I enjoyed the Flash movie.

There are spoilers in this review of The Flash, which I saw this last weekend. Proceed forward at your own peril :).

June has been a fun return to movies. I haven't seen this many films in the theater since before 2020, and it does feel good. I've seen four movies in the last two weeks, and you've already read about what I thought of Elemental (from Pixar) and Across the Spiderverse. Now, I'm going to air my feelings about Warner Brothers first "Flash" movie, and on Wednesday I'll talk about Asteroid City by Wes Anderson.

So, right off the bat, I really liked The Flash. I think that Ezra Miller plays a great Flash even if they are kind of a shitty human being. After watching this film, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't crap on Miller as an actor, because I very much wanted to after seeing the sketchy headlines that paint them to be a kind of weasel in real life. So here's where I have to separate the art from the actor.

We oftentimes have to do this kind of thing. In literature, Marion Zimmer Bradley was a fantastic author that I liked reading, but she had zero problems with her husband being a podophile. Shrug. What can you do about that? And honestly, I've enjoyed Ezra in more than just his outing as the Flash. He was great in Fantastic Beasts too, although the third installment (which was still good), kind of sidelined his character or definitely reduced the impact that character would have on the story. All of that was probably done as he entered the news for various troubling behavior patterns, and then of course, J.K. Rowling was doing the same thing.

I think that a lot of humans always want bad people to always be bad artists. That way we don't have to deal with the conflict of where to draw lines. No one really likes to feel conflicted, am I right? Anyway, The Flash as a movie had a lot going for it. I loved seeing the different universes. I saw bunches of cameos including Helen Slater as Supergirl, which last happened in the 80's (done via C.G.I.), and Christopher Reeve returning briefly as Superman. There was even a Nicolas Cage version of Superman, which I'd only briefly paid attention to over the years, and was a concept for a movie that was directed by Tim Burton. And we saw George Clooney briefly as the Batman. Of course, if you've seen the trailers, then you know Michael Keaton is back as the Batman for one more outing (which includes a send-off). The big bad of the movie is General Zod from Man of Steel. This time, no matter how many Barry Allen's there are, Zod is unstoppable (he was almost unstoppable in Man of Steel). Kryptonian forces and their technology is just too much to handle, and honestly it should have been in Man of Steel. And to my surprise, we got to see Gal Gadot one more time as Wonder Woman. I really wish they weren't scrapping that character, but the next outing of Wonder Woman will more than likely be a different casting. Gal Gadot was just so good as the character.

A lot of people online did not like the C.G.I. that had some uncanny valley moments to it. I didn't mind it so much, however, I knew going into it that the C.G.I. was going to look wonky every time that Barry used the Speed Force. They explained this as, "Things look different from Barry's perspective when he's moving so fast." Others who read those same words from the director say that this is just a way to cover their ass over bad C.G.I. I don't know what the truth is, but I accepted what the director said, I believe they made it intentionally look bad in order to distinguish what it was like being in the Speed Force. I would have liked it much better if they had just copied the Quicksilver sequences from the X-Men movies (with the young cast).

Anyone else see The Flash? If so, what did you think?

The Flash ended the Arrowverse with its season finale and I have thoughts to share.

I've been a faithful follower of The Flash for many years now. I probably did not know much about the Flash going into this series, but I was excited when it launched. Now, as it has ended by airing its series finale last week, I think it kinda/sorta limped to the finish line. It's been a weird journey on so many levels, but just to be clear, it isn't as weird as Riverdale, which in its final season defies my even explaining what this show is about. Here are my random thoughts that I have about The Flash.

1) Grant Gustin is a great actor, and he did a great job as the Flash. He could have said any lines, but the ones that he was handed, he delivered with the emotional impact that I wanted. Any issues I had was that the writing was bad in places. I know this, so he did the best with what he was handed. And he looked good in the suit.

2) The CW decided to double and triple down on time travel. Like...literally...it happened all the time. I know that time travel is a central power that the Flash has. But there was so much time travel that I got a bit confused on what timeline was worth saving and what wasn't worth saving. It really made me realize that the Flash seems to be a much better character when he has other heroes to team up with, and that leads me to my next observation.

3) The crossovers worked really well. I liked it when Supergirl crossed over with Arrow and it crossed over with The Flash and that crossed over with Batgirl, and then we got a crossover with Legends of Tomorrow (which by far was the greatest of the CW comic series) and we even got a Black Lightning cross over, etc. Those were a lot of fun, and it's rare when a single channel can do that with all of its properties. But the era of superhero shows has pretty much ended with The Flash, unless you bother to count Gotham Knights which I'm enjoying.

4) I think that The Flash picked up too many secondary characters. I wanted something that was more about Barry and Iris with maybe some crossover to uncovering a new Green Lantern (which was always hinted at but I never got). Instead, we ended up with Cecile and Allegra and Chester and then they offed Caitlyn to bring in Killer Frost and then changed her to the goddess Khione. We also picked up several versions of the Speed Force and then a Negative Speed Force. But the best secondary character throughout the entire show were the various versions of Thawn and Captain Cold (which we got very early in the series). Everytime he appeared in the series, he stole the show before it got reduced to Barry just "outrunning" his problems in various ways. I get it...Barry runs a lot. But maybe my lack of reading the comics made me expect that he wouldn't always outrun his issues and might have to go about solving them in a different way. Or maybe I just got jaded with the running and it no longer impacted me in a meaningful way, and I just became a bit bored with it.

5) Barry and Iris's marriage is still weird to me. This is a personal thing. But I just try to imagine a woman marrying her adopted brother and those two making kids together. The fact that they got to know each other when they were like six and maybe seven years of age doesn't make it better. It makes it worse for me. It's just...I dunno...too odd for me to not find pure cringe. I would never say anything to a couple that was like this...I'd just wish them well and probably not talk to them all that much because it was too weird. Would it be better if it was gay? I try to imagine a man saying, "I'm marrying my nephew because we are in love and near the same age, but he is not my nephew by blood." And I think..."good lord that sounds just awful...not gonna touch that." Feel free to judge me. I guess I'm just not as open-minded as I'd like to be, and maybe I have some work to do on that.

Anyway, those are my five thoughts I have on this series. Overall, it kept me invested for what? Nine seasons? That's a lot of time I spent watching this thing. It was fun though to see a network actually take a stab at doing what Disney/Marvel has accomplished with the creation of a superhero cinematic universe. It makes me think that this kind of thing is an incredibly difficult feat to pull off well. I give the CW props for trying.

