Flash: Runner’s High

Ok, so the CW’s FLASH is an instant hit and everyone loves the show.  All comic book nerds rejoice!  If you haven’t started watching it already then you need to start because next week will be their big 2 night crossover event with Arrow.  Both heroes will end up fighting each other and then will team up to stop some menaces that they can’t take down separately.  You’ve seen the formula a zillion times and it works…but only if you can keep it fresh.  Of course with the Green Arrow being a fresh entity who had gained popularity from Smallville the CW decided to re-cast and start over with a stand-alone show.  This proved to be a popular move because now it’s spawned another spin-off and this one includes the Speed-Force endowed character the Flash.  Now don’t get me wrong the CW has done all they can to try and rehash items that they could by making the Luthor mansion from Smallville to Queen manor.    They even follow a certain story elements from Smallville that seems to be indicative to any hero who takes up the secret life and try to keep their friends safe by not telling them everything and being so freaking obvious that they’re lying about something.  I’m sorry does being a good hero mean that you can’t tell a good damn lie??  Is that a prerequisite because if it is sign me up for the super-villain classes.  Next, the nicknames.  I can’t stand the nicknames that they give these people.  I understand in Smallville, that Clark Kent didn’t have any direction on how he wanted to get to where he arrived.  It was largely based on Tom Welling’s contract that he not wear tights.  So they kept him in a cloak and he used his speed and was called the Blur.  Real original.  Of course they ran for 10 seasons so they took some liberties.  When Ollie started running around in Starling City they started calling him the Hood.  And then he wanted to change that name to be more citizen friendly.  That only took 2 seasons.  Now, here have the Flash and he was running around for five episodes being called the Streak.  It wasn’t until the 6^th episode that he was finally dubbed the Flash.  Thank you because every time they mentioned the streak I kept thinking someone cut loose and left a reminder to clinch in their undershorts. Brownie points.  Literally. 

So if I have these peeves why watch the shows?  Because it’s actually fun watching Barry learn about his abilities each week against the “freak of the week”.  I just hope they stop killing them or DC is going to have to come up with a whole new Rogues Gallery for the Flash that’s never-ending.  They’ve killed 3 villains in the last 3 weeks.  Plastique, Cinderblock, and Blackout.  Each character was unique and had potential to be keep being brought back each season.  What is Professor Well’s secret?  Is he Professor Zoom – the Reverse Flash here on some glory mission to see the Flash born to run?  Or is he someone from the future who has a genuine vested interest in seeing Barry learn more about his powers in order to survive some cataclysmic event in the future.  Can someone say Crisis??  And after last night’s episode with a few of the names the Professor dropped about people who had died during the explosion that created the Flash, we can certainly expect to see Elongated Man and Firestorm in the near future.  The potential is all there let’s just see what they can do with it.