S01.E09: The Man In The Yellow Suit

[Jack Kerouac]

 

This was a great episode. Grant Gustin did such a good job with the scene with his father.  I really got on a visceral level how anguished Barry truly is by his mother's murder. I liked his father's insight about Barry not wanting to pursue Iris because he was so focused on his mother's murder. Barry has serious issues.

 

Very true. When you think about it, Iris would be crazy to get involved with Barry - any girl would. This guy has serious emotional issues that are buried DEEP. Oh, he also has super powers and apparently can be turned to evil pretty quickly. Also, he is constantly confronting evil and fights about as well as a fire hydrant. So, an emotionally screwed up unavailable super hero with mommy issues, who might turn evil and is constantly, unnecessarily putting himself into danger - good catch, ladies!

[Glory]

Very true. When you think about it, Iris would be crazy to get involved with Barry - any girl would. This guy has serious emotional issues that are buried DEEP. Oh, he also has super powers and apparently can be turned to evil pretty quickly. Also, he is constantly confronting evil and fights about as well as a fire hydrant. So, an emotionally screwed up unavailable super hero with mommy issues, who might turn evil and is constantly, unnecessarily putting himself into danger - good catch, ladies!

[dirtypop90]

I saw shock, a little pity, sadness and..a little happiness? on Iris/Candice face during the confession. 

 

I agree. I actually thought CP did a good job with all of the conflicting emotions Iris must have been feeling at the time. I not only felt bad for Barry but also Iris during the scene

Edited December 11, 2014 by dirtypop90

[phoenics]

Just wanted to add something interesting I noticed at the end of the episode... was it just me or was Iris tracking Barry's every move when he got back to the house after he told her the truth of his love for her? Part of that could be her just wanting to assure herself that he was okay and that they would be okay...

But I'm also wondering if "knowing" the truth about him made her look at him in a way she never had before...

Also - another poster asked why didn't Harrison just take the Tachyon device. I think that's partly because he 1) had to get Tina McGee to hand it over and to do that, he needed to give Joe and Barry the bait (Reverse Flash) in order to seed their desire to trap Reverse Flash with the prototype. and 2) He doesn't want them to know that he is RF, hence the ruse.

I think the reason he staged his fight with himself was to force their hand in turning off the forcefield so he could escape and steal the device.

[Bandolero]

Now Iris' happiness and joy in her relationship is kinda tainted with sadness because she now has to think about Barry and his feelings for her. She loves Barry (in a sisterly? way) so the fact that he is in love with her will likely weigh on her heavily. I am afraid that there will be this new awkwardness between them now as well. 

[phoenics]

Now Iris' happiness and joy in her relationship is kinda tainted with sadness because she now has to think about Barry and his feelings for her. She loves Barry (in a sisterly? way) so the fact that he is in love with her will likely weigh on her heavily. I am afraid that there will be this new awkwardness between them now as well.

I agree - but I think she's going to start to look at Barry in a completely different way. I also think that Barry will probably become a lot more confident in himself now that he's not carrying that secret around anymore... The Flash secret will only make him more confident - not less. And when he's confident, he's kinda sexy.

Also - Harrison Wells - when he first pulls out the ring, he has a cut on his forehead and scars all over his face. By the time he puts the Tachyon thing on it and says Merry Christmas, half the scars are GONE. He's definitely Reverse Flash.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Also - another poster asked why didn't Harrison just take the Tachyon device. I think that's partly because he 1) had to get Tina McGee to hand it over and to do that, he needed to give Joe and Barry the bait (Reverse Flash) in order to seed their desire to trap Reverse Flash with the prototype. and 2) He doesn't want them to know that he is RF, hence the ruse.

 

Let me elaborate.

 

RF attempted to take the tachyon device from Mercury Labs but was somehow foiled. It seems to me that he basically has infinite opportunities to steal the device while it's at Mercury Labs. If something actually stopped him from taking it in the first place -- a forcefield or whatever -- he could just wait till that forcefield is down and grab it. Or he can seek out other opportunities to steal it.

 

Even assuming for argument's sake that whatever kept him from being able to steal it out of Mercury Labs is an insurmountable obstacle, why not just steal it as soon as STAR Labs gets it and that obstacle is removed? Why play out the ruse of being trapped?

[88Keys]

That's my problem, I just didn't really get what she was trying to convey. I thought the actress let me down in that scene, but maybe I need to rewatch. It wasn't laurel bad or anything, it just kind of didn't say anything. I do think the lack of dialogue was a mistake but that's a writing issue.

