There are minor spoilers in this review, just because of things such cast changes happening early in the season. A few minor plot details seep in, too, but hopefully nothing here will ruin the season for someone on the fence about watching it.
When we last left our culturally diverse, and attractive but non threatening cast of characters, a wormhole had just opened above Central City, and the Flash had sped into it to save the day once again. Season two picks up immediately as we left off, and it turns out the big hole in the sky is not really a problem at all; but the after effects sure are. Once again, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and the team at S.T.A.R. Labs must save the city, if not the world, from the various threats they encounter. Based off the DC Comics character of the same name, The Flash continues the streak of comic-to-TV adaptions the CW channel has produced, after the same-universe Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.
+ Grant Gustin once again proved just how damned good he is, with many emotional and anger-based scenes to show his range. It is a damn shame he wasn’t the cameo in Batman v Superman, because if kept secret it could have been absolutely mind-blowing
+ new antagonist Zoom was at time legitimately terrifying. Voiced by the Candyman himself, Tony Todd, Zoom’s voice, mannerisms and appearance were a huge step up from ‘yellow Flash’ from the first season. The various Earth-2 enemies which appeared throughout were great gimmicks of their own, including (finally!) a “live action” portrayal of King Shark. With Captain Boomerang appearing in the upcoming Suicide Squad, here’s hoping Mirror Master will get his chance to shine sometime soon
+ supporting cast Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Joe West (Jesse Martin) again proved invaluable, and it was the chemistry between them all, as well as Barry and newcomer made every scene that much easier to watch
+ newcomers Teddy Sears as Jay Garrick — another famous comics speedster — and Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West were both great new additions and were a breath of fresh air into an already enjoyable cast
+ the introduction of Earth-2 and-or the Multiverse in general was a genuinely interesting way to broaden the series without having to do a whole lot of exposition scenes. This also gave us a few reasons to see old faces return as their other-Earth doppelgangers, or see a whole new side to characters we already knew
+ there was some noticeable CGI-failures, but far more often than not, the show was able to use it’s budget to perfection
– whilst not nearly to the level which Felicity has gotten on Arrow, at times Iris was just so frustrating to put up with. We all know that Barry and Iris West are destined to be together, so the forced romance drama, when both are already in seemingly happy relationships, on the CW‘s part (par for the course, I know) is just time consuming and annoying to watch
– the lead-in to the Legends of Tomorrow spin-off season, which was the focus of a handful of mid-season episode as well as the Arrow crossover, felt very out of place, and far too many contrived conveniences had to occur to make those shows work. The loss of Firestorm (Victor Garber and Franz Drameh, as a single unit), Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Heatwave (Dominic Purcell), as well as Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée) in one swoop was a great loss to the series, too
– the characters really did start making some very stupid decisions towards the season’s end. I don’t want to speculate, but it seems the show rushed it’s endgame, before realising there was still 3-5 or so episodes left and having to undo a few things
> I know the rule; “Superman stays out of Gotham” but the more powerful Barry gets on The Flash, I just wonder why he doesn’t pop on over to Arrow‘s Star City now and then to help them out of their literal world ending threats?
> THAT DAMNED CLIFFHANGER. I WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWERS NOW
Should you watch this show: The first season was one of the best things on TV last year, and a breath of fresh air into a genre which is arguably growing stale. This season was more or less the same, and despite a few hiccups from the writing team, this will be more than worth your time.
MoshFish Reviews 