‘The Flash’ hits the small screen
By Lauren Paulsen, Senior Columnist
3/5
Anyone familiar with the superhero show Arrow will know Barry Allen (played by Grant Gustin) from season two of the series. Now on his own spin-off series, The Flash, the eager young crime scene investigator is obsessed with all things supernatural after his mother is killed by something not-quite-human and his father is blamed. Allen is hit by a lightning bolt made from a malfunctioning particle accelerator and doused in chemicals from his lab, which lands him in a coma for nine months. When he wakes up, he finds he has gained the ability to move really, really fast.
The Flash is filmed in our very own Vancouver. In fact, in the police scene after Allen chases down a metahuman, you can see the SkyTrain rails in the background. I don’t know about you, but I like to pick out the various landmarks in shows filmed nearby and recognize places that I’ve been before.
Unfortunately, that’s probably the most excited I was throughout the show. It wasn’t a bad pilot, but it was predictable. Young outcast has some monumental moment that turns him into a superhero and then, when superhuman bad guys start showing up, he takes it upon himself to dole out justice. And let’s not forget the best friend he has a crush on who is dating her cop father’s partner—said cop father being the same person who raised Allen after he lost both his parents, one to jail and the other murdered.
However, Allen is likeable and Gustin does a good job of pulling off the somewhat goofy yet brilliant young idealist. The special effects that depict him going really fast are kind of neat too, as he streaks like lightning through the streets.
This show has the potential to go either way, so I think it is worth watching another episode to find out where it goes.
