This season we saw four new DC Comics television shows come to life, one being The Flash, which has claimed most critical success, along with some impressive ratings records, bringing in new historic numbers for The CW. It takes a lot to say when someone/something is one of the most exceptional things of a whole TV season when you have had the launch of several new outstanding programming like How to Get Away with Murder, Empire, and Jane the Virgin.
However, even with all of those strong new series, it’s been truly amazing to see the scarlet speedster come to life in such a triumphant adaptation with great showrunners and writers that embrace the source material for television. The series also has one of the most well assembled casts on TV, thanks to Arrow/The Flash/Supergirl/DC’s Legends of Tomorrow casting director David Rapaport. The cast, writing, and execution are all equally important together carry the show, but at the end of the day, you look at the man it centers around: Grant Gustin, Barry Allen/The Flash, who has demonstrated a refreshing level of inspiring talent. Here is why he is one of the biggest MVPs of the 2014-15 TV season.
Embracing of a Hero
Without slamming one of the most popular superheroes out there, we are still seeing numerous comic book characters undergoing the “Batman effect” since the success of Christopher Nolan’s outstanding The Dark Knight trilogy. A lot of these sensational heroes’ stories now feature elements of brooding and darkness, but it doesn’t work well in certain cases, especially if this hero is defined by the brighter world he or she comes from. It’s split right now in the heroes we are seeing on screen. There are those characters that seem forced to have those darker qualities, making it seem depressing to be a superhero and taking the fun away from watching their stories, simply because of how mainstream it has become to have “grittier” movies and shows.
Fortunately, certain heroes still get to embrace the true joy of being a superhero, and Barry Allen, the fastest man alive, is one of them. Since his first Arrow appearance right into his own pilot, Grant Gustin has presented all the elements that you WANT to see in the modern day superhero, especially as the world we live in today is a place where we need hope and heroism more than ever.
Escapism (TV, film, books and more) is one form of finding that hope, so when you have a show like The Flash and a performer like Gustin, who gets to show us the length of fun and good that you can have with something like super-speed, it provides individuals with inspiration. That’s not to say that leading characters of non-comic books show or movies can’t have that same effect, but these comic book heroes that we see on the pages can go to certain lengths that other genres just simply can’t. There is the comic book aspect of The Flash, when you see Barry fight supervillains like Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and the Reverse-Flash (Tom Cavanagh), a classic good versus evil story that we all love to see while also exploring the origin of the man behind the speed. However, you are also seeing a young man, who has been haunted by the tragic death of his mother since he was a child, growing into an adult and dealing with that trauma. Instead of letting the past drag him down, Barry uses the new strength he possesses and doesn’t let his hardships define his life. It’s a universal feeling that we all can relate to (minus the powers), and if it can be told in something as popular as a superhero story, it’s the best of both worlds.
A True Leader
Gustin has proven week after week since the launch of the show that not only does he have the ability to carry his own series, but also that his character is someone you can rely on and follow in the world of that show. If Barry Allen existed in real life, he would be someone you would trust and want to follow wherever he goes. We ask ourselves all time when we watch TV or film, “what makes a character strong?” Is it an individual that possesses physical prowess, but decides to shut down their emotions because they see it as a weakness? Or is it someone that utilizes their physical abilities while also letting their emotions and humanity be a factor in the choices they make? My view is that a character is more believably strong if they don’t shut down their emotions and remember that, at the end of the day, they are only human. Powerful emotions can give you that boost to continue on fighting even when hope seems to be completely lost.
That is how I define a leader, and Gustin’s performances can speak for that. In the beginning of the season, Barry was lost, had no idea how to live this new life after waking up from his coma. With allies in Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), Iris West (Candice Patton), Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett), and more, you have seen an amazing character evolution that has shaped Barry into a heroic leader. A great thing with Barry is that when things do get tough, he doesn’t bottle up all those feelings; he just lets it out. That makes Barry a strong and real hero, because while it’s perhaps a bit difficult to find realism in something like super-speed, even characters like Superman, Thor, and more feel what ordinary humans feel.
