The FLASH TV SERIES

[Zero Hunter]

I actually love how they went with having wally leave. Not the manner of which it was done, but really Wally needed to leave. I get people think he is the best flash or what have you but he falls flat. I like the character enough but you can't have two characters with the same exact power set as one will always prove better then the other and it gets boring. Its why Team Arrow no one has the same power set or anything. Oliver with Arrows, Felicity with tech, john with military, Wild dog kind of out there. Canary with police training and her sonic scream, Mister Terrific with tech (which differs greatly from Felicity's hers is more coding while his is more engineering) and his fighting. No one is a carbon copy of some one else. Even Team Flash, Barry has speed, Catilin frost powers and a doctor, Cisco vibe powers and engineer, Harry brilliant scientist with a different mind set as he is from another earth where the sciences at times seems slightly more advanced. Wally was kind of left nowhere. They already had a super fast guy they don't need another one.

To me Wally would have been better served as a member of the Legends. With Stein going away soon, unless they bring some one else in to merge with Jackson then jackson needs to go too. Wally was a bit of a gear head and having him take over for Jackson would be perfect. Not just that but say Wally some how gets stranded somewhere (past present or future) and needs to get back to the team he has the flash's power set to run back in time or forward in it to get to them with out the jump ship or time ship. I think that would be his best course of action.

I am much happier with Wally needing some time away than him just standing around being useless every episode. I have been saying for a while no that the show can really only handle one speedster most of the time. This way when Wally does come back they will actual have a reason for it.

[Jim Kelly]

I would do the Flash Family as a kind of reversal of Ordway's Marvel Family. If I recall correctly, when the Marvels all used the power of SHAZAM at the same time, their power was lessened yet, if only one was active, then he or she had all the power--it was a power-sharing concept.

But with the Flash Family, I would say that their power increases exponentially the more they work together. So Flash alone is to the tenth power; Flash and Kid Flash is to the hundredth power; Flash, Kid Flash and Jesse Quick is to the thousandth power; Flash, Kid Flash, Jesse Quick and Jay Flash is to the ten thousandth power. But they have to be within each other's Speed Force aura for this to work.

It's like in distance running or cycling. Sometimes racers work together--a pack follows behind the lead in his slip stream. I would say that the Fastest family can lend each other speed--so there's a reason why they have to work together and a limit on the power of each speedster as an individual when he breaks away from the pack.

I wonder what Blue Valley is like on their Earth. Back in the '60s, Blue Valley was a sleepy town with not much crime beyond some juvenile delinquency. But by the time Courtney Whitmore was there, the crime rate was sufficient to warrant a full-time crime-fighting duo. I just think Wally will get awfully bored there, given he was Central City's number one super-hero for six months and he kept a lid on that city's violent offenders. Blue Valley should be a cake walk.

[Frontier]

One thing I did like about Hazard's characterization, was how they kept her fairly close to the comics, even though they omitted her grandfather, she did nearly bankrupt the Casino, and was portrayed as non-villainous for the most part. Here's hoping she becomes if not a regular, but a person that shows up time to time.
I am glad they didn't make her grim and gritty for no reason.

I wonder if that was intentional or if she was genuinely just keeping up her winning streak? I think Becky's genuinely a nice enough girl, but it is kind of hard to tell how intentionally villainous or innocent she is of what she's doing.

Granted, after she got fired for the incident involving the guy who sexually harassed her, I wouldn't blame her for trying to get back at the casino.

I wouldn't mind Hazard becoming a recurring or more frequent character, particularly if Sugar Lyn Beard doesn't mind reprising the role, even past this Thinker storyline. We could use more fun, glamorous, and sympathetic villains (even if she's not necessarily a villain) like her in the Arroweverse in my opinion (as long as her luck shtick doesn't wear thin) .

Tonally it would never work but I kind of want to see her go up against Team Arrow .

I agree, RyDub. Having Wally in a different era than Barry's would be the best thing for him.

That feels like a bit of a cop-out to me, in terms of the show's handling of and focus (or lack there of) on Wally up to this point.

It's like, you can't make Wally West work on a Flash TV show or write him well enough, let alone give him a proper dynamic and relationship with Barry, so let's shift him to another time period or show? That just screams a failure to me on a writing level.

I feel like they probably would have more to do with Wally if they hadn't kept giving stuff that was specific to him (his love interests, his villains, and supporting characters) to Barry. But even then they could probably have still found more to do with Wally then what they ultimately did.

Heh. That's #1 on my despise list.