Six things that were incredibly awesome about the Flash season three

Warning: Spoilers Ahead. If you intend to watch the third season of The Flash, you probably shouldn't read any further.  Wow. The Flash season finale (it was called "Finish Line") was pretty incredible, with lots of high and low moments, and an unexpected twist that really tore at my heart more than I thought it would. That being said, I'd like to go over six things that I thought really made this season great.

1) Cisco Ramon got a girlfriend. Gypsy (played by Jessica Camacho) was a bounty hunter pursuing H.R. Wells from universe to universe. Her vibe powers were a little more powerful than Cisco, but the chemistry was certainly there. And it was a lot of fun to see Cisco pursue a love interest with clever one liners all so that she could save him in the final episode of the season. That's a nice character arc.

2) Killer Frost and Dr. Caitlyn Snow finally reached some kind of reconciliation, and the two personalities merged to form one wholly different person that had the good and bad from both people. Her story was also very interesting, falling in love with Tom Felton's character Julian Albert, then dying only to be saved by her alter ego, and then skating around town by creating a bridge of ice that could propel her through the air between skyscrapers.

3) Kid Flash got introduced and is in perfect position to take over the series. Out goes Barry Allen who created Flash Point and in goes Wally West. As sad as that ending was, to see Barry leave Earth for permanent exile within the Speed Force, I think there is more that has yet to be written with Wally West's Flash and where that character can grow. Besides, Warner Brothers may want to concentrate on the Barry Allen that's going to be seen in movies and not the one in the t.v. show.

4) H.R. Wells became the surprise savior of the season. This was totally unexpected, and I really got to where I liked this character. The fact that he fell in love with Tracy Brand (played by Anne Dudek) just made it all the more bittersweet when he died (having traded places with Iris West in a way that left Savitar--the major villain--clueless).

5) I ended up being right about Savitar. A few weeks ago in this post I explained that I thought that Savitar was a Time Remnant. Being right just gives me that little pump of validation that makes it all worth it, ya know?

6) We saw the Flash do a gorilla punch in Gorilla City. That right there is just epic. TV has never been cooler. Whenever The Flash does a Grodd story it spares no expense, and this season we saw a two-part Gorilla City spectacular. I just can't complain about any of that. Just think about that folks: we got to see a giant telepathic evil gorilla! When was the last time you could drop that sentence in conversation to someone about what kind of tv you saw last night?

So what's in store for season four? Well it's going to be a show without Barry Allen. That does kind of suck. I wonder if they'll bring him back for anything. It's not quite a Game of Thrones exit as it does leave some doors open, but it's been a while since I watched a show that so thoroughly wrote its main character out of the story.

I think I know the identity of Savitar on the Flash.

The whole season 3 arc of The Flash has been either dealing with the repercussions of Flashpoint, or the cautionary story of Barry Allen deciding not to play with time anymore and live with the consequences of the reality he creates. So what if the rub of the great unanswered question of the season, i.e., Who Is Savitar, is just a version of Barry Allen whose reality was completely destroyed when Flashpoint was created. If you remember what happened in the season 2 finale of The Flash, Barry destroyed one of his own time remnants. But maybe that time remnant just got trapped in the Speed Force, not unlike Savitar, and having lost everything is destroying those things that main Barry Allen cares about, starting with Iris.

The time travel mechanics of The Flash are kind of mind-bending, and I have to hand it to the writers to weave these tales within tales, because they keep me guessing. I've pretty much loved this third season of the Flash, and at times I forget that it's an alternate timeline that shouldn't really exist. But that it does exist should have some kind of repercussion on Barry. I can't help but think how cool it might be that Barry is fighting himself, which is why he can't win.

Perhaps last night's episode of The Flash, entitled "The Once and Future Flash," is one huge Easter egg. Grant Gustin (who plays Barry Allen) said in an interview that it was one of the most challenging episodes to film in the season because it has a lot of scenes with Barry and Barry. Basically, he's his own scene partner. And the main villains of the night were Mirror Master and Top. The fact that Mirror Master is there makes me think that there's a strong hint of "look in the mirror and you'll have your answer," especially given that the only reason Barry meets Mirror Master in the first place is because he's looking for the identity of Savitar. Maybe he need look no further than himself.

I know I like to make predictions, especially when I sense that a series is building toward a season finale. So my prediction is that the big bad of the entire season, a.k.a. Savitar, is none other than a Time Remnant of Barry Allen himself.

Contemplating the hollowness of his own existence the Flash changes timeline after timeline looking for the perfect reality.

There may be some spoilers ahead.

There are times when watching the Flash seems like it's actually a tale of one young man's descent into madness. After all, when you get too deep into the weeds of time travel, I would think that any specific timeline would have just as much validity as the one you left. So how could you justify changing one thing (or everything) when in the end it's all rendered irrelevant by the simple fact that time travel exists? Being a time traveler then is the ultimate self indulgence because you would in fact be choosing which reality was (in fact) the reality for everyone else.

I was expecting more of Flashpoint--the season three premiere, which happened last night on the CW. But I wasn't necessarily disappointed? I just thought it would go on for longer than it did. That's (I think) when it hit me: the idea that this series (and everything connected to it) is just Barry Allen's emotional journey in determining which reality is the one that viewers consume. Maybe the entire DC universe is actually just Barry Allen's version of events because he alters one thing here and there through time and doesn't seem to be able to control himself.

As for the death and life of his mom, I'm not sure why Barry caved so easily in letting his ultimate enemy go back into time and kill his mother after he worked so hard to save her. He apparently was losing memories of an irrelevant timeline and would eventually even forget that he was the Flash. However, why was any of that important? Barry's relationship with his parents has been a really strong point of the show. It's full of richness and depth, and it spins the coin on the all-but-worn-out plot of a hero being an orphan with no parents.

Barry Allen being played by a millennial is kind of perfect. He wants everything, but when things aren't the perfect story that he feels he deserves, he's left to contemplate the hollowness of his own existence and then must strive to change it.

The Supergirl and Flash crossover had some pretty great moments and I hope it happens again.

