The Flash (TV Series 2014– )

Yeah, that's the kind of jiggery-pokery Geoff Johns gets up to in the comics too. Always fun.

I mean if Johns can untangle the Hawkman backstory s that it all makes sense, he can write anything.

 

Cool. I haven't read DC comics since the 'seventies, and even then I was more a Marvel guy. My Hawkman experience was the excellent Kubert version (art-wise at least) followed by the Murphy Anderson one.

 

Then you're lucky you missed the 80's & 90's re-do of the alien origin and them morphing him into the native American "Hawk Avatar." Happily, they seem to be ignoring that period nowadays.

Although somewhere down the line he seems to have gotten a Wolverine-like healing factor, and "hawk senses"...

I just hope the Hawks work on TV. The characters are so cool on the page... But, you put real people in real outfits that look like that, and it just looks silly.

 

Well he's certainly killed people, just not in that manner.

He certainly murdered the Atom Smasher.

 

I may be the only one, but I actually liked what they did with Hawkman in Smallville.

 

Yes. That upset a lot of Flash fans.

 

ummm.....

 

Good episode. I'm assuming this is when Wally West and Jesse Quick gain the speed force.

 

I'm still enjoying it, although it's been a bit wobbly in parts.

Has Barry joined the Speed Force? The talk from Iris seemed reminiscent of what Linda Park was to Wally.... an anchor. I'm wondering if this will play out like Mark Waid's big story introducing the Speed Force.

 

Yep, she was doing equations, so I'd say that's where they are going.

 

He's definitely not dead. The way his body dissolved is exactly the way Sinestro once escaped back to the Anti-Matter Universe at the end of Green Lantern: Rebirth. Now, I doubt that Barry is travelling to Quard, but I'd say that they were definitely inspired by that image. Joining the speed force is the logical assumption.

 

I'm not sure how the equations would factor into it. I just figured that since they both got hit by energy when the Flash ran past and went god knows where.

 

Not sure they're going to go with the speed equation on the TV show either, based on what we've seen so far.

For those who are not comic junkies. In the comics, Jesse Quick is the daughter of the two golden-age heroes Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle. She inherited both their sets of powers (Speed from Johnny and super-strength and invulnerability from Liberty Belle). And, she's paid homage to both of them over time by being both "Jesse Quick" (in the Justice League) and "Liberty Belle" (in the Justice Society). The "Quick's" speed powers do not work quite the same way as the Flash's, they get their powers from a "speed equation" which allows them to tap into the speed force. (It's comic book logic, just go with it. It's the same logic that allows Black Condor to fly solely because he was raised by eagles.) They can turn their powers on and off.

Now, Johnny used to be able to fly, too. They seem to have dropped that from his powerset at some point. Plus, when his speed was on, he was literally moving faster in everything (except apparently aging).

Since this is not the same Jesse Quick (unless we find out she's adopted) I'm not sure if they'll factor the speed equation into things.

 

I think her discussing equations was just a gentle nod to those of us who know about her formula.

 

It's more than likely they are using Waid's early story as a skeleton; (SPOILER ALERT)

Wally goes into the Speed Force, but unlike Barry during Crisis, Wally returns because Linda is his anchor to the world, and he used it to pull himself back, and Iris made a reference to Barry always having her to return to, so it's likely that's what's going on.
I recall is being around issue #94 of Wally's series...issue #92 introduces Bart Allen as Impulse. Circa 1994, iirc.

FWIW, I love Mark Waid's work on the Flash; the Return of Barry Allen storyline, Terminal Velocity....that's the storyline I think they're using right now, albeit with Barry not Wally.... Waid really made a name for himself with his work on Wally.

 

Anything they want to borrow from Waid's Flash run is fine by me.

I was thinking, though, that making Wally (on the TV show) "Kid Flash" would be pretty asinine since he's just a few years younger than Barry (and, I think, a wee bit taller(?)) and not really a "kid". Maybe they'll call him Impulse on the show.

 

Good question, the answer might not be coming for a while, depending how they play this. We might see Wally take the mantle of the Flash and run with it... ....and then get Barry returning first thing next season, perhaps with flashes of him first ... .... to drag it out two or three episodes.

 

Barry's in the previews for the next episode, so they're not going that way.

I feel like all the time travel and alternate universe shenanigans are getting too complicated... I don't want to work so hard keeping track of the plot on a fluffy show like this.

 

Yup.

This season has been hit or miss for me for the reason you mentioned. So much so that I blew off the last few episodes for baseball since our two local teams are actually both worth watching for a change.

I'll probably get the S2 DVD down the road after it's released. Maybe binging this season will work better anyway.

 

This season has been mostly disappointing & dragged on for me. Lack of reverence for the classic comic storylines is bad for my taste as well.
I'm just sticking around to see this Zoom arc resolved, & then I am probably out. I've already dropped Arrow, Grimm, and Sleepy Hollow earlier this season.

 

From the preview it looks like Barry is in the Nexus. Maybe he'll run into Kirk and Picard while he's there (see: Star Trek: Generations)

I'd say he's *in* the speed force and will be back at the climax of next week's episode, or the beginning of the next one. To end the threat of Zoom with someone other than Barry taking him down would just be a cop-out end to the season, and bad storytelling.

Barry will be back, faster than ever, and maybe with a few new tricks up his sleeve. But, it still won't *quite* be enough... until Jesse and Wally suddenly, and probably accidentally, activate their new powers and help him out. At least, that's how I would write it.

But, the red herring in all this is that idiot in the iron mask. Could be that's Barry, already back from the speed force, in the past, and powerless. Maybe Jesse and Wally join a raid on Zoom's hideout, and when they touch the iron mask man he gets his speed back. Then, we get the fight with Zoom, it not going well, and Jesse and Wally getting powers and helping, as above.

Although, I'm still holding out that the man in the iron mask is the *real* Jay Garrick. (Would they dare make it Max Mercury?)

This season could have done with some tighter writing... that's for sure.

 

But, this is a different universe within the grand DC multiverse. The movies are one, the Supergirl show is in another, the New-52 books are another, and the old books are still different universes. We got a glimpse of pre-Flashpoint old-school Flash in the episode where he went to save his mommy, but that Flash is back in a different universe, now.

So, the show doesn't have to follow the old book continuity. This is a different universe! So says Geoff Johns.

(snark mode off)

 

You're never supposed to watch this kind of show with logic glasses on but in the last few episodes I kept thinking "Why doesn't Zoom just kill them all?" He knows where to find them, he knows Barry doesn't have his powers to defend them, etc.... he could run through the lab and kill everyone in a second. But no, he interacts with them every week but leaves them alive to come up with more ways to defeat him...

Stories always end up having this problem when the characters are too powerful.

 

For the moment, Zoom's weakness is Caitlin Snow. He won't wipe everyone out for fear of losing her, not that she's with or for him anyway. We know that weakness won't hold him back forever. I think Zoom will end up killing one or more of Barry's father figures by season's end.

 

Agreed. I'm predicting his bio dad, as Joe West is a popular character, and an asset to the show. Henry Allen, not so much.