S01.E02: Fastest Man Alive

[Iamsweetdee]

Enjoyed episode 2 just as much as the pilot, however, I find the "team" way too deus ex machina for my liking so early in the show. They can whip up suits, treadmills, and protein bars in just an evening or two. Just the three of them. 

 

Iris is still my favorite. 

[kimberella]

Another enjoyable episode. I hope they keep up the fun with the right amount of drama and Barry doesn't become yet another white male lead full of manpain. I'm loving the dynamic between Barry/Joe and Barry/Iris, but I don't understand why they have to keep the secret from Iris. It's very patronizing of them. If Barry can't be honest with the woman he claims to love, he can shove it.

 

Cisco is the best, he cracks me up.

[quarks]

Ah,  I missed that this was just a single journalism class to fulfill a particular requirement.  That explains why Iris is also doing a dissertation - well, sorta, since if she's at the dissertation stage she should be finished with classes.  But really this whole journalism class is coming off more as Plot Contrivance than something the writers spent time thinking about.

[slayer2]

Okay, it's Smallville 2.0. I'm not upset about it. This is fun. That's all I ask.

Me too. I"m not actively searching for flaws, just having fun.

[BkWurm1]

It occurred to me that it was a good thing that Joe decided to get on board and be supportive of Barry or I fear our good Doctor Wells might have had one of his special talks with him. 

[bethy]

I really like that they've showed some of the very natural and understandable tension between Barry and Joe.  Mad props to Joe as a single (it seems) dad for taking in a traumatized boy who idolized his father and believed him wrongly accused based on a wildly impossible (to everyone but Barry) man-in-a-lightening-storm story. How much would that suck to always be compared (and found wanting) to someone you believed had murdered his wife? The fact that Barry seems to only just be coming to the realization - or at least the ability to verbalize it - what an important role Joe played in his life also says a lot about Joe's character, I think.

 

My thought when Wells was telling Joe that he needed to believe in Barry or Barry would fail was, "Barry has three daddies!"

Edited October 15, 2014 by bethy

[In2You]

During the original pilot they had talked about Iris getting into criminal justice. I don't know why they changed her career path back to journalism. 

[shrewd.buddha]

Still enjoyable for the second episode...

I did find it odd how they tried to ground the concept of Clone Creep with talk about stem cells -- but then went WtF route with cloning clothes and weapons... 

 

But after only two episodes I feel like I am being beaten over the head with the Barry/Joe and Barry/Iris "drama". We. Get. It. You don't need to repeat essentially the same scenes from the pilot.  If Barry 'almost' confesses his true feelings to Iris one more time, I'll probably start watching a day later so I can fast forward thru the stuff I wasn't very interested in the first five times.. 

Edited October 15, 2014 by shrewd.buddha

[SimoneS]

I'm loving the dynamic between Barry/Joe and Barry/Iris, but I don't understand why they have to keep the secret from Iris. It's very patronizing of them. If Barry can't be honest with the woman he claims to love, he can shove it.

 

The superhero keeping his true identity from the people that he or she loves is a classic comic book trope, especially in DC comics. Sometimes it is irrational and ridiculous as our hero ends up constantly lying and making up dumb excuses for his or her absences, but it does add tension and drama to the hero's relationships with his or her loved ones, especially the person that he or she loves. 

[Racj82]

 

I just can't with the misuse/butchering of science/medical terminology on this show.  Prime example:

 

"These stem cells come from BABIES!"  (No they don't!)

I wish I cared but I don't. I watch TV to have fun and be entertained. Flash does that for me in spades. With a ton a heart to match the fun.

 

Also, real talk, Barry's speech at the end made me shed tears.

[Primetimer]

Barry battles a man who can create copies of himself. He also battles some inner demons, but those are less visually appealing.

Read the story

[Kromm]

Okay, it's Smallville 2.0. I'm not upset about it. This is fun. That's all I ask.

There's a difference though.  Smallville a.) had a lot of bad acting b.) had a TON of bad writing c.) had a lot of fake drama and so less of a sense of fun

 

It's still possible any of these (especially the last) could show up here on The Flash, but so far... they haven't.  Have there been cliches and tropes?  Sure.  But handled a lot better than usual.  Cliches and tropes exist for a reason, and sometimes going out of your way to remove ALL of them leads to an even worse result. The best route is to be really straight up with them when they DO occur, and so far The Flash has been.