At several points in the The Flash‘s first season, it becomes emotionally heavy for our hero, and the natural thing for him to do is let the people around him know that he needs them, instead of pretending that he is indestructible like other superheroes do. That is what sets The Flash a part from so many of these other heroes we are seeing today on the screen and what makes the show more compelling to follow. Barry knows his limits and what he has to work on. He doesn’t run away from his fears: he runs towards them and defeats them. What I truly love most about Gustin’s portrayal are the multiple layers he brings to the character: he is charming, goofy, determined, smart, strong, scared, and inspiring, all in one package.
I’m a sucker for great superhero/comic book stories, always have been and always will be. But I’m also in favor of great television in general, so when these two worlds can collide and you get someone as talented as Gustin, it can then be one of the most compelling series ever. And that’s exactly what Grant Gustin, along with the phenomenal cast and writers, have helped The Flash become.
The Flash Season 2 will premiere in October in its regular timeslot at Tuesday nights, 8/7c on The CW.
[Photos via The CW]
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I totally agree, and i cannot help but think the film they plan to do is a bad idea, especially if this series is still on by then
Definitely the best show on TV right now…. Its going to be a looooonnnggg summer.
I think that The Flash is one of the best shows on TV right now
I posted a response quite sometime ago and have yet to see it. Could it possibly be due to the fact I posted a response that is contrary to Andy’s article and challenges his claim that The flash and Grant Gaustin is the 2014-15 MVP?
Hi William. I’m Chris King, the managing editor for TVOvermind. We’ve had issues with people’s comments not posting on the site in the past (it’s something that we’re working on), but we would never delete or remove any comment simply because it disagrees with one of our author’s opinions. The only types of comments we delete are ones that are personal attacks on the writer, filled with rude or foul language, or are spam. Many TVOvermind articles feature comments that challenge or oppose the arguments our writers are making. We’re always up for some good debates about television.
Again, I’m sorry your comment did not post, and I will try to make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future. Thanks for reading the site.
– Chris
Thank you for that. I was worried that my response was found to be inflammatory since it was a critique against the statement of MVP within the article and I did wonder about the writers credential for suggesting the show and its lead actor was MVP for 2014-15.
The Flash is a good show because of the acting, the effects, and people are mostly comic book nerds!!
I’m still having problems posting my original response. It keeps getting stuck in overmind review whereas a little short post like this is approved in minutes.
Scratch that. Seconds apparently
I’m going to disagree and I wonder exactly how Critics like Andy and other sites arrive at this conclusion considering the blaring issues the flash had. Most of the show episode “Critiques” are nothing more than a fawning recap of the previous episode talking about why it was so “Good” followed by a lot of self congratulatory back patting about why the writer and the viewers who tuned in are so “Brilliant” for watching and liking the show. Are DC fans so starved for a live action dc show they are willing to take anything thing that is offered?
The fact of the matter is that this show was not good by any stretch of the imagination from their casting choices, acting, costume design, to writing and to call it so is
an egregious form of self deception. Grant Gustin was/is no
Barry Allen. He looks like a poor man’s Andrew Garfield better suited to playing a live action made for TV spiderman than the flash. The Guy who played Eddie had Barry written all over him but the producers decided to be “clever” and not go for the actor who was the obvious choice as some sort of audience fake out.
From there what the
audience was treated to was an emotionally stunted man/child with daddy issues
who the writers couldn’t decide if he was a 20 something man or a 15 something
boy just discovering his powers with a more than creepy, incestuous attraction
to Iris. Every episode was the same, Barry forgets that he is the flash, gets
his Tookus handed to him, takes off mask, cries about how bad he is, then gets a
pep talk from one of his many daddies be it black daddy or sinister wells
daddy, remembers he is the fastest man alive and wins.
I don’t know if it
was the actor’s fault or the result of bad writing and direction but the
character that Grant plays isn’t charming by any stretch of the imagination.
What he plays is an emotionally needy boy that is in constant need of emotional
support with an unnatural fixation on Iris that the audience fails to understand
why save for the writers and the comics say this is his one true love. If Grant
were less easy on the eyes most would see the character he portrays as the
creepy emotionally exhausting parasite he is and have nothing to do with him.
