The Flash The Flash Season 2 Episode 1: "The Man Who Saved Central City"

[the dmg]

I liked the premiere, but it definitely wasn't up to the standard set by last season. That's not to say it wasn't without it's problems as I felt the pacing was all over the place.

I really did like that they didn't drag out things like Zoom, Barry going things alone, Jay Garrick reveal, etc. The singularity causing parallel worlds/characters to collide will be cool, but I thought for certain Barry was going to end up in another universe when attempting to close the portal.

Atom Smasher was a wasted character and they should have at least done something with him where it becomes Barry's last resort to have to kill him. I really hope there's some sort of payoff to Henry dropping that bomb on Barry about leaving. This is what he's been fighting for the entire first season, and then it's wrapped up nicely only to have a sour moment for what seems like no reason.

I do have concerns that they have too much on their plate with two new shows coming, and I hope season 2 doesn't suffer like Arrow's season 3 did.

 

[Nathan]

Hopefully the action is going to improve in the upcoming Episodes. Because that was another one of my nitpicks. How much does it cost to animate a blur going around Atom Smasher, to make it look like Barry is hitting him some couple hundred times? I always get annoyed how they dumb Barry down against single opponents. He dodges bullets, but can't dodge a fist.

 

[DrStrange]

I bet we'll find out why he killed his double. My only guess is that if they weren't sure whether he had become the "good Atom Smasher" or not they might want to take him out first before him and the Flash team up.

 

[batdude]

I kind of feel that Ronnie's death and Jay Garrick might have been enough subplot, and they might have wanted to move Henry's exit to the next episode. Atom Smasher was slightly confusing to me, as he was a hero in the comics but I guess we'll see if he comes back.

 

[SuperSanchez]

It was an alright episode, could've been better, didn't like some of the decisions made by the writers, still pretty cool though. Anywhere I can talk about spoilers?

 

[DCnightwing23]

Anyone else feel like it would have been better to have the team apart and Barry working alone for at least two episodes? Maybe a episode and a half. Just felt like it was rushed. Wasn't drawn out enough. Otherwise, terrific episode and what a way to open things up for season 2.

 

[SuperSanchez]

Anyone else feel like it would have been better to have the team apart and Barry working alone for at least two episodes? Maybe a episode and a half. Just felt like it was rushed. Wasn't drawn out enough. Otherwise, terrific episode and what a way to open things up for season 2.

That would've worked better, I also wasn't particularly fond with Henry getting out of jail and just leaving the show. We've waited so long for Barry to try to get him out and then now he's just not coming back which sucks. I think it would've been cool if the episode ending was Dr. Wells giving his confession, and then the start of Episode 2 could be Henry coming out of jail. I agree with you that there were a bit too many underdeveloped subplots.

 

[Rowen]

So is wells still the reverse flash? Are we going to see him again soon.

 

[Herolee10]

So is wells still the reverse flash? Are we going to see him again soon.

No. Wells (aka Eobard Thawne/RF) from Season 1 no longer exists. Now we will see an Harrison Wells from an alternate Earth that supposedly has nothing to do with Thawne or the RF.

On another note, in regards to the questionable quality of certain effects in this episode, the only one that I thought really stood out in a bad way was the shot of firestorm approaching the wormhole. It looked like someone pasted a still photoshoping shothe of Robbie Amell'so head onto a CGI body.

And yeah, Henry's departure should have been saved for another episode. They should have at least shown him having trouble in getting readjusted to regular life, which would factor into his decision to leave for awhile.

 

[Quasimod0]

I liked this episode, but the fights were pretty lame, and I thought that was ridiculous how his Dad just leaves as SOON as he gets out of prison. Why can't they just be happy for like at least a week? Is that too much to ask?
Sometimes forced TV drama makes me upset.

 

[regnak]

Was I the only one expecting Henry to be actually killed off? Like a last laugh sort of thing. Eobard might have lost, but I was thinking he might have hired someone, just in case, to kill Henry the same way he killed Barry's mother.

I was expecting a Zoom by killing. Would have been better than what they did.