I would have been happy to see shock, horror, pity, anything.

 

I agree with you.  I thought she looked kind of blank.  If anything, she looked a little annoyed to me.  I'm not sure waht she was trying to convey, either.

[phoenics]

Let me elaborate.

RF attempted to take the tachyon device from Mercury Labs but was somehow foiled. It seems to me that he basically has infinite opportunities to steal the device while it's at Mercury Labs. If something actually stopped him from taking it in the first place -- a forcefield or whatever -- he could just wait till that forcefield is down and grab it. Or he can seek out other opportunities to steal it.

Even assuming for argument's sake that whatever kept him from being able to steal it out of Mercury Labs is an insurmountable obstacle, why not just steal it as soon as STAR Labs gets it and that obstacle is removed? Why play out the ruse of being trapped?

I guess you have a point. But it appears that at Mercury Labs he couldn't get to it. Let's just say security was too tight (although it seemed pretty lax to me except for the last room). So you are probably right in that he could have gotten past the security.

I think that the answer to your second point is probably explained if we think of Harrison Wells (RF) as a sociopath.

Otherwise you're right - it kinda doesn't make sense.

It was a bit too contrived.

I still really enjoyed the episode though.

[catrice2]

I just don't understand how Wells could be the Reverse Flash and the show continue as it is. It would mean that Barry would never be able to defeat him or move forward because Wells is pulling all the strings, but if Barry leaves STAR labs then he loses all the technology.  There has to be a way and a reason for Barry to start training and improving away from Wells and/or STAR labs.  I find the Wells part the least interesting thing in the series and do not look forward to his little creepy scenes at the end of each episode.

 

I also don't enjoy Eddie. I hope he is Reverse Flash or something so that he can serve a real purpose. They could have kept Barry and Iris apart without giving her a bland boyfriend that just happens to work for/with her father.

 

I get the "geek" factor, and I don't want the show to be an ARROW repeat, but they play the characters way too young for their expertise.  They write the Cisco character as if he were a 14 year old boy.

 

Hopefully with the gravity of upcoming situations we will see all of the characters mature a little. I've already noticed some with Barry, but would like to see it with Cisco and Iris too.  Keep the playfulness, etc., but balance it with some maturity that will make us believe these people are adults.

[blugirlami21]

 

RF attempted to take the tachyon device from Mercury Labs but was somehow foiled. It seems to me that he basically has infinite opportunities to steal the device while it's at Mercury Labs. If something actually stopped him from taking it in the first place -- a forcefield or whatever -- he could just wait till that forcefield is down and grab it. Or he can seek out other opportunities to steal it.

 

Even assuming for argument's sake that whatever kept him from being able to steal it out of Mercury Labs is an insurmountable obstacle, why not just steal it as soon as STAR Labs gets it and that obstacle is removed? Why play out the ruse of being trapped?

 

I really don't think that the RF every really wanted the tachyon device in the first place.  His whole intent is to toy with the Flash.  What better opportunity than getting "caught" so that he could show them up close and personal how much better he is than everyone else is.  Beating up Wells and continuing to belittle Joe in front of Eddie and the other cops does that nicely.

 

It also sets the stage for Barry to advance the way that he wants him to.  With the motivations that Wells believes that will make Barry a better Flash.  It's still unclear to me whether he wants to nurture Barry or lead him astray but his motivation has always been to make Barry a better Flash.

 

As for the Arrow comparisons, it's apples and oranges imo.  I would never want The Flash to be like The Arrow.  The shows have two completely tones and that's probably why they cross over so well.  I think Caitlin explained the differences between the two teams perfectly during the Arrow crossover.  They have all faced loss but Team Flash processes it and deals with it differently than Team Arrow would.  I would never want them to be as grim as Ollie or Diggle or even Felicity of late.

 

JMO, but I just find that show so dour.  True talk, does anything good happen on Arrow?

[Oscirus]

which if they really follow Arrow (guess who's going to die saving Iris in the finale?!).

 

 

Technically, if they followed arrow, Iris would be the one to bite it in the finale since she's his on again, off again best friend and the fact that her death would probably be a great catalyst on future events in terms of it's affect on character relationships. I seriously doubt that they'd go that route.

