Details: Aired in 2017. This is a four-part crossover, television show special comprised of episode 8 of season 3 of Supergirl, episode 8 of season 6 of Arrow, episode 8 of season 4 of The Flash, and episode 8 of season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow, in that order. Each episode is about an hour-long and aired on the CW.
Ever since the CW started airing more than one DC Comics superhero show, they began to air an annual crossover episode where the heroes on all their respective superhero shows team up in a self-contained story arc and fight a common enemy. This means more special effects, more action, and more funny/strange moments between characters who would normally never interact with one another.
The crossover miniseries this year is the largest to date as it combines the cast of Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow. You’d think it wouldn’t work, but despite some cringe-y moments, it mostly does. If you are at all a fan of the CW’s superhero shows, this is the television event you should watch.
Details: Airs on the CW. Twenty-three episodes this season where each episode is about an hour long, including commercials. Stars Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker.
I love science fiction. Especially trippy, Doctor Who-esque science fiction and this is what makes The Flash so good. As the series has progressed, each season has gone further and further down the sci-fi rabbit hole. Accordingly, this season is the best season yet.
Details: Airs on the CW. About forty-five minutes long, not including commercials.
I’ve been looking forward to this episode ever since I heard about it. I love musicals. I also love superhero shows. Smashing the two together is something that appealled to me.
My goodness Barry, you done fucked up the whole damn universe. The Flash returns and Barry has screwed up every damn thing. Unfortunately, by the end of episode two, most of the status quo return and most things are back to normal. It was still an enjoyable two episodes though.
In case you’re not caught up, at the end of last season, Barry had a nervous breakdown and went back in time, saved his parents, and changed everything. I could go further into what went on, but all that really matters is that by the end of the episode, Barry goes back in time, lets his parents die, and hopes that everything goes back to normal.
In the second episode, we learn that not everything has gone back to normal. Some changes that have occurred are the following:
Iris and her dad don’t get along. They make up by the end of the episode.
Cisco is depressed his brother died. He gets over it by the end of the episode.
The alternate timeline that was created because of Barry still exists somewhat and some people are retaining memories from both timelines.
Diggle’s child (from Arrow) is now a boy. Diggle had a daughter before.
Draco Malfoy (at least the actor who played Draco Malfoy) now shares office space with Barry and is another forensic crime person. Draco also hates Barry and you can almost hear the words “Potter” whenever he says Barry’s name.
Caitlin has ice powers now, but she hasn’t told anyone.
I think those are the most important parts. Oh, there’s a new villain for Barry and gang to fight all season.
Overall, I enjoyed the episode very much. It’s always fun to see what ifs play out and how the characters could be portrayed differently. In fact, I would be perfectly happy if they toned down the crime fighting and turned this into a show a la Quantum Leap. Barry could chase some villain through time and parallel dimensions or something like that.
Score: 7/10 Nice opening episode. I’m not looking forward to seeing more of Alchemy, the new villain. I hope they do more universe jumping and time travel instead.
Another season of Flash has come and gone and I have enjoyed this season even more than the last.
What I love most about the Flash is that it has gone further down the rabbit hole towards a true, fantastic, science fiction show. There are alternate dimensions, doppelgangers, time travel, a Speed Force and much more. In many ways, it has the feel of a show like Doctor Who; Barry Allen seemingly has the power to travel through all of space and time.
The stuff I don’t like is… well everything else. The Flash — like most CW shows — is incredibly cheesy. The romance between Barry and anyone else is horribly scripted and needlessly drawn out. I know drama involves obstacles, but these obstacles between having a happy relationship are just contrived and hard to believe.
Additionally, I often hate how Flash deals with his villains. If we were to look at Barry’s powers, he is pretty much as strong if not stronger than Superman. He can solve every crime instantaneously. However, because we need to create conflict, his villains continue to find ways to stop him, or trip him, or some other stupid way to slow him down. He really should be invincible, but I guess the writers have to find some sort of way to threaten him. Further, the solution to every problem is to run faster. This leads to a lot of episodes where people keep yelling at him to run whenever any problems arise. It feels like a scene from Forrest Gump.
Regardless, I still enjoyed the season because of the exploration of alternate dimensions as alternate timelines. The ending was just great and explores the burden and responsibilities of Barry’s abilities, as well as what happens when he shirks those responsibilities.
In conclusion, if the show runners run away from cheesy villains and cheesy romances and instead run towards the crazy science fiction of time travel, dimensional travel, aliens and the like, then next season should be just fine.
The Flash is an interesting show in how it contrasts with the other comic book shows that are airing. We currently live in the age of superheroes; mainstream media is filled with superhero movies and TV shows based on comic books. Some have less to do with superheroes (iZombie), the rest are absolutely about superheroes (Gotham, Arrow, Agents of Shield). The Flash is unique in that it has some level of recognition (prior two season TV show a decade ago), but is not as dark or gritty as other shows. Further, a large part of the Flash’s character and canon not only deals with fighting super powered villains, it also deals with high science fiction, such as parallel universes and time travel. The Flash then has the potential to be Batman, Superman, Quantum Leap and Back to the Future all rolled into one show.
It’s an interesting prospect and a lot of fun to watch it play out through this first season of the show. The writers clearly have some grasp of the attractive portions of the character’s canon. It’s an avoidance of a mistake that has plagued the Fantastic Four movie franchise. Filmmakers/show runners always ignore the high science fiction of the Fantastic Four; the wonky, mind-bendy, existential stuff that science fiction nerds love to pontificate on. I understand the sentiment since creating a show with all these science-y ideas almost always sucks the life out of a show’s budget. It also creates plot problems when writers ignore, forget, or outright discard certain science fiction rules they’ve previously established in this world and, as a result, create a show with conflicting plot points that damage the believability of the narrative.
Here, that does not seem to be a problem. While the first season spent much of the time setting up Flash’s rogues gallery, the season finale delves straight into what makes this character great and distinct from other shows: the science fiction. Eobard Thawne’s existence reminds us that, despite the inclusion of super villains, this show has always been a time travel story from the very first episode. Flash’s greatest conflict isn’t the villains, the primary of which (Captain Cold) he shares a secret agreement where Captain Cold will not stop committing crimes but will not reveals the Flash’s identity and the Flash will stop him completely as long as no one gets killed. It’s a game of sorts. The real conflict in the Flash’s life is dealing the power to go anywhere in time and space as well as fighting anything that may emerge from that great beyond. Kind of like Doctor Who. My hope is that, like in the comic, the Flash will also explore alternate timelines or dimensions, and meet alternate versions of himself as well as of other villains and maybe even other superheroes (I’m looking at you Supergirl on CBS). It’s a lot to think about.
In any case, the first season does what a first season/first act is meant to do: it introduced us to the setting, the characters, and the protagonist’s great conflict/problem. I only hope that the writers continue building on what was established here and super speed themselves straight off the deep end into the science fiction/superhero craziness.
Score: 7.8/10 Can’t wait to see what happens next.
Muse Bank 