REVIEW: The Flash Episode 1

THE FLASH

Episode 1: CITY OF HEROES
Premieres OCTOBER 7th 

Nine months after the Star Labs explosion, Barry awakens to find a lot has changed while he was in a coma. With his new friends and powers Barry must try to right the wrongs of his new Mentor and Owner of Star Labs.

REVIEW:

Since I am currently at work while writing this, I don't expect this to be a very well organized review, and will basically just be me writing my thoughts as I go along.

 I remember first watching Arrow season one out of curiosity being a huge fan of comic books, comic book movies, and of DC comic characters in general. I wasn't expecting much. How could a show on The CW be good? A channel known for its teeny bopper shows like Vampire Diaries couldn't have a show that would cater to my age and sex. Boy, was I wrong. Arrow became one of my favorite new shows on television, and I am now writing this a day after finishing the beyond excellent and amazing season two of Arrow (yes, I was beyond behind). I've had the pilot episode of The Flash sitting on my computer for a month but could not get around to watching, I knew I had to finish Arrow season two first before I could move onto The Flash. 

In episode eight of Arrow season two  "The Scientist" we are introduced to Barry Allen, played by Grant Gustin (of Glee fame apparently). We get to see his character set up for The Flash in episode 8 and 9 of Arrow. Grant surprisingly holds his own in the episodes and portrays Barry perfectly. It was a nice touch introducing his character in Arrow and I found it definitely helped the pilot episode out by removing any filler content that tends to tarnish pilot episodes (Gotham being an example of this).

Episode One of The Flash is a good pilot episode, but by no means a great one. If you are a fan of Arrow, please note that these two shows are completely different in tone. Arrow is the Batman of television, its dark, dramatic and action packed, as The Flash is a lot more bright and upbeat, and "fun" (Not saying Arrow isn't fun). The Flash definitely has a comic book vibe to it and it doesn't hurt it, but it is a warning to Arrow fans expecting the same vibe. 

The show has many moments that made me cringe, be it bad lines, or acting, or just the overall cheesiness of it. I can look past this as I did season one of Arrow which had the same faults, but still was an excellent show. The pilot was still a tight episode, and I had a blast with it. The fact that when Flash is running they have the iconic red and yellow blur with lightening bolts streaming out the back like the comic was excellent. They could of easily just had a red and yellow blur but that added lightening bolt effect was amazing to see in action. 

The villain which I believe was Weather Wizard (I don't know if he was given this name in the show) wasn't very interesting and really had no motive at all in the show, but the tornado battle with him and the Flash was great. For a TV show, the special effects are outstanding, although not great, they are better than most TV shows around and show that the creators have the budget to pull this off.

I just recently watched Gotham and as a big Batman fan was hoping for something great. As I watched the pilot episode I was extremely disappointed, but could see that the show could possibly have potential, with The Flash pilot episode, what it had to offer, with its minor flaws, I know for a fact that this show will grow into something amazing, and like Arrow, will hopefully by season two, grow into another excellent must watch show.

Overall, The Flash is a great, fun, "flashy" show that may be topped off with a bit a cheese and so-so acting, but it is a show that has lots of room to grow and become one of the top shows on TV. Before I go, I do want to say that the costume for the Flash needs a bit of work that hopefully will change by the end of the season, or pull an Arrow season two and make a costume change! I miss the white logo in the center!

7/10