 

And while we're at it, what's with not telling the rest of the cops that hey, there are some very dangerous metahumans running around Central City, in order to "protect" them?  If he'd told Eddie that they couldn't tell the rest of the cops because no one would believe them, then, sure. I'll believe that - if a couple of cops came up and told me that metahumans were running around my town, "skeptical" is the least of what I'd be thinking, and I love genre stuff. But because it's too dangerous for the rest of the cops to know?  Sigh.

 

 

Yea, I don't get that either. I get the caveman sensibilities of not telling your daughter things that her pretty little  head can't process ( I don't agree with it, but I understand it), but how in the hell is it  even remotely productive for him to keep the presence of life threatening meta humans from the people assigned to protect the city. Laurel rightfully gets shit for keeping her sister's death a secret, Joe is putting a bunch of people's lives in danger with his so called secret for no reason and he gets a pass.

 

I agree with you.  I thought she looked kind of blank.  If anything, she looked a little annoyed to me.  I'm not sure waht she was trying to convey, either

 

 

I think  that was the point, her reaction was supposed to be ambiguous/ hard to read.

 

 

 

Even assuming for argument's sake that whatever kept him from being able to steal it out of Mercury Labs is an insurmountable obstacle, why not just steal it as soon as STAR Labs gets it and that obstacle is removed? Why play out the ruse of being trapped?

 

 

Because until they sent the pulse out, Reverse Flash would have no way of knowing that they even had the tachyon device without inside information.  And  since I'd assume that Dr Wells doesn't want to lose either Caitlin or Cisco by framing one of them,  the ruse was the easiest way to go about getting the device.

 

I have a question though. What kind of secret frigging science lab  gives out tours of it's "secret"  science experiments without making the people going on the tour sign non disclosure agreements?

 

Maybe my freak antennae is up, but I'm starting to suspect that Wells has a thing for Caitlin which if true means that the lab is all kinds of soap opera-ey.  At least Cisco's smart enough to stay out of that lolz.

 

 

 

 

 

I

 

[calliope1975]

Yea, I don't get that either. I get the caveman sensibilities of not telling your daughter things that her pretty little  head can't process ( I don't agree with it, but I understand it), but how in the hell is it  even remotely productive for him to keep the presence of life threatening meta humans from the people assigned to protect the city. Laurel rightfully gets shit for keeping her sister's death a secret, Joe is putting a bunch of people's lives in danger with his so called secret for no reason and he gets a pass.

 

I don't understand Joe's reasoning for keeping the metahumans a secret at all. Currently, we have 1 hero Flash versus 9 episodes of villains. Everyone in that city should know what's going on.

[WaitandHope]

I enjoyed how basically Barry totally ignored Oliver's love advice from the last episode and totally took Felicity's from 3.04. Smart guy. When it comes to matters of the heart, ignore everything Oliver Queen says. (Not that he did this to get the girl, but it was certainly not a "that's never gonna happen" move. ) Plus Felicity's advice is almost always is True North, especially if you're a super hero.

As for the episode, I thought it was aces! Pretty much the whole thing.

[Trini]

I'm glad we got a few scenes with just Caitlyn and Cisco not revolving around Barry. Sometimes it's nice for the supporting characters to have their own plot.

 

Kinda related: I like the Barry/Joe scenes, but like another poster pointed out, we really need some Iris/Joe scenes to at least get a better idea of their father/daughter relationship.

 

Though I did like Barry confessing his feelings to Iris, the big problem is that they wrote that scene totally one-sided. Not one word from Iris? We need to know her thoughts too.

 

I like the spec that maybe it's Wells and future??Eddie working together -- but then the voice change at the end of the episode pretty much throws everything off.  :-/

 

 

... Everyone in that city should know what's going on.

Really; the show is going to have to acknowledge that the Central City acknowledges that it is a place with super-powered people. This should happen eventually, right?

 

Oh, and Firestorm knows how to make an exit -- like a BOSS. Good job SFX department!

[catrice2]

Right. I can't imagine the whole city, not just the blog, wouldn't realize that something was going on.    If Firestorm a good guy, or a bad guy, or both?

 

As for Iris, I think it was important that she didn't say anything. Maybe that is coming in other episodes, but it was strange that she didn't say anything like "that's just crazy," etc. Maybe it is meant to convey that she is thinking about how she feels about the fact that he has feelings for her?   I couldn't tell if she was going for uncomfortable or guilty when Barry came to talk to them while she was sitting on Eddie's lap.  Whether she feels the say way or not, if my friend of so many years told me that I would need time to process what I wanted to say as well.  better to say nothing than to say something that would make the situation worse in that moment.

