to self promote.

The "You're my best friend Barry and I know you so well" schtick gets pretty old when she can't see that he's been mooning over her like a love sick puppy since before he hit puberty. She's too self absorbed to see it, or the effect she has on him.

I also don't find her to be an interesting character. Cub reporter wannabe working as a barrista, in an age where investigative reporting is a dying art. Meh, she doesn't really bring much to the table by way of helpful skills or insight. The only thing she could be useful for, emotional support for her "best friend", she totally sucks at because she is so unable to see beyond her own wants. Any strokes of genius or contributions she comes up with seem like they've been thrown at her character by the writers to justify her existence.

Barry can do better. Every meeting he's had with Felicity Smoak, and half the screen time he has with Caitlin has more tension and interest than with Iris. Caitlin is a far more interesting character by far than Iris. I've enjoyed his dynamic with Patty Spivot more than I've enjoyed any five second stretch with Barry on the screen with Iris, though I don't know how long she'll be around.

I've never read the Flash comics, I've never been into graphic novels/comic books. So maybe Iris has some redeeming qualities as Barry's love interest in the comic books. Candice Patton is cute, and seems to be an OK actor, I think it's how the character is written that drives me nuts. She's not written as a very likeable or attractive character to me.

Other than that she's OK.

Any strokes of genius or contributions she comes up with seem like they've been thrown at her character by the writers to justify her existence.

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You just described Felicity, who can apparently build 3D virtual autopsy machines because of her Bachelor's from MIT.

The only thing she could be useful for, emotional support for her "best friend", she totally sucks at because she is so unable to see beyond her own wants.

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She encouraged him to go after Felicity. She's always telling him he's an amazing person. She was the only one who believed him about the man in yellow. But ok...