Back (somewhat reluctantly) to The Flash
Episode 13: Tina, is that You?
Plot: Barry's having trouble sleeping but this isn't a problem for Tina so she offers to use a device at STAR Labs to transfer some of her sleep inducing abilities to Barry. When the machine explodes Tina is injured but seems to make a full recovery... or does she? There's something different about the good Doctor -- she's just not herself. Trouble is, the person she's become is a threat to the Flash!
My Take:
Oh boy. Remember all the times I've said comic book science just has to be swallowed? Well, there are exceptions... stuff that is too stupid to take. This is one of those situations.
The writers try to pull a bait and switch at the opening as viewers are stunned to see Tina arrive at Barry's apartment and declare that she loves him... and that he reciprocates. Unrequited sexual tension payoff so early in the series?! Psych! Tina turns out to simultanously be a purse snatcher with a gun. Yes it all turns out to be a bad dream for Barry (and for those of us watching, yeesh). Although one wonders why his "nightmares" start out with Tina telling him she loves him. Also, as far as nightmares go -- someone with a gun (which the Flash can easily outrun) isn't usually as scary as getting chased by a monster (or getting chased by a monster with a chainsaw through a grocery store and having him start to cut you in half at the checkout line... oh... uh... yeah, forget I mentioned that) or not being able to run or escape, etc.
But I digress. The writers on this episode decided to go with a "Jekyll and Hyde" variation. It's pretty common as far as plots go -- the good guy or the sidekick gets turned evil through hypnosis, brain washing, mind control, chemicals, etc. Here they decide to go with an accident which causes Tina to suddenly become a bitch on wheels.
Poor Amanda Pays. She tries her best, she really does, but in the end, she never convincingly comes across as vicious or threatening. Although I confess, I love it when she breaks out with the British insults.
Our big bad villains this episode (aside from Tina, which we will get to in a minute) are a three girl criminal outfit called the Black Rose Gang. Because, you know, they're girls so they have to have a 'girly' gang name. Geeze. Insert eye roll here. But it does get worse... The leader's name is Harley... but before you get your hopes up she is nowhere NEAR as cool as Harley Quinn from Batman: The Animated Series. Sadly, even if she WERE as cool as Harley Quinn it wouldn't do much good because she stupidly decides to try to run down the Flash with her car... despite the fact that she had JUST seen the man outrun bullets... and she crashes the car and ends up a little bit dead. In truth, looking at the crash and knowing how few safety devices would have been in a '57 Caddy (with fins) it's stretching suspension of disbelief what ANY of the gang survives. But survive two of them do and one even manages to get the drop on the Flash and knocks him out by clonking him over the head. Superhero points deducted.
So the remaining two members of the Black Rose Gang go underground (literally) and spend most of the rest of the episode whining about getting revenge on the Flash and modeling the WORST of 90's fashions with a little bit of the 1950's thrown in. It isn't pretty. Oh, and the writers are stupid. At one point the surviving gang members are told that Harley was buried in a pauper's field and one girl tells the other that this is where they bury "outlaws". Uh... no. It isn't. A "Pauper's Field" (sometimes called a "Potter's Field" from the bible where Judas's 30 pieces of silver, which he got for betraying Jesus, were used to buy a field owned by a potter to use to bury those who died in the sity but were strangers to it) is where cities bury the indigent, the poor, and the nameless. It is sometimes used for burying those who die in prisons but usually only if the prisoner has no family and/or no one to claim the body.
And then, woven throughout all of this we have yet another installment of 'Julio: Worst. Co-Worker. Ever.' The running joke of Julio and his girlfriend always trying to set Barry up on blind dates with disasterous results wore thin after the first couple of episodes. Here we see Barry apparently finally striking gold in a woman named Lisa. And then thw writers pretty much draw a big picture that Barry expects to get lucky. On his first date. A BLIND first date. Yeeeaahh... what kind of message were they trying to send here?
Of course, Barry's dreams of not spending the night alone get disrupted by now crazy Tina. Seriously, everything up to now had been rather awkwardly staged but now it starts getting awkward AND stupid. The plot takes a sharp left onto 'What the Hell' street as Tina decides to get all 90's slinky -- teased hair (which is obviously a hair piece), overdone make-up (seriously, at no point in time should blush EVER have been applied as a diagonal slash across the cheekbones, I don't care WHAT the fasion was), a mini-skirt, fishnet stockings, and ankle boots with little kitten heels. Ugh. Just... no.
In addition to what little fashion sense she had running away scared, Tina also decides to join the Black Rose Gang (why? Dunno. How did she find them? Don't really know that either) and promises to give them the Flash on a silver platter. What follows is a series of terribly put together, semi-action sequences with enough plot holes to qualify for swiss cheese. I could go into detail but I'd rather spare myself as much as my readers here.
Eventually, Barry manages to bring Tina back to her senses in a tearful (literally, and by god it's stupid) scene and all is right with the world. Bleh. Ick.
This episode is a waste of disc space unless you want to watch it with a glass (or two) of wine (or other alcoholic beverage) and spend the next hour ripping it to itty, bitty shreds. It's fairly amusing then. If, however, you are under the age of 21 ignore the suggestion about the alcohol. Never let it be said I encouraged the delinquency of minors. In addition to the stupid plot and terrible acting the running jokes about Julio fixing Barry up on blind dates should have stopped a long time ago due to not being funny. And speaking of not being funny... the characters of Keystone (heh. I made an in-joke. Brownie points to whomever gets it) Kops Murphy and Bellows were NEVER funny but with this episode they move from being unfunny to actually being so incompetant one wonders how they've managed to stay on the force.
Flash Facts:
There is a mention of "Keystone Drive". Keystone City was the name of the home of the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick. Originally, Keystone City and Jay Garrick resided on an other-dimensional copy of Earth known as Earth 2. After 1985 DC merged their multiple dimensions into one Earth and Keystone City became the sister city to Central City. Comic book writer Marv Wolfman has always described it as being like Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas.
The Black Rose Gang is hidning out in an old nucelar fallout shelter and, like seeminly EVERYWHERE in Central City, this place has a mural on the back wall. Clearly seen on the mural in one scene is the likeness of President John F. Kennedy. This is probably a reference to the Cuban Missile Crisis during Kennedy's time in office -- many people believed at the time that the Crisis was the closest America came to a nuclear with with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
When Barry finally captures Tina he tells her that it's time to "Tame the shrew" -- this is a reference to William Shakespeare's famous play The Taming of the Shrew
Showing posts with label Central City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Central City. Show all posts
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Back in a Flash
And yes, I am back to trying to complete my review of the Flash TV series.
Episode 12: The Trickster
Plot: It's the return of P.I. Megan Lockhart as she runs afoul of an insane killer named James Jesse. Jesse's defeat by the Flash twists his mind and he believes Megan is his true love who is being mind controlled by the Flash. In order to "free" Megan he is willing to turn Central City, Barry Allen and the Flash upsidedown. Can the Flash's super speed trump the unpredictability of a madman?
My Take: We have our second supervillain here and, finally, one who originated from the comic book! Well, more or less... It should be noted that the Trickster who appears here bears little resemblence to his comic book counterpart. In the comic books James Jesse was a member of a family of circus high wire performers but he disliked the family business and felt more affinity toward crime a la his reverse namesake Jesse James. An engineering genius and basically sane if callous and criminal, Jesse began inventing incredible gadgets and embarking on a life of crime which brought him up against the Flash. In this episode, James Jesse is a madman who has eluded police through six states committing crimes as far ranging as fraud, theft and murder, taking on different identities and different careers for each of his crimes. It should also be said that even the comic book Trickster's costume bore little resemblence to the costume designed for the Trickster here... but, hey, at least we've got a supervillain in a costume so I'm not going to complain too much.
Added entertainment value to the story is the fact that the Trickster is played by none other than Mark Hamill. Yep, Luke Skywalker. Hamill, as it turns out, is something of a comic book geek -- at one point in time at least owning an extensive and expensive collection. So he enters into the role with a reckless abandon that is just a kick to watch. It is also interesting to see since Hamill goes through a number of different characters and voices as his Trickster scams and schemes.
Again, though, we see the writers taking influence from Tim Burton's Batman as this insane version of the Trickster seems to have more in common with the Joker than with the comic book counterpart. Interestingly enough, only a year or so after this Hamill would win the role as the Joker in the critically acclaimed and Emmy winning Batman: The Animated Series
And his portrayal would be seen as THE definitive Joker for more than a generation of fans. Sharp eyed (and eared) Flash fans will see and hear little snippets which Hamill would end up incorporating into his Joker so the episode is like getting a little sneak peek into a proto-Joker.
Sadly, the story spends so much time setting things up that it ends up never quite properly building the Trickster into the proper threat he should be. Part of the problem as well, is that the writer on this story -- namely Howard Chaykin -- turns the Trickster into more of a foil for Megan Lockhart than one for the Flash and many of the Trickster's "tricks" seem more 'sound and fury' with lots of sparklers and roman candles than they do legitimate threats to the life and limbs of the citizens of Central City.