 

My guess is that either they have listened to the fans, just as they did on ARROW and decided not to pursue Barry and Iris, or they are going for the long, long, "let's put them with other people so that they will realize they really love each other," route.  Barry is supposed  to get a girlfriend, so maybe that is when Iris will be shown as jealous.  With Felicity I think it was obvious she didn't feel the same way, and she is not in town for her to watch them all the time.  If Barry has a local girlfriend Iris will have to process how she feels about that, while knowing that he once had feelings for her.

 

I want more focus on Barry honing his skills and interacting with the villains and less focus on Wells, Iris and Eddie.  If they are going to do the romance, do the romance and get it over with.  I can't stand it when they drag things out and I certainly hope they don't drag the quadrangle out until next year.

 

 I like the police and capturing the bad guys part, the other drama is ok, but not so much.  It is hard to even care about the romantic side when they all act so young. It is more like 90210.  I felt like Joe should have been punishing Iris for being at Eddie's house and I was waiting for Eddie's parents to come and catch them in bed.  I can't buy Eddie as a police officer, especially not a detective. He looks more like a scared rookie.

[phoenics]

My guess is that either they have listened to the fans, just as they did on ARROW and decided not to pursue Barry and Iris

Wait - I'm sorry - what?

Which fans might those be? Because that would mean they are only listening to one segment of fans - not all of them. There are many Westallen fans out there - maybe not as vocal as others, but it's not like Barry/Iris are hurting ratings, now are they? No.

I was enjoying your comments and then I got to this part and my brain locked up. It would give THIS fan a seizure if they tried to pull an Olicity here (which would be really hard given the comic book royalty status of Barry and Iris, which Arrow and BC don't quite have. Barry and Iris are more like Lois and Clark - you can't just "decide not to do them" and then claim (as show runners have) that this is the most faithful adaptation of DC's The Flash ever). This isn't even close to the situation on Arrow and the show has done quite a lot to illustrate how Iris is NOT Lana, or Laurel or any of the other characters that some people try to compare her with.

or they are going for the long, long, "let's put them with other people so that they will realize they really love each other," route. Barry is supposed to get a girlfriend, so maybe that is when Iris will be shown as jealous. With Felicity I think it was obvious she didn't feel the same way, and she is not in town for her to watch them all the time. If Barry has a local girlfriend Iris will have to process how she feels about that, while knowing that he once had feelings for her.

This is the more likely scenario - they are practically telegraphing this.

Edited December 14, 2014 by phoenics

[NumberCruncher]

My guess is that either they have listened to the fans, just as they did on ARROW and decided not to pursue Barry and Iris, or they are going for the long, long, "let's put them with other people so that they will realize they really love each other," route.  Barry is supposed  to get a girlfriend, so maybe that is when Iris will be shown as jealous.  With Felicity I think it was obvious she didn't feel the same way, and she is not in town for her to watch them all the time.  If Barry has a local girlfriend Iris will have to process how she feels about that, while knowing that he once had feelings for her.

 

It's definitely the latter--Barry and Iris are in for the long haul--but I have to disagree that Olicity happened because the EPs were listening solely the fans. From the very start, most of the press was also writing about the utter lack of chemistry between SA and KC. It created a big mess. Things changed when the producers saw the crackling chemistry between SA and EBR in their very first scene together. The producers saw it well before the fans even got to see Felicity's first appearance and they have said as much in multiple interviews since. It's not at all the same situation with GG and CP on The Flash. There is chemistry between Barry and Iris which, while not blatantly obvious from the start, has grown over the course of the season. The challenge, however, is that some fans are seeing chemistry between Barry and Caitlin too, even despite having Ronnie reappear on the show.

From what I've observed, this episode was trying to introduce the slow burn, give-and-take approach with Barry and Iris (which is method these producers love to use, BTW) and it's creating some confusion as to where the love interest storyline is headed. It's not that Iris's hesitation to say anything both in the confession scene and the party scene means that they're stepping back from a Barry/Iris pairing, it's just the angst-filled romantic plotline is standard operating procedure for these particular showrunners who can't put Barry and Iris together halfway through the first season and miss the chance to drag it out for dramatic purposes.

Edited December 14, 2014 by NumberCruncher

[Casual Viewing]

I had no chance to watch this until today and I haven' t read anyone's ideas about this yet. As someone who has never read or seen any Flash prior to this series, these are my thoughts on the man in the yellow suit.

