The Flash The Flash Season 1, Episode 3 "Things You Can't Outrun" General Discussion

[Mikelus]

Given Arrow averaged ~3.68 million live viewers for its first entire season, I'd say we can expect a slightly higher total average when Flash's first season is done. Maybe 3.75 million or so.

Yes, but higher ratings means higher budget and this show needs it more than Arrow. Speaking of sfx:

CW president Mark Pedowitz concedes that “doing effects to the extent that they’re doing it on ‘Flash’ does cause some production nightmares,” but that “each year we do this, it gets better and we’re seeing more feature-like effects being done on television. It’s a little tougher for TV, based on the production schedule and broadcast schedule, but we’re getting to that place where the expertise is all there.”

http://variety.com/2014/tv/features/gotham-flash-arrow-shield-fall-tv-comic-book-heroes-1201306686/

 

[DrCosmic]

I liked it. It didn't get me to tear up like Episode 2 did, but it got me to feel something, and it gave us cool moments and it's still, for my money, the best superhero show on TV.

I can see some of the criticisms. They do recap everything instead of letting any episode stand on it's own. That could improve. Didn't bother me though.

I see that Iris' storyline doesn't have immediate payoff, but that doesn't bother me like it does some. The fact that she's dating a Thawne is pretty much guaranteed to tie into the main storyline with Reverse Flash, and she's the only one exploring his character, and it's not actually a bad story on its own. But the complaint kinda highlights one of the reasons I was really excited about the psychologist angle for Iris. As a reporter, she just questions people about their actions and gets in over her head like an idiot and has to be rescued. That's cliche and unflattering, imho. If you don't like constant recap exposition now, imagine how Iris would be if that was actually her job and role on the show. People would care even less. As a psychologist, she could fill out a fourth 'scooby' slot in the lab as the person who profiles the super criminals, thus providing weaknesses when there are no scientific macguffins to fix the problem. She would be thus tied into exploring the villains' origins and motivations as well, which is not something I personally am interested in, but many people are, apparently. Would also allow Berlanti and co. to use CW-ized versions of all their Silence of the Lambs Flash ideas with Iris playing Clarice. The reporter storyline they seem to be putting her on now ends permanently as soon as she discovers Barry's identity. That just leaves her with Ashely Zolomon's storyline as Eddie plays the Hunter Zolomon role, which ends in death for both, iirc.

EDIT: Unless they use the Iris-really-goes-to-the-future death in the same way Ashley Zolomon's death made Hunter go evil on Eddie Thawne. Maybe it's not so bad like this. Still, professional Flash-fangirl will get old really quick.

Where does the chin piece go when Barry's mask come off?

Away, obviously.

 

[kane9321]

fire and ice..eh?...I SEE WHAT U DID THERE WRITERS

I DONT CARE ABOUT Eddie/Iris...JUST DONT CARE

 

[Glassjaw]

Another good episode in my book. The villain of the week thing will hopefully get taken up a notch with Captain Cold next week. No way they cast Wentworth Miller to have him do as little as the villains so far. I think once things get woven in a little more, and we get a peak behind the curtain concealing the seasons bigger arcs, things are really going to pick up.

Also loved the ending scene with Barry and his Dad.

 

[Rowen]

Where are you at? Here in the Eastern USA it's 8 pm that the show airs.

I'm in Ohio

 

[famicommander]

Once updated overnight ratings came in, numbers for the third episode of The Flash went up to 3.53 million viewers and a 1.5/4 in the 18-49 demographic last night against heavy competition which included The Voice, NCIS, and the first game of the World Series.

http://flashtvnews.com/flash-ratings-for-things-you-cant-outrun/17227

Over 12 million people watched the World Series. That isn't something that Flash will have to compete with on a regular basis.

EDIT: TV By the Numbers has the Live+SD number at 3.59 million, with a 1.5 rating/4 share 18-49

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...usted-down-final-world-series-numbers/317988/

 

[The Guard]

Wasn't a fan of this episode until about halfway through, and then it kicked it up a notch. Joe and Barry's interactions are just fantastic.