The story also moves forward on the initial attraction between Barry and Megan but then viewers get a 'bait and switch' as the whole thing ends up not only going nowhere but getting a ridiculous excuse for it shoehorned into the last minute of the story. I suppose we should be thankful -- most 'temporary girlfriends' who appear on TV end up six feet under, victims of 'Teresa Bond Syndrome' (google the character and I'm sure you'll get the reference). There is also a painfully awkward subplot with Tina feeling her friendship with Barry will be threatened by Megan.
It also should be said that the actress playing Megan cannot produce a convincing scream. At all. It's surprisingly annoying. I mean, if you're going to try to convince the audience that you're screaming out of sheer terror you need to do a better job than your average high school melodrama production.
On the flip side, the story also manages to play, at least a little bit, with the question "chicken or the egg" question. In this case the question is: "Does the Flash create/attract the villains or have they always been there in one way or another?" Over the decades, a number of comic book writers have explored this idea in various ways and there was a really good episode of Batman: The Animated Series in which a number of Batman's enemies put him on trial claiming that HE created THEM. But I digress...
Despite the flaws, this is overall a really fun episode. It's great to finally see a fully fledged comic book supervillain in the story and Mark Hamill does a great job throwing himself into the part. Definitely worth the watch -- particularly since Hamill would reprise the role later on in the series....
One technical note here: there was a glitch in the broadcast order and since the episodes were arranged on the DVD in broadcast order the glitch has been perpetuated. The episode "Tina, is That You?" was supposed to air BEFORE this one and in fact some of the events of that story are referenced here, and yet the episode ended up airing AFTER this one. They really should have fixed this on the DVD release or at least made a note of it.
Flash Facts:
When we first see James Jesse he is dressed as a traditional stage magician -- with a top hat, white tie and tails, and white gloves. This outfit makes him look like another Flash rogue -- Abra Kabadra. In fact, just a little bit later in the story Jesse claims that he 'studied Harry Houdini' -- a claim that Kadabra would also make. Abra Kadabra, however, originally came from the 64th century where his obsession with stage magic was considered a joke due to the highly advanced technology. Traveling into the past he would use that technology to make it seem as though he could really do magic.
After defeating Jesse the first time the Flash refers to him as "Mandrake" -- this is a reference to "Mandrake the Magician", a newspaper comic strip character created by Lee Falk -- the guy who also created The Phantom. While Mandrake got his start in the newspapers in 1934 over the decades he would be move into the so-called 'Little Big Books' and would also appear in comic books and in animation. Mandrake technically had no superpowers -- he had learned a technique for almost instantanous hypnotism and so he would make people see and hear things that were not there. Mandrake was, and still is, owned by King Features Syndicate along with such other familiar heroes as The Phantom and Flash Gordon.
In point of fact.... Now I'm not saying this was a DELIBERATE 'six degrees of separation' but it IS an interesting coincidence... later in the episode Megan is trying to track down the Trickster thorugh some of the props he used. She asks someone where he could have gotten hold of a statue of Mercury. We can't hear what the person on the other line says but she responds "Not Freddy Mercury!" Freddy Mercury was the lead singer of the rock group Queen and one of the things Queen is well known for was providing the soundtrack for the 1980 movie Flash Gordon and Flash Gordon is, as I mentioned above, one of the King Features Syndicate characters along with Mandrake the Magician. Interesting, no? It's also pretty sad that I could make that connection.
At another point in the story Megan calls Barry and tells him she's found the Trickster's hideout and it's on Margo Ln. Margo Lane was the assistant to The Shadow in the original pulp stories and the subsequent radio series. As it so happened, Howard Chaykin, who wrote this epsiode of the Flash also wrote The Shadow for DC Comics in the 1980's when DC had the license to the character for a period of time.
The policeman's costume ball in being held at the Infantino Hotel -- this is a tip of the hat to Carmine Infantino. Like Gardner Fox, Infantino was a workhorse for both DC and Marvel among many other comic book companies. His work is still praised today and there are likely very few major comic book characters that he hasn't drawn in his life. He was the first artist on the Silver Age Flash series and is credited with creating the character's look.
Late in the game the episode takes a turn for the rather cartoony. At one point Megan states that she's "Tired of all this cartoon crap" and not long after the Flash defeats the Trickster to the sound of the Looney Tunes ending theme and finishes the whole thing up by actually saying "That's all folks". Of course, it must be said that the Looney Tunes characters are all owned by Warner Brothers and Warner Brothers also owns DC Comics and all it's characters and it was Warner Brothers studios which was producing this TV series. So nice to keep it all in the family wouldn't you say?
Episode 12: The Trickster
Plot: It's the return of P.I. Megan Lockhart as she runs afoul of an insane killer named James Jesse. Jesse's defeat by the Flash twists his mind and he believes Megan is his true love who is being mind controlled by the Flash. In order to "free" Megan he is willing to turn Central City, Barry Allen and the Flash upsidedown. Can the Flash's super speed trump the unpredictability of a madman?
My Take: We have our second supervillain here and, finally, one who originated from the comic book! Well, more or less... It should be noted that the Trickster who appears here bears little resemblence to his comic book counterpart. In the comic books James Jesse was a member of a family of circus high wire performers but he disliked the family business and felt more affinity toward crime a la his reverse namesake Jesse James. An engineering genius and basically sane if callous and criminal, Jesse began inventing incredible gadgets and embarking on a life of crime which brought him up against the Flash. In this episode, James Jesse is a madman who has eluded police through six states committing crimes as far ranging as fraud, theft and murder, taking on different identities and different careers for each of his crimes. It should also be said that even the comic book Trickster's costume bore little resemblence to the costume designed for the Trickster here... but, hey, at least we've got a supervillain in a costume so I'm not going to complain too much.
Added entertainment value to the story is the fact that the Trickster is played by none other than Mark Hamill. Yep, Luke Skywalker. Hamill, as it turns out, is something of a comic book geek -- at one point in time at least owning an extensive and expensive collection. So he enters into the role with a reckless abandon that is just a kick to watch. It is also interesting to see since Hamill goes through a number of different characters and voices as his Trickster scams and schemes.
Again, though, we see the writers taking influence from Tim Burton's Batman as this insane version of the Trickster seems to have more in common with the Joker than with the comic book counterpart. Interestingly enough, only a year or so after this Hamill would win the role as the Joker in the critically acclaimed and Emmy winning Batman: The Animated Series
And his portrayal would be seen as THE definitive Joker for more than a generation of fans. Sharp eyed (and eared) Flash fans will see and hear little snippets which Hamill would end up incorporating into his Joker so the episode is like getting a little sneak peek into a proto-Joker.
Sadly, the story spends so much time setting things up that it ends up never quite properly building the Trickster into the proper threat he should be. Part of the problem as well, is that the writer on this story -- namely Howard Chaykin -- turns the Trickster into more of a foil for Megan Lockhart than one for the Flash and many of the Trickster's "tricks" seem more 'sound and fury' with lots of sparklers and roman candles than they do legitimate threats to the life and limbs of the citizens of Central City.
The story also moves forward on the initial attraction between Barry and Megan but then viewers get a 'bait and switch' as the whole thing ends up not only going nowhere but getting a ridiculous excuse for it shoehorned into the last minute of the story. I suppose we should be thankful -- most 'temporary girlfriends' who appear on TV end up six feet under, victims of 'Teresa Bond Syndrome' (google the character and I'm sure you'll get the reference). There is also a painfully awkward subplot with Tina feeling her friendship with Barry will be threatened by Megan.
It also should be said that the actress playing Megan cannot produce a convincing scream. At all. It's surprisingly annoying. I mean, if you're going to try to convince the audience that you're screaming out of sheer terror you need to do a better job than your average high school melodrama production.
On the flip side, the story also manages to play, at least a little bit, with the question "chicken or the egg" question. In this case the question is: "Does the Flash create/attract the villains or have they always been there in one way or another?" Over the decades, a number of comic book writers have explored this idea in various ways and there was a really good episode of Batman: The Animated Series in which a number of Batman's enemies put him on trial claiming that HE created THEM. But I digress...
Despite the flaws, this is overall a really fun episode. It's great to finally see a fully fledged comic book supervillain in the story and Mark Hamill does a great job throwing himself into the part. Definitely worth the watch -- particularly since Hamill would reprise the role later on in the series....
One technical note here: there was a glitch in the broadcast order and since the episodes were arranged on the DVD in broadcast order the glitch has been perpetuated. The episode "Tina, is That You?" was supposed to air BEFORE this one and in fact some of the events of that story are referenced here, and yet the episode ended up airing AFTER this one. They really should have fixed this on the DVD release or at least made a note of it.
Flash Facts:
When we first see James Jesse he is dressed as a traditional stage magician -- with a top hat, white tie and tails, and white gloves. This outfit makes him look like another Flash rogue -- Abra Kabadra. In fact, just a little bit later in the story Jesse claims that he 'studied Harry Houdini' -- a claim that Kadabra would also make. Abra Kadabra, however, originally came from the 64th century where his obsession with stage magic was considered a joke due to the highly advanced technology. Traveling into the past he would use that technology to make it seem as though he could really do magic.