I don't believe Wells is the Reverse Flash. I do believe he is somehow involved in RF's creation, just as he has been involved with Barry's Flash. Wells strikes me as someone analytical, and scientifically detached, who likes playing god. RF doesn't appear to be like that at all. His involvement with The Flash's life seems more personal/emotional than what I get from Wells. My gut instinct is still that Eddie is RF or a direct relative of RF.

Never thought I'd get hooked on this type of show, but I definitely am! Another great episode this past week with lots of emotional depth and fine acting. Also I loved how Ronnie not only is alive, but a good guy who came to the rescue. Can't wait to see more of him. OK, now I shall read everyone else's thoughts.

[arc]

Joe for real has a superpower, and it's getting people to believe that "people who are kept ignorant will thus be kept safe" bullshit logic. It seems to have even spread (in a mutated form?) to Caitlin! And it can't be about managing panic either, because in real life, people have been told disturbing news (say, like the anthrax letters threat of years ago) and they didn't completely lose their shit. Also, his own freaking daughter is writing a public blog about metahumans! Also also, even leaving Reverse Flash aside, it's not like the Mist or Girder's victims were any safer for not knowing about metahumans. I just really hate this one particular thing about Joe. I hate it a lot.

 

Dang, Firestorm can fly! Now I'm hoping he has the element transmutation powers too, because just tossing fire is ... kinda really lame compared to what Firestorm can do. I'll even concede that his original costume might not look so great in live action and accept if they want to change it, just so long as he's, y'know, Firestorm. (Also, did he merge with someone? The multiple-minds aspect of the character is also key...)

 

Wow, Prof Wells has a costume ring!!!!!! And also he's the Reverse-Flash, which honestly is less exciting to me than the costume ring.

 

BTW, we've been picking at this nit for a few episodes now, but... with the cold open and later, we yet again see that Barry can totally run at superspeed without the Flash costume and nothing lights on fire. Such bullshit.

 

Why don't Ronny's clothes catch fire when he flames on ?

Ha! And this! So basically everyone has fireproof clothes except Felicity. Y'all suck, show.

 

Barry confessing his looooooove for Iris was painful and awkward in a very emotionally real way, but... I still laughed pretty hard when he said he couldn't lie to Iris any more, esp since he implicitly meant "except about my superpowers and secret identity, I can totally still lie to you about those. Check back with me in another 14+ years."

 

3. Why Harrison outed the RF's existence, in general. He could have just taken all these things and done most of these actions as himself, or just worn a ski mask or something, instead of giving Barry cause to be suspicious.

He also could have worn a red suit and trashed the Flash's rep, even if it's mostly an underground rep so far.

 

One last thing: how in the world does Eddie threaten to go over Joe's head to the captain about Joe and no one ever acknowledges that this is a huge breach of TV Cop Partner Protocol?

Edited December 15, 2014 by arc

[MarkHB]

Dang, Firestorm can fly! Now I'm hoping he has the element transmutation powers too, because just tossing fire is ... kinda really lame compared to what Firestorm can do. I'll even concede that his original costume might not look so great in live action and accept if they want to change it, just so long as he's, y'know, Firestorm. (Also, did he merge with someone? The multiple-minds aspect of the character is also key...)

They've already cast Victor Garber as Martin Stein; he's going to show up in Episode 12.

[Princess Sparkle]

I'm glad we got a few scenes with just Caitlyn and Cisco not revolving around Barry. Sometimes it's nice for the supporting characters to have their own plot.

 

 

What I really liked about their storyline in this episode was that we got to see that they really are good friends, and were before Barry came along.  And I loved that Cisco immediately believed Caitlyn, and helped her, rather than what usually happens on shows, which is that one person tries to convince the other one that they're crazy.  They have a really nice friendship and I like that.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Princess Sparkle

[Trini]

BTW, we've been picking at this nit for a few episodes now, but... with the cold open and later, we yet again see that Barry can totally run at superspeed without the Flash costume and nothing lights on fire. Such bullshit.

 

Ha! And this! So basically everyone has fireproof clothes except Felicity. Y'all suck, show.

 

Oh, come on, arc, just wave your hand! You'll feel so much better.  ;-)

[ j/k ]

[wayne67]

Is it wrong that my most burning issue after seeing this episode is how Science Lady will react when she finds out that the cops lost her special extremely powerful and dangerous tachion prototype. If I was a business type and the cops had essentially blackmailed me into giving up a valuable prototype I'd be demanding Joe's and Barry's resignations for their failure to protect my shiny object of doom.That's me though.