When the Flash and Supergirl got together, it actually was better than watching cats on the internet (which is probably why the internet was invented in the first place). I've always liked the lighter feel of the Flash and teaming up with Supergirl (which also has a much lighter feel to it) seemed like a perfect fit. And then (of course) there was this moment early on:

When asked to explain your powers of speed, who wouldn't hook everyone
up with ice cream. By the way, I'm jealous that Barry needs to eat 10,000
calories a day just to stay thin. That's a superpower with some kick to it.

I love the expression on Supergirl's face when she realizes that she has ice cream. But there's no way Barry paid for it so there is that issue...Barry you thief! Unless of course he just left a $20 and was like "keep the change." But there were so many great moments from the crossover. Seriously. And the best line of the night went to Cat Grant who kinda/sorta had a Deadpool-esque "break the fourth wall moment" when she commented that the cast of characters before her looked like the youth-obsessed, attractive, and racially diverse cast of a CW show. Oh my.

I suppose racially diverse and attractive does describe this cast. Cat Grant
nailed it. But then again, she is the CEO of a large company.

And then there was the fact that the Flash just loves that Kara is an alien. He wants her to take a picture of him standing in front of her spaceship, which is in this top secret government facility devoted to "very serious things." How can someone not love an episode that is poking fun at itself so intently?

I hope that CBS decides to renew Supergirl. It's had a pretty strong and convincing first season. As of this writing, there's been no word yet. The only thing I didn't like about the crossover was that it took place on a different Earth that Barry just happened to pop into. That makes it seem like crossovers might be harder. I would have liked them to be in the same universe. But hey, maybe if Supergirl gets canceled on CBS it could get picked up by the CW. That would be kinda fun, and they could fix the alternate universe stuff and start building a CW version of the Justice League. Now all they'd need is a t.v. version of Wonder Woman. I suppose they could go with "Wonder Girl" since all of these shows take place pre- "Crisis on the Infinite Earths." For what it's worth, I thought Wonder Girl was cooler than Wonder Woman in many ways (when she was with the Teen Titans).

Last night's episode of the Flash was a whirlwind of Earth-2 awesome and doppelgangers and Easter eggs and all the comic book love.

WARNING: Spoilers are everywhere!

You know those weird episodes that inevitably occur in a science fiction series where "Kirk gets to meet 'opposite universe' Kirk" (for lack of a better example)? The Flash's insane dynamic allows that to happen all of the time if the writers want to, and it's absolutely brilliant.

Tuesday night's episode of The Flash was the funnest one yet because the whole Earth-2 thing allows the cast to step into roles that they normally would not be able to do. Caitlyn Snow, Cisco, and Firestorm were all evil. And Barry? He was a complete adorkable C.S.I. married to his true love Iris. But let me re-iterate that Cisco was evil! How cool is that?

I loved the doppelganger of Cisco (code-named "Reverb") because 1) he may have been a villain but he was a villain with a certain kind of geeky style, and 2) he was so much more powerful than his alter ego "Vibe." This is going to open up so much potential for the character as (for the first time) Cisco realizes he's got some awesome powers only hinted at in Reverb's monologue. I for one want to know more about how he could short out someone's nervous system and the whole telekinetic push thing he did to the Flash was pretty awesome too (so yeah, more on that please).

Oh and we saw Supergirl! I know the news broke that there was going to be a Flash/Supergirl crossover coming, but it made me squee to see Supergirl in the actual vortex/portal leading to Earth-2.

On Barry Allen's phone were labels that said, "Bruce, Hal, and Diana." If you don't know, those are the alter ego names of "Batman", "Green Lantern", and "Wonder Woman!!!" I just about had a nerdgasm.

And finally, Caitlyn Snow is one step closer to creating "Velocity 9." Now in the comics, Velocity 9 was created by the magic-using Vandal Savage (who is an awesome Legends of Tomorrow villain--that guy is bad ass). However, in the CW's version it could just about be anything that they want. It is interesting that they are going to introduce it though, and I'm excited about the results.

It truly is official: the CW is my FAVORITE channel.

Is the secret brother that Iris just learned about on The Flash named Wally by chance? If that's true is the CW doing Crisis on the Infinite Earths?

Look...the CW has just been knocking it out of the park with "The Flash" and "Arrow" this fall, and last night's episode entitled "The Fury of Firestorm" was no different. The insertion of heroes and villains from Earth 2 is just the beginning of what I must assume is a steady build toward Crisis on the Infinite Earths. If they can pull off Crisis at some point in the future, I'm going to go bonkers because it's even more ambitious than The Avengers. However, it also means that Barry Allen dies (if they follow the plot in the comic book drawn by George Perez), allowing Wally West to become "The Flash" infused with all of the powers of the Speed Force.

Up until now, there hasn't been a "Wally" West. But I don't think it's much of a stretch to think that the CW wants to at least introduce him. I mean, Iris's last name was always "West" and so was Joe's (naturally). And last week, they introduced "Francine" who was Iris' deadbeat former addict mother come to Central City to get to know her kid again. This week we found out that Francine was in town because she has a terminal disease. But because Iris is an investigative reporter, she discovered a secret that Francine had kept from her and Joe: the existence of a brother that she's never met. Iris asked Francine, "Do I have a brother?" but the emotions were coming too fast and too strong for Francine to answer before Iris walked out. What I wanted to know was, "Is his name Wally?"

Wally West is going to be the third Flash (the first was Jay Garrick and the second was Barry Allen--please correct me if I'm wrong comic book nerds).

Random Thoughts:

1) I do like that it's Iris this time that is keeping "the secret" from Barry and Joe. It's a good "turn of the table."

2) It also seems like a very natural way to introduce someone (Wally) considering they've never talked about him at all. Usually shows are just sloppy and introduce someone as a "cousin" and just expect the audience to go along with it.

3) The C.G.I. for the huge man shark guy at the end was awesome.

4) The new Harrison Wells looks like he may be a good guy. That will be so weird because he looks just like the old Harrison Wells who is responsible for killing Barry's mom. How will Barry ever get past the way the guy looks to work with him on anything? 

In a Flash-tacular season finale we got showered with Easter eggs from all of the CW's insane plans for their DC universe

Spoiler Alert: I'm going to be talking about the season finale of The Flash. If you haven't watched it, you probably don't want to read any further.