[FurryFury]

My one complaint is if the show wants to avoid shipper baiting then don't set up a potential rival to the designated love interest.

 

It's the CW. Of course they want to bait shippers, it's their nature.

 

I liked this ep much more than the pilot. Lots of cliches, but the pacing was so good I didn't have too much time to dwell on that. Joe/Barry relationship was the highlight for me, and rarely get invested into male/male relationships, so this means it was done well. I'm also having some feels re: Barry's dad, because him having to spend so many years in prison for a crime he didn't commit is all kinds of wrong. Worst thing is, I don't expect him to be out anytime soon. He'll probably be exonerated near the season finale and then die in a heroic sacrifice (hope I'm wrong, though).

 

I have to say I'm really not digging the females on the show. It's not that I dislike them much, it's just there are only two, and none of them grabbed me immediately. I like Iris' actress, but it's clear she'll be saddled with the usual (and awful) "love interest trying to find out the hero's identity" stuff, which the prime way to get on the audience's nerves. And Danielle Panabaker is clearly struggling with her part, sad to say. 

 

I'd love it if they added one more girl to the cast. Preferably someone older (30s, maybe 40s) and not a potential love interest. I mean, in Arrow s1 there were four regular females (three in the pilot), and we have only two and no news of any additions. And none of the girls are in any way central to the story, so far.

 

Wells continues to be the most intriguing character. Still hope he won't be a villain, but if he will, at least he'll probably have an interesting motive. But I'll continue to root for him to be just a complex anti-hero. We need more of those.

[Tarasme]

That was fun!

It was great to watch with my almost 12yr old daughter: "he's [barry's] my boyfriend!"

Awesome= tone, Grant, Tom, pace, HYPOGLYCEMIA, FUN!

Good= Metahuman research squad, Jesse (some of those expressions dwell awfully close to constipated face), VotW and his naming- heh

Not so good= Candice- please give her more to do soon, Eddie- the red herring is draped much to garishly around his neck, too little William Sadler

I'danevah thought Tom Cavanagh could do layered ambiguous motivations but doggone if he isn't a great gray storm of uncertainty in this popcorn show!

Honestly, I will be really upset if the care taken to cast someone that looks SO MUCH like Grant (tall, somewhat lanky though toned, dark headed, bright eyed) is wasted in the plotting.

HWells= Future Allen (not Barry, another one :)) FTW!

[marcee]

It would be nice if they explained where his strength came from? I get that he's super fast, but people are heavy. How is he able to pick them up and fast-them out of dangerous situations unless super speed came with super strength?

[nottopbravo]

 

It's still possible any of these (especially the last) could show up here on The Flash, but so far... they haven't.

 

This is a fun show.  If they continue to give us a "villian of the week" and hands growing out of one's arms, I'm in for the long haul.

[Kromm]

It would be nice if they explained where his strength came from? I get that he's super fast, but people are heavy. How is he able to pick them up and fast-them out of dangerous situations unless super speed came with super strength?

In the almost 75 years there's been a Flash around (different characters, same superhero) as far as I know, that particular thing has never really been explained.  So I doubt they'll do it here (or explain it as "momentum"--which is at least somewhat possible, although it doesn't explain why the people don't keep moving at high speed and crash into things when he lets go of them).

[Chicago Redshirt]

It would be nice if they explained where his strength came from? I get that he's super fast, but people are heavy. How is he able to pick them up and fast-them out of dangerous situations unless super speed came with super strength?

 

We haven't seen him lift anything or anyone unusually heavy. A person in average shape could probably fireman's carry the sort of Hollywood types we are likely to see on this show. And of course, lightning gave Barry abs.

 

It's also to a certain extent plot-dependent. For instance, if he had super-strength, he could have pulled Multiplex up easily with one harm. Heck, even just with super-speed, he could hypothetically generate enough acceleration to lift him back up. But he didn't.

[wingster55]

There's a difference though.  Smallville a.) had a lot of bad acting b.) had a TON of bad writing c.) had a lot of fake drama and so less of a sense of fun

 

It also had tons of great acting, good writing (rarely great) and had great drama...may not have been as "fun" but s1-5 were mostly solid tv.

[Kromm]

We haven't seen him lift anything or anyone unusually heavy. A person in average shape could probably fireman's carry the sort of Hollywood types we are likely to see on this show. And of course, lightning gave Barry abs.