Eddie, on the other hand, is a really boring character.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Force = mass x acceleration.... my guess is that if barry were to hit someone with his speed he would actually explode the guy with a punch and maybe even really break his arm in 10 pieces too. Although it will heal, but.... I am guessing 1) he doesn't want to kill and 2) he is still learning how to use his powers. He is young.. he has had his powers for 3 episodes (3 months). Give him time, he will get better at it.

If The Flash adhered to real world physics Barry's head would fly off at the speeds he runs. Also there have been several times in the show already where Barry has hit people really hard at super speed. The only time he doesn't is when the writers need to find a way to make the villains actually pose some sort of challenge to a character who can basically stop time.

Yes, but higher ratings means higher budget and this show needs it more than Arrow. Speaking of sfx:

You would think popular shows would get more budget in their second season, but actually it's often the opposite. Networks assume that because people like the show they can cut the budget without sacrificing ratings therefore increasing their profits. They also want to recoup their losses from all the pilots they made that didn't get picked up to series. It happened to The Walking Dead, it happened to Arrow and it will probably happen to The Flash. Stephen Amell talked about it in a recent episode of Aisha Tyler's Girl on Guy podcast.

Also some of the dialogue in this episode was just so bad. Way too expositional. The writers need to stop assuming their audience are dumb. It's a typical CW problem but it's really not that hard to avoid.

 

[FLICK]

Was that Linda Park that Flash saved from a mugger at the end of the episode?

 

[EssayM]

I actually felt this episode was more emotional than the others. We see the villain going after someone we and Barry actually care about (as opposed to some corporate tycoon we're supposed to hate anyway), the whole "you can't save everyone" theme was really well done, and I actually liked the exploration of Caitlin's backstory. Maybe I'm just already attached to the actress (I've seen her in Sky High and a couple other things before this and I've always kind of liked her), but I thought she did a great job of showing all the emotions and painful memories that going down to the particle accelerator stirred up in her, and I really felt her loss.

I can see some complaints about the action maybe, but I've found the emotion and drama in this show to be pretty well done throughout.

 

[Tv's Phil]

What are the options if they DON'T do a villain of the week?
It's a superhero show so the viewers want to see him fight someone.
He could just tackle a villainless problem but then that would just be a problem of the week with no character.
You don't want him to just regularly keep fighting the Rogues or it could lose it's specialness.

Ideally it'd be a mix of each thing but let's not complain too much about a "trend" that's only 3 episodes long. C'mon guys.

We had the beginnings of Weather Wizard in the pilot(assuming his brother is the actual WW who comes back), two named comic villains, one of which was put away to explain how they're going about imprisoning the Meta humans and next we get Captain Cold.
This isn't exactly a trend.

 

[herolee10]

You know, I just realized....couldn't Barry have just used that Gas Mask that originally came with his suit from the pilot in this episode?lol

 

[combocaz]

Another top episode, FIRESTORM XD.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

You know, I just realized....couldn't Barry have just used that Gas Mask that originally came with his suit from the pilot in this episode?lol

He removed it and threw it away, cause it makes it hard to breathe in the suit.

 

[Human Torch]

The last scene with Barry and his dad was gold.Three episodes in a row with some real heartwarming stuff.I never really figured this series would hit all these emotions notes like they do.

 

[haephestus]

Another awesome episode. The only ... not so great parts are the Iris and Detective Pretty Boy scenes, but now that they're in the open, maybe they'll be better integrated into the story and in some interesting ways.

Although, I'm still not a fan of Iris being The Flash's version of Chloe Sullivan. I realise that she's a reporter in the comic books, but maybe instead of believing she could have been a sceptic. Like a Dana Scully type. Or someone who actively argued against embracing meta-humans because of the danger they posed. Or she could have some shades of grey to her perfect personality (e.g. using her father to secretly access police files and publish sensitive information).

With Detective Pretty Boy, I'm guessing he's vague and bland for story purposes. But, it would still be nice to see a hint of something other than a one-dimensional Prince Charming.

