By Sara Snoddy, MTSU Sidelines Contributing Writer
Emerging in the wake of Arrow’s huge success and shortly after Gotham’s premiere on FOX, CW’s The Flash is offering audiences a look at a brighter side of the DC comic universe.
After his praised appearances on Arrow, it was no surprise to hear that the nerdy and lovable Barry Allen, played by Glee‘s Grant Gustin, would be receiving his own show. Within the first minute of the pilot, Gustin’s energy captures your attention and never lets go.
Haunted by his mother’s mysterious and violent death when he was a young boy, Allen now currently works for the CSI unit in Central City, under the care and supervision of his foster parent, Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin).
His love-interest is his best friend Iris (Candice Patton), who comes off a little too sweet. An interesting twist is that her father is Detective West—making her Barry’s pseudo-sister. This fact that makes his unrequited feelings a bit murky and potentially disturbing.
After being struck by lightning and falling into a coma, Allen wakes up to find himself surrounded by strangers in S.T.A.R. Labs, where nine-months earlier a particle accelerator exploded, the event that is believed to have given him the gift of super-speed. Aided by scientific researchers, Barry begins to harness his new power a little faster than one would expect.
This happens throughout The Flash‘s premiere — plots points rush by at sonic speed. While this may have been necessary to start the show on the right foot, it would have been nice to hold off some moments, such as Detective West learning of Barry’s gift and a cameo from Green Arrow, until further down the line.
While there are many key moments occur that in the pilot, planted plot devices such as the mystery surrounding the murder of Allen’s mother, an allusion to Flash-villian Gorilla Grodd and a series-altering twist shown at the end of the pilot will undoubtedly be fleshed out throughout the upcoming season.
If the pilot and teaser trailer are precursors for what’s to come, I think we all can be excited for the future of The Flash.
The Flash airs Tuesdays on CW at 8/7 p.m. CT and can be streamed online for free on Hulu.
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