The Flash

[Andy Turnbull]

Hits UK screens on Sky 1 at 8pm on Tuesday.

Now I loved the John Wesley-Shipp show from the very early 1990's and I am looking forward to this.

Andy

[Toph]

Without spoilers, Flash has been BRILLIANT.
DC fans keep your eyes peeled in the pilot because easter eggs are thick on the ground.
The series is much lighter than Arrow. The characters and actors are great.

[legios]

Having seen Barr Allen's debut over on Arrow I am rather looking forward to this. The actor has a charm and a lightness of touch which I think will suit a more "four colour" toned series. I am most certainly planning to give this a go.

Karl

[legios]

Well, premiere of "The Flash" has now been watched. I can safely say that this has absolutely met the expectations that Barry Allen's appearances in "Arrow" created for me. I love the lightness of tone, both in terms of the writing and visually (contrast the very brightly lit environments of "The Flash" to the low light levels even in normal environments over in "Arrow"). I think the lead is wonderful - he really sells Allen as a man who wasn't turned into a Superhero by the lightning bolt, he already had a heroes heart he just needed some powers to go with it. He is likeable, and accessible - and absolutely believable as a man who would almost immediately think "I can do good deeds for people with this power". I will admit the fact that the opening voice-over ended up with a variation of the line that Mark Waid made synonymous with The Flash when he was writing the comic brought a quirk of a smile to my face.

Definitely sold on coming back for the next episode here. This has absolutely done what a premiere should do - told me the premise of the show, and introduced me to characters I want to spend more time with.

Karl

[Andy Turnbull]

Really enjoyed the first episode.

How can DC get their films so woefully wrong and get their TV series so right?

Ah well. Yes plenty of easter eggs in the first ep alone, and I am looking forward to more of the series.

Andy

[Toph]

GUYS IT GETS SOOOO MUCH BETTER.

So far it only builds on the pilot, and just keeps going up.

[Toph]

This show just gets better and better!
If Flash isn't on your watch list, you seriously need to evaluate your life choices.

[legios]

It only just came back over here from the mid-season break last week, along with Arrow. I am still thoroughly onboard with Flash I can assure you. It is on my "must make sure to catch" list - partly because I can't get it on catch-up, so whereas with Arrow I can always run it to Earth the next evening with Flash if I don't keep up it has gone and left me in the dust.

Karl

[Fortmax2020]

Despite some dreadful Science Speak in last night's episode I'm still enjoying the show. Nice to see Cisco get some development beyond just 'Nerd' as well.

[Toph]

I'm assuming it's the pied piper episode you speak?

[Fortmax2020]

Indeed. There was much grumbling from many white coated folk about the nonscience in it in the lab this morning.

[Toph]

There are four types of fictional science:

Real science- where the entire gimmick is to be as scientifically accurate as possible. Examples: none off the top of my head, but I know a few exist.

Plausible science- where the writers try to maintain a sense of realism, but feel free to express themselves. Example: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Science... What's that?- Star Wars!

Comicbook Science- Where the science generally only works within it's own context, reality be damned. Examples: The Flash, most other comicbook shows and movies.

I must confess, I enjoy a good comicbook science BS session.
On topic, who saw this coming? Flash made people like Cisko!

[legios]

I'll be honest, I only worry about science in something which is actually trying to be SF, which... I'd say that I'd be hard-pressed to find a televisual example of these days. When dealing with something like The Flash I would classify their pseudo-science as just another kind of Magic, much like I always do that of Star Trek. And like all fictional magic I expect it to have proper rules and to abide by these (So - to go faster than light the Earthmens spaceship needs (di)Lithium Crystals. As long as they always need (di)Lithium Crystals to do so then things remain consistent and I am happy). Judged by those standards I think that the stuff in the Pied Piper episode was fine as far as I was concerned. No, it wasn't accurate to real world science, but neither is a young man who can run faster than 770mph. But both were presented in a way consistent with the rules of how things worked as they were demonstrated to us, so it doesn't really bother me.

It is why something like CSI bothers me far more than something like The Flash - no-one is seriously pretending that this is an accurate portrayal of how the real world works, whereas the latter does pretend that it replicates reality (and then serves us up Judge Kane of Miam-Cit) so its egregious transgressions annoy me far more

Karl

[Fortmax2020]

Oh, at work we are all fine with a man who can zoom zoom, has explosive hearing aids or can 'vibrate' cars down the road, but a villain whose powers over sound waves give him the ability to see/hear radio waves? Err, no. Its not just stretching the science into the comic book realm, its just completely wrong and stuck out like a sore thumb breaking the 'dream' as it were.

