The Flash: Fastest Man Alive

In some ways the second episode of any given show is more important than the first. The premiere is a struggle to introduce all the characters, establish the premise, and provide an origin story for whatever long-term arc they've got planned, but all of this cramming means that whatever else it is, a premiere is almost never boring.

But often so much attention is poured into the premiere that the second episode can fall short. And the problem with this is however good the series opener was, it's what comes after that determines whether or not an audience will continue to tune in.

And at this early stage, the writers are still figuring out what works and what doesn't. Often Early Instalment Weirdness can seep in. There's also a tendency to rely on a rather bland Monster of the Week rota-basis in order to keep each singular episode as self contained as possible so that more involved world-building and character dynamics can occur elsewhere.

But Fastest Man Alive ended up being a fairly balanced episode, dealing with Barry's Call to Adventure, the consequences of his newfound power, a scattering of character related minutia, and a surprisingly complex villain.

Barry's social conscience means that he's ready and willing to embrace the life-saving possibilities of his powers, but he's surrounded by naysayers: Caitlin and Joe to be precise, who both think that saving innocent people's lives is only going to endanger his own. Caitlin in particular thinks that Barry was only going to deal with other meta-humans, not race into burning buildings to save the inevitable small child that's been left behind by a negligent parent (seriously, why do they always leave their kid behind?)

Another fire, another traumatized child.

All this argument about Barry's safety and responsibility is a little perfunctory, as let's face it – he's the main character. We know that no matter what the situation, he's not going to die. There's no real question about how this storyline is going to be resolved, and it's a shame that they went for the trite option by using the power of pep talks and positive thinking. But hey, this was always going to be a necessary issue to tackle.

The writers put the focus on how each character broaches the subject, and the most interesting scene ended up being the one between Joe and Doctor Welles when they discuss Barry's abilities. In many ways, this was an episode that explored fatherhood, with three different father figures all trying to protect Barry in ways that are ultimately detrimental to his well-being. In the flashbacks, his real father wants to put distance between them once he's in jail, Joe wants to overprotect him, and Wells eventually kills a man to keep Barry's secret safe.

It's Joe who comes out looking the best, with Barry's own ringing endorsement as to his parenting skills, but his insistence on keeping Iris in the dark about Barry is going to get very old, very quickly – not least because he feels as much a plot device as it does a genuine attempt to protect her. Remember in Harry Potter when Mrs Weasley insisted on keeping Harry in the dark about absolutely everything even though ignorance of the facts actively put him in danger? Yeah, it's like that.

What was handled a lot better was Barry's experimentation with his new powers, and the inevitable consequences that come with them. He can practically teleport people from one location to another with his super-speed (which I'm sure the budget will thank him for considering it only requires a gust of wind and a stunned-looking extra), but it's always fun to see any given superhero use their powers for everyday stuff as well (such as mixing test tubes).

But any burst of speed brings on fainting spells, and it was a great bit of logic-based problem solving when the scientists run some tests and quickly realize that his glucose levels are running low. Obviously he burns through energy ten times as quickly as he used to, and the solution is as simple as a new diet.

I recall this on the animated Justice League as well, in which the Flash was often depicted as a Big Eater, so let's hope that even if the fainting spells are never brought up again, the sight of Barry chowing down on fast food is a consistent feature of the show. Someone is bound to comment on it at some point.

Then there's the actual Villain of the Week, who may have been fairly bland in himself, but was part of a scenario that was surprisingly complex. As part of the usual comic book logic, Danton Black is a guy who worked on cloning technology, and can now Agent Smith himself all over the place. He wants to assassinate wealthy philanthropist Simon Stagg for some undisclosed reason, and so naturally everyone's first instinct is to protect Simon against Black.

Turns out that Stagg stole Black's research which resulted in the death of his wife... though this doesn't stop Barry from insisting that killing Stagg is still the wrong thing to do. After a Burly Brawl last seen on The Matrix over a decade ago which was really impressive at the time and is here replicated on television to pretty much the same standard, Black decides to take his own life and forces Barry to drop him from a high rise balcony.

Seriously, look at this visual. This was great stuff!

Pretty sad really, but the most interesting part is still to come. Wells arrives at Stagg's office after dark and promptly stabs him to death. Ostensibly this is because he's protecting Barry, but he entered that room with a knife well before Stagg started talking about how he could exploit meta-humans.

So much like Arrow, Barry has a parental figure up to some shady business. And if this continues like Arrow, pretty much all the episodes will end on this note: Wells getting out of his wheelchair and doing something dodgy.

But the parallel is interesting: both Black and Wells made an attempt on Stagg's life, both for (arguably) justifiable reasons. But comic-book world lore insists that all life is sacred. Murders can't be committed for any reason whatsoever – not if you're seeking vengeance for a dead wife, not if you're trying to protect someone else, not if you're insisting that the ends justify the means. So technically Wells has crossed into villain territory, and it's just a matter of time before Barry finds out.

Miscellaneous Observations:

One thing that can't be changed quickly enough is Joe's perception of his daughter as a fragile flower who must be protected at all costs. She's obviously intelligent (Joe actually admonishes Barry for not coming up with a better excuse to explain his absences) and driven enough as a journalist to start researching cases of the Red Streak, so if Barry's secret gets stretched out for any length of time, it's only going to reflect badly on her.

No, those empty plates aren't AT ALL suspicious.

And that's NOT OKAY. I'm already very protective of Iris, and she's too cute and sparkly and feminine for the narrative to give her the run-around. Plus Candice Patton is perfect in this role. She was given a line at the beginning of the episode that had her jokingly complain about how much she disliked journalism – it could have very easily come across as whiny, yet Patton played it as a joke and it came across as charming instead.

There was some great material for Caitlin as well, who managed to make an entire clone out of blood specks before figuring out the best way of defeating him. My favourite scene was probably the one in which we're lead to believe that Black has broken into the lab, only to realize that it's just Caitlin and Cisco staring at the clone in shock.

Not what it looks like.

I'm a strong advocate against voiceovers, and apparently so is this show given the way that Barry yada-yadas his way through the opening narration: "this is the part we're I'm supposed to do the whole intro thingy. Barry Allen, fastest man alive – but you know all that already. Alright, let's get to the good stuff."

Hey, look it's Sheriff Valenti from Roswell! Ah, memories. And yikes, how long ago was that now?

He hasn't aged a day.

Oh look, Barry has the Sherlock Scan, complete with on-screen notations for the audience to follow along with. It never ceases to amuse me that after all the fuss Sherlock producers made about Elementary copying their idea, it was actually dozens of other shows that cribbed off their visual design.

It would appear that Star Labs have Lex Luthor Security given the way Joe just wanders in (I don't care that TV Tropes have renamed it Swiss Cheese Security, I have very fond memories of everyone and their grandma and Jimmy Olsen wandering into Lex Luthor's Smallville mansion on a whim).

Why do people always touch their ear microphone when they're talking to their cohorts back at the base? I know it's a visual cue to let the audience know they're not just talking to thin air, but it bugs me.  

So if any given show's first episode is an introduction, then the second is its set-up, arranging everyone at the beginning of their character arcs and putting all the story elements on the right trajectory. From here on out, it's just a matter of ironing out the kinks, but given all the practice these guys have had on Arrow, it seems that The Flash is in good hands.