After defeating Jesse the first time the Flash refers to him as "Mandrake" -- this is a reference to "Mandrake the Magician", a newspaper comic strip character created by Lee Falk -- the guy who also created The Phantom. While Mandrake got his start in the newspapers in 1934 over the decades he would be move into the so-called 'Little Big Books' and would also appear in comic books and in animation. Mandrake technically had no superpowers -- he had learned a technique for almost instantanous hypnotism and so he would make people see and hear things that were not there. Mandrake was, and still is, owned by King Features Syndicate along with such other familiar heroes as The Phantom and Flash Gordon.
In point of fact.... Now I'm not saying this was a DELIBERATE 'six degrees of separation' but it IS an interesting coincidence... later in the episode Megan is trying to track down the Trickster thorugh some of the props he used. She asks someone where he could have gotten hold of a statue of Mercury. We can't hear what the person on the other line says but she responds "Not Freddy Mercury!" Freddy Mercury was the lead singer of the rock group Queen and one of the things Queen is well known for was providing the soundtrack for the 1980 movie Flash Gordon and Flash Gordon is, as I mentioned above, one of the King Features Syndicate characters along with Mandrake the Magician. Interesting, no? It's also pretty sad that I could make that connection.
At another point in the story Megan calls Barry and tells him she's found the Trickster's hideout and it's on Margo Ln. Margo Lane was the assistant to The Shadow in the original pulp stories and the subsequent radio series. As it so happened, Howard Chaykin, who wrote this epsiode of the Flash also wrote The Shadow for DC Comics in the 1980's when DC had the license to the character for a period of time.
The policeman's costume ball in being held at the Infantino Hotel -- this is a tip of the hat to Carmine Infantino. Like Gardner Fox, Infantino was a workhorse for both DC and Marvel among many other comic book companies. His work is still praised today and there are likely very few major comic book characters that he hasn't drawn in his life. He was the first artist on the Silver Age Flash series and is credited with creating the character's look.
Late in the game the episode takes a turn for the rather cartoony. At one point Megan states that she's "Tired of all this cartoon crap" and not long after the Flash defeats the Trickster to the sound of the Looney Tunes ending theme and finishes the whole thing up by actually saying "That's all folks". Of course, it must be said that the Looney Tunes characters are all owned by Warner Brothers and Warner Brothers also owns DC Comics and all it's characters and it was Warner Brothers studios which was producing this TV series. So nice to keep it all in the family wouldn't you say?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
What it Says on the Wrapper
And now we return you to your (semi) regularly scheduled Flash reviews..
Episode 11: "Beat the Clock"
Plot:
One year ago a local jazz sax player was convicted of murdering his wife, a jazz singer right on the cusp of hitting it big. Now he has one hour before facing the electric chair. One of the people who believes in his innocence is Barry Allen's crime lab co-worker Julio Mendez. Julio's belief is enough to have Barry decide to get the Flash involved but is even the Flash fast enough to solve the crime in one hour?
My Take:
You almost have to love something that tells you exactly what it is. Almost. Lots of TV shows and movies like to do "beat the clock" style stories. The premise of the TV series 24 is actually an entire season leading up to beating a clock. Basically, no matter what kind of structure the story takes a 'beat the clock' story is one in which the hero or heroes have a limited amount of time to solve a puzzle or a crime or to put a stop to the villains or else.... The "or else" is usually someone (or multiple someones) will die or a city or even a country will be destroyed. Some shows "play fair" -- i.e. they run the story in real-time so that if it would take two characters 15 minutes to drive somewhere 15 minutes pass for real before viewers see them arrive at their destination. Other TV shows play fast and loose with the time frame.
For this episode of The Flash the show splits the difference a bit. Most of the scenes seem to play out pretty close to real-time but the writers do fudge a little bit here and there. The director also keeps things honest by consistently showing various clocks in the background or having someone give the time so that the audience can keep up with the passage of time. It's a nice effect and eliminates the need for putting a countdown clock in the corner of the screen as some 'beat the clock' stories do.
The fact of the matter is, though, that viewers are left with yet another rather pedestrian story. Sure, it's a pretty solid mystery but it still doesn't produce enough *omph* to make it seem worthy of the Flash. Also, with what is known now about forensic science it seems impossible that the fact that something was 'off' about this murder wouldn't have been caught before this. The writers try to throw various things out to keep the Flash from solving this until the last minute with the result that suspension of disbelief is stretched pretty far and our intrepid hero looks a bit ineffectual. There are also some real cringe-worthy scenes of over-the-top, forced hysterical laughter and Tina playing cowering little damsel that just make you want to smack someone... writer, director, actor, I don't know but at least one of them.
The best thing here is the jazz songs and the score by Shirley Walker. I've praised Walker before but she was really on the ball for this episode. Not only did she score the whole episode in a jazz/blues/swing style, she even wove in some snippets of jazz standards AND she also crafted a jazz version of Danny Elfman's Flash theme which is a delight to hear.
In the end, while this isn't my favorite episode to watch it is my favorite episode to listen to thanks to Walker's music.
Flash Facts:
Angela Bassett's character of Linda Lake wears a large flower pinned in her hair -- more than likely a call back to famed jazz singer Billie Holliday, who was also known to wear a flower in her hair.
Episode 11: "Beat the Clock"
Plot:
One year ago a local jazz sax player was convicted of murdering his wife, a jazz singer right on the cusp of hitting it big. Now he has one hour before facing the electric chair. One of the people who believes in his innocence is Barry Allen's crime lab co-worker Julio Mendez. Julio's belief is enough to have Barry decide to get the Flash involved but is even the Flash fast enough to solve the crime in one hour?
My Take:
You almost have to love something that tells you exactly what it is. Almost. Lots of TV shows and movies like to do "beat the clock" style stories. The premise of the TV series 24 is actually an entire season leading up to beating a clock. Basically, no matter what kind of structure the story takes a 'beat the clock' story is one in which the hero or heroes have a limited amount of time to solve a puzzle or a crime or to put a stop to the villains or else.... The "or else" is usually someone (or multiple someones) will die or a city or even a country will be destroyed. Some shows "play fair" -- i.e. they run the story in real-time so that if it would take two characters 15 minutes to drive somewhere 15 minutes pass for real before viewers see them arrive at their destination. Other TV shows play fast and loose with the time frame.
For this episode of The Flash the show splits the difference a bit. Most of the scenes seem to play out pretty close to real-time but the writers do fudge a little bit here and there. The director also keeps things honest by consistently showing various clocks in the background or having someone give the time so that the audience can keep up with the passage of time. It's a nice effect and eliminates the need for putting a countdown clock in the corner of the screen as some 'beat the clock' stories do.
The fact of the matter is, though, that viewers are left with yet another rather pedestrian story. Sure, it's a pretty solid mystery but it still doesn't produce enough *omph* to make it seem worthy of the Flash. Also, with what is known now about forensic science it seems impossible that the fact that something was 'off' about this murder wouldn't have been caught before this. The writers try to throw various things out to keep the Flash from solving this until the last minute with the result that suspension of disbelief is stretched pretty far and our intrepid hero looks a bit ineffectual. There are also some real cringe-worthy scenes of over-the-top, forced hysterical laughter and Tina playing cowering little damsel that just make you want to smack someone... writer, director, actor, I don't know but at least one of them.
The best thing here is the jazz songs and the score by Shirley Walker. I've praised Walker before but she was really on the ball for this episode. Not only did she score the whole episode in a jazz/blues/swing style, she even wove in some snippets of jazz standards AND she also crafted a jazz version of Danny Elfman's Flash theme which is a delight to hear.
In the end, while this isn't my favorite episode to watch it is my favorite episode to listen to thanks to Walker's music.
Flash Facts:
Angela Bassett's character of Linda Lake wears a large flower pinned in her hair -- more than likely a call back to famed jazz singer Billie Holliday, who was also known to wear a flower in her hair.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Nowhere Man
Yes, I know, I've fallen behind. What can I say -- life sometimes interferes with life. But either way, your humble hostess Stressfactor is back with yet another episode of The Flash.
Episode 10: "Sight Unseen"
Plot:
Tina is working late at STAR Labs when 'a little man who was not there' unleashes a toxin into the building. Now she and her boss are infected and have four hours to live. To make matters worse, STAR Labs failsafes will irradiate the building if anyone tries to breach the building seal. It's up to Barry to figure out who this 'invivible man' is and get the anti-toxin or else Tina dies. Adding to his plight, there are indications that the mystery man also intends to use more of the toxin to poison Central City itself! It's going to be a long night for both Barry and the Flash.
My Take:
Every series, sooner or later, likes to do some kind of variation on a "beat the clock" story. The Flash is somewhat unique since it decided to do TWO of them. This one, which is a quasi-"beat the clock" and the next one in line, which is a true "beat the clock" (something I'll discuss with the next review). These type of stories are really effective when done well; they amp up the tension, they put the hero on the wire, but lives most literally on the line. Problem is, this story? Not done so well.