The first 80% of this week's season finale for The Flash had Barry hmm'ing and haww'ing over whether or not he should actually go back in time to save his mother or just let her die. I get that it was a big decision. However, it made for bad television. Thankfully, the last 20% of the show was FANTASTIC and the Speed Force scene (as Barry takes the plunge back into time)? It's full of Easter eggs for future stuff that's already been filmed or is in the works. In the video made by Youtuber Wild Jr, he slows down the frames so you can actually see what's going on in the whole tunneling effect of traveling back in time (eat your heart out Marty McFly).

First up on the left you see Barry moving in with the West family. This is nothing special in and of itself because we have already seen that happening. Then on the right appears Dr. Caitlyn Snow as Killer Frost. Here's what she looks like:

As you may or may not know, in September 2013 Killer Frost appeared on the cover of Forever Evil #1, and she was part of the storyline. In it, Dr. Caitlin Snow is a scientist sent to S.T.A.R. Labs Outpost #72 in the arctic to work on a thermodynamic engine whose creator committed suicide, and she soon discovers the place has been infiltrated by H.I.V.E. agents. When they tried to kill her inside the engine, she frantically rips off the coolant system merging her body with the ice. Transformed into a heat vampire, she continues to search for other sources of heat, which inevitably leads to her discovering that Ronnie (Firestorm) can blast her with heat (Ronnie is Caitlyn's husband) and temporarily heal her condition. I can only guess that Eddie Thawne killing himself has changed everything. S.T.A.R. Labs is probably operated by the real Harrison Wells now, and the Flash's entire history is going to change now. So it's going to be like this entire season never happened.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, the Flash's storyline is pure insanity to follow.

Okay, more Easter eggs from the video. We got a look at "The Flash" museum, a look at Barry as a prisoner in Iron Heights with his father, Henry Allen, visiting him instead of the other way around, a portion from the Legends of Tomorrow trailer, the night Nora Allen died, and Jay Garrick's Flash helmet. Jay Garrick was the first Flash in the Golden Age & during World War 2. Jay is from the parallel universe of Earth 2 and has never existed in Barry's universe.

So if you made it this far, you probably watch the show. What did you think of season one?

I won't be blogging Monday as it's a holiday. Sorry I was absent Wednesday, but I just wasn't feeling good and wasn't up to blogging. Have a good long weekend.

The season finale of Arrow left me with a lot of questions but I am excited for the Legends of Tomorrow spinoff

In the season finale of Arrow, the Flash saves everyone. As he should.

The season finale of Arrow this week was action packed, and I've been digging through the events that transpired for clues as to what may happen in The Legends of Tomorrow spinoff. First we have Brandon Routh's character, Ray Palmer, getting into an accident with miniaturization at the end. This (obviously) explains how he becomes "The Atom" and can transform into a super miniaturized version of himself. It's the same kind of treatment that Barry got in a two-part introduction on the Arrow that occurred last season. Good thing Ray transferred all ownership of the company to Felicity, and good thing that the Atom and Felicity broke off their romance so that the Atom could head to his own show in its own time slot. Does anyone else notice that most superheroes seem to be getting their powers through explosions?

Next, Malcolm Merlyn is now the new Ra's al Ghul or "demon's head" in Nanda Parbat. This means that it's going to be through him how Sara gets resurrected in the life-giving waters of the Lazarus Pits. Everyone blames Malcolm Merlyn for Sara's death, and as world's greatest assassin, naturally he's going to make moves that will improve his relationship with his daughter (as he basically had Thea kill Sara in the season opener). I'd heard they'd cast the actress who played Sara as "The Black Canary" in The Legends of Tomorrow spinoff and wondered how she was going to come back. But what's going to happen with Laurel Lance's identity once Sara makes returns from the dead? Hmm. I have too many questions.

And now onto the big question: is Oliver really going to retire and live happily ever after with Felicity? This came out of nowhere, and I'm not really sure it works. I'd love to see Felicity and Oliver in a great relationship, but what about the main star of the show? Is Diggle going to be the new Arrow? I'm kind of thinking on the lines of what Patrick Dilloway said to me months ago: Barry needs to go back in time and change the past so that this whole mess of a season can be redone. Honestly, I kind of suspect that something like this may just happen because the Arrow season finale and the Flash season finale are one week apart. Why not have them take place in the same week? Well if Barry goes back in time to save his mom, everything has a potential to change in this joined universe, which may be a reason as to why the CW is keeping the finale's off kilter to each other.

I love the Flash and Grant Gustin who plays Barry, but have I ever mentioned how broken his powers are? When I was watching the season finale of Arrow, I wondered how Felicity and crew were going to break out of the dungeon of Nanda Parbat when suddenly the Flash showed up. Of course. The Flash single-handedly tied everyone alive up in the citadel and then just used his vibration powers to destroy the dungeon. At any one time, he could have grabbed Ra's al Ghul and just put him in the prison on Lian Yu or in a deep dark hole somewhere and then just ran out before Ra's could even blink.

The Flash's powers don't seem that "broken" in his own show but once he starts hanging with Oliver and company, you can just see that none of those other people are even on the same level as Barry despite the fact the writers like to close the distance between the "power gap" with creative toys like nanites that take away speedster powers.

Anyway, I'm glad that the Ra's al Ghul storyline is over. It was starting to drag on and on and on. I'm excited for the Arrow's return next season and hope that we get a new story arc with some villains that perhaps have some super powers. That'd be fun.

The Flash is turning in a spectacular season thus far so I want to know how do you think it will end?

The Flash is turning in a spectacular season. With only a few episodes left, the heroes, i.e., Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon, Catelyn Snow, Eddie Thawne, and Iris's father Joe are closing in on the evil Dr. Harrison Wells, a.k.a. the Reverse Flash. I have to admit that I originally thought that the Reverse Flash might not translate well to the small screen. But the CW has really pulled this villain off. He's legitimately scary, capable of doing the most evil things as long as they coincide with his own self interest. In a word: diabolical.

Last night's episode had some really great moments. First, I was glad to see that Iris became useful by spotting (correctly) that her boyfriend had been framed in the video because he's not left-handed. That was great. And I think that the chemistry between Barry and Eddie Thawne is actually creepily good, considering both of them are straight. Everytime Eddie and Barry get close and have a heated (full of feels) conversation I really want them to kiss. Seriously. You gotta be with me on this Sarah Falen.

