The Flash S01E02 Review: The Episodic Part of the Show

The Flash, Season 1, Episode 2: Fastest Man Alive

So while the first episode was clunky but functional, as all great pilots are, the second episode delves a bit more into what we can expect from the day-to-day procedural episode of the Flash when it's not dealing with big scary time-changing speedsters. We jump straight into the character connections, mostly between Barry's two daddies -- Joe West and Harrison Wells (Henry Allen isn't super-relevant, really, bar being that wise voice Barry visits every now and then).

The villains of the episode are pretty down-to-earth, although they're sure to give DC fans a grin for using really obscure villains. Multiplex (an enemy associated with Firestorm, who will later show up in this first season) is the main metahuman enemy, showing that, yeah, they're going all-out with superpowers and not just vague approximations like the Mirakuru super steroids in the first two seasons of Arrow. Multiplex's special effects aren't super impressive but serviceable enough. Rounding up the villains for this episode is corporate executive Simon Stagg and his bodyguard Mr. Java, both villains of Metamorpho who, before this, enjoyed a brief cameo in episodes of Justice League and Batman: Brave and the Bold. It's cool. Of course, both Multiplex and Stagg get offed at the end of the episode, but the way they died -- Flash unable to save Multiplex and Stagg murdered by Harrison Wells who can stand up -- are well-executed, and Stagg's death shows that not all is well with Wells. He's a fatherly mentor to our hero Barry Allen but to  what ends?

And using the likes of Multiplex and Stagg instead of 'wasting' one of Flash's many classic rogues is certainly the way to go -- even if, looking back three seasons later, I really kinda wished more classic rogues were represented, and those that did really deserved more than their one-episode or two-episode cameos. Mirror Master, Abra Kadabra? I expect more from you guys in the fourth season.

There are some neat moments here that'll be the benchmark of future plot points. Barry's brief spat with adoptive dad Joe and his reconciliation; Harrison Wells being the mentor; Cisco and Caitlin being a little bit more fleshed out... and only Grant Gustin can make a corny line like "the lightning struck all of us" work. The strongest part of Flash has always been its cast. Jesse L Martin and Tom Cavanagh are easily two of the best actors I've seen from television, while Grant Gustin, Carlos Valdez and Danielle Panabaker are this holy trinity of shameless geeking-out and charmy cheesiness while still making their lines work.

Iris, sadly, gets the short end of the stick, and watching this I feel like I care more for disposable villains Stagg and Multiplex more than I do her. That's the biggest black mark for the series's earlier ages, and they won't quite get Iris and make her into a good character until at least a season from now. I still find the Barry/Iris/Eddie love triangle stuff boring as all hell, though at least the actors try their best it's hard to be invested when the episode alone spends three moments of "Barry can't say he likes Iris!" Not to mention, y'know, the whole raised together since children thing always being creepy.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Multiplex is a Firestorm villain, while both Stagg and Java are villains of Metamorpho. Stagg, in particular, was instrumental in causing Rex Mason's transformation into Metamorpho.
• Caitlin's fiancee, Ronnie, is mentioned for the first time here. Ronnie, of course, is one half of the nuclear superhero Firestorm, set to appear later in the show. In the comics, Firestorm is indeed engaged in a romantic relationship with Crystal Frost, the first Killer Frost. (Caitlin Snow takes her name from the fourth.)
• Cisco's first nickname for Multiplex, 'Captain Clone', is definitely a reference to the amount of supervillains named Captain X in Flash's rogues gallery, yeah?
• Barry running on a treadmill is a reference,  of course, to Flash's classic plot device, the time-travelling Cosmic Treadmill.
• Stagg calls the Flash "Mercury on Earth". One of Jay Garrick's older origin stories apparently has him get his powers from the god Mercury landing on Earth. 
• Barry's hand-centrifuge thing is a homage to a similar scene 1990's live action series
• The gun shop that was robbed was called 'Hex's Gun Shop'. I wouldn't mention it here, but Hex is written in a Wild West font, a clear reference to DC's infamous cowboy gunslinger Jonah Hex -- who will make his CW live-action debut in Legends of Tomorrow.