Ok, so why don't we have a Flash thread yet? (SPOILERS!)

I think I'm enjoying this one best of all the superhero stuff on right now. It's not amazing, but it did pretty well in its second episode.

I really like the emphasis on the enjoyment of being THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE! I even thought the plot was better this time around, and at least Wheelchair and Stepdad are shaping up to be interesting characters (and Barry will suffice if he just continues having fun). And I'm happy they immediately gave us more on Doc's secret, rather than teasing us along for a season.

Not over the moon with the way Iris and Medic Chick are written, though. Iris is completely self-absorbed and doesn't understand Barry's state at all, even though she makes this whole point about knowing him so incredibly well. And Medic doesn't get anything to do at all except moan, moan, moan, and it doesn't help that the actress doesn't understand the science jargon she's being given.

What did everyone else think?

S'alright.
I like Gotham better.

I really like that John Wesley Shipp, who played Barry Allen in the 1990/1991 version of The Flash, plays Barry Allen's dad in this one.

I'll watch ep 2 tomorrow and decide. 1 was fun, but no great shakes.

At least he wasn't using his super speed to clean his apartment.

I'm enjoying it.

I think DC is really missing th boat by not having Arrow and the Flash tie into the movie continuity. You wouldn't even have to explain them - they just show up.

But be that as it may, both properties are entertainging on their own.

it's fun. Cheesy at time but cheese is tasty if done knowingly and not to absurd levels. Dr Wells being a stealth badass works for me. And as has been noted, as long as Barry keep relishing his new abilities and having fun with them, it will be the engine that drives the entertainment value.

As we know from the 90s version, that didn't end up so well for John Wesley Shipp.

It seemed to come and go pretty fast.

That's what SHE said.

Ya know what, I'm gonna skip it. I have enough to watch.

Because the Flash is one of the most boring superheroes ever?

it's fun, and they are working to build a world around him with some weight to it. But by nature it will be lightweight and that's okay.

Forbin, I sympathize with the overload issue but I will say that as a fan of 70's shows(6MDM et al) it's the kind of thing you'd like I think.

Its definitely a light, frothy soufflé. There are a couple of issues with it, however. One is that they're blatantly trying to make the lead look like Edward from Twilight. Maybe chicks dig that look, but to me it just screams, "Douchebag!" The other is that the episodes all feel like they were written by someone who read Syd Field's books on screenwriting, but didn't understand them. You'll have an episode which is running smoothly, until one character turns to another character and says some blindingly obvious piece of exposionary dialog which tells you what's going to happen next, rather than simply illustrating it through action. Brings the episode to a screeching halt, and has me screaming at the TV, "Yes, of course he's going to have to do that! Now shut up!"

Case in point, in the second episode, Barry has doubts that he can be a superhero. Really, dude? You expect me to believe that? The fact that you're the star of the show, and the opening narration where you explain how being a superhero gives you such a chuffy, kind of tells me that you're not going to be giving up on the whole superhero business any time soon. After all, the show's called "The Flash," not "Angsty Guy Who Doubts His Own Abilities, and Spends His Days as a Drone in Sector 7G, But Occasionally Runs Really Fast." His adoptive father even worries about Barry getting hurt, until Dr. Gimpy says, "Well, you know, you've got to let him do his job." Then, adoptive father flips 180 degrees, and immediately tells Barry the first chance he gets, "Gosh, us cops just can't do the kind of things that you can, so you'd better put on your fancy pajamas and go after the bad guy." And Barry's like, "Oh, I guess you're right. I'd better go after him." Dafuq? First words out of Barry's mouth should have been, "Have you got whiplash? Because if I flip-flopped like that, I know I would." That's something they'd have been better off drawing out over a couple of episodes, rather than having it resolve in a single episode, IMHO. The way they're doing these things now, is too neatly packaged and wrapped up by the end of the episode.

Finally, if you haven't seen the first episode of the BBC series "Misfits" (its on Hulu), watch that, as it really is the gold standard for this kind of show, and you'll never be able to hear them say "Barry," without thinking of "Misfits" and giggling. (And yes, I grew up reading the Barry Allen era Flash comics, so I'm well aware that's canon for his name.)

Still, I'll keep watching, as it does have potential. The only question is if it will live up to it.

I like that the DC shows come in such starkly different flavors.
Gotham is rocky road, Constantine is strong coffee, Flash is sherbert.

Did someone say Flash?

I think the light tone is fine, I just wish it was a little better written.

And the moment which yanked me out of the latest episode was when the Flash says, "Can I run on water?" I literally screamed, "You ran up the side of a fucking building at the beginning of the episode and you're asking if you can run on water? WTF?"

You suddenly exist in a world where Flash comics and shows never existed, you're the first super-fast guy ever, what's more, you're The Flash, and you wouldn't wonder and worry about your limits?
You'd just assume physics would side with you like a cartoon?

