The Flash 1.02 “The Fastest Man Alive”

Yeah, I’m digging this show. It’s lighter fare than most of the other stuff I watch but that suits me just fine. There is nothing wrong with fun television for fun television’s sake. This second episode of the series kept the (dare I say) momentum (yes, I dare) from the pilot and even dealt with some pretty worn-out TV tropes in a speedy fashion. The effects were superior to the pilot and the tweaks to Barry’s costume looked great! Let’s hope they make the red just a little bit brighter.

The Flash has one of the best rogues galleries in comic books. Trailing behind only Batman and Spider-Man. That why I found it a genuine surprise that this second episode featured Multiplex, a villain who has never been associated with the Flash. For those of you in the know (comic nerds like myself) the introduction of Danton Black plants the seeds of a superhero team-up that I never thought I’d see on television.

Let’s get into the meat of the show. SPOILERS ahead.

Barry (Grant Gustin) is falling into the role of hero as he zooms about saving people from a burning building. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) is assisting him from Star Labs much to Caitlin’s (Danielle Panabaker) disappointment. Cisco and Barry already know what WE know; The Flash is a superhero not a lab rat. Detective West (Jesse L. Martin) is also concerned about Barry, letting him know that he should leave protecting the innocent to the police. All of this leads to Barry having a crisis of conscience and taking off the suit.

Yawn.

I rolled my eyes when all that crap started. Been reading comics since I was a little kid and I’ve watched every movie and TV show I could get my hands on. This boring tripe always happens. Luckily for The Flash and the audience, that whole mess is resolved by the end of the episode with everyone, including Detective West, on board for the whole “superhero” thing. Thank God they got that stuff out of the way.

The villain this week was Danton Black (Michael Smith), a scientist developing cloned organs to aid his wife. After the incident with the particle accelerator that gave Barry his powers, Danton gained the ability to replicate himself (along with his clothes and handguns, apparently). He uses that power to seek revenge against Simon Stagg (William Sadler), a wealthy entrepreneur who stole Danton’s research. Pretty normal fair. The action made this plot more interesting. The build up to Black using his powers onscreen wasn’t annoying. Since I knew what Danton Black could do going in, I was happy that they revealed his power as early as they did. Great effects! The final fight between Danton and Barry was extremely satisfying. Sure, Danton dies in the end but the first rule of superheroes is: no one dies.

Do you really think that a guy who can replicate himself can die? Yeah, me neither.

The big shocker this week was Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) killing Simon Stagg. Stagg has a long history in comics. He was instrumental in the creation of Metamorpho (hey, I don’t make up the names, I just report them) and I was very much looking forward to his addition to the Flash cast. Now… not so much. Stagg’s dead. Wells continues to be a cipher. We don’t really know who he is yet. But I’ve got a few theories.

Indulge me in a little fanboy speculation.

In the pilot, Caitlin Snow told Barry that her fiancé was killed during the accelerator accident. This week, his name was revealed as “Ronnie.” In the comics, Multiplex has been the villain of a hero named, “Firestorm.” His alter-ego? Ronnie Raymond. Caitlin’s boyfriend is not dead. I checked on IMBD and, sure enough, Robbie Amell (brother to Arrow’s Stephen Amell) will be appearing as Firestorm later in the season. Old Flamehead is one of my favorites so I’m looking forward to this.

Harrison Wells. Who is this guy? He seems to have knowledge of the future and is hiding behind his false paraplegia. Time travel and dimension hopping are a staple in Flash comics. Flash usually accesses the timestream via The Cosmic Treadmill which we may have seen in this episode. One of Flash’s rogues is Abracadabra, a time traveler from the 64^th century. He wields future science like magic to commit his crimes. Kind of a corny villain but he just might be our Harrison Wells. Wells’ science was way ahead of his time and he has knowledge of the future. Time will tell. Heh

That mysterious, yellow-clad figure who killed Barry’s mom? Any Flash fan worth his salt knows that can only be Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash. His alter-ego, Eobard Thawne. What? Isn’t there a Detective Eddie Thawne on the show? Yes, yes there is. In the comics, Thawne was from the 25^th century and obsessed with the Flash. He actually replicated Barry’s accident, giving himself super-speed. Zoom has a long, complicated history with The Flash. Zoom killed Barry’s wife, Iris. Years later Zoom attempts to kill Barry’s new fiancé but the Flash stops him… by breaking his neck! It wasn’t on purpose but Barry faced a homicide trial anyway. Zoom has appeared time and again to wreak havoc in Barry’s life and the lives of the Flashes that carry Barry’s legacy. Is Detective Thawne secretly Professor Zoom? Is Zoom the descendent of Det. Thawne? Could I be wrong about Wells? Maybe Wells is Zoom?

I don’t know. You can bet, though, that I’m going to keep watching. They are handling the legend of the Flash with respect and fun! The show is happy to mine the second and third tier heroes and villains and I applaud them for it.

See you next week!