Also, Cisco being such a huge fanboy for Laurel just adds to his charm. I was a little disappointed that Laurel only hooked him up with a pic of them together ala Black Canary costume. Keeping the picture in the envelope might have been better. It would have allowed us sketchy types out here in the universe to thinking that she gave him nude pics (hey I can't help where my mind goes...)

So here's the thing. I think that the team of heroes is in an even more dangerous situation than they even realize right now (which would be par for the course because Barry got duped by the shapechanging guy disguised as Eddie Thawne when he knew Eddie Thawne was in police custody). Wells is this super villain and he's literally gathered an army of supervillains under one roof that he could release all at once if he wanted to. Everybody in the building, possibly in the city, might just be screwed.

What do you guys think (obviously if you are watching the show)? Is the season finale going to be an all out bad guy bash with the cell doors popping open all over S.T.A.R. Labs and unleashing fury on Central City? Or do you think it will be a one on one showdown between Barry and the Reverse Flash? It's not like we'll be in suspense for long because the end is coming soon.

The wacky weirdness of the Flash resulted in the death of a beloved character in an episode worthy of being a season finale

Dr. Wells revealed his true nature last night, and yep, he's Eobard Thawne a.k.a. the Reverse Flash, and he's from the future and has been trapped in the present for fifteen looong years. Somehow his training Barry and pushing Barry to go ever faster feeds into a scheme ultimately designed to return Reverse Flash to his own timeline. Despite knowing he's a villain though, Dr. Wells didn't do anything that struck a nerve with me until last night. Spoiler alert: he killed Cisco.

For over an hour I felt like screaming at the television. Cisco Ramon is the coolest character outside of Barry Allen on the entire show. Watching Reverse Flash outright kill Cisco really stung. I kept waiting for Cisco to do something to outwit Dr. Wells, but it never happened. I kept thinking...Cisco fixed the problem with the device designed to trap Reverse Flash and he's gonna trick the villain into the field and bam, have him trapped. Or, Barry's gonna run in and save him...only there's a huge tsunami heading for Central City that's going to kill thousands of people so yeah...the Flash can't rescue everyone.

This episode tonight felt like a season finale. There was so much stuff going on, so much second-guessing, and multiple villains doing things that raised the stakes of everything to ridiculously high levels. In recap we had:

1) Captain Singh potentially brain-damaged and paralyzed by lightning from Weather Wizard. It was awesome that they allowed the captain's same sex partner in to see him as he was the captain's fiancee and essentially "family."

2) Eobard Thawne confirmed as Reverse Flash and yes, sharing the same name as Eddie (Iris's boyfriend) who is obviously a descendant.

3) Dr. Wells plunged his vibrating hand into Cisco's chest and crushed Cisco's heart. You bastard!

4) Barry and Iris acting on their feelings toward each other with a great kiss and then the ultimate reveal to Iris that he is indeed, "The Flash." It felt like Spiderman 2 all over again.

If there is one request I want to make of the show's writers it's this: please please please bring back Cisco Ramon. Sigh. Somedays I think Game of Thrones has changed television too much. I kinda miss when characters I loved were safe.

At least five of the Flash's most famous enemies have appeared on the CW in season one and that makes me think they're building up to something huge

The first season of the Flash is putting together the enemies of the fastest comic book superhero in the universe, and they're collectively known as the "Rogues." So far, this is what we've seen:

Captain Cold, a.k.a., Leonard Snart. Played by actor Wentworth Miller in the television show, Snart stole a weapon from S.T.A.R. Labs that fires out a beam of intense cold that Cisco Ramon created as a "solution" to "The Flash" should he prove to be evil. Basically, this gun has the ability to freeze anything to absolute zero. He's the leader of the "Rogues" since he is charismatic, and Snart has what I would call a "Jim Jones" kind of persona, able to make emotional appeals to naturally occurring megalomania (in his teammates) through grandiose promises of rulership. He first appears in the episode "Going Rogue," which is number four in season one.

The Pied Piper, a.k.a., Hartley Rathaway. Played by actor Andy Mientus, Hartley has created a pair of gloves that allow him to manipulate sound waves. He's a former protégée of Dr. Harrison Wells and is after vengeance because Wells fired him, threatened him, and ignored what he had to say about the dangerous particle accelerator. Hartley, much like Captain Cold, is not a meta-human. He's just really really smart, and he basically has gone evil because he's filled with so much hatred for Wells, Cisco, Snow, and Barry Allen. Hartley is introduced in the episode "The Sound and the Fury" which is number eleven in season one.

Weather Wizard, a.k.a., Clyde Mardon. Played by Chad Rook, Clyde robbed a bank with his brother Mark (who's the Weather Wizard in the comic books). Clyde is a meta-human, having derived his powers from being in a plane that exploded when the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator went boom. As far as I know, this character died in the Pilot episode of season 1. It's still interesting they introduced him though. Maybe they have plans for a resurrection.

Heat Wave, a.k.a., Mick Rory. Played by actor Dominic Purcell, Heat Wave makes his appearance in the tenth episode entitled "Revenge of the Rogues." Heat Wave's character is a friend of Captain Cold's, and he has basically the opposite fetish of Cold in that he's a pyromaniac. Cold gives him a gun that's essentially a bottomless flame thrower so that they can put the squeeze on Barry by hitting him simultaneously with both fire and ice.

Captain Boomerang, a.k.a., Digger Harkness. Played by actor Nick Tarabay, Boomerang was in the crossover two-part episodes "Flash versus Arrow" and "The Brave and the Bold." In the episodes, Harkness is a guy that kills people with deadly metal boomerangs, and who has a connection with A.R.G.U.S., which may or may not have something to do with the Suicide Squad. I wish there was more information available to us fans.

That's five out of (I believe) what might be ten of the "Rogues." I think at this point I'm most interested in seeing them break out Gorilla Grodd (there's going to have to be some serious CGI for this one), and then more on Professor Zoom (which we now know for certainty is Dr. Wells AS I had predicted last year).

Please stop by Friday when I post my interview of Woven authors Michael Jensen and David Powers King. I'm going to their book signing here in Salt Lake City at The King's English. I shall take a few pics and post them for you :).

Of course shows made from comics comprised my four favorite among a huge lineup that aired in fall 2014

I figure that my post today will mostly be a reflection post (with spoilers) in regards to my four favorite selections from fall tv. Now, when it comes to entertaining television I watch a lot but rarely do I think "Wow this is so good that you must watch it!" In other words, I have high standards and try not to recommend crap to my friends because I know they probably value their time more than I value mine. So what follows in the next paragraph is a rundown of my disappointments.

