THE FLASH Zooms Past the Competition

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: 'The Flash - The Complete Second Season' on Blogcritics.


Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.

While the DC comic universe fails to find success on the big screen, it excels on the small, especially for the shows that air on the CW. The best of these is The Flash, which follows speedster Barry Allen and his friends as they fight metahumans in Central City. The Complete Second Season of The Flash comes to Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday, September 6th, with the four-disc set providing all twenty-three episodes and a host of extras.

The Flash – The Complete Second Season picks up right where the first year left off. Barry (Grant Gustin) saves the world from a temporal vortex, but in the process, attracts the attention of the people on the other side. Let’s call where those other people live Earth 2, because that’s what the show names their locale. Like their counterparts on our Earth (Earth 1), Earth 2 residents deal with metahumans, but while many of their faces seem familiar, with all of the main cast popping up in alter ego form, their personalities do not.

Introducing Earth 2 is convenient for The Flash. It lets the actors on the show have some fun, with heroes tapping into their inner villain. It also keeps things unpredictable, including who someone is at times, since there’s always another character who looks exactly the same lurking nearby. It opens the door for another version of The Flash from the comics, this one named Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears, Masters of Sex), and a new big bad, Zoom. Most importantly, it allows The Flash to retain Tom Cavangh in the cast, whose Harrison Wells turned out to be the bad guy in season one, and was promptly killed.

Normally, I would worry that having Cavangh come back as a very different Dr. Wells cheapens the other Wells’ death. In this case, however, it does not, partly because fans weren’t sad about the first one’s death. The Flash has firmly established the differences between the various characters that each cast member plays, and because the tone of the series is fun, rather than high drama, it enhances things to bring back a solid actor as someone else. I don’t want to give much away about the ending of the season, but I found myself very, very grateful for the convention at year’s close.

Which is not to say that The Flash doesn’t have some new players this year, too. Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale, Dance Academy), Joe’s (Jesse L. Martin) long-lost son, shows up, as does Harrison’s daughter, Jesse (Violett Beane, The Leftovers). Again, I often find it annoying when TV programs bring in new family members, but again, The Flash bucks the trend and makes these two worthwhile contributors who help the show, not hurt it. This is a rare series that can go in expected directions, but use its charm to make that all right.

There are a LOT of extras on The Flash – The Complete Second Season. There’s the now-obligatory shortened Comic Con panel that we all wish was longer, along with deleted scenes and a gag reel. I am also very excited about the inclusion of an episode of Arrow from the shows’ two-part crossover, both halves of which are also in Arrow’s recent release, the doubling up beneficial for those who only follow one of the series (though you should watch both).

There are also a ton of featurettes on special effects, which is great for a show that has so many, and some shorts focuses on important story points, such as Barry and Iris’ (Candice Patton) relationship, the backstory of Firestorm, an introduction to Dr. Light, and many more. A lot of these maybe should have been in the DC’s Legends of Tomorrow DVD set instead, given that some of those featured are main characters on that spin-off, but at least fans get them here, better than never seeing them at all. Overall, it’s a ton of material, much of it good (though some is fluff), and I give the set high marks for its bonus features.

The Flash – The Complete Second Season will be released this Tuesday.

Back in THE FLASH

Article originally published as THE FLASH Review "The Man Who Saved Central City" on Seat42F.

The Flash -- "The Man Who Saved Central City" Pictured: Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/ The Flash -- Photo: Cate Cameron /The CW

Last night’s season premiere of THE FLASH on CW picks up six months after the spring finale. The metropolis wants to honor “The Man Who Saved Central City,” meaning the titular superhero, but Barry (Grant Gustin) doesn’t feel like he’s the one who deserves the credit. After all, both Eddie (Rick Cosnett) and Ronnie (Robbie Amell) gave their lives in the fight, so Barry understandably is reluctant to receive praise. But the problem goes much further when he won’t allow anyone to help him be The Flash anymore and he encounters a villain, Atom-Smasher (wrestler Adam Copeland), whom he cannot defeat himself.

“The Man Who Saved Central City” is a great character-driven hour for Barry. His despair and urge to pull away in order to protect his loved ones is understandable, and one virtually every superhero goes through at one time or another. Thankfully, unlike, say, Arrow, Barry is much more accepting of the help others want to force upon him, and it only takes him a single hour to change his mind. Not that Iris (Candice Patton) and Joe (Jesse L. Martin) give him a choice in the matter.

Barry isn’t the only one who has split off from the group. Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) now finds Star Labs too painful to be in, constantly reminded of Ronnie. She blames herself from not leaving town with him when he asked her to go. As such, she’s accepted a job with a different lab and hasn’t kept in contact with anyone. It only takes one visit and heart-to-heart from Barry, though, to make her feel better. After all, the whole team needs to stick together, and she’s soon back where she belongs.

These elements show us how different THE FLASH is from Arrow and other superhero ventures. It has become in fashion to have our heroes be moody loners, and in many cases, that’s fine. But it’s also refreshing to get a lighter touch sometimes, and Barry is the type of individual this fits well with. The show can be dark in sections, but a thread of optimism runs through it and is an essential part of this series.

“The Man Who Saved Central City” is pretty cool overall. I like that it waits to show us Ronnie’s death, doling out details sparingly at first, but not to the point where it gets annoying. I enjoy very much Barry’s dream sequence at the beginning where he’s stopping Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell) with the help of his full team, making good use of recurring players. Cisco’s (Carlos Valdes) new job with the force is fun, and it’s gratifying to have Dr. Stein (Victor Garber) join the team. The idea that Barry is secretly rebuilding the city at night is neat, too, something most superheroes wouldn’t think to do.

Dr. Wells’ (Tom Cavanagh) presence hangs heavy over the season premiere. We see him in Barry’s dream, and in a video will. Both times he seems kinder, not the evil villain from the end of the season. Is THE FLASH seeking to redeem him? The video he leaves, which provides evidence that frees Henry (John Wesley Shipp) from prison, reaffirms this. I’m not opposed to such a reverse course as long as it’s handled well, giving reason to forgive him before his memory is improved upon. Will he still be around this season to keep the rebranding going, or was his name only in the opening credits for this one last hour?

Despite everything great about “The Man Who Saved Central City,” though, there are two glaring flaws that hurt the episode. One occurs when Joe, Cisco, and Iris openly discuss Barry being The Flash in the middle of the precinct. Aren’t they concerned about blowing his secret identity? Other officers have to hear them, and the last time I checked, only a small circle of people know that Barry is The Flash and it should stay that way. The second is that, right after getting out of prison, Henry leaves town with no explanation.

Henry’s excuse that he’ll get in Barry’s way of becoming who he’s meant to be is crap. Sure, he might be a distraction for a bit, but how does Henry being around impede Barry’s mission? Barry has lots of help, and none of them get in the way. Why doesn’t Barry push for further explanation? And where is Henry going? What else does he have to go to after fourteen years in jail? How is he going to start a new life elsewhere with nothing to his name?

Still, even with these missteps, THE FLASH is generally strong. It’s an entertaining show that has good story and characters. That makes it a show I look forward to each week.

THE FLASH airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.