 

[SuperSanchez]

Ronnie's not actually dead right? I mean we saw him die but he'll come back right? His death scene was so freakin stupid, wasn't even shocked when he died I'm just like "did he just die?, oh ok cool" they handled his death so poorly, and then he practically says to Caitlyn "I'm so sorry I killed your husband" like right after he dies, like wtf, why would you do that! That scene was just terrible and did not do justice to Ronnie's death.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

So is wells still the reverse flash? Are we going to see him again soon.

A new reverse will come, the opposite of Jay Garrick.

 

[haephestus]

It was good, but not great.

It seemed like they wasted a lot of time re-establishing the status quo and I'm not really sure it was necessary. I understand that Ronnie's "death" (i.e. trip to another dimension due to the actor's unavailability, as evidenced by the lack of a body) would have an impact on Barry and the team, but I don't think it would really drive them apart. If anything, I would have thought that it would bring them closer together, although I could easily see Caitlin becoming "detached" (i.e. "cold") from the group.

Wells' video seemed ... unlikely to me. I have to guess that Henry's release somehow ties into some evil master plan. And Joe and Henry understand that, which is why Henry decided to leave town.

Even if Henry leaving is part of some strategy concocted by Joe and Henry, I think they could have come up with a much better on-screen justification for him leaving. Something about not wanting to stay in the town where everyone believed he was a murderer for 14 years. Something about needing some time alone to finally mourn the death of his wife in peace. Something about needing to take some time to find a new purpose, especially given the difficulties of adjusting to life outside of prison. And someone needed to point out the obvious fact that no matter where Henry went, Barry could visit him at any time in mere minutes.

As it was, the entire scene was awkward. Henry's freedom was one of the main driving forces of the first season and it was dealt with in mere minutes. It just didn't ring true to me, for the characters or for the creators behind the show.

 

[Loki882]

I could see the video being sort of one last ego-trip by Thawne. Like "not only wouldn't you be the hero that you are without me, but you couldn't even get your dad out of prison without my help." Because literally, it took "Wells" recording a full-confession for that to happen.

I'm glad that Team Flash was back together this episode as I never liked the idea of splitting them up in the first place.

 

[Mikelus]

I'm going to get really annoyed if they start killing off every metahuman now. I am really pissed that they just killed Atom Smasher like that. He was part of the frikkin Justice League, and here he's just a throwaway villain. They should have had Barry use his Super Sonic punch on him, and then once Barry discovers the reason he's after him, promise him to find a way to bring him back home.

Agreed, Atom Smasher was just another freak of the week with no character development, a lot of wasted potential. To be honest, I didn't like the episode that much, it was ok, but the writing could've been much, much better.

Speaking of wasted potential, Firestorm, at least the most popular version with Ronnie Raymond and Prof. Stein. The producers said Robbie Amell wants to do movies, which is understandable, but they couldn't find another solution to keep him on the show? Oh well... now this Jay Jackson character they have created will be the other half of Firestorm instead of Jason Rusch (go figure!), we'll see how it goes.

I also didn't like Henry's reason for leaving, Barry can be the Flash and be with his father like he already does with his other family, Joe and Iris. It would've been better to have Henry say that he was just going to travel for a while, no drama, Barry has more than enough. Anyway, Henry will be back for several episodes according to the producers: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/06/flash-season-2-premiere-ronnie-raymond-spoilers

 

[godisawesome]

It wasn't a bad episode. And it's a huge compliment to the show that an otherwise highly entertaining episode of a successful show is only disappointing because it's formulaic structure pales in comparison to the more serialized episodes of the latter half of Season One.

But yeah, it was pretty predictable for a lot of us, and a few of the show's foibles might be growing into flaws; Henry's reasons for leaving are much more clear out of universe than in, and Atom Smasher's death once more frustrates comic fans (and wrestling fans, too) who wish to see the recurring roster expand even more and dislike "villain of the week" portrayals.

