THE FLASH” Fastest Man Alive” Review

The Fastest man alive is testing his limits.  Can the story keep up the pace set by last weeks opener?

Let’s find out!  Shall we?

The official description from CW:

“Barry (Grant Gustin) escorts Iris (Candice Patton) to a university gathering honoring scientist Simon Stagg (guest star William Sadler),” says the episode synopsis from The CW. “Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) scramble to find out what’s wrong with Barry.”

What’s wrong with Barry seems to be a fitting question.  The inner turmoil of a fledgling hero comes to light and, Allen‘s own limits take center stage.  And, as is the case with such stories, just when the hero begins to doubt his ability to ‘keep up’, he finds himself faced with a challenging villain who just happens to be several challenging new foes. The story slows down a bit from last week but gives a us proper chance to see more details about the cast of characters that we were introduced to in The Pilot.

The Flash quickly becomes more fleshed out while  the ‘metahuman‘ of the week comes off a bit cookie cutter. It was interesting to see our hero struggling so soon. The creative team made clear that The Flash is not bullet proof, and also needs a certain nutritional intake or he breaks under pressure and his body crashes.  This made the character totally believable.  It makes the impossible seem more possible.  Iris struggles with Barry‘s mysterious evasiveness.  It is coming between them.  But not as much as a certain new Detective Thorne is.  Barry acts like he’s ok with them showing affection in front of him, but, during one of his monologues, you can tell he’s not fine with it.

Rick Cosnett as Thawne is just getting started and hasn’t been given a chance to shine.  If this episode is any indication, we are in for quite a performance. Grant Gustin nails Barry once again, but it’s his relationship with adoptive ‘not my father’ Detective West played by Jesse L. Martin that fuels The Flash.  The chemistry between these two makes the story race at a pleasant pace. Michael Smith is less than memorable as Multiplex who, oppose to last week’s Weather Wizard, won’t be missed.  And, if you found most of this weeks show slow, the surprise ending will leave your heart beating a bit faster while you remain on the the edge of your seat.

No matter the pace, I think the ‘fastest man alive’ is worth catching up to on a weekly basis as the latest episode of The Flash comes recommended.