Ask anyone – literally anyone – what I think about The Flash. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
See? I told you, they know how much I love it. I’ve been jokingly telling my pregnant wife that the child’s name will be The CW’s The Flash Salvatore – jokingly because I’ll probably drop “The CW’s.” The first season was the absolute best comics television ever has been – it had the urgency, humor, heart, and scope of a comic book, and kept dazzling at each turn. By the time the finale rolled around, I almost couldn’t believe what I was watching – Jay Garrick’s helmet! Time travel! Ah!
And yet, like all things, it is possible that it could get even better. So, what does the show have to do to make season two even better? Let’s dive right in.
1. Give Iris something to do
I think this is pretty much the consensus among fans of the show – Candice Patton is a fine actress who should work very well as Barry’s love interest, but much of season one was spent doing almost nothing other than having googly eyes at Eddie or having googly eyes at Barry. She deserves better, both as an actress and as a character. In the comics, Iris’s love of Barry is such that even though he was gone for years, she never moved on, or even considered it. Their love was pure and beautiful – give us a hint of that. Grant Gustin and Patton can give us that – just let them do it.
So far, I understand why Barry loves Joe more than I understand why Barry loves Iris. Making her more fun would be a great step forward in this regard. Remember when Barry went on a date with Linda Park last year? Or when Barry and drunk Caitlin sang karaoke? In those moments, Barry had a tangible chemistry with the woman he was with – that hasn’t really happened with Iris. Give them a moment or two to really let their chemistry develop, or else that love story will never be satisfying.
2. Reference Vixen and magic
Last week, I binged Vixen on the CW Seed, and while it wasn’t exactly The Flash season one, it was an enjoyable 30 minutes or so of my day. The one big takeaway from the show was that it introduced magic into the Arrowverse (I suppose you could argue that Ra’s al Ghul is magic as well, but this is a little different). The character of Vixen is probably a good intermezzo between the science-fiction of a particle accelerator malfunctioning and half-man/half-hawks flying around on Legends of Tomorrow.
Having that show/character as part of this universe opens up a few interesting scenarios, as well. It gives the shows a more diverse, global setting (even if, as loyal Multiversity commenter Kwesi Brako pointed out, their African geography leaves a lot to be desired), and it introduces powers/magic that tie into the Earth itself, and aren’t necessarily occult in nature. Occult will come in, with Constantine popping up on Arrow, so let The Flash, the far less dark show of the pair, deal with this sort of magic. I’m all for it.
Especially if a certain young William Batson is involved. Then I will cry tears of unending joy.
3. Don’t fuck up the Multiverse
Bringing Jay Garrick into the show establishes Earth 2 and the Multiverse on this show, which is such an incredibly exciting sentence to type out. Now, please don’t fuck it up.
As I talk about on tomorrow’s episode of the DC3cast, I want the Multiverse to play into all these shows in a serious way, but even beyond that, the Multiverse is the secret to DC’s real TV success. The Multiverse is a way to eventually have Gotham cross over with these shows – just establish them on separate Earths. This even can tie in the DC films, if we can just make believe that we are watching Earth-Dark whenever we go into a movie theater.
If we can, once a season or so, bring another world into the show, can you imagine how fun this can get in a few seasons? The Crime Syndicate! Earth-S! Captain Carrot!
Continued below4. Don’t kill/trap so many villains
The show’s tone is so bright that having so many villains offed/captured last season really hurt the overall feel of the show. Part of what makes the Rogues and the Flash the best rivalry in comics is that they’re sort of evenly matched. The Flash might ‘win’ more, but he rarely wins by such a margin that he gets to lock them up. Plus, the show is far more fun/dangerous when the streets are lousy with villains.
Also, give Emily Kinney another chance as the Bug-Eyed Bandit – she was given so little to do last season. Sure, it’s not the best rogue, but I’d still like to see her redeem that appearance.
5. Let Cisco and Caitlin shine
Vibe and Killer Frost – both were teased last year, both should happen this year. Vibe can be a slow build, and Killer Frost needs to be – how can Caitlin go from being so sweet to so villainous overnight? But don’t waste too much time – both the characters and the wonderful actors that play them (Danielle Panabaker and Carlos Valdez) are brimming with potential.
On Arrow, there is always the risk of the team getting too big – if Roy ever comes back, the Arrowcave might need a new wing – but here, the opposite is true. Wells is gone, Caitlin has a heel turn coming, and Cisco might just vibrate into a different plane of existence. That’s an interesting story to tell, so tell it.
Know I’ll be watching, no matter what.