 

It's also to a certain extent plot-dependent. For instance, if he had super-strength, he could have pulled Multiplex up easily with one harm. Heck, even just with super-speed, he could hypothetically generate enough acceleration to lift him back up. But he didn't.

And again, by it's very nature anything and everything The Flash does breaks the laws of physics anyway.  

 

What's the single most famous one?  The one EVERYONE, even laypeople know?

 

 

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

That's Newton's First Law, and then there's also his Third Law:

 

For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action.

What The Flash does breaks both of these.  Every time you see him scoop up a person, travel with them faster than the speed of sound, then put them down with a tiny little rocking motion as the result?  It's total bullshit.

 

But it doesn't matter.  This is a comic book made into TV.  The truth of the characterization matters more than explaining stuff like "how can he lift them" or "how do they not slam into stuff when he lets them go.

[DearEvette]

This is such a fun show. Altho I told myself I wouldn't compare it to Arrow, I did. I like it so much better because it doesn't take itself as seriously and it fits better in my personal viewing wheelhouse.

So far I am liking all of the characters. Nobody sticks out as an obvious "ugh" when they are scene. Sure, they are all fitting within their allotted tropes, but everybody is delivering gamely.

One thing I do hope is that they settle into the story telling a bit better. Right now it feels very expositiony. It is trying very hard to establish everyone. Two episodes ought to do it. So now concentrate on deepening the characters. They have a great start on Barry, Joe and Wells. Now they need to flesh everyone else out a bit. I have always liked Danielle Panabaker so I am enjoying her even if Caitlin could use some development.

I like the chemistry Barry & Iris have but it doesn't feel romantic to me. It would be a nice surprise if Barry grew out of his infatuation with Iris and comes around to her way of thinking of them as basically siblings. And the writing for them needs to mature a bit. They both have jobs and have to be in their at least early to mid twenties. But the writing is treating them almost as if they are teens. There is a bit of cognitive dissonance there fore me.

I do like Iris and Eddie together. They seem sweet. A better fit than Iris and Barry, imo. Please don't turn evil Eddie!

Speaking of Iris, the actress is doing a good job on what is so far an thinly conceived character. She is very charming which allows her neatly sidestep many of the issues that Katie Cassidy had with playing a similarly conceived Laurel on Arrow.

So I am in for the season.

[Cosmosgravitation]

 

I'd love it if they added one more girl to the cast. Preferably someone older (30s, maybe 40s) and not a potential love interest. I mean, in Arrow s1 there were four regular females (three in the pilot), and we have only two and no news of any additions. And none of the girls are in any way central to the story, so far.

Liking the show, but I agree with this.  Even someone not connected to the plot would be fine for me.  I think it would have been great if they would have made the police captain female, for example.  

Edited October 16, 2014 by Cosmosgravitation

[Latverian Diplomat]

It also seems like the "Hold on" cliche should not be able to work because even without super-strength, just by moving his arm fast enough, he should be able to whip Multiplex back inside. 

 

On first viewing, it seemed like Multiplex was trying to squirm free from Flash's grasp.

 

Yes, it was suicide. Multiplex sprouted a second left hand to pry loose Barry's grip on his left arm.

 

Theoretically. flash can't do at super-speed anything that he's not strong enough to do at normal speed, so if  he can't lift Multiplex to safety without Multiplex's cooperation, he can't do it. Of course, comic-book-Flash would have just raced down the side of the building and used a vortex to whip up a cushion of air, but we're not there yet, and might never be.

[twoods]

I noticed a wedding ring on Joe during their pizza scene (I'm still teary eyed over it) so interested to see what happened to Iris's mom.

I watch tv for entertainment so the in accuracy in science doesn't bother me, and this show makes me smile. It's lighter than Arrow but I feel that it's needed since Arrow can be so freaking depressing (though I still love it).

Iris is just taking a journalism class to fill a prerequisite for her major, so hopefully this wanna be Lois Lane bit is just temporary.

I like Iris's boyfriend, so of course he's going to be evil.

[Kromm]

Iris is just taking a journalism class to fill a prerequisite for her major, so hopefully this wanna be Lois Lane bit is just temporary.

I like Iris's boyfriend, so of course he's going to be evil.

 

That first thing depends on if mentioning the journalism was simply

an homage to the comic book identity of Iris, or if it was more than an homage and was setting the stage for the same direction.

