The Flash (2014)

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1. 

   Siskoid

   Season 1: While I'm a fan of the Berlanti shows (this and Arrow and Supergirl), and of the way they bring the comic book experience to life pretty unashamedly, I do think they are "dumbed-down" television, by which I mean shows where the characters keep repeating information we already know because it doesn't trust the audience to pay attention. And to me, Flash is the worst offender, perhaps because it must juggle so many high concepts (Barry's origin and quest, who the Reverse Flash is, how the villains got their powers, the romantic triangles, Firestorm, yada yada yada). Watched on a weekly basis, I would notice it and nothing more, perhaps, but on DVD, even in fits and starts, it became distracting. Still, a likeable cast (only the world's worst liar Caitlin Snow fails on that level), a very strong arc villain, and a bold comic book approach throwing all sorts of new threats at our hero on a weekly basis. While I expect I won't like how the time paradox from the finale is fixed (I'm demanding when it comes to time travel), I'm primed for Season 2!
   
   Season 2: The Flash Season 2, contemporaneous with Arrow S4, follows the same formula. It front loads episodes that introduce characters heading for Legends of Tomorrow, then gets down to brass tacks, developing a super-evil villain and putting its heroes through hell, a hell from which not all of them may survive. It also introduces Earth-2 (or AN Earth-2), which becomes a source of a fair few new villains, which is cool. I'm less enthused by the tepid Jay Garrick-Caitlin Snow romance, no matter what its payoff is. I guess at this point, I can't quite stand Caitlin blubbering about something or other. That, and anything to do with time travel, because Barry invariably commits time crimes in the most bonehead manner whenever the show goes there. From what I understand, I'm in for some pain in Season 3. But mostly good despite my misgivings.
   
   Flash Season 3 starts with Flashpoint (urg), the fruit of the show's hare-brained ideas about time travel that will come to haunt the entire season, and inject some of the 14-year-old angst that frustrates me about the CW superhero shows (urg again). That said, the "save the cheerleader" plot is an interesting outgrowth of those events, and manages a few surprises (some you might guess, some not) towards the very end. The season has a musical episode that's kind of fun, and a lot of Killer Frost stuff that isn't. I hope that Savitar will be the last "evil speedster" Barry needs to fight and that future seasons will find a different Big Bad for its seasonal arc. As for the convolutions required to keep Tom Cavanagh on the show, I half hope they'll pick one and stick with it, and half wish they go even crazier with it in the future. 6 years 8 months ago

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