Is The Flash just another superhero-comic-genre tv show and despite its early success will you care to keep watching long after season one?

The Show: The Flash

The Network: CW

The Genre: Superhero drama/Action

The Challenge: Give a show four episodes with which to draw you in, impress you, challenge you, make you feel something deeply. Four episodes for the chance to find out if you care what happens to the characters you’re watching enough to become invested in the story. If after all that, it does none of those things for you? Then no biggie. You gave it a good shot and you can move on. But if you love it, you’ll be glad you stuck around.

The Premise: Barry Allen witnessed his mother’s strange murder as a child, for which his father wrongfully went to prison, after which he was raised by Detective Joe West and his family. Barry has become a crime scene investigator for the Central City Police Department and lives a relatively normal life until he is struck by lightning and doused with chemicals in his lab. He wakes after a nine-month coma and finds that he has developed superhuman speed abilities. He decides to use these abilities to fight against criminals, with the help of a team lead by Harrison Wells, the designer of a failed particle accelerator that flooded the city with radiation. Barry is also trying to find the true killer of his mother to serve justice and clear his father’s name.

#1: WestAllen is the heart of the show

Barry Allen may be the lead of this show, but Iris West is his better half. It didn’t take long for the show to establish that Barry is pining for Iris but she only sees him as a best friend sort. She’s taken up with Eddie Thawne for the time being, a relationship that pales in comparison to those smouldering looks between Barry and Iris. Eddie doesn’t seem like such a bad guy now but… according to the comic mythology, pretty-boy Eddie is set to be Reverse-Flash (a super villain). Getting back to Barry and Iris, we have to commend Grant Gustin and Candice Patton for the work they have done in bringing these two characters to life. They have already endeared us to the characters on their own merits and charms. Barry is entirely adorable and makes every effort to be the best person he can be, and Iris has such warmth, vivacity, and we love the compassion she has for those closest to her. Together, these two are a force to be reckoned with. We’re not sure how Iris is going to react when she learns that Barry has been keeping this secret from her but if she gets upset (which she probably will and rightfully so), and Barry gets that sad puppy-dog face of devastation, we’ll probably revert to a blubbering mess. Bring it on.

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#2: Back From The Dead

One of the team members helping Barry is Caitlin Snow, a character set to become a villain named “Killer Frost,” according to the comics. Caitlin is a character that begins as being quite closed off but eventually opens up to Barry due to their shared experiences of losing a loved one. In Barry’s case it was his mother and in Caitlin’s case it was her fiancé, Ronnie Raymond. In the comics, Ronnie is set to be one half of the character “Firestorm” and make no mistake, Ronnie is still alive. He has yet to make his return from “the dead” but the show has introduced him in a flashback series and it was a beautifully executed sequence which gave greater character insight to Caitlin, Ronnie, and even other team member Cisco. This exemplified the organisation the writers have employed in building the show’s mythology, introducing and developing characters, and effectively teasing of things to come.

#3: Fathers Know Best

One of the strongest sources of dramatic content on The Flash has come from both of Barry’s fathers. No, Barry’s dad hasn’t shacked up with Joe West. But being that Joe raised Barry from the time his mother died and his father went to prison, he is very much a father-figure. At the end of episode 2, Barry gave an incredibly moving speech to Joe about all the things he has done for him and how he is basically another father to him and it caught us completely off-guard in the best way possible. The episode itself was okay but that speech at the end had us teary-eyed with its emotional potency. Jesse L. Martin is arguably the strongest performer on the entire show. Anytime he gives a speech, whether it’s to Barry about how to maintain his moral centre or to Henry Allen promising to help find the truth, it’s truly magnificent. Henry Allen also had a solid speech he delivered to Barry, in which he shared the story about Barry being a late bloomer when it came to walking but upon doing it, he ran and did so straight to his mother. It was such a powerful moment that encompassed the core of who Barry is and what he is fighting for, and John Wesley Shipp acted it very well. Shipp has a lot of restrictions placed on him, as his scenes usually consist of him being sat behind a glass pane but he still manages to convey a great deal and provoke an emotional reaction to whomever he is speaking with and the viewers.

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#4: Cooler Than Ice, Hotter Than Fire

The Flash has introduced a fair few villains in just four episodes but by far, the most exciting was Leonard Snart/Captain Cold and Mick Rory/Heat Wave. We won’t deny that part of what has us delighted to see this duo is the fact that it’s an unofficial Prison Break reunion between Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell. We loved the origin story of Captain Cold, and Wentworth’s performance. The smooth elegance in his physicality and delivery of lines, the little smirk at Cisco’s bestowing his super villain name on him, made us favour him more than any other villain introduced. We were fine with his getting away because it meant he’d be coming back. But as if that weren’t reason enough to be pleased, the episode closed with a post-credits scene in which Captain Cold sought out Heat Wave to be his partner-in-crime. Double the villainy? Double the action? Yes, please!

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Final Verdict: The Flash has a secret weapon!

The Flash has had a strong start. Already we have been introduced to plots and characters that will be revisited at some point and it seems like the writers have a larger mythology they are taking proper time to carefully build and set up episode by episode. Grant Gustin makes for a compelling lead, not just because of his abilities to fight and apprehend criminals, but far more so due to his brilliant handling of the content of Barry’s personal character. The special effects have continued to become more impressive, but are never used as a means to compensate for the greater stories in play. There have been many a moment that the scale of the show feels closer to cinematic than small-screen, and has made a nice use of its crossovers with characters from its predecessor, Arrow, but does not need that show to stand on its own. We are greatly looking forward to seeing the final product of a full season, from all the battles Team Flash will fight, to all the interpersonal relationships that give the show such heart.