 

The second thing depends on how committed they are to maintain

the comic book Eddie vs. messing with our expectation.  In the comics Eddie is the villain Reverse Flash (the yellow guy who's otherwise just like The Flash, but evil).  Note that Harrison Wells, while not present in the comics at all, bears a pretty big resemblance in a few ways to at least one version of the SAME villain Eddie might also be (because an earlier version of Reverse Flash was instead called "Professor Zoom").

[arc]

I liked the the voiceover at the beginning where Barry yada-yadas the "My name is Barry Allen" speech.  I hope they ditch that style of intro permanently -- don't like it on Arrow, hated it on the Tomorrow People.

Isn't the "My name is X and I'm the fastest man alive" the traditional start to like, every Flash comic? Certainly when I was reading it off and on during Mark Waid's run with Wally West, that was how every single issue started.

 

But honestly, you can only enjoy this show if you can let stuff like that go. For example, there were major violations of mass.energy conservation, I'm OK with it and I am not even going to try and fanwank those away. The pills are helping :-)

I can't let it go. Stem cells and cloning absolutely doesn't mean conservation of mass goes away!  Shoot, they even tried to ground Barry's superspeed by saying he needs to eat more to offset how much more he's exerting himself. Worse, Denton cloned his clothes!  And even worse, he didn't clone guns!!!!

 

2. When Stagg blows her off when she asks for a quote, she's like "Well, I'll just make something up." I don't think she was joking. In which case, she should know that fabrication is probably the foremost journalistic sin. If it was supposed to be a joke, it's kind of like joking about having a bomb while dealing with airplane security.

It was kind of underplayed, but Barry did groan when she said that, so I think the show knew she was wrong to say it.

 

 

Wow, that was some seriously paint-by-numbers television. I've literally seen this episode before and not just once. And capped off with the Smallville-esque convenient death of the villain at the end.

Stagg or Denton?  Cause I thought even in the moment that it was kind of BS that Barry let Denton die.  Most other superheroes, OK, the guy chose to fall to his death.  The Flash coulda run down there and dragged something there to catch him. (or air cushion, which is one of the really obscure Flash tricks; points to whoever said that.)

 

My one complaint is if the show wants to avoid shipper baiting then don't set up a potential rival to the designated love interest. You can't have Caitlin super angry at Barry and then have the people who know her best mention they've only ever seen her get this angry with her now dead fiancé and not put ideas in people's heads.

Why would they want to avoid shipper baiting?  I took that whole exchange as a totally anvillicious "hey, she's super into him but maybe doesn't know it yet" moment.

[Trini]

For me one of the best parts was Barry telling Iris about his secret, zipping around her while she was pouring a sugar packet.

 

Loved this! It was a nice unexpected way of showing his powers, and we got some insight on what he's thinking/feeling.

 

Okay, it's Smallville 2.0. I'm not upset about it. This is fun. That's all I ask.

What makes this better than Smallville right off the bat is that 1.) everyone is out of high school, so waaaay less teen drama, and 2.)  Barry is going headfirst into being a public superhero instead of waffling for like 8 seasons.

[FurryFury]

It's better than Smallville because it's not about Superman. Sorry, but (unpopular opinion alert!) I consider Superman the most boring superhero ever.

[JTMacc99]

Man, I love that they established the relationship between Barry and Cisco so early in the series.  Good job show.

 

And I think the Star Labs group is also shaping up very nicely, which is again really impressive in only episode two.

[Lovecat]

Grant first came on my radar screen when he played the charmingly nasty Sebastian Smythe on Glee.  I was on the fence about watching The Flash, because while I was interested in seeing what he could do (and LBR, he's not exactly hard on the eyes), I have less than zero interest in the superhero genre.  I've never read a comic book in my entire life, I avoid movies adapted from comics (except one unfortunate night when I watched Green Lantern--there was a boy involved, I don't want to talk about it, ahem), and generally I just nod and smile when the topic comes up in conversation.

 

But then I saw the extended trailer, realized that Jesse L. Martin and Tom Cavanaugh were also on board, and I was like "Damn.  NOW those fuckers got me."  I tuned in for the pilot, and I was hooked.  It's just...FUN.  Granted I don't have much to compare to, but it's the overall tone that keeps a comics naive like me engaged--just enough humor and heart to keep it from getting too dark and twisty.  I hope they keep it up.  I set the series recording on my DVR, and that usually doesn't happen until at least 3 episodes of a new show are watched and enjoyed :)

[Trini]

Another thing I like is the team aspect. Barry has supporting characters that... actually support him.