He needed to man up,
a problem that other superheroes didn’t seem to have a issue doing. It’s a sad
commentary in my opinion that Peter Parker, the guy he sort of looks like took
to heart “with great power comes great responsibility” manned up at
15 or 16 and did what he had to do, made the hard decisions often alone, with
little to no guidance yet the Barry who is clearly in his 20’s and out of
college has issues even with a support system and constantly boo hoos when
things get a little tough like when daddy Allen got captured (yes he really did
go off into a corner and cry).
The characterization
particularly how women were portrayed was hideous. I had no issues with Iris
being black. What I took issue with was that Iris was essentially black barbie
stuffed full of all the unoriginal dc heroine reporter tropes. If they were
going to cast a black woman as Iris they should have Nick Furied her and made
the character so Baddass that the collective public consciousness forgot she
was ever white prompting the comic writers to introduce Iris Allen West Jr into
the comics. What’s so sad about this is they introduced the elements to make
her so. In the Pilot she’s working on her doctorate, a plot point they dropped,
and seems strong willed and independent, at least until she shacks up with
Eddie because of Barry rather selfishly getting put into a coma.
Instead the audience
was treated to old school Lois Lane in black face who’s only role was to serve
as an extension of the hero and a plot device to move the story along. The sad
part is they couldn’t even do that well and the majority of the responses I
have read concerning Iris was negative at best. This is supposed to be the
leading lady and yet the female character who gets the juicier parts is Katelyn
who’s boring at best and whiny the rest of the time.
The story suffered
from massive plot holes and poor research. An example other than the dropped
PhD angle with Iris is Capt cold and his buddy with the absolute heat flame
thrower and them “Crossing the streams”. Or episode 5
“Gambi” *Ahem* “Plastique” with the military chasing her.If
the show is set in modern times it wouldn’t be the military it would be
homeland security. Of course there is the pilot where unknown or theoretical
energies like dark matter were thrown out. Dark matter exist if the writers had
just watched a little of the science network or used the google machine they
would have known this. And Lets not forget a reactor in the middle of the city
that afterwards for some reason the government hasn’t taken or the infamous kill
switch smack in the center of the reactor itself.
The biggest problem
in general with this show is the scarlet speedster himself, not the ugly
costume, but writing a speedster character. The writers were constantly
inconsistent in how they wrote him from episode to episode, they had no
governing rules or universe, instead opting to pick and choose from the canon/
universe as they saw fit. They would have had a lot easier time writing the guy
if they had put limits on his powers and had a gradual build up each season
with tease to his ultimate potential rather than blowing their wad on the first
season by showing him as faster than light and time apparently.
They should have
limited his speed which would have made writing situations easier and made sure
there was a price to pay like in 90’s flash where Daddy Allen if he overexerted
himself could die because his body would consume itself. They touched on that
in this should but quickly came up with a solution with the NCIS goth girl, I
mean Cisco creating million calorie food bars for him.
I find myself
wondering how this show could be considered the MVP of 2014-15 when Marvel has
introduced show’s like Dare Devil and Agent carter with the former not the
latter having the characters Superness in the backdrop in favor of plot and
character development with both shows I might add having nuanced characters and
female leads, especially agent Carter who are layered and more than just a plot
device or extension of the male protagonist.
If asked I am
decidedly more of a Marvel fan than I am DC, preferring the more flawed and
relateable characters to DC’s Larger than life demi gods and I think Marvel is
doing a far better job of bringing their heroes to life but that doesn’t mean
that I don’t think there isn’t room for competition. I have a vested interest
in seeing DC/WB produce quality. Why? Because when there is competition we
benefit as well as they do and I honestly feel that Marvel needs a competitor
that can keep them on their toes. This show and their sad attempt to replicate
Marvel’s universe building is not it.
If fans of this show want something that can challenge the juggernaut that is
Marvel fans should demand better, from the writing, direction, to the casting,
all of which Marvel takes the time and care to do well instead of just
accepting the crap DC/WB/CW spews out with its pretty faces all designed to
make the fans forget just how bad their shows are