The Flash
Season 1, Episode 3
“Things You Can’t Outrun”
Rating: A-
It’s a testament to just how good The Flash is already that they have me so very invested in what is going to happen to Barry Allen this season. I don’t think I’ve seen a superhero show that keeps things quite this fun. Even Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., which was the most fun prior to this, mostly because of Clark Gregg’s performance and Joss Whedon’s fingerprints being all over it. Flash is fledgling as a show and already it’s surpassed just about every other hero show out there. In terms of just having an all around good time, though, Flash for sure takes the cake.
We get another bit of Barry showing off just how freaking cool his powers are. Can you imagine being fast enough to catch an armed thug fleeing the cops (in a car) and handcuffing him and leaving him in the back of the cop’s car, all as your friend converses with her boyfriend outside the movie theater. It takes Barry all of 10 seconds to dash away, dash back, and suggest a massive dinner for the two of them, and the scene works so well.
We see what happened the night of the lab explosion too, as Caitlin flashes back to the night her fiance died and, as a consequence of the same explosion that killed him, a bunch of potentially dangerous meta-humans were created (and Barry, of course). It was cool to see those first moments, Dr. Wells popping the champagne only for the fountainous bubbly to slow and freeze in midair before a loud bang shakes the room, but I’d be happy for it to leave it at that. We don’t need to focus too much on Central City’s past, not when it’s present is such a rush to watch.
Joe is feeling the guilt of arresting the wrong person in Barrys father, Henry Allen. He sits alone in his kitchen, watching the video of Henry’s interrogation, and the weight of it is in his eyes. As Henry points out in the video, Joe knew him, their kids are and were friends. Joe should have known he wouldn’t have killed his wife. Sadly, at that point in time, their wasn’t a crimson-and-gold-clad meta-human to prove the wild side of the theories as to what happened to Barry’s Mother inside that yellow and red tornado, or what that is at all. It feels like the past weighs really heavy in this episode.
Our freak-of-the-week formula is working really well for Flash, and the difference here has to be its willingness to dig for characters with roots in the comics. This week, we have Kyle Nimbus, aka The Mist, who dates all the way back to 1941, as an enemy of the golden age sandman. As his moniker and oddly fitting name suggest, The Mist can turn himself into, well, mist. Poisonous mist that is deadly if inhaled. This leads to a very cool moment for Barry as he captures a live sample of the gas by breathing it, then rushes back to S.T.A.R. labs where they extract it. Because of his metabolism, the same thing that makes him eat a 10 person thanksgiving dinner every few hours, they can’t give him any sedative or anesthetic, and Barry has to endure a pulmonary biopsy wide awake. Well, wide awake until he passes out because it doesn’t really matter how super you are, that would crazy hurt. Well, Superman would probably be okay, but that’s mostly because the tools would just break.
I really hate the relationship between Iris and Eric Thawne. Reasons for this include but are not limited to being really sick of romantic subplots and knowing exactly who Eddie Thawne is. Don’t worry kids, I’m sure that answer will zoom in soon enough. I realize that romantic subplots are part of what drive the overall narrative of these shows, but I can’t bring myself to care because Barry isn’t the other half of it. Well, at least it’s out in the open now.
Another week gone by, and another hint dropped to the overall plot of the season. Just who is Harrison Wells, and when the hell did he come from? “I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment for centuries”, he says, following last week’s “His name will one day be The Flash” before his little moment of murder. Theories abound as to who his comic book counterpart is. I have my own ideas, and I’m sure some of you guys do too.
The Flash has had the best inaugural run of any superhero show on TV right now, and there are a shocking number to choose from. Nothing keeps the serious and the just infectingly joyous parts of the superhero game so perfectly balanced. I know it’s still early, this is only episode three.
Stuff And Things
- – Barry wants to Flash his Dad out of prison. This is not the path of a hero, Barry.
- – The reveal from Joe to Henry that he knows the truth was a fairly nice moment, and Joe’s almost-cry face is pretty funny. the subtitles said [breathing shakily] and I chuckled.
- – Flash’s trick to obscure his features from his father was also cool, though I’m not sure why he felt the need to do so. Just tell him Barry!
- – The effects this show are one of the coolest. The Flash outrunning The Mist was some of the best CG work I’ve seen on network television, and Flash’s golden lightning reflecting off the dark, deep green of Nimbus’ mist cloud was nice attention to detail.
- – Why does a detective child ever try to sneak anything past the detective? It seems like that would be a very stupid thing to do.
- – “So… We’re just supposed to get used to working above a makeshift prison holding evil people with superpowers?”
- – Cysco needs to hurry up and name the Flash, because his name game is crazy strong.