I can't remember from last week, but wouldn't Team Flash have reason to believe that Multiplex is still alive. Sure, Barry thinks that the Prime fell and died, but just a few hours later Simon Stagg was murdered. I would expect one or all of them to be worried that Stagg's killer was Multiplex and that the Prime wasn't killed or that he somehow jumped into an alternate body.

Again, I may have missed it, but does anyone know where Barry lives? I was surprised to see that Iris still lives at home with her father, but since she's studying I guess it's understandable. When Barry awoke from his coma, no-one mentioned anything about his living arrangements (i.e. whether his lease was terminated, his stuff packed up or sold, etc). From memory, we've only seen him in his lab, but not in his home. Does he live with Joe and Iris? Or is he living at Star Labs?

Also, it was great to see Caitlin Snow fleshed out a little. I hope we have a similar style episode for Cisco soon.

 

[DrCosmic]

The loft where he got struck by lightning is where Barry lives. Papa West brings him pizza at his loft. He keeps his bulletin board of clues to free his dad at his home. His lab at the station, you'll recall, is much different, brighter, more office and less industrial. He doesn't have two labs at the station, neither did he go to the station after he got in a fight chasing a bad guy at the particle accelerator.

Also against Chloe Sullivan Iris, which kinda puts the button on why I don't like the reporter angle. I guess I'm the only one here that enjoys Iris and Thawne. Tough times.

 

[DigificWriter]

I guess I'm the only one here that enjoys Iris and Thawne.

You're not.

I vastly prefer Eddie/Iris to Barry/Iris (yes, I'm aware that the latter is from the comics, but the brother-sister/best friends dynamic they have on the series is just too perfect to ruin by pairing them up romantically).

 

[Tv's Phil]

I have no problems with Iris' interest in the red streak as a budding reporter but not necessarily a veteran who may think it's ridiculous, she would be.

And I have no problem with Iris and Eddie.
Mainly because I'm focusing on, not the romance part of it, but rather the fact that it's not going to last and both those characters have future development to play out.
Eddie being likable now will only give the assumed turn, more impact.

 

[Sterling Archer]

The loft where he got struck by lightning is where Barry lives. Papa West brings him pizza at his loft. He keeps his bulletin board of clues to free his dad at his home. His lab at the station, you'll recall, is much different, brighter, more office and less industrial. He doesn't have two labs at the station, neither did he go to the station after he got in a fight chasing a bad guy at the particle accelerator.

That probably could have been made more clear, I just assumed that was the police station.

 

[DrCosmic]

That probably could have been made more clear, I just assumed that was the police station.

I agree. In my head it was kind of a generic space until Joe goes there lookign for him in Episode 2 and then it's like... wait a minute, this kid lives here. Where's his bed!? Kitchen? I think seeing those things (which probably would be against the camera wall) would give a clearer implication.

 

[Shlee]

I haven't finished watching the episode, but I just saw Cisco walk into the room wearing my exact same Catbug t-shirt and I think I am having a fit right now. I got so excited, haha.

 

[Mr.X]

The loft where he got struck by lightning is where Barry lives. Papa West brings him pizza at his loft. He keeps his bulletin board of clues to free his dad at his home. His lab at the station, you'll recall, is much different, brighter, more office and less industrial. He doesn't have two labs at the station, neither did he go to the station after he got in a fight chasing a bad guy at the particle accelerator.

Also against Chloe Sullivan Iris, which kinda puts the button on why I don't like the reporter angle. I guess I'm the only one here that enjoys Iris and Thawne. Tough times.

You're not alone in liking Iris and Thawne, I like them a lot actually. I'm also hoping Barry and Iris's friendship/brother and sister relationship isn't ruined so they can get together. But that's probably not going to happen since they're married or whatever in the comics? I didn't know that before now since I don't read comics.

 

[haephestus]

The loft where he got struck by lightning is where Barry lives.

Ah. Thanks. I thought it was part of his lab at the police department. The two spaces look similar to me - I obviously need to pay closer attention!

 

[W/ Great Power]

Finally going to get around to watching this episode later tonight!