FLASH TV Pilot Episode Review, and whether you should give it a try in October.

DC Comics put the proverbial arrow through our comic loving minds with the hit show on the CW, ARROW. After the midpoint of season 2, that show really hit it's stride, understanding what had been confusing it since it began, what it wanted to be. ARROW did not want to be another SMALLVILLE, nor did we, as viewers, want it to be. For it to work properly, it had to be gritty, much like the Christopher Nolan BATMAN film franchise, while still being cheesy enough to gain a younger audience, and clever enough to keep us older comic readers entertained.

 With ARROW, I wasn't hooked after the full first season, but being a comic fan, and a big fan of the work of Manu Bennett after SPARTACUS, I stuck with it, watching the entire full season on Netflix, and then watching in two to three episode spurts until the midpoint, when a kid by the name of Barry Allen came to Starling City, looking to find the phenomena that was "The Arrow." It was the second episode that Barry appeared in, where everything changed. ARROW knew it had to be less "cheese and sex appeal," and be more about the inner demons and workings of the cast, and it all started to click. It was also when Oliver got his green mask that we had been waiting a while to see. And that, friends, is where FLASH begins.

 A bolt of lightning at the end of that episode, and we know where that was headed. We just didn't know it would take that long to get here.

 From this moment forth, there will be spoilers, because, well, to explain the feel of the program, you need to know what's happening. You, folks, have been warned. The episode starts out with a very young Barry, his mom and his dad, and shortly thereafter, we see the tragedy that engulfs Barry's very existence...the death of his mother, the incarceration of his father, and all the while, this young boy holds on to a "fantasy" of seeing a blurry man that was the murderer, and not his father. They touch upon this throughout the episode, and there are subtle tips of the hat, but nothing that really pushes towards obsession, unless you believe Officer Thawne (yes, fans of the comic should recognize it).

 We meet Detective Allen, his daughter and object of Barry's affection, Iris, and we even see that Barry's big brain helps solve cases when no one really wants to give him a chance. We see the distance from the police captain, and all the markings for soap opera drama, just like any CW show.

 All of this, including the first case you see them handling all takes place BEFORE the episode of ARROW, though they pass that off with a set of lines of dialogue only, and then we are back to the here and now, in a flash (yup, went there). Detective West is on the finish the case Barry gave him the key information for, it causes the death of an officer, and all the while, we are slow burning our way to the lightning bolt. And then, BAM, it hits.

Barry wakes up nine months later (cute, a hero being born), and his life is turned upside down. Some good (he had abs, and new abilities like fast healing), some not so good (Iris now has a love interest). He wakes up at S.T.A.R Labs, which is now decommissioned based on the particle accelerator that blew up, subsequently giving Barry his powers. Barry needs to tell everyone he's alive, so he leaves, heads to the police and Iris, and BOOM, we're all happy with a little drama. Thawne is now West's partner, we get the first Iris/Thawne/Barry moment, which will lead to tension throughout, and Barry finds out about West's former partner.

 Barry tests out his new powers in a terrible suit, and then finds out while talking to Iris that others have gotten powers, including a man thought dead, now turning out to be Weather Wizard, Clive Martin, which creates a tense "Get with the truth" moment between Barry and West. This also leads Barry to have a lash out moment with the Star Labs folk, with Barry once again being told, "You're just a boy that got struck by lightning..."

This is where the episode finally takes off, literally, as Barry runs ALL THE WAY (600 miles) to Starling City for the first cameo appearance of Stephen Amell. In wrestling terms, this is done for the fans to mark out, applaud, or just get giddy with him showing up, but there's a problem with this moment. Barry is a dorkly kid who uses words like "cool," when describing what's occurring, Oliver is not. So the whole thing comes across as more of a cheesy "keep your chin up and go get'm" moment that we wouldn't get from Oliver. He's more of a "If you want me to tell you what you should do, I can't. You got struck by lightning. Take it and do good, do nothing, or do evil. If you pick the third, I'll put arrow's in your knees..." And he comes across too nice. He even leaves in in a typical SPIDER-MAN fashion, rather than how we've grown accustomed, which I guess is to say, this show will be more with the heroics than vigilantism, which is something Arrow alludes to.

 I digress.

Finally, Barry gets his costume, which is fire retardant and friction safe, so take that, Reed Richards. He takes down the bad boy, and is finally told, because someone has a "come to your savior" moment, that everything he ever thought is true, not the load of malarkey we were all fed for years. And then it happens...in a moment where Geoff Johns had to write it himself, we get the first glimpse of someone knowing more than they are letting on, and giving us a glimpse of the future, in a moment that not only did that for the character, but broke the fourth wall and gave it to the viewers, as well. I won't spoil it, because it is a neat little segue.

I enjoyed the episode, but it did feel more like SMALLVILLE than it did ARROW. If you want a little more cheese than the grim and grit we are going to swallow with ARROW, I feel that this series has a lot of potential, and the speed running seems like an inexpensive enough special effect that we will get a little spoiled with powers in this show that we don't in ARROW. Finally, with all the little easter eggs (Ferris Air, anyone?), I'm pretty sure we'll see old HAL JORDAN show up at some point, and the anticipated crossover episodes (maybe mid-season finales) with the brother series, ARROW. This is definitely a little more light haearted, and having John Wesley Shipp as Barry's father adds to the Smallville feel even more, since they commonly brought in former Superman actors to play roles for the sake of nostalgia (and marking/geeking out).

I enjoyed it, and I always look for another reason to fire up the DVR...