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Review of The Flash 1.06 ‘The Flash is Born’ (Spoilers)

TV SHOW: The Flash

SEASON/EPISODE: 1.06 ‘The Flash is Born’

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jamie Paglia, Chris Rafferty/Millicent Shelton

PLOT:

When another dangerous Meta-human appears in Central City with the power to turn his skin to metal, Barry is shocked to learn that it is a Man who used to bully him when they were at school together.

VERDICT:

So this week we get another super-powered bad-guy who could have easily have been just as forgettable as the majority of the villains have been on this show so far (despite their interesting abilities), but the one thing that stood him out from those was that he was Barry’s childhood bully (the bad-guy goes by the name ‘Girder‘ in the comics). Now even though that was the main plot of this episode and it was adequate, it was hardly up to the high standard that this show has given us in the past. But what made up for it was the more interesting was the side-plot involving Joe and Professor Wells, where the cop asked the head of Star Labs for help in figuring out who the killer of Barry’s Mum is.

Now this brought on some very tense and dramatic moments between the two men as Joe put the pressure on Wells (who though looked uncomfortable) who remained calm as the cop shone a spot light on the Professor. We the viewers know that he is up to no good when not around Barry and his colleagues, but no one else does (and Tom Cavanagh is again excellent in portraying the mysterious Wells). My favourite part of this story was his and Joe’s talk in the Pub, where the atmosphere could be cut with a knife from the moment Joe subtly puts forward that Wells is a suspect.

Now of course the Professor had a ‘get out of jail’ card in the form of his dead wife (which makes Joe feel sorry for him and almost us viewers too, considering the things he has done already). So of course Joe apologises and the two men are friends (or at least acquaintances) again, but then at the episode’s end Joe gets a visit from ‘the man in yellow’ who threatens to kill Iris if the cop does not end his investigation (and that was intriguing, because it is either Wells or someone he knows).

On the other side of the episode, in the not so interesting story playing out. We did get to see Eddie in a more humanising light, showing him to be more than just the jerk that the earlier instalments were making him out to be as he and Barry struck up an unlikely friendship (the scene with them boxing was a nice touch) as well as having the detective see the ‘impossible’ brought some more to his own development too so that he is not just Joe‘s partner.

The stuff with Iris is still not that good to watch, probably because we have seen it all before (‘journalist likes superhero while ignoring the attention of that same hero while he is in his secret-identity’ cliché) and the show has not done anything new with it, though I hope that in the future we get some kind of twist on it. And the bullying aspects for this episode felt a little too forced (like Barry and his friends sharing their childhood experiences, or Barry revealing his identity to the bad-guy…that is not a good idea), which brought the show’s humour and drama down a notch in my opinion.

Also for the first time this (first) season, the special effects for the bad-guy were not that great (since when the met human changes to metal, it doesn’t really look that impressive). But the super-sonic punch did look good (obviously that was the shot that the money went into).

Review Overview

Overall

Not amazing, but not a let down either.

Another episode that bordered on the average line, but it was ultimately saved by very interesting material involving Wells and Joe as well as some character growth for Eddie.

User Rating: 3.45 ( 2 votes)
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