 

The metahumans still being a secret from the police force is ridiculous. Apparently all these super criminals have been active for 6 months to a year. There has to be some mainstream press dealing with the weirdness even if it's just noticing that there were 50 dead bodies with the exact same face and clothes. It beggars my suspension of disbelief. I can deal with Metahuman of the week but noone acting like humans with cell phones bugs me. You'd think the General would have a military satellite watching the every move of the Blur by now.

 

UGH I couldn't care less about who Barry dates. That's not drama, that's dull soap opera especially since the outcome is so obvious. Barry will get with Iris at the end because he's the lead and she's his romantic obsession,

[Jack Kerouac]

 

I don't understand Joe's reasoning for keeping the metahumans a secret at all. Currently, we have 1 hero Flash versus 9 episodes of villains. Everyone in that city should know what's going on.

 

Especially since all those cops saw the Reverse Flash on video, PLUS there must be a recording of said video. If that's not enough to let at least the cops what's going on, I don't know what is. Plus, how is keep the cops INFORMED going to hurt them more than going up against metahumans ignorant? It makes no sense.

 

Ha! And this! So basically everyone has fireproof clothes except Felicity. Y'all suck, show.

 

Whatever! :) If I have to sit through Oliver doing the Salmon Ladder shirtless and sweaty every three episodes, the least their sister show can do is show me a woman in a bra every couple of episodes. Fair is fair!

Edited December 16, 2014 by Jack Kerouac

[MarkHB]

I suppose it's possible that the power that gives Barry his speed and protects him personally from harm (forget the bugs he swallows, what about the ones in his eyes) might also protect his clothing.  There's precedent for something similar in the comics: when John Byrne rebooted Superman in the 80's, he decided that his blue costume wasn't Kryptonian after all, but instead that Clark emitted energy from himself that protected it (or any other tight clothing he wore).  Of course, that was mainly because Byrne loved drawing him with the cape in tatters, but still....

[arc]

I suppose it's possible that the power that gives Barry his speed and protects him personally from harm (forget the bugs he swallows, what about the ones in his eyes) might also protect his clothing.

Sure, and I would like that too, but that makes it harder to explain why he wears a superhero costume.  Esp with the face and voice blurring that also obscure his identity, and that's when he's moving slowly enough to be seen at all.  (You could argue that the face and voice blurring don't obscure his height, build, nor skin color, but his costume doesn't either.)  The only reason in this show is that it's less likely to catch on fire than his regular clothes.

[Jack Kerouac]

Sure, and I would like that too, but that makes it harder to explain why he wears a superhero costume.  Esp with the face and voice blurring that also obscure his identity, and that's when he's moving slowly enough to be seen at all.  (You could argue that the face and voice blurring don't obscure his height, build, nor skin color, but his costume doesn't either.)  The only reason in this show is that it's less likely to catch on fire than his regular clothes.

 

His suit is made from a magical material, Applied Phlebotinum.

[shapeshifter]

...The metahumans still being a secret from the police force is ridiculous. Apparently all these super criminals have been active for 6 months to a year. There has to be some mainstream press dealing with the weirdness...

You must not be a Grimm fan, heh. Almost every crime in Portland is committed by a humanoid that morphs into a beast when violent.

[arc]

His suit is made from a magical material, Applied Phlebotinum.

Well, more precisely, I think my gripe is that the suit's particular magical properties are very frequently shown to be absolutely unnecessary.

[wayne67]

You must not be a Grimm fan, heh. Almost every crime in Portland is committed by a humanoid that morphs into a beast when violent.

 

I've watched the show and at least that show had an excuse for why the Vessen usually couldn't be seen by regular humans. Whereas this show, the meta humans are completely visible to real world stuff like cameras, cell phones, eyesight and military satellites.

 

On Arrow the bad guys are rich businessmen with thugs for hire or crazy people in costumes which mental issues aside isn't really breaking news.

 

People multiplying themselves, blowing themselves up, running through the city as a blur, using weather to rob banks, kill people with lightning should make an impression on a city.

 

Especially problematic is that the General already knows there are metahumans in the city and there is no bloody way the US government/military wouldn't want a piece of that action. If for no other reason but to make sure that foreign countries don't develop the cure to cancer/ have superhuman weapons.

[ybrik]

Regarding the clothes burning, Barry's jacket catches on fire in ep 1 when he gets to outskirts of Starling City. It looked like Felicty's jacket also caught fire and Barry just kind of overdid it by removing shirt and jacket not that I am complaining.