Two words: Jesus lizard. It can run so fast that it can walk on water. Are you going to tell me those don't exist in that universe either? Or that a kid who's an uber-genius forensic guy has never heard of them? Or that a guy who can watch a flash bang grenade explode in slow motion and then out-run the blast is going to wonder about running on water? Or that on his days off he wouldn't try running on water just to see if he could do it, since he enjoys running so much?

*Sigh* you're right, the imaginary show about guys running faster than a blink is unrealistic.
I'll now go watch sensible things like The McLaughlin Group, and the Farm Report, and start eating bran.
Thank you, you've saved me from myself.
Your intellect is the superior, and your dick is as big as Mike Tyson's arm.
All hail Tuckerfan.

Oh, bite me. I'm sorry if I can't just toss my brain out the fucking window on a whim. Just because a show has a stupid line in it doesn't mean that the show sucks, it does mean that, IMHO, the writing could be improved. It is early days, and the writers need time to get comfortable with the environment. If I hated the show, I wouldn't bother commenting on it.

The writing could certainly be improved, but I have no problem with Barry asking three scientists whether they agree that his reasoning will hold up and his impossible powers will work like the non-trans-Newtonian jesus lizard before he bets the city's continued existence on it.

Its something which could have easily been established at other points in the episode, and in fact, was partially established in the episode when he defied the same gravity which would cause him to sink in water, when he ran up the side of the building. If the writers were worried about people not buying him running across the water, after running up the side of a building, and watching a grenade explode in slow motion, before out running it, then having Barry say, "I'm taking her across the water." followed by having adopted dad ask the 3 scientists (and let's not forget that Dr. McFakeGimpy already knows what Barry can do), who promptly run the numbers, solves the problem.

Look, I'm happily handwaving away lots of shit in each one of these episodes (the 250% alcohol drink, for one, because they're addressing the idea that he's going to have a fucked up metabolism with his super speed), because I can enjoy it for what it is, but some things which happen in an episode are just nails on the fucking chalkboard to me. This happened to be it in this episode. Its like in the first Iron Man movie, when Tony Stark's carrying the crucible of molten metal wearing simple leather gloves. I've worked in a foundry and poured metals at the same temps he was handling, and I know you can't do it the way he did it. Absolutely snapped me out of the fucking movie when I saw it. It didn't ruin the movie for me, and I grasp that most people wouldn't pick up on it, but if they'd have done nothing more than give him thicker gloves, a face shield, and a mylar apron, I wouldn't have that scene burned into my memory as vividly as I do.

Finally, let's face it, he allowed a hot red head to get blowed up! If that isn't a massive , I don't know what is.

I picked up a hint of sarcasm in that.

not quite. in both cases he was asking how fast he needed to go, notice Sisco immediately started the calculations.

Which is helpful if you have a speedometer in your head.

Maybe he does.
Maybe practice on the super treadmill has trained him to know what certain speed threasholds feel like.

Its possible, but its not going to be a precise measurement as the treadmill setup doesn't look like its capable of simulating air flow at high speed. If, hypothetically, they told him that he needs to run at 200 MPH, and haven't factored in air resistance, then running 150 MPH (or so) outside, is going to feel like he's doing 200+ MPH inside. Its also not going to be a set percentage, so you can't just take a fudge factor of 10% and add it to the number you get.

It can be done, and on-the-fly, but not with pencil and paper, its got to be done by a computer. Given the big show they made of testing his abilities, I'd think that they'd have figured it out before this episode. Again, I'm not saying that this is a fatal flaw which somehow damages the episode or the series. Its like when you're eating a mouthful of popcorn and suddenly bite down on an unpopped kernel, it jars the fuck out of you, but you still keep eating.

He's always been a runner, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for him to be fascinated by really fast animals, like cheetahs and jesus lizards. Having a pet cheetah would be difficult, a pet jesus lizard, not so much. They could have established this in the first episode (as they established that he was a runner), and let it go from there. I don't know if they've got the whole season planned out or not (though that does seem likely from the writing), but even if they don't they've got a wealth of material to draw upon, and they would have to have known that at some point they're going to want to have him run on water. (I still remember the episode of "Challenge of the Super Friends" where Flash ran across the ocean.)

Look, I'm not bitching about the fact that despite what they said, Plastique clearly could control her powers to some extent. Otherwise, her clothes would have turned into bombs the moment that she touched them, and eating would be a bit problematic, to say the least. What's the rule with science fiction? You get a limited amount of impossible things you can expect the reader to "buy" before they call you on your bullshit, I wasn't willing to "buy" him needing to ask if he can run on water, you were. Its no big deal, we all have different levels of bullshit we're willing to "buy." No doubt there's things which I'm willing to buy, you'd barf at the thought of.

damn you.

Hey, don't blame me. Blame the writers. It hit me when they handed her gloves as she stood in the lab with her arms folded. I immediately started wondering why the gloves didn't turn into bombs, then I started thinking about her hands touching her clothes, and it just went downhill from there.