The "I'm SO DISSAPOINTED!" Pile

"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." overall has been very meh, and I hope they pick up the pace and start providing answers or I may just tune out. It seems obvious to me that we're only going to get satisfaction from the Marvel movies, and I think that's just too bad. "Supernatural" should get canceled, because the only thing making it even remotely interesting anymore is Crowley. Big Bang Theory has stopped being funny for the most part, and the cast is way too big now for 20 minutes. Elementary just seems like another detective show. Gotham is starting to gel, but only when they start featuring more of the Bruce Wayne storyline. Fish Mooney is a way better villain than Penguin, and it's too bad they don't go in that direction more. And Constantine is absolutely terrible. I hate this show, find it boringly derivative of other shows like Grimm and Supernatural, and think that it should just get canceled. The best thing about American Horror Story: Freak Show has been the opening credits. The storyline on the other hand, is just not all that good and the characters are barely holding my interest this year. It's too bad that this is Jessica Lang's last season, but honestly, the cast is so huge now that they don't need her. The 100 fails to get me to care about any of the characters. I just don't think any of them are very well-developed. Dr. Who was remarkably terrible for the ENTIRE season. I've decided I don't like Peter Capaldi because he's a know-it-all jerkface that's all caught up in his own greatness, and then the show decided to be absolutely cruel to Clara and destroy any happy ending she could possibly have, which just sealed the deal for me on hating Peter Capaldi's doctor. Finally, The Newsroom had its last remaining episodes aired on HBO. I loved the majority of them and really fell in love with Olivia Munn's character Sloan Sabbith. It's too bad this show has been canceled and that's why I'm putting it in the "I'm so disappointed" pile.

But there were some bright spots in fall television, and here they are:

The Flash -- (spoiler warning) This did end up being my favorite new series as I had predicted somewhere around mid-summer. I think that the casting of Grant Gustin as Barry Allen was perfect. I love how the show is creating the Rogues gallery for Flash by putting together Captain Cold, Reverse Flash (part of the greater storyline), Heat Wave, and Gorilla Grodd (we haven't seen him yet, but he's coming). I also like the secondary characters: Cisco, Catelyn Snow, and Iris. But the show's greatest strength just might be the multiple crossovers with Arrow. These are like mining gold every single time, because they have a greater universe appeal kinda like a micro-sized Avengers custom-fit for your t.v.

Arrow -- (spoiler warning) I have to admit that when I first started watching this show three years ago, I had really low expectations. I thought it was going to travel down the same path that Smallville did, forever setting up love triangles and going "freak of the week" or something like that. Boy was I ever wrong. Instead we got introduced to a whole cast of characters and the CW proceeded to kill them off one by one. It's hard to have a love triangle when the points of the triangle perish horribly. 2014 marked the third season of Arrow and it started off with a bang by killing off Sara, one of my favorite characters from season two. I was like, "Are you f*cking serious?!" But yeah...Sara died (horribly) and the rest of the season pretty much went like a chess game played by Malcolm Merlyn who skillfully used Sara's death to checkmate Ollie into a battle to the death versus Ra's al Ghul, a fight Oliver couldn't win. So in the fall finale, the CW killed off Oliver Queen. What the hell?! I NEED ANSWERS CW!!! He can't be dead!!! *bawls loudly*

Negan talking to Rick and crew (who are on their knees).

The Walking Dead -- (spoiler warning for the comic books) With the Terminus storyline resolved and Beth dead, this show is heading toward the Negan storyline that literally had me up late many nights as I read comic after comic. Negan is perhaps the worst villain I have ever seen. This guy makes the Governor and the Terminus cannibals look like nothing. Things I am looking forward to from this show are the first gay couple (who are actually great guys with many redeeming qualities) that lead Rick and his rag-tag group of survivors to a town that has electricity, a big wall around it, and houses for people to live in. They even have kids that play in the streets. So for a while, things will be great, but The Walking Dead does not allow its characters to stay happy for very long. Negan's the storm on the horizon. He has an army see, that roams the countryside to find survivors of the apocalypse and force them to pay tribute (half of everything they possess). What they get in return (these "communes" of survivors) is half-assed protection from zombie hordes. But if they don't pay the tribute or haven't gathered enough to keep Negan happy, then Negan gets angry and people die. I am very curious how they will handle Negan, because his brutality in the comic books is such that I don't think they can show it on television. That, and he drops the "F-bomb" all the time.

Sleepy Hollow -- The fall finale ended with a conclusion to a major storyline involving the return of Moloch and an impending Armageddon straight out of the Book of Revelation. This series continuously surprises me with its ability to go to historical fact and spin the supernatural from American history. With its return this week, I got a few answers and the show appears to be heading in a fresh direction with a new villain and the possible redemption of an old one. If you aren't watching Sleepy Hollow, I suggest you give it a try, because it's consistently one of the best on t.v. And you know what, the cinematography and cast are everything that Supernatural once was (thinking season five).

So that pretty much rounds out what I thought of fall television. With the new year, let's all hope that there's plenty of entertainment and fun things to watch on the horizon, because who doesn't love a good story?

The Flash got poisoned after Firestorm got born and Harrison Wells is a very bad man

Barry got poisoned by "The Mist" who is now trapped in their fancy
prison for meta-humans built from the ashes of a state-of-the-art particle
accelerator. Convenient that one of those was just lying around.

We are three weeks into The Flash on the CW, and it has shattered the CW's ratings records as the most watched series premiere in the network's history. I'm not surprised that it has now been given a full-season order (yay!). Honestly, the trifecta of Flash, Arrow, and Gotham (Fox) is a renaissance for cinematic quality genre TV, and I'm really loving it.

So where are we exactly with The Flash? Well, by the end of the third episode Barry Allen is finally growing comfortable with his powers. He can save someone behind Iris's back while she's on the phone arguing with her boyfriend and be back in time to see if she wants to go get something to eat (even though they already had dinner and a huge bowl of buttered popcorn--what I wouldn't give for that kind of metabolism?)