No hero who has starred in his or her own magazine or series within a comic book should ever have that happen to that character. Anything else is preferable than that, IMO. Now if it's a Terra situation as seen in The Judas Contract, that's a different story.

I really can't see them believably turning Ralph Dibny, of all people, into a villain unless he's Ralph in-name-only.

Even turning him into more a "scoundrel" type just seems like they're trying to make him more like Plastic Man.

[Tazirai]

I wonder if that was intentional or if she was genuinely just keeping up her winning streak? I think Becky's genuinely a nice enough girl, but it is kind of hard to tell how intentionally villainous or innocent she is of what she's doing.

Granted, after she got fired for the incident involving the guy who sexually harassed her, I wouldn't blame her for trying to get back at the casino.

I wouldn't mind Hazard becoming a recurring or more frequent character, particularly if Sugar Lyn Beard doesn't mind reprising the role, even past this Thinker storyline. We could use more fun, glamorous, and sympathetic villains (even if she's not necessarily a villain) like her in the Arroweverse in my opinion (as long as her luck shtick doesn't wear thin) .

Tonally it would never work but I kind of want to see her go up against Team Arrow .

If they do keep her, they can reuse her casino outfit, just update it a bit, and maybe Harrison or Vibe can give her the dice as a Focus for her abilities. so instead of affecting everything, she only affects things within a 20-30 foot range/radius. Kinda like the comics.
In the comics the powers are tied to her dice, but I like this about her having the power, and using a focus.

[AdamFTF]

Is Cecile considered to be part of the Flash family? Because in the comics, the Flash family has a bit of a propensity for twins. And when a Flash kid isn't a twin, they usually get cloned so that they might as well be. I'm just saying, her and Joe might want to be prepared.

Anyway, I'm glad they're playing up the comedy. Because when they played up the drama, it was usually just Barry brooding over the same thing over and over.

It's too bad about Wally, but him leaving for a while is probably better than him getting conveniently knocked out at the beginning of fights like he was against Kilg%re.

And next week, we get the Elongated Man as a down-and-out ex-cop/private detective. I hope they do right by Ralph because he hasn't had a great presence in the comics since Identity Crisis. Can't tell from the preview because that just seemed to emphasize how gross his power can look. Anyone want to place bets on the word "Gingold" appearing in the script as an in-joke?

[Jim Kelly]

Hopefully the actor who plays Ralph is good at the comedy. While the Flash crew used to have good comic timing, they seem to be off their game this season--with only Cavanagh continuing to tickle my funny bone. Carlos Valdes used to be funny, but I find his Cisco too smug and full of himself now. While Caitlin is so pyschologically damaged, it just ain't funny.

If they bring back Hazard, maybe they could introduce Amos Fortune into the mix. He's an offbeat rogue with his manipulation of "luck glands." I found out that there was an actual Amos Fortune, in the 1700s--an African-American and in 1950 there was a novel about him called AMOS FORTUNE, FREE MAN. I'm guessing this is where Julius Schwartz and Gardner Fox got the name, although their villain was white not black. If FLASH did use Amos Fortune, perhaps as the owner of the Starlight Casino, they could cast an African-American to play him. Which is what he proabably should have been all along.

[Frontier]

Hopefully the actor who plays Ralph is good at the comedy. While the Flash crew used to have good comic timing, they seem to be off their game this season--with only Cavanagh continuing to tickle my funny bone. Carlos Valdes used to be funny, but I find his Cisco too smug and full of himself now. While Caitlin is so pyschologically damaged, it just ain't funny.

If they bring back Hazard, maybe they could introduce Amos Fortune into the mix. He's an offbeat rogue with his manipulation of "luck glands." I found out that there was an actual Amos Fortune, in the 1700s--an African-American and in 1950 there was a novel about him called AMOS FORTUNE, FREE MAN. I'm guessing this is where Julius Schwartz and Gardner Fox got the name, although their villain was white not black. If FLASH did use Amos Fortune, perhaps as the owner of the Starlight Casino, they could cast an African-American to play him. Which is what he proabably should have been all along.

I would totally be down for a Hazard and Amos Fortune team-up .

(Or Team Flash teaming-up with Becky to fight Amos. That works too ).

[SXVA]

Sorry if I'm a little insulted by this. The whole point of art in a post-modernist society is to approach it with your own ideals, experiences, and concepts so you can apply those to whatever you're taking in. That's why art is different for different people. You can't expect everyone to sit back and enjoy everything and then claim they don't understand art when they don't enjoy it.

