While Marvel dominated the big screen, DC decided to fight back on the small screen. The character of Barry Allen, a forensic scientist from Central City, also appeared twice in the Arrow series. That phenomenon immediately raised the alarm among fans of the DC universe because the possibility arose that he would watch one of the most famous heroes from DC. Then it finally happened. CW has launched a new series, another from the DC world, another superhero who, just like in the Arrow series, utters a monologue about himself at the beginning of each episode, and this time it sounds like this:
My name is Barry Allen, and I’m the fastest man alive… I am the Flash.
Yes, this is The Flash series, about one of the most famous superheroes of the DC universe, founder and member of the Justice League, along with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, etc. I have to say right away that I, and I believe many fans, were skeptical about how the CW would do it. I did not doubt their creative power, which they proved through Arrow, but their financial power, because a series that has one superhero as a bearer requires expensive special effects, if it is to be presented in the right way. Because, after all, Flash is the fastest man in the world and he has some amazing ones, both friends and opponents, with a lot of different superpowers and various gadgets. All my doubts and fears were dispelled with the pilot episode, and the reason for that is the clearly visible quality of the series, as well as the effort and funds invested in its realization. The CW took this project very seriously and it paid off.
So, the story is, as its name suggests, about the superhero Flash. His real name is Barry Allen. As a little boy, he witnessed the death of his mother, Nora. Namely, one evening, he heard his mother moaning from the ground floor of the house where they lived. Entering the living room, he witnessed something amazing. Red and yellow lightning flashed around his mother, and then he was out of the house in a split second. At home, Nora falls dead with a dagger in her chest, and Berry’s father, Henry, appears. Police suspect Henry of murder, and after the trial he ends up in life imprisonment. Beria is taken in by Detective Joe West and he grows up in his family with his daughter Iris. Over the years, Barry grew up, finished school and became a forensic expert in the Central City Police, but Barry also has a secret plan. He has never given up on his father and wants to prove his innocence. So he secretly conducts his investigation, digging through old cases in hopes of finding one similar to the one he witnessed the night his mother was killed.
Fourteen years have passed since that night. In Central City, a big event is being prepared. S.T.A.R. the laboratory, a large research company run by Dr. Harrison Wells, is preparing to launch a large particle accelerator. However, during the first launch, there is an accident and explosion that causes a big shock wave, causing great damage and human casualties. At that moment, Beria was struck by lightning while he was in his office. After nine months in a coma, Barry wakes up in the premises of S.T.A.R. and learns from Dr. Wales that nothing will be the same in his life.
Namely, the lightning strike changed him and gave him the power to move faster than any human being, the power of superspeed. There, he meets Ciska and Caitlin, Wells’ young collaborators and scientists, who will help him cope with his newly acquired powers. Barry soon learns that he is not the only one who received powers that night, but that there are many other meta-people, as they were called, but unlike him, they use those powers for personal gain, not caring when they hurt or kill along the way. . Faced with such a situation, Barry decides that he will do everything he can to protect the inhabitants of Central City, and the team of Dr. Wales is helping him in that campaign, and the rest is, as they say, history…
The series was a great success and caused hysteria among fans of Flash and DC, and won over many others. The ratings are high, she broke some previous CW records, she won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama in 2014.
Who is responsible for this success? There are many reasons, but my answer will always be CW. Why? Because they learned from their mistakes, gained experience from other projects and series they work on, but they also learned from the experiences and mistakes of the competition. Their first experience was the Arrow series, which varied a lot over three seasons with quality, went in different directions and tried different approaches, all of which annoyed the fans of the series. On the other hand, Gotham and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. they had a very bad start and it was a real torture to watch the first half of the first season, in both series. Only after half is there a shift for the better, with one bigger and the other smaller. The agents have improved a lot with the second season and got serious, so to speak, and I think they are on the right track, while I am still not sure about Gotham.
Seeing all this, the CW made the right plan and approach and they stuck to it. There was no twisting with the approach, but with a clear idea, they started from the start boldly and safely and kept it that way all the time. The script and the story were taken seriously. It was built gradually, the characters developed as well as their relationships. Everyone was given enough space. In the beginning, the bad guys didn’t have enough space, but during the season, a few of them stood out, which they did, and we will certainly see you next season. In the background was the main story with, so to speak, the main villain. This is another great move by the CW, because it turned out that this type of series should have a main guide and a main villain, a thread that connects all episodes and does not allow the series to come to a stage each for itself, so you can skip some . This way it keeps you constantly interested and able not to miss a single moment.
The dice were slowly coming together, the tension was growing and reaching momentum in the very finale of the series just as it should have been, and only the finale is a special story – one of the better ones I’ve seen. Extremely exciting, unpredictable, with a lot of Easter eggs, as popularly called hidden hints to some famous events and characters from that world, and the great cliffhanger, who left us all in anticipation of the second season. Those Easter eggs hinted at many things that might await us in the second season, many new characters, known from the DC world. Immediately after the finals, the creators of the series announced themselves and announced an even more explosive and exciting season, with a much bigger budget, and thus more powerful and crazy special effects.
A special atmosphere is the crossover episodes Arrow / The Flash where these two heroes and their teams join forces and help each other. From that collaboration and combination of some characters from both series, a spin-off of Legends of Tomorrow was created.
In addition to all this, CW has put together a great cast, which plays a very well-assembled team of characters that carry the whole story. CW has made a real team around the character of Flash, a team that helps him and makes him be who he is. Their interactions are very interesting and, above all, fun to watch. Although there are love woes, so to speak, it was done with almost no pathos and works well as part of the whole story. The characters of the more important villains are also great and carry a certain charisma, as is the case in comics.
The choice of Grant Gustin did not seem right, at first glance, and I myself was in doubt about his choice. However, Gastin proved to be a great choice in portraying Flash. All confused and shy when it comes to relationships with other people, especially women, he is at the same time infinitely fun, as Flash should be. In my opinion, Flash is one of the funniest superheroes from DC, something similar to Spider-Man from Marvel, who often invades his actions with some funny intrusions, all while fighting with opponents. During the season, Gastin touched everyone’s heart as much as Flash, that it is not clear to me DC’s decision to hire another actor for the film Justice League. This may be a wrong move, ie. I may find that Flash TV is more popular than film Flash.