[The Doctor]

I must introduce you to Klaw (The Master of Sound) from Marvel Comics,chum!

-Ralph

[Fortmax2020]

I know Klaw.

[The Doctor]

Good man.

I now return you to your Flash TV show chat.

-Ralph

[Toph]

Something I've realized Flash does for me, is it complements Arrow extremely well.
It's lighter nature... More levity, brighter characters, and more hopeful nature, it allows me to enjoy Arrow more for what it is, instead of wishing for what it isn't.

Green Arrow was always much more lighthearted than Batman. Ollie had a sense of humor, was hopeful, and wasn't afraid to let himself be happy, or have a good time. That was always a huge void in Arrow, as dark and gritty, and serious as it is. I longed for Ollie to start to gain this confidence that his older comic counterpart had in spades, as he started to see how his crusade was becoming effective.
But Flash has all this in spades. I've noticed I've started enjoying Arrow more, because of it.

[Stomski]

Oh Mark Hammill... trying your best to not completely slip into your Joker voice

[Andy Turnbull]

Enjoyed last nights episode, although the boy playing the Trickster's son was bereft of any screen presence.

Andy

[legios]

Yeah, Trickster II didn't even manage to come across as Sidekick material (although it probably looked even worse for me as I had just "catchup TV'd" last weeks episode, and the Rogues worked so much better as an ensemble). But I did think that Hammil was marvelous and it was a really strong episode with both a couple of cracking villain plans and some proper Flash style solutions to them.

Karl

[Stomski]

Hamill saying "I am your Father" was absolute gold though.

[Toph]

I've been watching the old 90s Flash series (and am amazed at how much of a love letter the current series is).

So the old Flash series, they have these giant murals painted everywhere because Aesthetic. They're all the exact same style, thus the same artist.
They're everywhere, from inside the police station, to churches, to sides of restaurants, to inside homes, and even in villain lairs.

This amuses me because it unintentionally implies that there's some mural painting artist who roams around Central City, breaking into places to paint these huge ten foot tall murals.

[blueshift]

Jun 5, 2017 9:28:21 GMT Toph said:

I've been watching the old 90s Flash series (and am amazed at how much of a love letter the current series is).

So the old Flash series, they have these giant murals painted everywhere because Aesthetic. They're all the exact same style, thus the same artist.
They're everywhere, from inside the police station, to churches, to sides of restaurants, to inside homes, and even in villain lairs.

This amuses me because it unintentionally implies that there's some mural painting artist who roams around Central City, breaking into places to paint these huge ten foot tall murals.

Clearly the Rainbow Raider!

[Toph]

Continuing to watch the old series, and it's been a blast.
It's cheesy at times, but it's not campy (the way Lois and Clark was pretty campy. Fun, but campy).
The name dropping homages are pretty fun. Mentioning Gorilla Grodd as a 50s mobster. Barry posing as Professor Zoom, the "creator of the Flash."
It usually bucks the comicbook movie tropes (weird colors, silly angles), that make so many contemporary productions painful to watch.

And I feel bad for John Wesley Shipp. Most of Grant Gustin's superspeed gags are done with CG fudging.
All of Shipp's involve him innthat hot looking foam suit doing it as fast as he can so they can speed up the footage. Like they seriously had him clean up and restock an entire shop!

It's a shame it didn't get another season or two. It's the right mixture of serious, cheese, and fun.

[Andy Turnbull]

Was a big fan of the John Wesley Shipp Flash series as well. Also has Mark Hamill doing a fantastic audition piece for The Joker.

Andy

[Bogatan]

Finally caught up with Season 3. After the big crossover I was a bit DC'd out and stopped watching all four shows.

Turns out Sky no longer have Arrow on demand, but have been catching up with the rest.

I desperately need Flash to stop having to face speedster villains, but did enjoy a lot of the back half of the season.

[Toph]

No evil speedsters in season four (yet)

[Andy Turnbull]

Exactly! Yet. It's bound to happen.

Andy

[Toph]

I can't figure out if the current villain is

SPOILER: Click to show

Metron

or

SPOILER: Click to show

The Monitor

Edit: According to IMDB, he's

SPOILER: Click to show

The Thinker