TV Critic
There’s a lot to like about The CW’s The Flash. Speedster Barry Allen is portrayed as an endearingly nerdy science geek, who actually likes being a superhero instead of being grim and brooding. It’s fun, lighthearted entertainment. Yet the show is dogged by one major problem the writers must address: Flash needs to go faster. Much faster.
It’s an unfortunate flaw in what’s otherwise an enjoyable hour of TV, and it happens in every episode. Flash will run pretty fast, but hundreds of miles per hour slower than he should. Other times he’ll walk at normal speed, or even stand completely still while talking to people, instead of running really fast. At his fastest, Flash is not fast enough, and at his slowest, he’s not fast at all.
It’s an odd misstep, because in many other ways the show has hit the ground running (no pun intended). His allies at S.T.A.R. Labs and the Central City Police Department are likable characters with interesting backstories. I expected that Flash’s friends would run super fast, but as of the most recent episode, none of them has run fast even once. At a minimum, they should all be running as fast as the Flash runs now, and the Flash should run eight times as fast.
…it happens in every episode. Flash will run pretty fast, but hundreds of miles per hour slower than he should.
All the ingredients for a good show are here, but they’re moving much too slow.
The introduction of classic comic book villains like Captain Cold made me hopeful that viewers would finally get the amazing speed they craved. Here would be a worthy match for the Flash, a supervillain who runs fast enough and is constantly causing sonic booms that explode car windows wherever he goes. Instead, I was disappointed to find out that Captain Cold fires cold beams and is not fast. Not even remotely. What were the writers thinking?
Despite it all, I remain a fan of The Flash, and will keep tuning in each week in case it improves. With a few small fixes, the Flash could become a real speed demon who moves so beautifully fast that the TV screen is entirely red, because he’s fast enough to be everywhere at once. Fingers crossed for next season!