One major failing right out of the gate is the amount of plot holes and improbabilites we have to swallow. I mean, from the start we see that whatever gadget the invisible man is using to make himself invisible it interferes with electrical equipment -- it causes lights to flicker, it causes radios to get static interference, it prevents a car from starting, it causes security TV's to go fuzzy, etc. It is supposed to be an electromagnetic device to bend light (yes, it's comic book science, get over it. In the 1960's everything that wasn't "ATOMIC!" was "MAGNETISM!") and yet, while still wearing the activated gadget our villain is able to use a computer with no problems whatsoever! And these are 90's computers! The kind where just sneezing around one seemed to cause it to crash! And we're supposed to accept that a guy wearing some kind of sophisticated electromagnet is just blithely booting up a computer and loading a virus?! Seriously, a nice EM pulse next to the server would have just fragged the whole thing anyway.
And then there is STAR Labs safety measures... I mean, what kind of a place has a lockdown that will irradiate a building and yet apparently there is NO ONE IN THE WORLD WHO CAN SHUT DOWN THE SYSTEM SAFELY!!! I mean, you know, if there were a chemical leak or something, even if you assume that everyone in the building is dead you can't just.... you know... LEAVE THE BUILDING SITTING THERE! At some point someone has to be able to start getting in there to clean up, neutralize the chemicals, etc. so that the building can either be safely put to use again or else safely abandoned. And besides all of that -- there is also the case scenario of what we see this episode -- people infected with a poison or a disease but where there is some hope of administering an antidote -- in which case you need protocols for entering the building and safely removing the sick people for treatment. I could just see STAR Labs motto now: "Work here but if anything happens to you you're on your own because we don't care." Just... stupid.
And then... we've got a guy who checks off most of the mad scientist supervillain boxes... Created a device which basically gives you a superpower? Check. Got a line in crazy, dramatic, death and threat filled ranting? Check. Going to destroy a major metropolitan area? Check. Got a cool costume? No check. GAH!! This is one of the things that drives me crazy about this series. It's like they WANT supervillains but they DON'T want supervillains. They want villains who have all the trappings of supervillains but hen they don't want them to LOOK like supervillains. We saw this in the previous episode where the Ghost started out the episode with a cool (by 1950's standards) costume and yet when he enters the modern era they're quick to stick him in a button down shirt and pleated pants. And really, NO ONE looks good in pleated pants. Here, we have our quasi-mad scientist -- a tall but slightly portly fellow with glasses and thinning hair wearing pleated pants (again!) and a jersey top.... and a duster and wide brimmed fedora. Seriously, if you're going to try to make the duster and fedora look seem cool a dark green knit top and pleated pants are NOT the way to go!
And our villain also has a number of plot conveniences centered around him. For one, while being about six foot (according to one witness) we're supposed to believe that this ill scientist -- this somewhat out-of-shape guy -- is able to lift a full-grown, also slightly portly man, off the groud by his throat and strangle him! Not only do we have to swallow that, but we have to believe that, somehow, just the fact that he's invisible means that the Flash... the FASTEST MAN ALIVE... cannot catch him. I mean, we're expected to believe that in the ONE SECOND it takes the Flash to move across the room to where he heard the invisible man's voice coming from said invisible man has managed to move far enough away that the Flash can't find him. Writers, the guy is INVISIBLE, not INTANGIBLE. And there's no way this out-of-shape guy could be moving THAT fast.
And is that enough terrible stuff to swallow for one episode? Oh no. No, here comes that LOVELY old chestnut -- the arrogant, jerk of a Federal Agent... oh, who also happens to be corrupt as well. Got enough sterotypes in there yet?
In the episode's defense... there are a FEW nice touches. There are a couple of good lines of dialogue (I particularly like it when Barry tells the corrupt Fed to "Pack up your cloak and dagger") and it is a nice touch to try to humanize the mad scientist and show him as someone haunted by the horrors his work has unleashed, as someone wanting to get the truth out there (Yes, that was an X-Files reference), as well as being sick which has likely contributed to his madness. the problem is that these little touches are just too little to save a story that was filled with way too many plot holes and pushed suspension of disbelief past the breaking point.
I will say this as well, overall, the 'invisible' effects largely hold up over time. There are some sequences which look like the action was filmed backwards and then run forwards but it isn't too egregious.
Unless you're a completist, a purist, or someone who likes to rip stories apart MST3K style, this episode can be skipped like a hopscotch board.
Flash Facts:
Barry and Julio were planning a night at the racetrack and Tina was supposed to go with them. When Barry returns to Julio waiting at the lab Julio greets him by singing "I've got the horse right here..." and then says to Barry "We've got the guys where's the doll?" These are references to the musical Guys and Dolls (which was based on some short stories of Damon Runyon's). The opening song is called "Fugue for Tinhorns" and consists of three gamblers looking at their racing forms and each one backing a different horse and insisting that their horse will be the winning one. The song opens with the line "I've got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere..." It's a fun little musical. For those wanting to see it, the only version of it put to film was in 1955 featuring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. But for voices -- I far more recommend listening to the 1992 Broadway revival cast album featuring Nathan Lane and Peter Gallagher.
Episode 10: "Sight Unseen"
Plot:
Tina is working late at STAR Labs when 'a little man who was not there' unleashes a toxin into the building. Now she and her boss are infected and have four hours to live. To make matters worse, STAR Labs failsafes will irradiate the building if anyone tries to breach the building seal. It's up to Barry to figure out who this 'invivible man' is and get the anti-toxin or else Tina dies. Adding to his plight, there are indications that the mystery man also intends to use more of the toxin to poison Central City itself! It's going to be a long night for both Barry and the Flash.
My Take:
Every series, sooner or later, likes to do some kind of variation on a "beat the clock" story. The Flash is somewhat unique since it decided to do TWO of them. This one, which is a quasi-"beat the clock" and the next one in line, which is a true "beat the clock" (something I'll discuss with the next review). These type of stories are really effective when done well; they amp up the tension, they put the hero on the wire, but lives most literally on the line. Problem is, this story? Not done so well.
One major failing right out of the gate is the amount of plot holes and improbabilites we have to swallow. I mean, from the start we see that whatever gadget the invisible man is using to make himself invisible it interferes with electrical equipment -- it causes lights to flicker, it causes radios to get static interference, it prevents a car from starting, it causes security TV's to go fuzzy, etc. It is supposed to be an electromagnetic device to bend light (yes, it's comic book science, get over it. In the 1960's everything that wasn't "ATOMIC!" was "MAGNETISM!") and yet, while still wearing the activated gadget our villain is able to use a computer with no problems whatsoever! And these are 90's computers! The kind where just sneezing around one seemed to cause it to crash! And we're supposed to accept that a guy wearing some kind of sophisticated electromagnet is just blithely booting up a computer and loading a virus?! Seriously, a nice EM pulse next to the server would have just fragged the whole thing anyway.
And then there is STAR Labs safety measures... I mean, what kind of a place has a lockdown that will irradiate a building and yet apparently there is NO ONE IN THE WORLD WHO CAN SHUT DOWN THE SYSTEM SAFELY!!! I mean, you know, if there were a chemical leak or something, even if you assume that everyone in the building is dead you can't just.... you know... LEAVE THE BUILDING SITTING THERE! At some point someone has to be able to start getting in there to clean up, neutralize the chemicals, etc. so that the building can either be safely put to use again or else safely abandoned. And besides all of that -- there is also the case scenario of what we see this episode -- people infected with a poison or a disease but where there is some hope of administering an antidote -- in which case you need protocols for entering the building and safely removing the sick people for treatment. I could just see STAR Labs motto now: "Work here but if anything happens to you you're on your own because we don't care." Just... stupid.
And then... we've got a guy who checks off most of the mad scientist supervillain boxes... Created a device which basically gives you a superpower? Check. Got a line in crazy, dramatic, death and threat filled ranting? Check. Going to destroy a major metropolitan area? Check. Got a cool costume? No check. GAH!! This is one of the things that drives me crazy about this series. It's like they WANT supervillains but they DON'T want supervillains. They want villains who have all the trappings of supervillains but hen they don't want them to LOOK like supervillains. We saw this in the previous episode where the Ghost started out the episode with a cool (by 1950's standards) costume and yet when he enters the modern era they're quick to stick him in a button down shirt and pleated pants. And really, NO ONE looks good in pleated pants. Here, we have our quasi-mad scientist -- a tall but slightly portly fellow with glasses and thinning hair wearing pleated pants (again!) and a jersey top.... and a duster and wide brimmed fedora. Seriously, if you're going to try to make the duster and fedora look seem cool a dark green knit top and pleated pants are NOT the way to go!
And our villain also has a number of plot conveniences centered around him. For one, while being about six foot (according to one witness) we're supposed to believe that this ill scientist -- this somewhat out-of-shape guy -- is able to lift a full-grown, also slightly portly man, off the groud by his throat and strangle him! Not only do we have to swallow that, but we have to believe that, somehow, just the fact that he's invisible means that the Flash... the FASTEST MAN ALIVE... cannot catch him. I mean, we're expected to believe that in the ONE SECOND it takes the Flash to move across the room to where he heard the invisible man's voice coming from said invisible man has managed to move far enough away that the Flash can't find him. Writers, the guy is INVISIBLE, not INTANGIBLE. And there's no way this out-of-shape guy could be moving THAT fast.