[waving feather]

And I like that Barry actually needs them and would not be able to function well without them. That makes him more relatable for me. The biggest draw is still the Barry/Joe relationship.

[ferretrick]

I'll admit, Grant Gustin has been my celebrity crush since Glee (hate to admit, but it's true).

With him and Jesse L Martin, original cast of Rent, in the show, I want musical episode. I'm pretty sure Tom Cavanaugh can sing too.

There was a rather large plot hole bugging me throughout the episode-if the guy can create so many clones, why does Original Multiplex run the risk of venturing out anywhere to commit his crimes? He could just sit back in a secret hideout somewhere and be safe. If there was a line that explained he and the clones have to be in a certain proximity, I missed it. (And he was able to activate the clone Caitlyn made, so doesn't seem so).

[Kromm]

With him and Jesse L Martin, original cast of Rent, in the show, I want musical episode. I'm pretty sure Tom Cavanaugh can sing too.

There was a rather large plot hole bugging me throughout the episode-if the guy can create so many clones, why does Original Multiplex run the risk of venturing out anywhere to commit his crimes? He could just sit back in a secret hideout somewhere and be safe. If there was a line that explained he and the clones have to be in a certain proximity, I missed it. (And he was able to activate the clone Caitlyn made, so doesn't seem so).

I can see some wiggle-room in the middle. The clone Caitlyn made was limited to a really vague order to return.  Proximity could still be a key to making them do anything more specific than robotic general orders.

[Terrafamilia]

I kind of get the impression that the Central City Police Department's CSI division has a total of one employee.

[Atony]

What The Flash does breaks both of these.  Every time you see him scoop up a person, travel with them faster than the speed of sound, then put them down with a tiny little rocking motion as the result?  It's total bullshit.

 

But DC Comics did "explain" this, it is the speedforce you see!  The catch all vaguely defined explanation of how everything the Flash does (and other speedsters) is possible.  Hey, at least they tried.

[Kromm]

But DC Comics did "explain" this, it is the speedforce you see!  The catch all vaguely defined explanation of how everything the Flash does (and other speedsters) is possible.  Hey, at least they tried.

As far as I recall, the Speedforce attempted to explain how The Flash could go fast.  It didn't explain how Newton's laws of motion didn't apply to things he MADE go fast.

[Jeezaloo]

I just can't with the misuse/butchering of science/medical terminology on this show.

I guess we can all choose to look at this show however we want. I, personally, choose not to look at it as a documentary.

[FurryFury]

Screen writers are people. They simply don't have enough time to research everything and still finish scripts on time. I can forgive this stuff, especially if it's very much outside of their fields of competence (now, if's a show helmed by a former lawyer and the resident lawyer character constantly does things that even a layman would know don't make any sense...)

[statsgirl]

Maybe if Iris actually did the work for the course instead of expecting Barry to do it for her, she'd do better on the course. And since when is taking journalism meeting a sociology requirement?   Journalism is pretty close to the opposite of sociology (individual case study vs researching groups).

 

I just can't with the misuse/butchering of science/medical terminology on this show.  Prime example:

 

"These stem cells come from BABIES!"  (No they don't!)

It's not just this show.  From the ATP on Gotham to ignoring the laws of physics and completely getting the parts of the brain wrong for Fitz (wikipedia, it's not hard) on S.H.I.E.L.D., TV shows a;most always do science badly.  Ironically the best science I've seen is Barry saving Oliver with rat poison (coumadin) last season.

 

I do love how greyer than grey Wells is.

Edited October 19, 2014 by statsgirl

[Kromm]

I just can't with the misuse/butchering of science/medical terminology on this show.  Prime example:

 

"These stem cells come from BABIES!"  (No they don't!)

Was that line actually in the show?  Geez, I'd have thought I'd remembered that.

[arc]

As far as I recall, the Speedforce attempted to explain how The Flash could go fast.  It didn't explain how Newton's laws of motion didn't apply to things he MADE go fast.

Wasn't there some stuff about how he imbued other things with Speed Force, thus conferring the durability and freedom from physics that he enjoyed?

Now I'm looking it up on Wikipedia and it is a hefty load of writer BS. Still not as bad as the knockoff "spider force" (not the official name) that JMS tried to introduce to the Spider-Man mythos.

[marketdoctor]

 

Now I'm looking it up on Wikipedia and it is a hefty load of writer BS.