[Sandman]

Really; the show is going to have to acknowledge that the Central City acknowledges that it is a place with super-powered people. This should happen eventually, right?

 

Oh, and Firestorm knows how to make an exit -- like a BOSS. Good job SFX department!

 

I'd like it if the genre in general acknowledged that "We're keeping you in the dark for your own protection" plan is a non-starter.

 

I'm a little rusty on Firestorm: his powers involve actual fire? I seem to remember his being able to rearrange molecular structures to transform one thing into another, without actually generating or manipulating fire. Am I thinking of the more kid-friendly version of his powers from the later seasons of the Suprefriends cartoon?

[Chicago Redshirt]

To the best of my recollection, classic Firestorm can affect non-organic molecules to transform one thing to another, fly, turn himself intangible, and fire blasts of nuclear energy. I suppose it potentially follows that he could shoot actual fire, but I don't remember him doing so.

[MarkHB]

Replying in the "Comics Questions" thread....

[arc]

To the best of my recollection, classic Firestorm can affect non-organic molecules to transform one thing to another, fly, turn himself intangible, and fire blasts of nuclear energy. I suppose it potentially follows that he could shoot actual fire, but I don't remember him doing so.

Classic Firestorm (tagged for comic spoilers)

was the gestalt of Ronnie Raymond and professor Martin Stein, who could still live individual lives apart, but had to merge to form Firestorm. I think this might have been under both person's control and the person who didn't initiate the merge would vanish from wherever they were.  But as a merged unit, Ronnie controlled the body and powers of Firestorm and Martin Stein was a voice in Ronnie's head who'd chime in with advice.

 

Also, classic Firestorm had his head on fire for some reason.

 

At some point Firestorm was retconned into a "fire elemental", which might have pushed his powers towards more fire stuff.  I don't think this stuck, because classic Firestorm was pretty great and so retcons like that don't tend to stick around.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Lisin
spoiler tagged comic info

[Sandman]

Thanks, arc. I think Firestorm probably had his head on fire so that

Professor Stein could be a wet blanket (see what I did there?) about how Ronnie should stop being such an impulsive hothead.

[millennium]

I'm tired of the protracted coyness over Wells' nature/identity.   One week people are saying he's a New God, now he's the Reverse Flash ... enough already.   Piss or get off the pot, show.

 

My gut tells me Reverse Flash is Barry's father.

[KirkB]

The suit doesn't protect Barry from harm. Friction, which would be the problem, has no effect on Barry. He could run around naked with no problem. He wears the suit in part to protect his identity, so that if he is caught unawares and doesn't blur his face someone can't recognize him or take his picture, and so that if he goes too fast and his regular clothes burn off (which, inconsistently, they will) he WON'T be running around naked.

[Sandman]

Because the show is The Flash, not The Flasher. (Can I get a rimshot here?)

[Trini]

::rimshot::

[Sandman]

Aw, gee! That's nice of you. Thanks.

[lilithred]

My guess is that either they have listened to the fans, just as they did on ARROW and decided not to pursue Barry and Iris

 

What? Barry and Iris are supported by a big chunk of the fans. The whole reason I even decided to give this show a shot was because the people on my Tumblr couldn't shut up about "Westallen". On Arrow, Laurel and Oliver never had even half as much support as Barry and Iris already do. Someone posted this "tweets per day" chart and at least from those who are watching with a shipping preference, Westallen takes the obvious lead:

 

http://topsy.com/analytics?q1=westallen&q2=snowbarry&via=Topsy

 

And even though I lean more towards disliking Laurel than liking her and certainly never saw any chemistry with her and Oliver, I don't necessarily think it's a good thing when writers drop storylines to please shippers. Like it or not, Green Arrow and Black Canary are comic book canon, and instead of changing his love interest, they should have focused on how they could have fixed the characterizations they screwed up. 

[driedfruit]

I've noticed their popularity too. Iris/Candice is a real gem, there aren't many leading ladies on the CW that simultaneous meet the mark on looks, charisma, and competent acting--the last two being the hardest finds. As superhero love interests go, she's one of the few who's actually intensely likeable. 

 

I don't generally care for ships, but if they dropped Barry/Iris I'd find it pretty offensive. Their descendants are kind of important. It would screw with canon too much. 

Edited January 1, 2015 by driedfruit

[Skyline]

Barry and Iris aren't going anywhere. I would drop the show if they gave in to Barry/Caitlin shippers. They're in the minority anyway.

