CliqueClackIs The Flash the best comic book TV adaptation yet?
The CW’s ‘The Flash’ finally premiered and Barry Allen and friends hit the ground running. Will the show be able to deliver over the long run?
After what felt like an agonizingly long wait, The CW finally gave us the debut of the new DC Comics TV series The Flash. Has all the tease, all the build up, all the anticipation been worth it? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
Last season, Fox’s Sleepy Hollow was the new show to get me excited about the new fall season, and this year it’s definitely The Flash. (Sorry, Gotham. While watchable, you’ve already fallen into a rut after three episodes of “Jim Gordon: Good Guy” constantly being doubted, questioned and suspected of nefarious deeds by everyone around him. At least Jada Pinkett Smith and Robin Lord Taylor bring a little comic book life to the show.)
But The Flash has all the elements that make not only a good comic book TV adaptation, but a good TV show as well. Right off the bat, we get Barry Allen’s backstory quickly out of the way. Even if you have no idea who Barry Allen is coming in to the show, you pretty much know him within the first ten minutes: he’s a kid who lost him mom under mysterious circumstances, his dad is in prison for the murder, and he has a close relationship with a detective (who raised him) and works as a forensics assistant. And he can run really, really, really fast.
Grant Gustin is perfectly cast as Barry. He’s young enough to be slightly dorky, especially when it comes to the opposite sex, and he can be a grown-up when the need arises, like when he has to save someone’s life. He can also deliver some of the funnier dialog without being too obvious about it, such as the line he utters after waking from his nine-month coma: “A coma gave me abs?” Best of all, he makes Barry’s unbelievable situation very believable.
The show is stocked with an excellent supporting cast as well. Law & Order alum Jesse L. Martin hits the beat once again, adding father figure to his repertoire, and thankfully he learns of Barry’s abilities by the end of the first episode. At least we won’t have to endure an obsessive hunt for another masked vigilante. Tom Cavanagh’s Harrison Wells, the man who used to run STAR Labs, seems to have many, many tricks up his sleeve. He’s the man responsible for Barry’s new abilities – as well as an untold number of others in the surrounding area – and the same accident caused him to be paralyzed. He’s now a seemingly benevolent man bent on righting his wrongs by helping Barry adjust … but his final scene revealed a shocking, multi-layered surprise. There’s definitely more to Wells than meets the eye.
The rest of the supporting cast, including Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker and Carlos Valdes, turn in some fine work, and for old school The Flash fans, it was more than a little thrilling to see TV’s original Barry Allen, John Wesley Shipp, playing the new Barry Allen’s dad. And although he was carted off to the pokey, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of him throughout the season (his last scene in the pilot with Gustin was a real tear-jerker).
We were also introduced to the first of the bad guys affected by the STAR Labs accident, a criminal who could control the weather, and the season promises to roll out more familiar faces (at least to the comics fans) including Firestorm (Robbie Amell), Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), The Clock King (Robert Knepper) and Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell … hmm, does someone have a fascination with the cast of Prison Break?). And we’ve already seen Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) show up to lend Barry some superhero advice (and there will be another Arrow/Flash team-up), and John Diggle (David Ramsey) will pay a visit too. Oh yeah, Dr. Tina McGee (Amanda Pays) will also be dropping by (hardcore geeks will know why this is so exciting)!
The first episode of The Flash really brought back memories of the first episode of Smallville, which was also able to hit the ground running (there was even a bit of a callback to that show with mention of Barry’s own Wall of Weird), by introducing us to what is a pretty large cast of main characters and giving them all strong personalities and reason for being so we don’t have to focus on lengthy relationship stories. We feel like we already know these people (well, except for Wells). The premiere episode gave The CW its best premiere ratings since the debut of The Vampire Diaries (it even beat Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD over on ABC!), and if they can keep up the pace and the story without falling into some of the ridiculousness (and bad writing) Smallville suffered a few seasons in, we should be in for a real treat as the series progresses. I’m fully on board with The Flash. Are you?
One Comment on “Is The Flash the best comic book TV adaptation yet?”
Having read this I thought it was very enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this information together.
I once again find myself personally spending way too much time both reading and commenting.
But so what, it was still worth it!