Yes, it is about me and my perspective. Like I said, post-modernism. Modernism is a top-down ideal and while I am a modernist in certain areas, for stuff like this it's just not right in my opinion. I'm honestly confused why you're trying to give me philosophical advice about enjoying an episode. I'm simply pointing out what I dislike. The writers of all of the DCCW shows constantly write what is the most easy for them. There are too many scenarios where characters leave a fight scene because they can't defeat a villain and this departure is written hastily and not expanded upon at all. Other things like Jesse leaving, Wally leaving, Harry coming back, Barry coming back, to me were written too conveniently.

I'm really glad you like the show man; I'm happy you're enjoying it and I hope you continue to enjoy it. I enjoy parts of the show as well. I'm a big fan of the lighter and goofier tone and the golden-agey humor really works in my opinion. I feel we are getting closer to a more comic-accurate pre-Crisis Barry Allen and I'm ecstatic about it. However, to me the writing is simply not good. And it has nothing to do with my "mindset" or not understanding what I don't know, it's simply my opinion, and I would appreciate you keeping your advice to yourself next time. Thank you.

Art for the most part is mirrored reflection within. The artist or artists express themselves through art and the individual receiving/connecting interprets and connects through perspective. That's why it's different from person to person because each perspective is unique... based on an uniquely individual life journey.

Most people have an extremely limited perspective, however...

What you are doing and most people is different than what you say here. It's not simply approaching it with your own ideals, experiences and concepts and applying them to interpretation with an understanding of perspective, art and open mind, etc... it's instead rather taking these things and building a small box with them. This doesn't fit in the box, that doesn't fit in the box = it's bad/dismissed.

It's not about good/bad, it's about perspective. That's the point of my "philosophical advice". You see it as not "right", lazy and/or bad because it doesn't fit in said box. That doesn't mean that's what they are but it's the way you are seeing it and you could see it in a different way. Meanwhile you're only even looking at half the picture at best. The writers for example are looking at a full picture by comparison. Like the thing about Barry slipping on marbles, this happened.. this is the way it happened, yet you are sitting back saying no this isn't how it would happen... The way in which Wells reacted upon returning to this earth you are sitting back stating that's not how he'd react yet that is how he reacted. Do you not get how this is the actual cause and not that it's good or bad.

Just to throw a hypothetical out there, say a person had this same perspective about the episode and was stranded on a deserted island for a few years cut off from phones, internet and everything else similar. They finally make it back and after a time getting back into some of the shows they liked and come across this same episode. Do you honestly think this person will be sitting back thinking that's not the way Barry would slip on these marbles, that's not the way Wells would react, this and that wouldn't happen in real life like this, etc, etc and on and on. Hint: They wouldn't. Nothing about the episode changed, they didn't go back and rewrite it, there was no reshoots. The only difference within this equation is the change of perspective.

It's not about me necessarily agreeing with everything in the episodes and that's why i enjoy them. There are moments of conflict, where the I part of my being has difficulty accepting certain things or disagreeing but the difference is just in the way i approach this through perspective and understanding. This doesn't stop me from enjoying. It doesn't cause me to dismiss or retreat. Instead i choose to hear the difference and accept it. I put the art above the I with humility and the understanding that i don't know and that i am small.

You stated that "i just want the show to be good", i opened the gateway for you to find this but i didn't expect you to take this path. Most people won't.

As to keeping my advice to myself, i'll choose to express myself when i feel inspired to and it goes beyond simple advice to you, or than you and I. You can of course also choose to ignore it... it is though.

[90'sCartoonMan]

This episode was pretty funny, and Becky made for a unique villain. I feel like an average person who got powers would want to even the score like she did, and you could kind of see her regret when Barry pointed out that she's making everyone else feel as bad as she did. The comedy worked pretty well, but I think Iris went a little overboard with the whole "let's get married right after this funeral!" thing (and not taking off her wedding dress for the remainder of the episode). Why is their wedding so soon, anyway? It should take longer to plan. Ehh, speedster weddings, I guess.

So is Harry going to be our Wells for this season? I swear he was channeling HR a few times there, but that may be because being kicked off his Earth and having to break up with his daughter's boyfriend made him flustered. I do like him arguing with Cisco. No more tech in Barry's costume? You know, some of that could've been useful.

As for Wally's departure, I just hope this means they're going to do something with him. Will he meet up with Roy so they can swap sidekick stories? Will he have an ongoing subplot where he is fighting a threat alone? As long as he doesn't somehow lose his powers, that would suck.

I really don't like how they've handled Jesse Quick and Kid Flash. Those guys deserve better.