[quarks]

I tend to think that in some ways, Iris is the attempt to fix the characterizations screwed up for the original couple over on Arrow. Iris serves about the same function that Laurel did - the love interest who doesn't know the hero's secret identity - and she's the daughter of a cop, but in all other ways she's Laurel's direct opposite: warm, bubbly, friendly, immediately likeable, and above all supportive.  Yeah, she walked away from the Flash after he lost it with Eddie, but she's still supporting Barry, and her scene with him this episode was sweet. She's also already had her great heroic moment of saving others.  With the result that the only arguments I've seen against Barry/Iris are that a) they also have a foster brother/sister relationship, which the show just tried to address in this episode, b) Barry is lying to Iris, c) Eddie makes Iris happy and is really good for her.  Except for b, none of these are close to the major arguments made against Oliver/Laurel, and Barry/Iris have passed the major test - they're ok on screen together.

 

Skyline - If Flash does develop a Barry/Caitlin relationship further, I don't see this as giving in to Barry/Caitlin shippers: I see this as continuing the writing/setup they've been doing for Barry/Caitlin since the pilot. I have no idea if the show is going to go there or not, especially with Firestorm around, but I can see the show putting Barry/Caitlin together for a couple of seasons only to have Barry end up with Iris in the end, or putting Barry/Iris together for a couple of seasons only to have Barry end up with Caitlin at the end.  I wouldn't see this as giving into shippers, just as giving romantic drama/angst to Barry.

 

I do agree that Barry and Iris aren't going anywhere, though. Apart from the lies, this is nothing like the Laurel/Oliver train wreck. I just hope Barry tells Iris about his identity by at least the end of the season, because her not knowing is aggravating me.

[Sakura12]

This on the CW and they are not going to put Barry and Iris together right away, they need him dating someone before that. So it will either be Caitlin or someone else. For me I'd rather it be Caitlin over some random we have to waste screen time on getting to know. Barry and Iris are probably endgame because unlike the brother show, they are not toxic together and have a much deeper history in the comics than GA and BC. 

 

I also hope Iris finds out by the end of this season. There is no need to drag it out especially if the EP don't like writing the secret identity part of the show anyway. 

[Oscirus]

two important things that I think that I picked up on upon further review:

 

a) Yellow Flash was the one who moved Barry away from  the fight the night his mother died. My rewatch of the first show confirmed this fact, so, it's interesting to speculate on what the red blur did in the few seconds that the yellow blur was gone that night.

 

b) In terms of Barry/ Iris, I believe the writers set the future with Iris being the one to wake Barry from his nightmare where his mother tells him the "you'll never really be alone in the dark." Lol symbolism. I also believe that scene shows us the reason that Iris becomes a reporter. Which bugs me because once again Iris's life decisions are a result of something Barry-related.

 

It's also annoying that the show is trying to pass of Barry's inability to tell Iris his feelings as something reverse-flash related when he was going to tell her about them in the first episode if she didn't cut him off.  I know they were going for poignant with that season, but come on! At least remember the scenes you wrote in previous shows.

[MarkHB]

I also hope Iris finds out by the end of this season. There is no need to drag it out especially if the EP don't like writing the secret identity part of the show anyway. 

 

In the original (Silver Age) comics canon, Iris didn't find out until their wedding night, and then it was due to Barry talking in his sleep!  (That's from WP, I've never read the original).  It was perhaps handled a bit better in the 90's when Clark revealed his secret to Lois: he did it after they had become engaged, so at least she would know before the wedding that her husband was an alien.  It also gave us this iconic cover:

 

 

So, from the perspective of Barry telling her his secret, I'd think he would naturally wait at this point; after all, if there is love to be found between them, he would want it to be between them, not between her and The Flash.

[Ottis]

This whole Barry/iris thing is a waste of time. You've been living with her for years, Barry. She doesn't like you that way. In fact, by living with her that long, you are even *less* likely to be a romantic interest for her. She views you as a brother. I don't know why the show keeps going with this. If Iris ever had an interest in Barry, it would have been apparent before now. And if he saves her life and she does the "my hero" thing, that will undermine any credibility Iris has as a thinking character.

 

Barry's dad is shady. No one stays in jail that long, and is that calm, for the reasons he stated. He knows something.

 

And just because Dr. Mystery has the reverse flash suit doesn't mean he is the revrse flash. I agree that Eddie figures into that somehow.

 

All that said, I like this show a lot.