Barry's world emerged from the first episode as fully realized. It's the objective of what so many of us strive for in our writing, because who hasn't been told at some point or another by an agent that you need to start in the middle of the action and you only have fifteen seconds to grab the attention of your reader (or maybe that's just something literary agents say). Anyway, all of you writers out there know what I mean, and all of you writers know just how hard that is to pull off.

So we have Barry now grown comfortable in his role as the Red Streak. We have Iris who is the obsessive stalker of "The Red Streak" and falling into the role that makes Lois Lane such an interesting character. We have Cisco and Caitlin Snow playing scientists that support Team Flash, and Harrison Wells as (from what I can tell) the ultimate villain of the first season, Reverse Flash or Professor Zoom. This hasn't been confirmed by anyone. It's just what I think.

From little things that Wells has dropped in dialogue, I know he's at least two-hundred years old, has been to the future, knows a hell of a lot about Barry Allen and engineered the accident that created him. Wells also isn't shy about killing people (lots of people if you consider all the meta-humans his experiment created). My guess is that Barry's whole life has been a manipulation by Wells. What I can't piece together is what does he get out of it?

Perhaps Zoom wasn't trying to kill Barry's mother but instead, murder Barry the kid in the pilot episode. Barry stopped that from happening by rescuing his kid self and Zoom took his rage out on Barry's mom? Does that sound plausible? So that would mean that (in the pilot) when we see red and yellow streaking around, the red is in fact Barry from the future trying to stop Professor Zoom from completing his objective, which then leads to Barry's mom being murdered and Barry's dad going to jail for it. That one scene is like a huge time paradox that blows my mind. Because Barry stopped him from completing his objective, Zoom has to create Flash in order to satisfy paradox.

Are you lost yet?

And for Flash fanatics like me, there was another Easter egg planted: we got to see the birth of one part of Firestorm. Ronnie Raymond (in a flashback), who is Caitlin's dead boyfriend, got trapped inside the particle accelerator and had a moment very reminiscent of Dr. Manhattan from The Watchmen. Firestorm (in case you don't know) is also known as "The Nuclear Man." He has the ability to rearrange the atomic and subatomic structure of inorganic matter. In other words, more special effects are incoming. I don't know about you, but when I watch comic book shows, I like to see special effects.

So in conclusion, in last night's episode the Flash got poisoned after Firestorm got born and Harrison Wells is a very bad man. Ayep, and now I'm ready for next week's episode. Hopefully, I will start getting some answers.

Will we see Gorilla Grodd in the new Flash series?

Last week's premiere of The Flash featured many Easter Eggs. Among them was a cage with busted doors that had the word "Grodd" scrawled upon it. For the uninitiated, this refers to a Flash villain called Gorilla Grodd, and I have hopes he may turn up in the series.

Gorilla Grodd is a hyper-intelligent psychically-endowed gorilla that has the "Professor X" (Marvel) power of mind control. He got his powers after an alien spacecraft crashed into his African home. I kind of think (for the television series) that they're going to use the explosion at the super collider to give Grodd his powers. His psionic abilities allow him to place other beings under his mental control, project force beams, transmute matter, transfer his consciousness into other bodies, and absorb intelligence through the consumption of human brains! Flash basically has immunity to Grodd's psychic abilities because he moves so fast that his thoughts process Grodd's illusions in slow motion.

Grodd has potential to be a launching point to introduce Wonder Woman as there's this whole plot arc with Gorilla City (a super advanced civilization existing somewhere in Africa).

So what do you think? Will we see Gorilla Grodd in the new Flash series?

The Flash pilot hit all the right notes of awesome and makes me ask if Thawne is going to be Professor Zoom

The pilot ended with this ominous headline that's obviously an homage
to "Crisis on the Infinite Earths" and indicates that Harrison Wells is
definitely not restricted to knowledge from the present timeline. Let's just
hope that The Flash handles time travel well.

The pilot for the Flash was awesome, and both the CW's budget as well as its special effects have come a long way since the Superman prequel, Smallville. Sure there are some similarities. It looks like we are being setup for a "freak of the week" version of storytelling. Instead of kryptonite being the source of the powers, we have an experimental particle accelerator like C.E.R.N. that's gone awry. It also looks like they might be following the love triangle of Clark, Lana, and everyone else that Lana dates by creating a love triangle with Barry, Iris, and everyone else that Iris dates. However, this might end up much better than Clark and Lana because in the former, we always knew Clark would end up with Lois Lane. In the latter, things aren't so set in stone.

Additionally, the Flash has never been a "brooding" character like Superman. The Flash is a wise-cracking, fun, and loving superhero and to this extent, Grant Gustin fits the bill. And for fans of the comic books, we all know that Barry Allen meets his end ominously, but saving the world. We got some of that foreshadowed last night when we were given a closing scene that included a front page from "The Central City Citizen" on which the headline "Flash Missing: Vanishes in Crisis" appears. Well in a "Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Flash sacrificed his life to save Earth."

Is this guy Professor Zoom? He's Eddie Thawne and the name is just too
similar to Eobard Thawne who is known as the "Reverse Flash" or "Professor
Zoom," the nemesis of Barry Allen in the comics (and responsible for
killing Iris who ends up as Barry's first wife). 

So here's the things that I noticed. First, the main villain of last night's pilot was "Weather Wizard." Nothing really to write home about there. He's basically Storm from Marvel's X-Men only less cool and now he's dead because Iris's father shot him after Barry unwound his tornado by racing around it in the opposite direction at a thousand miles an hour. Two, the Flash (and by extension Arrow since they are in the same universe) both exist in a world where time travel is possible through speed. Barry Allen's mother was killed by a flash of yellow light. I think the villain responsible might be Eddie Thawne who is the attractive blond police detective currently dating Iris, who is Barry Allen's friend.

Cover to Time Masters: Vanishing Point #5. This is what
Reverse Flash, a.k.a. Professor Zoom, looks like.

In the comics, a guy named "Eobard Thawne," a.k.a. Professor Zoom, is the archenemy and foil of superhero Barry Allen. Flash wiki says that Thawne is ranked as IGN's 31st greatest comic book villain of all time. It's obvious to me that time travel is going to play a big part in this series, so I'm intrigued. If I'm correct, then that newspaper headline we see at the very end will probably change. Now as for who is Harrison Wells? I initially think he's a good guy. But its obvious he's got other motives and knows about different timelines. Is he the Flash from the future or is he Professor Zoom or related to Professor Zoom in some way? I'm not sure and will need more time to think about it (and more information from the series).