Although it's all off screen, I do find it fairly impressive that Jesse is so busy she needs her own team.

Why was Team Flash playing lastertag with a bunch of random kids? Is this just how they give back to the community...?

I think lasertag is their way of unwinding. Unfortunately, they're the only adults who play so they have to settle for a game against children (not unlike Barney Stinson).

So Earth-2 has holographic Dear John letters, essentially? I don't know if that's better or worse .

Better because their cubes come with tissues.

I'm guessing he'll be one of the 12 metas that was on the bus.

He might be, but wasn't he supposedly one of the people affected by the particle accelerator? Unless "Ralph Dibny" is just that common a name.

Which is why it would be better to have something like flubberite, a known substance that repels speedsters, so at least the writers would have an established excuse--rather than constantly inducing plot stupidity whenever they need to take out a speedster.

Flubberite?! They actually could make up some BS about how a certain wattage of electricity or some kind of sound wave disrupts the flow of the Speed Force.

But with the Flash Family, I would say that their power increases exponentially the more they work together. So Flash alone is to the tenth power; Flash and Kid Flash is to the hundredth power; Flash, Kid Flash and Jesse Quick is to the thousandth power; Flash, Kid Flash, Jesse Quick and Jay Flash is to the ten thousandth power. But they have to be within each other's Speed Force aura for this to work.

It's like in distance running or cycling. Sometimes racers work together--a pack follows behind the lead in his slip stream. I would say that the Fastest family can lend each other speed--so there's a reason why they have to work together and a limit on the power of each speedster as an individual when he breaks away from the pack.

That's kind of like how Mas Y Menos operated. Only they had to be in physical contact with each other or else they didn't have speed at all.

Is Cecile considered to be part of the Flash family? Because in the comics, the Flash family has a bit of a propensity for twins. And when a Flash kid isn't a twin, they usually get cloned so that they might as well be. I'm just saying, her and Joe might want to be prepared.

They're going to need more diapers.

[Elmo]

Art for the most part is mirrored reflection within. The artist or artists express themselves through art and the individual receiving/connecting interprets and connects through perspective. That's why it's different from person to person because each perspective is unique... based on an uniquely individual life journey.

Most people have an extremely limited perspective, however...

What you are doing and most people is different than what you say here. It's not simply approaching it with your own ideals, experiences and concepts and applying them to interpretation with an understanding of perspective, art and open mind, etc... it's instead rather taking these things and building a small box with them. This doesn't fit in the box, that doesn't fit in the box = it's bad/dismissed.

It's not about good/bad, it's about perspective. That's the point of my "philosophical advice". You see it as not "right", lazy and/or bad because it doesn't fit in said box. That doesn't mean that's what they are but it's the way you are seeing it and you could see it in a different way. Meanwhile you're only even looking at half the picture at best. The writers for example are looking at a full picture by comparison. Like the thing about Barry slipping on marbles, this happened.. this is the way it happened, yet you are sitting back saying no this isn't how it would happen... The way in which Wells reacted upon returning to this earth you are sitting back stating that's not how he'd react yet that is how he reacted. Do you not get how this is the actual cause and not that it's good or bad.

Just to throw a hypothetical out there, say a person had this same perspective about the episode and was stranded on a deserted island for a few years cut off from phones, internet and everything else similar. They finally make it back and after a time getting back into some of the shows they liked and come across this same episode. Do you honestly think this person will be sitting back thinking that's not the way Barry would slip on these marbles, that's not the way Wells would react, this and that wouldn't happen in real life like this, etc, etc and on and on. Hint: They wouldn't. Nothing about the episode changed, they didn't go back and rewrite it, there was no reshoots. The only difference within this equation is the change of perspective.

It's not about me necessarily agreeing with everything in the episodes and that's why i enjoy them. There are moments of conflict, where the I part of my being has difficulty accepting certain things or disagreeing but the difference is just in the way i approach this through perspective and understanding. This doesn't stop me from enjoying. It doesn't cause me to dismiss or retreat. Instead i choose to hear the difference and accept it. I put the art above the I with humility and the understanding that i don't know and that i am small.

You stated that "i just want the show to be good", i opened the gateway for you to find this but i didn't expect you to take this path. Most people won't.

As to keeping my advice to myself, i'll choose to express myself when i feel inspired to and it goes beyond simple advice to you, or than you and I. You can of course also choose to ignore it... it is though.