 

There are degrees of realism, even in superhero shows.  Arrow usually tries for a "James Bond" level of plausibility (very unlikely, but almost possible, if you squint, kind of.)  Even the Miraku is more like a super-adreneline than anything else. 

 

Arrow goes for more of a "fishbowl helmets in space" level of realism:  It's possible for a clone to have the exact same facial features, clothing, etc., as its parent, but you need stem cells, and it doesn't have its own memories. Barry can run really fast, but needs some glucose to keep his energy up.  They'll meet you part of the way, but you've got to suspend SOME disbelief.  That's why Arrow/Flash crossovers are fun; you don't know far they'll push it.

 

I thought it was interesting Barry mentioned a 3-second mile; that's over a thousand miles an hour (or he meant "less than 4 seconds").  Either he's getting faster, or the writing is getting less exact.  That said, most of the time a radar gun was pointed at him, he was encouraged not to push himself.

[thewhiteowl]

Wacky science doesn't trouble me since this is based on comic book science I can hand-wave it.  Not that comics can't be smart, I just don't expect them to be exact, it works however it works. *Kanye shrugs*

[wingster55]

Journalism is pretty close to the opposite of sociology (individual case study vs researching groups).

 

Elective.

[statsgirl]

Iris:   This is all your fault.  I could have taken European folklore  to cover my sociology requirement but no, you said "Take journalism, Iris, reporters have all of the fun."  Guess what Barry, reporters have none of the fun. Journalism is boring. I'm bored. I'm blaming you.

 

And then she tells him she expected him to explain the science to her about Simon Stagg. And it becomes his fault that he has a job he has to do and didn't have the time to explain the science.  

 

Other than this being frightening like the pissy entitled Laurel of Arrow because, hey Iris, you're an adult and  you're responsible for your own decisions, European folklore could actually be sociology.

[AudienceofOne]

hey Iris, you're an adult and  you're responsible for your own decision

 

 

She didn't become a cop because her father "wouldn't let her". Really.

[Kromm]

Iris:   This is all your fault.  I could have taken European folklore  to cover my sociology requirement but no, you said "Take journalism, Iris, reporters have all of the fun."  Guess what Barry, reporters have none of the fun. Journalism is boring. I'm bored. I'm blaming you.

 

And then she tells him she expected him to explain the science to her about Simon Stagg. And it becomes his fault that he has a job he has to do and didn't have the time to explain the science.  

 

Other than this being frightening like the pissy entitled Laurel of Arrow because, hey Iris, you're an adult and  you're responsible for your own decisions, European folklore could actually be sociology.

I think it's all about the tone of the show and also the line reading.

 

Laurel came off as pissy because it was all melodramatic (plus the actress can't act and couldn't convey any shades of meaning to her seeming whining).  

 

Iris is backed by a much better actress, and the tone of the show is light/humorous.  She's not actually projecting blame at Barry, but pseudo-flirtatious teasing--and I think that comes through her performance.  Now it might not sit well with all viewers when a female character tosses out "complaints" to draw male attention, but I do think nevertheless that its a far less serious offense than whining/acting entitled.  It's slightly worse because she's with another guy and fronting that she's not interested in Barry--but we can read that as self-delusion on her part and not as her being manipulative (or if she IS manipulative, really... what's wrong with that? It's still a far better character note than whiny/entitled).

[wingster55]

And then she tells him she expected him to explain the science to her about Simon Stagg. And it becomes his fault that he has a job he has to do and didn't have the time to explain the science.

 

Well she doesn't yet know about his powers. If she thought it was at his day job she could've called her dad or Thawne. And seeing as he promised and wasn't there...I wouldn't be ok with it either. 

 

She didn't become a cop because her father "wouldn't let her". Really.

 

He could've easily used any pull he had to make sure she wouldn't be let on the force. 

[statsgirl]

The standard trope in the books I read is when her father "won't let her" be a cop, soldier, firefighter, the heroine finds a  way to circumvent it, usually by applying in another branch that her father doesn't have any influence.  That's what makes her spunky.

 

 

Well she doesn't yet know about his powers.

It's not about his powers or his day job.  He knows science so Iris expects him to explain the science for her when it's really her assignment as a student to learn all that. It's kind of cheating because her professor expects her to do the work.  Or at least look it up in wikipedia.

 

It's not Iris' fault, she's written that way, poor thing.