The Flash 1.05 “Plastique”

Got to run on water this week. Good times!

Oddly enough, my kids and I had just watched The Incredibles about an hour before this episode aired. Both handled the effect well but the major difference was Dash. Inclusiveness was a major theme this week and one that I agree with. The idea of a secret identity is a time honored tradition in the superhero world but the reality of the lone hero operating in a vacuum is, at times, ridiculous.

As ridiculous and infantile as the “cover-up” to keep The Streak’s identity from Iris West.

We’ll get to that.

The villain this week was Plastique, yet another Firestorm villain entering the Flash’s TV universe. Kelly Frye was a believable, if a bit wooden, Plastique. She was playing a veteran of Afghanistan, so the stiffness played well to her character. By the end, her character became a device to illustrate Barry’s heroism and Wells’ “mysterious bad guy” thing. Though it seems unlikely, I would like to see her return.

Yes, Wells continues to manipulate events from both sides of the coin. I couldn’t love that character more if I tried. By the end of this first season, his character will have to shift. There isn’t any way that the series will be able to maintain status quo with Wells without becoming too predictable. My guess is his position will change dramatically during the season finale.

Clancy F-ing Brown! Hellz, yeah! He is DC Comics’ greatest utility man. Needs a guy to voice Lex Luthor? Get Clancy. Need an alien for Green Lantern? Get Clancy. The guy just has a presence that demands respect. General Wade Eiling is a perfect character for Mr. Brown; intimidating, forceful, the confidence of “rightness.” This is a character that Clancy Brown excels at playing and he was pitch-perfect in this episode. Very interested to see how far he’s willing to go to get metahumans in the military.

Again, Grant Gustin was fantastic as Barry. With the exception of his limitation due to some wonky writing, he’s doing a great job. The fact that he isn’t going to be the Flash in the upcoming Justice League Movie is a tragedy!

So, here’s the storytelling bit I really liked: attempting to bring Plastique into the Star Labs group. I loved it! Makes sense. She needed help and they are the people to provide it. Had it not been for Wells’ intervention, she might have made a great addition to the team. Good writing.

So here’s the storytelling bit I hated; Iris West. All of it. I feel bad for Candice Patton because she’s doing a fine job but everything surrounding her character feels forced.

I realize that the “secret identity” is a time-honored, superhero tradition but, in reality, it’s just not feasible. Sure, there is some adolescent fantasy being played out by parading around in front of the girl you like in your Underoos. I get that. Perhaps we need to be here to move forward to a more believable scenario but it’s pissing me off right now. On top of that, there is this constant need to “protect” Iris by keeping the truth from her. That is a horribly misogynistic way of handling the situation. If she is willing to seek truth, then she deserves to have truth. Period. Otherwise, you are just perpetuating really crappy storytelling. Not to mention the fact that Iris has to be the most oblivious person ever to not see Barry mooning all over her.

Sorry, but this writing is unfair to a character who gets second billing on IMDB. Fix it, people!

I have been harping about this issue each week and I’m sure I sound like a broken record. My apologies to you, dear reader for dealing with my rant, but that crap has to stop. We need to demand more from TV! It’s 2014 and sisters are doing it for themselves, stop creating victims.

Other than that issue, I am really enjoying the show. Seriously, I am.

Oh, and we got a tease for Gorilla Grodd! We live in amazing times, people!