In either event, if you love superhero shows, you should be watching The Flash. It was probably the best superhero-based pilot I have ever seen. Seriously. Below is the trailer for next week's episode, which I can't wait to see!

The CW's Flash is the most exciting series to premiere this fall and it starts Tuesday

The Flash is one of my favorite comic book heroes. He, the Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman...I've always been more of a DC fan than I have been of Marvel. That doesn't mean that I don't love Marvel superheroes, because I do. But DC just seemed to be my jumping off point. I started with the Batman and Detective Comics, gradually moved to other titles and then jumped over to Marvel in a crossover where I learned about Spiderman and the others. But yeah, I own thousands of dollars in DC comics. It's hard not to when you have to buy four or five comics from different sets just to finish a storyline.

Next week (on Tuesday as a matter of fact) the CW launches its new series The Flash in the same time slot as Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I intend to watch both, but I will watch The Flash first and then go to my DVR for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. That's 'cause, well, The Flash is cooler than Agent Coulson and gang. Some days the truth just hurts.

There have been many iterations of the Flash over the years. Barry Allen is the Flash that I most closely associate with. Barry died in Crisis on the infinite Earths and is the second incarnation of the Flash. Wally West is the third Flash. And we can't forget Bart Allen (who appeared in several Smallville episodes). Bart goes by Impulse and draws his powers from the Speed Force, just like Barry did before him.

As far as the CW is concerned, they're going with Barry, and he's being played by super handsome (and incredibly adorable) actor Grant Gustin (yes, this is perfect casting). In the Silver Age comic books, Barry was a police scientist who gained super-speed when bathed by chemicals after a shelf of them was struck by lightning. The CW is going with this version of the Flash's creation fairly close to the source material, changing only that Barry isn't a police scientist but instead, a C.S.I.

Every Flash draws their power from the Speed Force, which allows them to move, think, and react at lightning speed. It bestows superhuman endurance, they can vibrate so fast that they can pass through walls (quantum tunneling), travel through time, and manipulate kinetic energy in themselves and other beings. They have an invisible aura around their bodies that prevents themselves and their clothes from being affected by air friction. Flash is totally faster than Superman and can absorb information really fast (though the effect is usually temporary), and can punch someone with so much force it's called the infinite mass punch (IMP for short).

I think the CW's Flash is the most exciting series to premiere this fall, and I seriously can't wait. I'm actually more excited for it than the return of The Walking Dead.

So what say you? Are you excited?

The CW's The Flash is probably the single show I'm most excited about in the fall.

If you are a fan of comic books, or The Flash, you'll probably want to watch this entire trailer all the way through. Grant Gustin is going to make a superb Flash. That is all. Have a good Monday.

The Flash and Nightwing are both coming to Arrow and that makes me excited

I am super excited that actor Grant Gustin is playing The Flash on this season's
Arrow. However, even more exciting is the fact that he's getting his own series.
The Flash totally deserves a series to make up for that awful one about twenty
years ago (yes it still haunts my dreams). Oh and he's Barry Allen. I like Barry
so that's a great choice. Wally West was always a little "meh" to me.

Marvel may be the undisputed ruler of the silver screen, but DC is really making a strong showing on the CW, and I've gotta say it's pretty cool. Sure, one could argue that DC's properties "The Dark Knight" and "Superman" are always money makers. But outside of those properties, I really can't think of any that are a success. In comparison, Marvel has Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, the Avengers, and will probably add Dr. Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy to that very soon. What does DC have? Ben Affleck playing yet another version of Batman only this time he gets to beat up on Superman. I'll go and see it, but I don't expect it to be spectacular in the same way that last year's The Avengers managed to be.

In contrast, however, Marvel has no showing on mainstream television that really grabs my attention. I've been watching Agents of Shield dutifully on Tuesday, but to be honest, I've almost fallen asleep twice during that show. I think I expected it to be more exciting, and it just has failed to live up to my perhaps "unrealistic expectations."

I suppose that the biggest surprise of all has been how much I love Arrow. I mean...I REALLY LOVE ARROW. I look forward to it every Wednesday, because the first season just blew me away. I never thought Oliver Queen could be so interesting. In Smallville he was some decent eye-candy and kind of/sort of was made interesting because of his association with random guests that showed up that happened to have a tie to the Justice League.

Since that time, the CW has reinvented Arrow as more than just a Batman clone. For one, he doesn't have nearly the extent of emotional baggage that Batman has. Ollie doesn't brood. He's a man of action and I love the flashbacks to his time on the island that became the crucible where all of his combat and survival skills were forged. Plus as Sarah Falen pointed out in a private conversation with me, it's cool when the hero gets beat up and Ollie gets smacked around a lot.

Nightwing is Robin all grown up. 

To add to this mix is a fully dynamic world that isn't afraid to introduce any and all elements of the DC Comics universe that make it super awesome. We've got the Birds of Prey in the form of Huntress and Black Canary! We have Raas al Ghul, perhaps Batman's most dangerous villain. If that isn't enough, the League of Shadows is everywhere and does that mean Bane is right around the corner? We've also got Flash being introduced in just a couple of episodes (and he's getting his own series soon thereafter) and I learned just last night that Nightwing is on his way into Arrow!

Actor Steven McQueen getting ready for his role as Nightwing on Arrow. I think
it's awesome that we live in a day and age where guys can actually have the bodies
of the superheroes that they play. I imagine it's pretty hard getting these roles. And
for those of you that don't know, this Steven McQueen is classic Steve McQueen's
grandson so good looks run in the family.

How awesome is that?!

For those of you who are at a complete loss as to who Nightwing is, he's Dick Grayson a.k.a. the first Robin who studied under Batman. He joined the New Titans where he fell in love with an outerspace princess by the name of Koriander (Starfire) and took the name Nightwing.

ZOMGAH! Seriously...this is so frickin' awesome. If they bring in Nightwing, they'll probably introduce Starfire at some point and then maybe we'll get Raven and some of the other New Titans. We could even be looking at a scenario where Batman shows up and that would be just...wow.

I think that the CW is my favorite network. They've done such a great job with DC that I absolutely can't wait for the series "Amazon" slated for 2014. And no, this isn't about the bookseller. It's about Diana Prince a.k.a. Wonder Woman, and I won't be surprised to see them introduce the title character in an episode of Arrow in 2014.