Sorry man I really don't have time or energy to read all this and senselessly argue with you. Just let me have my opinion and I'll let you have yours. Don't see why it should be discussed further

[The Darknight Detective]

That feels like a bit of a cop-out to me, in terms of the show's handling of and focus (or lack there of) on Wally up to this point.

It's like, you can't make Wally West work on a Flash TV show or write him well enough, let alone give him a proper dynamic and relationship with Barry, so let's shift him to another time period or show? That just screams a failure to me on a writing level.

I feel like they probably would have more to do with Wally if they hadn't kept giving stuff that was specific to him (his love interests, his villains, and supporting characters) to Barry. But even then they could probably have still found more to do with Wally then what they ultimately did.

They could do all you stated, Frontier, but still at a lower level than Barry. He would never be a true equal on Grant Gustin's show, which illustrates one glaring difference between comics and television. On another show in a different era or universe, however, Wally could shine just as bright.

I really can't see them believably turning Ralph Dibny, of all people, into a villain unless he's Ralph in-name-only.

Even turning him into more a "scoundrel" type just seems like they're trying to make him more like Plastic Man.

I would be surprised, too, but since it is a different universe... who knows?

[The Darknight Detective]

Is Cecile considered to be part of the Flash family?

I'll take her in if they don't want her. Man, she has some dreamy eyes there.

[PyroTwilight]

They're going to need more diapers.

Oh dangit. Was this what that line from Barry meant. XD

Yeah I love all the theories I'm hearing only.

"Is this Daniel West? Is this this universes version of Bart Allen/Bart West?"

Haha.

[Frontier]

This episode was pretty funny, and Becky made for a unique villain. I feel like an average person who got powers would want to even the score like she did, and you could kind of see her regret when Barry pointed out that she's making everyone else feel as bad as she did. The comedy worked pretty well, but I think Iris went a little overboard with the whole "let's get married right after this funeral!" thing (and not taking off her wedding dress for the remainder of the episode). Why is their wedding so soon, anyway? It should take longer to plan. Ehh, speedster weddings, I guess.

It's like they have to time it with an upcoming crossover or something .

So is Harry going to be our Wells for this season? I swear he was channeling HR a few times there, but that may be because being kicked off his Earth and having to break up with his daughter's boyfriend made him flustered. I do like him arguing with Cisco. No more tech in Barry's costume? You know, some of that could've been useful.

I think it's because Harry's now hanging around in a "back to basics" season of fun and adventure versus season 2 where he was dealing with the very serious Zoom storyline.

I think the vizor would probably have been pretty useful to keep around, but then that would make Team Flash kind of redundant since Barry could get all the info he needs from them through it.

As for Wally's departure, I just hope this means they're going to do something with him. Will he meet up with Roy so they can swap sidekick stories? Will he have an ongoing subplot where he is fighting a threat alone? As long as he doesn't somehow lose his powers, that would suck.

Or end up with a pacemaker/heart condition.

Although it's all off screen, I do find it fairly impressive that Jesse is so busy she needs her own team.

Well, she was seemingly the only hero of her Earth so she probably could use all the help she could get.

He might be, but wasn't he supposedly one of the people affected by the particle accelerator? Unless "Ralph Dibny" is just that common a name.

I think he'd be the second or third person mentioned as having died from the Particle Accelerator explosion to be shown to actually be alive (I know Al Rothstein is another).

Oh dangit. Was this what that line from Barry meant. XD

I was starting to think the same thing .

They could do all you stated, Frontier, but still at a lower level than Barry. He would never be a true equal on Grant Gustin's show, which illustrates one glaring difference between comics and television. On another show in a different era or universe, however, Wally could shine just as bright.

I know Barry is the main character, but I don't think that means they needed to drop the ball with Wally or make him look as ineffectual or redundant as he is here.

I mean, there was probably way more they could do with him then just ship him off or relationships they could better develop (like, y'know, his actual relationship with Barry) but the writers apparently do not seem interested in any of that.

I would be surprised, too, but since it is a different universe... who knows?

Well, I know how Ralph Dibny is normally like, so there's that .

[The Darknight Detective]

I know Barry is the main character, but I don't think that means they needed to drop the ball with Wally or make him look as ineffectual or redundant as he is here.

I mean, there was probably way more they could do with him then just ship him off or relationships they could better develop (like, y'know, his actual relationship with Barry) but the writers apparently do not seem interested in any of that.

I agree that Wally could have performed better in past episodes without having him take Barry's spotlight, so I'm not disagreeing with you there.

Well, I know how Ralph Dibny is normally like, so there's that .

As a 40+ year fan of The Ductile Detective, I agree with you there, too.