Well here we are, on the other side of the much-anticipated premiere of The Flash television series, and after watching the pilot, I would have to say that the CW is the proud mamma of two great super hero titles, and hopefully more to come. The pilot was great, and a lot of fun for fans of the Flash comics. I loved that they opened with his signature phrase: “I am the fastest man alive.” I love that they drew on a lot of the source material. I love that the series has characters with powers, real super powers. It’s cool. I think the actors they got for the main roles were spot on, especially Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash (despite his former star role on Glee).
I love the Flash’s back story. His mom gets murdered (spoilers), his dad gets convicted of the crime, despite being innocent (more spoilers) and Barry decides to become a police scientist to prove his dad’s innocence. Some people witness the murder of their parents and become dark, psychopathic vigilantes, other become cops. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. I like that they incorporated the Yellow blur with the man inside as the real culprit, and now everyone will be talking about who the Reverse Flash is, because there have been many characters who have taken on that name.
There was a lot to like about the pilot, but there was one thing that just ruined it all for me (that might be a little dramatic, but bear with me here). Maybe it was really two things. These:
First, you can’t see it super great in this photo, but take a gander at the shirt Cisco Ramon is wearing:
I couldn’t find a great shot that showed it, but he is wearing a Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock shirt. A great shout out and nod to the crossover fan base of The Big Bang Theory and The Flash. I mean, obviously, many of the fans of TBBT (another Warner property) will be fans of any super hero show. Plus, Cisco is obviously a little geeky, so why would he not enjoy a little Sheldon Cooper in his free time. And apparently, he is no casual fan of the show. Check out these two images:
Number one, this is cool because I have that shirt. It also shows that he must be a pretty big fan of TBBT. But, wait, hold on…How does that work out? This actually presents a pretty big issue. Here we are, witnessing the birth of the Flash, in a world where he exists as a real live human being, not just a comic book character. It is also apparently a world in which TBBT exists as a TV series. Here’s my issue:
Apparently, Sheldon Cooper also likes the Flash. Apparently, he likes him a lot:
And apparently, he is not the only one in the show who like the Scarlet Speedster:
This presents a problem. How can Cisco exist in a world where the Flash doesn’t exist until now, and then as an actual person, when TBBT also exists in that world, as a show with geeks who really like the fictional Flash super hero? He can’t. It doesn’t make sense. I know it is a nice nod to another Warner property, but when you think about, the whole thing falls apart. If TBBT exists in this world, then the Flash is already a comic book super hero, but he’s not. Barry Allen is real live person here, so he can’t be the comic book character Sheldon obviously loves. It doesn’t work. It can’t. Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon can’t live in a world where Sheldon Cooper exists, because Sheldon Cooper and TBBT exist in a world where the Flash doesn’t really exist, but in The Flash, the Flash does exist. See, the whole thing just goes in circles. The point is, he shouldn’t have the shirt on. Yes, it’s funny, and there is a lot of crossover there, but a lot of fans of TBBT are like the characters in TBBT, and they would not approve of something like this. I know Sheldon wouldn’t.
