Rollin' Around at the Speed Of--Damn it! Wrong Fictional Speedster...
Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, the Shaman of Animation with a brand new Topic. Back in May of this year, after the Season 2 finale of Arrow, we were treated with a teaser trailer for a new Superhero show that would spin off from Arrow: The Flash. When I saw the first teaser to this show, I rolled my eyes. From the dark suit to the actor playing Barry Allen, the show just seemed like it was going to be another Arrow...and no Superhero show should EVER be like Arrow.
But when the very first trailer made its way online, it actually gave me hope for the show. It had the tone and feel I want out of something Superhero related. Then, the series premiered, and after two episodes, I was completely hooked on it. But, it's simple to say that it's a great show. What I'm here to do is tell you WHY I feel The Flash is the best superhero show on TV right now and convince the naysayers why it's worth watching.
First Off:
A Great lead character
The Key to any good story is a main character the audience can get behind. To me, Barry Allen is that main character. While Grant Gustin doesn't have the look that most would associate with Barry Allen, his portrayal more than makes up for it. He's pretty much like any guy: A man with every day issues and problems that he has to deal with who by mere chance (Or was it?) gains superpowers. He stands out amongst the dark and brooding characters that make the majority of the DC superheroes represented in live action media nowadays. When he gains his powers, he doesn't sit around and mope about how he'll be alone and no one will understand him. No, he does what anyone who gains superpowers does: he has fun with them. He uses them in scenarios that could help him out, even if it's in the most mundane ways; and he's more than ready to use his new gifts to help people.
Barry Allen, much like Peter Parker in Sam Raimi's Spiderman movies, is the underdog. He's the guy who has to balance using his powers for good, while still being there for those closest to them and handle the situations that his personal life hands out to him. Hell, he's a better Peter Parker than the guy who currently plays Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-man movies.
Sorry Andrew Garfield. You're still a great Spider-man though...
What else makes The Flash a great show is:
The Show fully embraces the weirdness that comes with Superheroes
One of the biggest reasons I was initially against the Flash was because I feared that the show was going to try to make the Flash 'more realistic' like the show it spun off of, thus making it very boring in the process...
Maybe one day, I'll actually talk about this show. But that would require me to sit down and watch more than two episodes of it...Excuse me while I shudder at that thought...
The first five minutes of this series, we see Reverse Flash, the Flash's arch enemy, killing Barry's mother when Barry was a kid. At the very end of the first episode, we see this nice little picture.
Pay very close to the details in this picture...
To those who don't know, The Flash is no stranger to time travel. As a matter of fact, he's rearranged time itself and in the process created a brand new universe/timeline (Don't believe me? Watch the animated movie Flashpoint Paradox) What the pic. above and the Reserve Flash moment I just described have in common is that it guarantees that at some point or another, we WILL see the Flash get into some time traveling shenanigans.
Not only that, the show pulls no punches when it comes to the metahumans we see Barry battle. So far, we've seen people that can control the weather, make copies of themselves, turn everything they touch into a bomb and my personal favorite, a dude with a gun that can freeze people.
What killed the Dinosaurs? THE ICE AGE!!!
My final reason for why the Flash is so great is that seeing The Flash's speed is just plain greatness. The Flash shows that Television shows have come a long way showing super speed since the days of Smallville. Every time I see Barry suit up and take off as the Flash, it's exciting to see. Don't believe me? Here's just SOME of the Flash's speed on the show
Skip to the 50 sec. mark to those that don't want to watch this whole scene.
At the end of the day. The Flash is a show with a lot of heart put into it. It's use of special effects, mysteries (All two of them) and it's extremely likable hero make it the best Superhero show on the small screen today. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you watch tonight's episode. I know I will.
Viewers of The Flash can never unsee this now: Which means I've done my job...Take Care everybody.
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