And is that enough terrible stuff to swallow for one episode? Oh no. No, here comes that LOVELY old chestnut -- the arrogant, jerk of a Federal Agent... oh, who also happens to be corrupt as well. Got enough sterotypes in there yet?
In the episode's defense... there are a FEW nice touches. There are a couple of good lines of dialogue (I particularly like it when Barry tells the corrupt Fed to "Pack up your cloak and dagger") and it is a nice touch to try to humanize the mad scientist and show him as someone haunted by the horrors his work has unleashed, as someone wanting to get the truth out there (Yes, that was an X-Files reference), as well as being sick which has likely contributed to his madness. the problem is that these little touches are just too little to save a story that was filled with way too many plot holes and pushed suspension of disbelief past the breaking point.
I will say this as well, overall, the 'invisible' effects largely hold up over time. There are some sequences which look like the action was filmed backwards and then run forwards but it isn't too egregious.
Unless you're a completist, a purist, or someone who likes to rip stories apart MST3K style, this episode can be skipped like a hopscotch board.
Flash Facts:
Barry and Julio were planning a night at the racetrack and Tina was supposed to go with them. When Barry returns to Julio waiting at the lab Julio greets him by singing "I've got the horse right here..." and then says to Barry "We've got the guys where's the doll?" These are references to the musical Guys and Dolls (which was based on some short stories of Damon Runyon's). The opening song is called "Fugue for Tinhorns" and consists of three gamblers looking at their racing forms and each one backing a different horse and insisting that their horse will be the winning one. The song opens with the line "I've got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere..." It's a fun little musical. For those wanting to see it, the only version of it put to film was in 1955 featuring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. But for voices -- I far more recommend listening to the 1992 Broadway revival cast album featuring Nathan Lane and Peter Gallagher.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Torch Bearers
The Flash
Episode 9: "Ghost in the Machine"
Plot:
1955, Central City. the supervillain known as the Ghost threatens to blow up the city center using a television signal if his demands are not met. His plans are foiled by the mysterious vigilante known as Nightshade. 1990, the Ghost awakens from cryogenic sleep to find a brave new world... and one equal to his genius and nefarious plots. The Flash must team up with an out-of-retirement Nightshade in order to stop the Ghost from bringing Central City to it's knees.
My Take:
Ladies and gentlemen, after nine episodes.... We. Have. A. SUPERVILLAIN! YAY!!!!! Okay, so it's not one of the Flash's traditional rogues from the comic books but he fits all the points of supervillainy. Costume? Check (at least in the opener. The wardrobe department is quick to put him in regular clothes and keep him there throughout the episode but there WAS a costume), Supervillain name? Check. Wild, over-the-top, insane plan for conquest (at least of the city)? Check.
About freakin' time. Some disappointment that the first supervillain they feature is one made up for the TV series and not one of the Flash's traditional rogues from the comic books but I'll let it go because IT'S A SUPERVILLAIN!!!!
Okay, okay, it's out of my system now.
At any rate, the writers finally hit their stride with this episode. There are a few minor quibbles -- some elements where time has not been kind to the story, but overall, from the opening to the last scene, this story is awesome!
So, the opening... so very cool that they chose to do this in black and white -- like an old TV show. I also like all of the touches that tie the hero Nightshade into the old, pulp mystery men genre (more on that later).
The story as a whole has some really good dialogue -- everything from truly funny stuff to quiet, dramatic moments that manage to hold you spellbound. Of course, some of this is because of actor Jason Bernard playing Desmond Powell/Nightshade. His performance here is nuanced and grounded giving the characters weight and believability.
There is a lot going on here in the script and yet it all manages to work together seemlessly. The Ghost bemoans that the "future" he has awakened in has fallen short of his expectations. There are no "food pills", no "personal helicopters", no monorails, and no "underwater cities". As modern, British, comic book writer Warren Ellis put it in his Doktor Sleepless comic: "Where's my $%^&ing jetpack?!" It's a nice commentary and good laugh at how science fiction of the 1950's and 1960's always had humanity far ahead of where it would end up being at the turn of the millenium. Then there is the passage of time. We see it physically in the change of the mural on the wall of the secret entrance to Nightshade's hideout, we see and hear it in the characters of Nightshade and Belle as they bemoan their lost youth. And yet, at the same time, there is a realization on the part of both of them that they have lived all of these years and they have gained something from them. Belle eventually flees from her former love -- both from a sense that she cannot be with him while he is still young and vital and she has had time take it's toll on her -- but also because she has grown up as she has grown old and the Ghost has not. Stunted in maturity and morals for not having gone through life the way she has. Belle and Nightshade reflect that age may take away beauty, skill, stamina and speed but it delivers wisdom, intelligence, and maturity.
In addition to all of that, the story is a love letter to the old, pulp mystery heroes many of whom were forerunners of modern superheroes as well as contemporaries of the superheroes. There are lots of little tributes -- Nightshade keeping his car and hideout in an abandoned building where the wall rolls up to let the car out hearkens back to the Green Hornet who had a similar setup. Also, Nightshade's black car seems pretty similar to the Green Hornet's ride, Black Beauty. The idea of an ordinary guy without any superpowers who relies on gadgets was also a staple of the mystery man -- characters like the aforementioned Green Hornet, but also the original Crimson Avenger, the original Sandman, Alias the Spider, and even some women like Lady Luck, Domino Lady and the Blonde Phantom. Nightshade's use of tranquilizers could be a tribute to the Sandman or the Green Hornet -- both of whom used gas guns which dispersed a "knockout" gas. Also, Nightshade's costume bears a slight resemblance to the Golden Age Sandman's costume in that Nightshade's welder's goggles look quite a bit like the Sandman's WWI era gas mask which he wore as a disguise. In another tribute, Powell tells the Flash that he read "Too many pulp magazines when I was a kid". Of course, this also touches back to the Flash's comic book origin where he took his name and inspiration for crime fighting from reading comic books when he was a kid.
Not all is fun and games, though, and there is a lovely soliloquy by Powell/Nightshade about his career -- of returning after the Korean War, of wanting to be of service to the city but being blocked by the fact he was African-American, of the strain and costs of the double life... it is a mature, sincere discusstion wonderfully acted not just by Bernard but by Shipp as well. The character of Barry doesn't have a lot to say here but Shipp manages to convey with expression and body language Barry being entranced by the life of this superhero -- a kind of enchantment like a kid reading a comic book for the first time -- but also as an adult who has found a kindred soul -- someone who understands the masked crusade.
After all of this... lovely writing, a serious story, a love letter to the past, the story does fall down a bit when it comes to the suervillain... or more precisely, his plot. The idea of him uploading his consciousness onto the net and taking over is cheesy, yes, but suitable supervillainy. The writers might have gotten away with it too... I can remember in my youth when I watched this episode first run I thought it was pretty cool. Problem is, we're 20 years farther along with decades of open public internet access being the norm. Of even 10 years olds now knowing enough about the way computers operate and the net operates to know that pretty much ALL of the computer stuff depicted here is so wrong, stupid and bad it's beyond fail. It's beyond ultra fail and has gone into the territory of ultra-mega-bad-crazy-fail.
Still, if one overlooks the fact that time has not been kind, the rest of the story is well awesome.
Now, I said, I would get around to explaining about "Mystery Men" a bit. There are some who choose to subdivide the superhero genre into true "superheroes" -- men and women who wear colorful costumes and who have powers beyond those of ordinary mortals -- and "Mystery Men" -- men and women who are perfectly ordinary, who rely on some gadgets and gizmos but mostly stand on brains, fists, and occasionally guns. The Mystery Men also tend to have costumes that consist of ordinary business suits (although perhaps in an unusal color like green or blue), trenchcoats or greatcoats, domino masks, and fedoras -- either wide-brimmed or snap brimmed. A number of mystery men were actually created before many of the first superheroes (Superman being one of the earliest heroes and he arrives in 1938) but many also came about after the first superheroes throughout the 1930's and 1940's.
The Mystery Men came from two sources -- one was comic books but the other source was the old pulp magazines (hence Nightshade's comment about reading too many pulps as a kid). The Shadow, Alias the Spider and Domino Lady are three who came from the pulps while Crimson Avenger, Sandman, and the Blonde Phantom are three examples from the comic books.
Of course, the lines between superhero and mystery man are not always clear. Take the Shadow for instance. He had the look of a mystery man -- greatcoat, fedora, and scarf covering his face. He tended to use guns in the pulp stories (not so much in the radio adaptations) and he had no superhuman strength BUT he had the "hypnotic ability to cloud mens' minds so they could not see him" basically resulting in invisibility... which pretty much amounts to a super power. And on the flip side you have Batman who had the look of a superhero -- a colorful costume, but who had no superpowers, was an ordinary man and tended to rely on gadgets like grapling hooks and gas capsules like the mystery men did.
Either way, the Mystery Men served an important place in bridging the world of the weird pulp heroes and the comic book hero.
