THE FLASH “Birth of the Flash” Review


Can the flash outpace itself week after week at breakneck speed without slowing?  Let’s find out…

 The official description from CW:

 The Flash faces a new meta-human named Tony, who can turn himself into girded steel at will. While Dr. Wells and Caitlin are concerned about Barry’s safety, Cisco comes up with a plan to take Tony down. Meanwhile, Iris’s blog on The Flash gets her into trouble, and Eddie witnesses Tony’s abilities firsthand and begins to ask questions that Joe doesn’t want answered. Joe asks Dr. Wells to help him solve Nora Allen’s murder.”

This week’s episode of The Flash is brought to you by the latest anti-bullying campaign and will be airing as one of the newest of the after school specials.  But, seriously, this story was built perfectly for the going trend of anti-bullying media.  As much as I would like to continue to mock the show, the writers made it work perfectly with the advancement of the story and all characters.  Barry faces off with his high school bully who just happens to have been zapped by the super conductor storm; turning him into DC’s version of Colossus.  Girder proved to be another great obstacle for our hero to work through and even included threatening Barry’s best girl, Iris.  That and a show down between Dr. Wells and Detective West made this story quite interesting.

Flash1

Girder came with a cookie cutter personality of the generic bully.  But, for the story, that’s all that was necessary.  As predicted, Iris tagging her name to her streak blogs got her in trouble in the form of an old flame and Barry’s worst nightmare.  The confrontation between the Flash and Girder was a slow build, but, as always, worth it.  Of course, Barry couldn’t do it without the S.T.A.R. Labs team as he says every episode and is always right.  Seeing Barry pine after Iris from behind the mask is a little sad seeing that he had dumped her last episode.  But their attraction is not going away.  The tension between Dr. Wells and Detective West is thick once suspicions rise.  But, of course, everyone already knows who he really is…or do they.  The flashbacks (pun intended) give the character and story more depth and make us care for Barry more and more each week, if that’s possible.

Flash2

Greg Finley brought us a tried and true bully, but didn’t really give us much depth.  It’s obvious that he’s just there as a roadblock for Barry to work around on his way to being the hero he needs to be.  We will see him later in the season.  Grant Gustin (Flash) continues to flesh out the scarlet speedster making the impossible possible in that a comic book hero can live and breathe.  Candice Patton (Iris) is beginning to catch a second wind as she begins to breathe life into her own part of the hero.  Jesse L. Martin (Detective West) still proves to be one of the most riveting characters on the cast and that final scene was breathtaking.

After school special or not, I still recommend you go watch this one if you missed it.  And, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll be there next Tuesday night to see it live as we gear up for the Flash/Arrow crossover event.

For The Fastest Spoilers Alive on jackeduptales.com

OUR RATING
8
  • + Another great obstacle for the Flash and another add on to the future rogues
  • + Awesome performances from all parties
  • + Wells and West work both as buddies and enemies
  • + That final scene!