I was always enamored by the television show named Flash found on either streaming services such as Netflix or on the television channel of the CW. Whether it was from the spectacular music playing throughout the show, the visual effects the creators and editors put into the show to make it look realistic, or the way the creators developed the plot and characters to make you sense a form of attachment to the show and to the characters you see with every single episode it always has something new. In this review of the television show the Flash I will be looking towards the specific criteria of visual effects, plot and character development, and the music played throughout season one of the show.
A little background for some of you that may not know anything about the cast of the show it features the likes of actors such as Grant Gustin or Barry Allen who is seen on shows like Glee (Sebastian), or other super hero shows like Arrow, and DC Legends of Tomorrow, Danielle Panabaker or Caitlin Snow seen in movies like Sky High and Friday the 13th. Other actors and actresses that are in the show include Candice Patton (Iris West), Jesse Martin (Joe West), and Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon).
The first criteria that I will base the show off of is the way the creators Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns developed the plot of the television show. Since the show is based off of the old DC comic book of The Flash they followed closely with the plot given to them, but decided to put their own creative twist and put their stamp on the show itself. In season one specifically they begin with the origin story of the Barry Allen a simple crime scene forensic scientist or a CSI who is very gifted at his job who has a problem being late to the crime scenes he is assigned to. They start by giving him a flashback in his life to when he was eleven and his mother was killed by a streak of the color yellow and his father a well regarded surgeon was framed as the main culprit to the murder of his beloved wife.
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The story then progresses to the night a massive event occurred spewing particle accelerator particles mixing with the chemicals of his lab and a bolt of lighting striking him setting him in a nine month coma. When Barry wakes up he is situated in Star Labs the site of the accelerator explosion and we are greeted by the rest of the team of Joe and Iris West which is his foster parents, Cisco, Caitlin, and Dr. Harrison Wells the team of Star Labs. As the season progresses we see Barry discovering and training his skills so he can go out and defeat the other people who gained powers during the accelerator explosion also known as Meta Humans. The creators really gave us a sense of wonderment and a creative that made us love the characters through the use of their writing of the plot. We saw clearly through the first season that the show was aiming to be different from all the other superhero television shows, breaking the mold of a traditional show while also satisfying the needs of the die hard comic and nostalgic movie audience that have been with the Scarlet Speedster from the beginning.
The second criteria that I believed really captivated the audience of the television show was the way the creators developed our ties to the characters all in by themselves. We all saw during season one that Barry Allen was the loveable CSI during the day and a intelligent love-stricken superhero by the night. When he tried to hide his powers during the day and cover for the fact that he must hide his identity from the rest of society including his family we got a sense of who he was especially when he was the Flash having that sort of chip on his shoulder making every incident he ran to personal rather than just another day. The use of character development for Cisco, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells really grew as well since they were just the dorky intelligent scientists from Star Labs, but grew into the role of family for Barry since they helped him through the most challenging time of his life, and help him hone his skills. Joe and Iris West also grew as the story progressed Joe went from that know it all veteran cop to the lovable father figure Barry always had, but finally made Barry realize the importance of Joe, and Iris became even more of a love interest for Barry that had her own storyline that made us see how she played a role in the life of the Flash.
The third criteria that I believed the creators hit the head of the nail on was the visual effects of season one of the show. It was a very complicated time for the sort of effects the show incorporated, and really began to captivate the audience and committed fan base. The head of visual effects for the show Armen Kevorkian stated. ‘It was definitely a challenge in the beginning, I knew it could be done, but it was just convincing everyone around me that it could be done too. A lot of these artists came from a TV background where they haven’t done this type of work, so the mind frame was, ‘If it hasn’t been done, it can’t be done.’ I feel the opposite where, if it can’t be done, we should find a way to do it.’ Even with a team of only television animators they definitely captured the essence of what the show was all about. Seeing the ways the animators created lightning around Barry Allen, or the other kinds of superhuman acts they create they really do it well, that makes everything look so realistic. There is one scene in season one in which the animators create a tornado in the middle of a farmhouse and they created a scene which made me sit back and say Wow! There are countless events like this throughout the show and it really helps seal its place in the books of a great superhero television show.
The fourth and final criteria that I will base the show off of that did great was the music and background music you hear throughout the television series. Whether it came down to an important monologue, an emotional moment, or the evident defeat of an evil Meta Human trying to take down the city it showed character and gave real emotional ties to the show. Some things musically that the show excelled in was drawing interest to moments that music made the scenes more memorable. The creators ensured that in this season background music was key whether it was a soft music line to encompass emotion either sad or loving, to loud and in your face to capture the essence of triumph and victory the show related to every emotion feasible. The creators also took advantage of one of the main cast members ability to sing. As mentioned previously in my essay that the actor who played Barry Allen/Flash, Grant Gustin had a pivotal role in the song based series of Glee and the creators showcased that ability throughout. He had a variety of singing moments that made the viewers feel even more attached to the lovable Barry Allen even more.
If you want a show that you can sit down and really begin to feel attached with the characters, or have a sense of wonderment that makes you feel like wanting to be in the plot I suggest this series for you. If you want a show that has phenomenal visual effects, and places musical pieces throughout this is a show for you. Even if you are not a fan of superhero television or movies I still suggest to attempt a viewing of The Flash since it is much more than a superhero show, its in a way a rom-com, crime show, and something that truly breaks that prototypical mold of what superheroes have created over the last century.