Flash Facts:
Nightshade, in talking about fading from public memory, asks Barry how many people will remember the Flash after 35 years. Unknown if this was a joke on the part of the writers or not since, in 1990, the Silver Age version of the Flash was actually 34 years old, having debuted in 1956. As it is, The Flash: Rebirth comic book mini-series just concluded, returing the Barry Allen version of the character to the comic book world 54 years after his introduction and 25 years after his death. I'd say plenty of people still remember the Flash.
When the Ghost takes control of the computer network he broadcasts a message in which he tells the citizens of the city that: "I control the horizontal, I control the vertical"; this is a reference to the original opening of the Outer Limits TV series. Although this is an odd choice for the Ghost to make as The Outer Limits did not debut until 1963 and the Ghost supposedly put himself in suspended animation in 1955.
Episode 9: "Ghost in the Machine"
Plot:
1955, Central City. the supervillain known as the Ghost threatens to blow up the city center using a television signal if his demands are not met. His plans are foiled by the mysterious vigilante known as Nightshade. 1990, the Ghost awakens from cryogenic sleep to find a brave new world... and one equal to his genius and nefarious plots. The Flash must team up with an out-of-retirement Nightshade in order to stop the Ghost from bringing Central City to it's knees.
My Take:
Ladies and gentlemen, after nine episodes.... We. Have. A. SUPERVILLAIN! YAY!!!!! Okay, so it's not one of the Flash's traditional rogues from the comic books but he fits all the points of supervillainy. Costume? Check (at least in the opener. The wardrobe department is quick to put him in regular clothes and keep him there throughout the episode but there WAS a costume), Supervillain name? Check. Wild, over-the-top, insane plan for conquest (at least of the city)? Check.
About freakin' time. Some disappointment that the first supervillain they feature is one made up for the TV series and not one of the Flash's traditional rogues from the comic books but I'll let it go because IT'S A SUPERVILLAIN!!!!
Okay, okay, it's out of my system now.
At any rate, the writers finally hit their stride with this episode. There are a few minor quibbles -- some elements where time has not been kind to the story, but overall, from the opening to the last scene, this story is awesome!
So, the opening... so very cool that they chose to do this in black and white -- like an old TV show. I also like all of the touches that tie the hero Nightshade into the old, pulp mystery men genre (more on that later).
The story as a whole has some really good dialogue -- everything from truly funny stuff to quiet, dramatic moments that manage to hold you spellbound. Of course, some of this is because of actor Jason Bernard playing Desmond Powell/Nightshade. His performance here is nuanced and grounded giving the characters weight and believability.
There is a lot going on here in the script and yet it all manages to work together seemlessly. The Ghost bemoans that the "future" he has awakened in has fallen short of his expectations. There are no "food pills", no "personal helicopters", no monorails, and no "underwater cities". As modern, British, comic book writer Warren Ellis put it in his Doktor Sleepless comic: "Where's my $%^&ing jetpack?!" It's a nice commentary and good laugh at how science fiction of the 1950's and 1960's always had humanity far ahead of where it would end up being at the turn of the millenium. Then there is the passage of time. We see it physically in the change of the mural on the wall of the secret entrance to Nightshade's hideout, we see and hear it in the characters of Nightshade and Belle as they bemoan their lost youth. And yet, at the same time, there is a realization on the part of both of them that they have lived all of these years and they have gained something from them. Belle eventually flees from her former love -- both from a sense that she cannot be with him while he is still young and vital and she has had time take it's toll on her -- but also because she has grown up as she has grown old and the Ghost has not. Stunted in maturity and morals for not having gone through life the way she has. Belle and Nightshade reflect that age may take away beauty, skill, stamina and speed but it delivers wisdom, intelligence, and maturity.
In addition to all of that, the story is a love letter to the old, pulp mystery heroes many of whom were forerunners of modern superheroes as well as contemporaries of the superheroes. There are lots of little tributes -- Nightshade keeping his car and hideout in an abandoned building where the wall rolls up to let the car out hearkens back to the Green Hornet who had a similar setup. Also, Nightshade's black car seems pretty similar to the Green Hornet's ride, Black Beauty. The idea of an ordinary guy without any superpowers who relies on gadgets was also a staple of the mystery man -- characters like the aforementioned Green Hornet, but also the original Crimson Avenger, the original Sandman, Alias the Spider, and even some women like Lady Luck, Domino Lady and the Blonde Phantom. Nightshade's use of tranquilizers could be a tribute to the Sandman or the Green Hornet -- both of whom used gas guns which dispersed a "knockout" gas. Also, Nightshade's costume bears a slight resemblance to the Golden Age Sandman's costume in that Nightshade's welder's goggles look quite a bit like the Sandman's WWI era gas mask which he wore as a disguise. In another tribute, Powell tells the Flash that he read "Too many pulp magazines when I was a kid". Of course, this also touches back to the Flash's comic book origin where he took his name and inspiration for crime fighting from reading comic books when he was a kid.
Not all is fun and games, though, and there is a lovely soliloquy by Powell/Nightshade about his career -- of returning after the Korean War, of wanting to be of service to the city but being blocked by the fact he was African-American, of the strain and costs of the double life... it is a mature, sincere discusstion wonderfully acted not just by Bernard but by Shipp as well. The character of Barry doesn't have a lot to say here but Shipp manages to convey with expression and body language Barry being entranced by the life of this superhero -- a kind of enchantment like a kid reading a comic book for the first time -- but also as an adult who has found a kindred soul -- someone who understands the masked crusade.
After all of this... lovely writing, a serious story, a love letter to the past, the story does fall down a bit when it comes to the suervillain... or more precisely, his plot. The idea of him uploading his consciousness onto the net and taking over is cheesy, yes, but suitable supervillainy. The writers might have gotten away with it too... I can remember in my youth when I watched this episode first run I thought it was pretty cool. Problem is, we're 20 years farther along with decades of open public internet access being the norm. Of even 10 years olds now knowing enough about the way computers operate and the net operates to know that pretty much ALL of the computer stuff depicted here is so wrong, stupid and bad it's beyond fail. It's beyond ultra fail and has gone into the territory of ultra-mega-bad-crazy-fail.
Still, if one overlooks the fact that time has not been kind, the rest of the story is well awesome.
Now, I said, I would get around to explaining about "Mystery Men" a bit. There are some who choose to subdivide the superhero genre into true "superheroes" -- men and women who wear colorful costumes and who have powers beyond those of ordinary mortals -- and "Mystery Men" -- men and women who are perfectly ordinary, who rely on some gadgets and gizmos but mostly stand on brains, fists, and occasionally guns. The Mystery Men also tend to have costumes that consist of ordinary business suits (although perhaps in an unusal color like green or blue), trenchcoats or greatcoats, domino masks, and fedoras -- either wide-brimmed or snap brimmed. A number of mystery men were actually created before many of the first superheroes (Superman being one of the earliest heroes and he arrives in 1938) but many also came about after the first superheroes throughout the 1930's and 1940's.
The Mystery Men came from two sources -- one was comic books but the other source was the old pulp magazines (hence Nightshade's comment about reading too many pulps as a kid). The Shadow, Alias the Spider and Domino Lady are three who came from the pulps while Crimson Avenger, Sandman, and the Blonde Phantom are three examples from the comic books.
Of course, the lines between superhero and mystery man are not always clear. Take the Shadow for instance. He had the look of a mystery man -- greatcoat, fedora, and scarf covering his face. He tended to use guns in the pulp stories (not so much in the radio adaptations) and he had no superhuman strength BUT he had the "hypnotic ability to cloud mens' minds so they could not see him" basically resulting in invisibility... which pretty much amounts to a super power. And on the flip side you have Batman who had the look of a superhero -- a colorful costume, but who had no superpowers, was an ordinary man and tended to rely on gadgets like grapling hooks and gas capsules like the mystery men did.
Either way, the Mystery Men served an important place in bridging the world of the weird pulp heroes and the comic book hero.
Flash Facts:
Nightshade, in talking about fading from public memory, asks Barry how many people will remember the Flash after 35 years. Unknown if this was a joke on the part of the writers or not since, in 1990, the Silver Age version of the Flash was actually 34 years old, having debuted in 1956. As it is, The Flash: Rebirth comic book mini-series just concluded, returing the Barry Allen version of the character to the comic book world 54 years after his introduction and 25 years after his death. I'd say plenty of people still remember the Flash.
When the Ghost takes control of the computer network he broadcasts a message in which he tells the citizens of the city that: "I control the horizontal, I control the vertical"; this is a reference to the original opening of the Outer Limits TV series. Although this is an odd choice for the Ghost to make as The Outer Limits did not debut until 1963 and the Ghost supposedly put himself in suspended animation in 1955.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Who Names These Things?! pt. 2
The Flash
Episode 8: "Shroud of Death"
Plot:
Someone is killing public officials and leaving broken pieces of a medallion at the scene of each killing. Barry is determined to find out what connects these seemingly disparate individuals but when he finds the truth the stakes go even higher because next in line would appear to be Barry's own boss -- Lt. Warren Garfield! An even greater stumbling block is the fact that the man who would be the most logical suspect in the killings was executed 10 years ago! Unless Barry figures out who this ghost killer is Garfield and his fiancee may not survive.
