Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Episodes: 23
Duration: 40 min (per episode)
The Flash: Season 1 (Blu-ray) – Series Review
The Flash has been roaming around the DC universe since the 1940’s and over the years he has seen different reincarnations, as it’s hard to keep a series fresh for over seventy years. Nonetheless, even though there has already been a live action series of the Flash, it pales in comparison of the success the current one has, granted its success might be thanks to Arrow, which tends to intertwine with the scarlet speedster’s series from time to time. Nonetheless, without further ado, here’s our impression of the first season of The Flash.
Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) has a fairly average life, working for the CSI in Central City, and while he might not be regarded as an actual cop, he loves what he does and helps getting criminals behind bars, thanks to the rather big brain inside his skull. He works together with Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), who practically raised Barry, since his mother was brutally murdered and his father convicted of said crime. While having to endure such a tragedy as a young boy is certainly life changing and traumatic, it’s even worse when you know your father has been innocently behind bars for nearly a decade. Even though Barry knows and believes his father would never be capable of doing something horrible like that, people never believed him as his story was simply unbelievable. According to Barry, and his father Henry (John Wesley Shipp), there was a strange kind of ‘lightning’ in their house the night of the murder, which also caused Barry’s mother to die, even though one would never relate lightning with a victim that has been stabbed.
All of the above being said, Barry is quite content with his current life and Joe has raised him well, together with his childhood friend and Joe’s biological daughter Iris (Candice Patton). Even though Iris has been like a sister and best friend to him, Barry has had a crush on her for years and finally hopes to tell her, but more than once chickens out. After attending a presentation where Dr. Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) presents the particle accelerator and unveils when it will be activated, Barry returns to his everyday life, at least, until the accelerator gets activated and something goes horribly wrong. The device explodes, causing a shockwave and even worse, a lightning storm where Barry gets struck by lightning. Being in a coma for months on end, it seemed like the young CSI would not wake up anytime soon, but miraculously does. Soon after awaking, he notices something is off, and when he starts shifting at super-speed, Wells and the remnants of his shunned team, Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) and Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) will do whatever they can to help Barry master his newly acquired ability.
As expected, the explosion did not only give Barry superpowers, but also many of Central City’s criminals, making sure he has the chance to become an actual superhero, where he even goes to the Arrow (Stephen Amell), asking for his advice. Even though Joe does not really approve of his superhero antics, he makes sure Barry will not tell Iris, to make sure she stays safe. That being said, Iris follows the Flash, writing about sightings, making everything a bit more complicated. And when Barry finds out that his mother was also killed by a speedster, he is determined to find his mother’s killer and bring him to justice, and in the process proving his father’s innocence.
Overall many of the episodes can be viewed separately, making this a very casual series, even with the underlying plot, things stay rather simple and understandable, with the necessary recaps at the beginning of every episode. It’s clear that this arc revolves more around the Reverse-Flash, the Flash’s arch nemesis, but along the way many individual cases will be tackled involving metahumans (those with superpowers). That being said, there are some crossovers with the Arrow series, making it sometimes a bit harder to understand everything that is going on properly, as some of you might not be acquainted with the green hooded vigilante. Those who have watched Arrow will also notice that the ‘doomed’ love stories are a bit alike, making them lose their edge.
Acting performances are rather pleasant and they also feel in line with those seen in Arrow, making it fun for those who wish to broaden their Arrow universe, mixing it up with the Flash. Grant Gustin proves to be a great choice to add some charisma, and the necessary dose of geekiness to the legendary scarlet speedster, making him a very likeable base upon whom the series is built. A fun fact is that they hired the actor, John Wesley Shipp, who appeared in the 1990’s show of The Flash as the superhero himself, now granting him the role of the new Flash’s father, which is actually a beautiful sentiment.
The special features found on the Blu-ray release of season one are rather rewarding, as they offer you more facts about the superhero and also about how the series was made and the effects used. Other typical items such as a gag reel etc are also present.
Conclusion
DC expands its cinematic universe with The Flash and it does so in a proper manner. While the overall feeling is still rather casual, many fun facts about the hero are respected and the source material is followed in a reasonable way. A fun and likeable cast accompany you on your journey of learning about a new hero and the crossovers tend to be quite amusing for fans of both The Flash and Arrow. Certainly worth the watch if you’re into superheroes.
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