Killing off Edge twice seems wasteful considering the guy could competently portray either a villain or an anti-hero on a redemptive path. But I guess that's going to happen to characters who don't hail form the Silver Age or earlier on a Geoff Johns-affiliated show.






I kid. I'm sure Johns didn't decide to make Atom Smasher a one and done villain. This smells more like the kind of low-research done by a writer just trying to fill a rough quota would do.

 

[Lantern Venom]

really like when Joe said tell me it isnt GRODD! its not GRODD is it!!t: Grodd must have messed with dude big time
!

That was one of the best moments on the show. It reminded viewers of the psychological scars that Joe has from Grodd and that the Thrilla Gorilla isn't done with Team Flash.

I enjoyed the episode overall. I was definitely stoked to have it come back on.
There were a few problems though.
CONS
-Like everyone mentioned, Henry leaving right off the bat was a pretty crappy move. Maybe keep him around for a couple of episodes and barely show him and say he's leaving bc he found work somewhere else.
His excuse "Do you really think you can handle being flash and having me here?" What the hell! If he can handle being the flash and visiting his dad in prison I'm pretty sure he can with his dad out of prison.
-I personally thought the CGI for Atom Smasher wasn't that good. I know they don't have "Hollywood blockbuster" kind of money to spend but the graphics last season really made the show stand apart.
!

That's the first time I that I've ever felt that the show's CGI wasn't at an elite level. When AS grew, the graphics had a SyFy movie feel to them. That's certainly not what I was expecting.

 

[DoomGuy91]

Im glad we got to see a bit of the Reverse Flash in a video in this episode. Still not sure how he could be erased by Eddie dying, when he is from a different timeline.

Anyways, the Reverse Flash, even though he is dead, should make future appearances, whether that be in flashbacks (as "wells" or his old self in the original timeline), or in hallucinations/dreams.

Its great we are getting earth 2 Harrison Wells, but the actor should still once in a while return to the role that made him great.

 

[Batmannerism]

I gave it a 9/10

The Good:

Overall tone, Barry got over his lone-wolf-funk reasonably quickly and the team (whose dynamics are incredibly fun) reassembled.

The explanation for stopping the singularity - BTW we don't know if Ronnie's really dead, in superhero stories unless you see the corpse the person probably didn't die (and sometimes even then they aren't dead).

Great to see Barry using some classic speed powers ( the old swirling arms really fast to create winds)

Jay Garrick - this show seems to really respect the source material and fans of the Flash, definitely one of the best things about it !

The Bad

shonky CGI effects for atom smasher.


So all in all a very solid start to the season !

 

[Silliminite]

I liked the episode overall, although it fell a bit short of my expectations. The performances were great all around, and the chemistry between Barry and Joe/Caitlin continues to be excellent.

This episode was just clearing up stuff from last season and did a bit of set-up for the future. I'm sure the show will pick up the pace again.

 

[3dman27]

will the CW re air the ep or will i have to visit the CW on DEMAND ?

 

[Rorschach2012]

No. Wells (aka Eobard Thawne/RF) from Season 1 no longer exists. Now we will see an Harrison Wells from an alternate Earth that supposedly has nothing to do with Thawne or the RF.

On another note, in regards to the questionable quality of certain effects in this episode, the only one that I thought really stood out in a bad way was the shot of firestorm approaching the wormhole. It looked like someone pasted a still photoshoping shothe of Robbie Amell'so head onto a CGI body.

And yeah, Henry's departure should have been saved for another episode. They should have at least shown him having trouble in getting readjusted to regular life, which would factor into his decision to leave for awhile.

Yeah i watched the premiere with a friend who had never seen the show, only superhero movies and we laughed a good bit about that part.

Great episode IMO but that scene was undeniably funny they should've left it out.

I always feel bad about criticizing this show, it's clear they are working with a smaller budget than the movies, so you have to give them credit for how good of a job they're doing. But at the same time, you still have to be critical if something really demands it.

 

[Rorschach2012]

will the CW re air the ep or will i have to visit the CW on DEMAND ?

if i miss the airing, i always watch Flash on cwtv.com/theflash

 

[3dman27]

thank you