My Take:
"Shroud of Death." "Shround of Death"?!?! Seriously, who named this? Do that not know what 'shroud' means?! At least one definition of a shroud is the covering that a body was wrapped in for burial. So, a shroud is SYNONYMOUS with death. *Sigh* Yet another nonsensical title for the series.
Also, yet another common cirminal for the series as well. *Sigh*.
All that aside, this is actually a pretty good story. It is a really nice character study, and while it gets a little heavy handed at times it doesn't beat the viewers over the head with the message of how revenge eats away at a person. More importantly, the villain in this story comes across as someone who was deeply wounded, and not so much evil per se as so twisted by her upbringing and blinded by her grief that she slipped into a homicidal madness. In the end you do not condemn her so much as pity her.
The whole episode is also really nicely acted -- in particular is the solid performance by the actor playing Lt. Garfield. His relationship with his finacee is sweet and yet never saccharine. It really rings true for a relationship between two people who are on the back half of their lives and are comfortable with one another and not looking for grand, romanitc gestures and who expect a certain amount of emotional drama but are well prepared for it. The actor also handles the more dramatic moments with panache -- taking it up to the top but without going over it -- it's a fine line to tread and a lot of actors can't do it. Kudos are deserved.
The story would really hold up a lot better, though, if there were not some huge plot holes as well as some gaping problems... For example, Barry's co-worker in the crime lab, Julio Mendez is, officially, an idiot -- both for taking this long to figure out Barry's secret identity and then for being turned away from the truth by a paper thin ruse. Likewise, Garfield is an idiot for not recognizing at least Barry Allen's voice when the Flash speaks to him (not that the mask itself does a very good job as a disguise but, hey, we're going to accept a little bit of comic book suspension of disbelief). Also, Barry Allen is an idiot for not trying to at least disguise his voice a little bit. A lot of people poked fun at Chrisitan Bale's Batman voice but, hey, at least the man was trying. And for a great example, check out Kevin Conroy in Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: Gotham Knight as he does an absolutely phenominal job of changing his voice between Bruce Wayne and Batman.
The story also features some silly sidetracking into trying to build up more romantic tension between Barry and Tina. Their fight and the reasons behind it are pretty childish for two people who are at least in their 30's here.
Okay, okay, so... in the final verdict, nitpicking aside, plot holes aside, this is one of the better episodes of the series. The story is really solid, the consequences of hate are explored in a pretty good way, a couple or three good performances are turned in by the cast as a whole, and the special effects have withstood the test of time and they do not overwhelm the story. It's definitely worth the time spent.
Flash Facts:
The murals that appear in this episode have a definite Thomas Hart Benton look to them and I wonder if the artist in question wasn't inspired by Benton's work.
Barry's using super speed to flick through computer files is impossible. No computer -- particularly one from the early 1990's, would have been able to keep up with the speed with which he was hitting the keys. Most likely all he would have ended up with would have been the 1990 equivalent of the Windows Blue Screen of Death.
Episode 8: "Shroud of Death"
Plot:
Someone is killing public officials and leaving broken pieces of a medallion at the scene of each killing. Barry is determined to find out what connects these seemingly disparate individuals but when he finds the truth the stakes go even higher because next in line would appear to be Barry's own boss -- Lt. Warren Garfield! An even greater stumbling block is the fact that the man who would be the most logical suspect in the killings was executed 10 years ago! Unless Barry figures out who this ghost killer is Garfield and his fiancee may not survive.
My Take:
"Shroud of Death." "Shround of Death"?!?! Seriously, who named this? Do that not know what 'shroud' means?! At least one definition of a shroud is the covering that a body was wrapped in for burial. So, a shroud is SYNONYMOUS with death. *Sigh* Yet another nonsensical title for the series.
Also, yet another common cirminal for the series as well. *Sigh*.
All that aside, this is actually a pretty good story. It is a really nice character study, and while it gets a little heavy handed at times it doesn't beat the viewers over the head with the message of how revenge eats away at a person. More importantly, the villain in this story comes across as someone who was deeply wounded, and not so much evil per se as so twisted by her upbringing and blinded by her grief that she slipped into a homicidal madness. In the end you do not condemn her so much as pity her.
The whole episode is also really nicely acted -- in particular is the solid performance by the actor playing Lt. Garfield. His relationship with his finacee is sweet and yet never saccharine. It really rings true for a relationship between two people who are on the back half of their lives and are comfortable with one another and not looking for grand, romanitc gestures and who expect a certain amount of emotional drama but are well prepared for it. The actor also handles the more dramatic moments with panache -- taking it up to the top but without going over it -- it's a fine line to tread and a lot of actors can't do it. Kudos are deserved.
The story would really hold up a lot better, though, if there were not some huge plot holes as well as some gaping problems... For example, Barry's co-worker in the crime lab, Julio Mendez is, officially, an idiot -- both for taking this long to figure out Barry's secret identity and then for being turned away from the truth by a paper thin ruse. Likewise, Garfield is an idiot for not recognizing at least Barry Allen's voice when the Flash speaks to him (not that the mask itself does a very good job as a disguise but, hey, we're going to accept a little bit of comic book suspension of disbelief). Also, Barry Allen is an idiot for not trying to at least disguise his voice a little bit. A lot of people poked fun at Chrisitan Bale's Batman voice but, hey, at least the man was trying. And for a great example, check out Kevin Conroy in Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: Gotham Knight as he does an absolutely phenominal job of changing his voice between Bruce Wayne and Batman.
The story also features some silly sidetracking into trying to build up more romantic tension between Barry and Tina. Their fight and the reasons behind it are pretty childish for two people who are at least in their 30's here.
Okay, okay, so... in the final verdict, nitpicking aside, plot holes aside, this is one of the better episodes of the series. The story is really solid, the consequences of hate are explored in a pretty good way, a couple or three good performances are turned in by the cast as a whole, and the special effects have withstood the test of time and they do not overwhelm the story. It's definitely worth the time spent.
Flash Facts:
The murals that appear in this episode have a definite Thomas Hart Benton look to them and I wonder if the artist in question wasn't inspired by Benton's work.
Barry's using super speed to flick through computer files is impossible. No computer -- particularly one from the early 1990's, would have been able to keep up with the speed with which he was hitting the keys. Most likely all he would have ended up with would have been the 1990 equivalent of the Windows Blue Screen of Death.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Groovy Baby, yeah!
The Flash
Episode 7: "Child's Play"
Plot:
A drug guru from the 1960's faked his death and went underground only to start emerging in Central City with a new, highly addictive and dangerous drug of his own concotion! A reporter about to break the story is killed and Barry Allen is on the trail to find the killer. Unfortunately he also is trying to help the force track down the source of the new drug AND he gets saddled with taking care of two orphan children! All three problems, though, are tied in together and one of the kids under Barry's care has the one clue that will break the whole thing wide open. Will even the Flash be fast enough to figure it out before a little boy pays a heavy price?
My Take:
Airing about seven or eight years before Mike Myers' first Austin Powers movie, this episode was actually a little ahead of it's time in capturing a wave of '60's nostalgia.
The story is cheesy, yes. There's a lot of "Don't do drugs, drugs are bad. M'kay?" message here as well. The villain comes off like a cross between a psychotic Timothy Leary and Liberace (yeah, try to get THAT image out of your head now), he's got a completely unworkable evil plot that involves addicting the entire city to his drug (of course, what would you expect from a character whose supposedly been sampling his own stuff for the past 2o years), and he chews the scenery at every opportunity... And it's all crazy, stupid awesome!
Yeah, I know. On every level I should really hate this episode. The villain is, again, lacking in super powers, there is a tribute to the rock band The Who at the end that is rather more cringe-worthy than not, and there are multiple moral lessons stuffed into the story so hard it's amazing one hour-long show can hold them all.
What saves everything, though, is that the characters of the kids are rarely overly saccharine, the villain is so flamboyantly, over-the-top that it actually works, there are a couple of really well played, sincere scenes, and there are also several good lines of dialogue and good scequences. A bit cheesy perhaps, but good nonetheless. Take, for example, when the drug addled villain threatens his supplier -- pushing the man up against his car and declaring "The '60's didn't have as much peace and love as you might think."
The performances all around are fairly solid. There is one scene in which the actress playing the wife of the murdered reporter pretty much fails in portraying genuine grief... instead giving such a hammy performance it is obvious she's trying too hard. Once she gets over that hump, though, she does a much better job throughout.
The special effects are, overall, well done. There is one really, really obvious use of green screen but the rest have aged quite well and the sequence where the Flash actually phases through a wall is still cool. The way they depict the vision of those on the drugs is also nicely trippy.
From a comic book standpoint there is actually a lot to like here. Early on the episode we see the Flash catch bullets and then throw them back at the gunman's car -- blowing out the tires. This was a little trick that the comic book version did on more than one occasion. We also have the Flash vibrating so fast he is able to phase through a wall; used here for the first and (I think) only time. This is a shame because in the comic books, phasing through objects was one of the tricks the Flash used all the time.
The long and the short of it is that, despite having the deck stacked against it, this manages to actually be a fun and entertaining epsiode. Tune in, turn on, and drop out... but make sure you check your brain at the door first.
Flash Facts:
The series pays tribute to it's influences and roots -- in one sequence, as Barry walks his dog for the night they pass my a movie theatre. The marque out front declares "Double Feature: Batman and Superman". Barry also walks past a movie poster for Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie -- indicating that the double feature will be Burton's 1989 Batman and Richard Donner's 1978 Superman film.
Episode 7: "Child's Play"
Plot:
A drug guru from the 1960's faked his death and went underground only to start emerging in Central City with a new, highly addictive and dangerous drug of his own concotion! A reporter about to break the story is killed and Barry Allen is on the trail to find the killer. Unfortunately he also is trying to help the force track down the source of the new drug AND he gets saddled with taking care of two orphan children! All three problems, though, are tied in together and one of the kids under Barry's care has the one clue that will break the whole thing wide open. Will even the Flash be fast enough to figure it out before a little boy pays a heavy price?
My Take:
Airing about seven or eight years before Mike Myers' first Austin Powers movie, this episode was actually a little ahead of it's time in capturing a wave of '60's nostalgia.
The story is cheesy, yes. There's a lot of "Don't do drugs, drugs are bad. M'kay?" message here as well. The villain comes off like a cross between a psychotic Timothy Leary and Liberace (yeah, try to get THAT image out of your head now), he's got a completely unworkable evil plot that involves addicting the entire city to his drug (of course, what would you expect from a character whose supposedly been sampling his own stuff for the past 2o years), and he chews the scenery at every opportunity... And it's all crazy, stupid awesome!
Yeah, I know. On every level I should really hate this episode. The villain is, again, lacking in super powers, there is a tribute to the rock band The Who at the end that is rather more cringe-worthy than not, and there are multiple moral lessons stuffed into the story so hard it's amazing one hour-long show can hold them all.
What saves everything, though, is that the characters of the kids are rarely overly saccharine, the villain is so flamboyantly, over-the-top that it actually works, there are a couple of really well played, sincere scenes, and there are also several good lines of dialogue and good scequences. A bit cheesy perhaps, but good nonetheless. Take, for example, when the drug addled villain threatens his supplier -- pushing the man up against his car and declaring "The '60's didn't have as much peace and love as you might think."
The performances all around are fairly solid. There is one scene in which the actress playing the wife of the murdered reporter pretty much fails in portraying genuine grief... instead giving such a hammy performance it is obvious she's trying too hard. Once she gets over that hump, though, she does a much better job throughout.
The special effects are, overall, well done. There is one really, really obvious use of green screen but the rest have aged quite well and the sequence where the Flash actually phases through a wall is still cool. The way they depict the vision of those on the drugs is also nicely trippy.
From a comic book standpoint there is actually a lot to like here. Early on the episode we see the Flash catch bullets and then throw them back at the gunman's car -- blowing out the tires. This was a little trick that the comic book version did on more than one occasion. We also have the Flash vibrating so fast he is able to phase through a wall; used here for the first and (I think) only time. This is a shame because in the comic books, phasing through objects was one of the tricks the Flash used all the time.
The long and the short of it is that, despite having the deck stacked against it, this manages to actually be a fun and entertaining epsiode. Tune in, turn on, and drop out... but make sure you check your brain at the door first.
Flash Facts:
The series pays tribute to it's influences and roots -- in one sequence, as Barry walks his dog for the night they pass my a movie theatre. The marque out front declares "Double Feature: Batman and Superman". Barry also walks past a movie poster for Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie -- indicating that the double feature will be Burton's 1989 Batman and Richard Donner's 1978 Superman film.
Friday, February 26, 2010
It's a Sin...
The Flash
Episode 6: "Sins of the Father"
Plot:
A man Barry's father put behind bars nearly 20 years ago escapes to seek his revenge and Barry must pull double duty in his double identity to keep his father safe and catch the criminal.
My Take:
Ooo, look quick before it vanishes.... character development!
Yeah, okay, so this episode probably doesn't need that much snark... but really the character interaction is all that this story has going for it and that's not saying much.
Again, viewers are left with yet another cheap hood for a villain... and in this case the cheap hood in question really doesn't even seem that smart. The real mystery here is how such a walking impulse control problem of a villain manages to outwit the police, Barry's father and Barry/the Flash. Extreme stupidity and plot contrivences are the only explanation... sadly.
Meanwhile, you know that little sub-plot of the conflict between Barry and his dad that the writers have been unsubtly whacking viewers over the head with as if it were a Louisville Slugger? Yeah, that finally comes to a head here and gets resolved. Both of the actors involved handle the dialogue pretty well but, really, the dialogue and sequences are so formulaic that even someone who has never seen this episode before could probably recite the lines a beat before the actors do. There is nothing here that viewers haven't seen a thousand times before in other movies and TV shows. It must be said, though, that at least the writers don't screw it up and nothing here goes over the top... like it could have.
That's actually probably the biggest problem here -- there really never feels like there's any tension. You never feel at any point that the writers actually could be contemplating killing off Barry's dad and the one area they could have created some tension -- by having Barry struggle to keep his father from finding out about his double life -- is almost completely ignored except for one quick and really rather tensionless scene. There is nothing in the story that really grabs the viewer and keeps them interested.
Overall, the acting is solid... although our villain of the piece does more than his share of scenery chewing and is a bit annoying, and Shipp goes over the top in the final confrontation in a way that ends up being laughable rather than dramatic.
From a comic book standpoint there are problems in that, in this story, Barry's father, Henry, refers to himself as an "old Irish cop"... and, first of all, I don't recall anything in the comic books that specifically stated Barry's family was Irish and, second of all, comic book Barry's father was originally a retired, small down doctor.
The special effects here are well done all around and actually there are not quite as many of them as usual as the Flash doesn't make as many appearances as usual. From a physical and special effects standpoint, the fight scene in the bar is actually very impressive and well handled. The dialogue is a little corny there though.
This story is interesting because it is the first time that was actually sort of see Barry actually 'transform' into the Flash. Granted, it is just a flash of light during a speed blur effect but it's still nice to see the director decide to put it in. Of course, this again conflicts with the comic book version. The comic book Flash had a sleek costume which was compressed and stored inside the top of a ring (I know, I know, but it's Silver Age comic book science. Accept it and go with it) and Barry would change clothes at super speed to avoid being seen. With the TV series, because of the bulky costume (and presumably the lack of wanting to stretch suspension of disbelief) the ring gag was out. The thing is, aside from the pilot episode, viewers never see exactly where Barry is storing the costume -- he simply runs off and then reappears in costume.
In the end, not a terrible episode but rather more a dull one. The one redeeming factor being that viewers now probably won't have to put up with the whole "My father isn't a good father!" routine from Barry. Yay.
Episode 6: "Sins of the Father"
Plot:
A man Barry's father put behind bars nearly 20 years ago escapes to seek his revenge and Barry must pull double duty in his double identity to keep his father safe and catch the criminal.
My Take:
Ooo, look quick before it vanishes.... character development!
Yeah, okay, so this episode probably doesn't need that much snark... but really the character interaction is all that this story has going for it and that's not saying much.
Again, viewers are left with yet another cheap hood for a villain... and in this case the cheap hood in question really doesn't even seem that smart. The real mystery here is how such a walking impulse control problem of a villain manages to outwit the police, Barry's father and Barry/the Flash. Extreme stupidity and plot contrivences are the only explanation... sadly.
Meanwhile, you know that little sub-plot of the conflict between Barry and his dad that the writers have been unsubtly whacking viewers over the head with as if it were a Louisville Slugger? Yeah, that finally comes to a head here and gets resolved. Both of the actors involved handle the dialogue pretty well but, really, the dialogue and sequences are so formulaic that even someone who has never seen this episode before could probably recite the lines a beat before the actors do. There is nothing here that viewers haven't seen a thousand times before in other movies and TV shows. It must be said, though, that at least the writers don't screw it up and nothing here goes over the top... like it could have.
That's actually probably the biggest problem here -- there really never feels like there's any tension. You never feel at any point that the writers actually could be contemplating killing off Barry's dad and the one area they could have created some tension -- by having Barry struggle to keep his father from finding out about his double life -- is almost completely ignored except for one quick and really rather tensionless scene. There is nothing in the story that really grabs the viewer and keeps them interested.
Overall, the acting is solid... although our villain of the piece does more than his share of scenery chewing and is a bit annoying, and Shipp goes over the top in the final confrontation in a way that ends up being laughable rather than dramatic.
From a comic book standpoint there are problems in that, in this story, Barry's father, Henry, refers to himself as an "old Irish cop"... and, first of all, I don't recall anything in the comic books that specifically stated Barry's family was Irish and, second of all, comic book Barry's father was originally a retired, small down doctor.
The special effects here are well done all around and actually there are not quite as many of them as usual as the Flash doesn't make as many appearances as usual. From a physical and special effects standpoint, the fight scene in the bar is actually very impressive and well handled. The dialogue is a little corny there though.
This story is interesting because it is the first time that was actually sort of see Barry actually 'transform' into the Flash. Granted, it is just a flash of light during a speed blur effect but it's still nice to see the director decide to put it in. Of course, this again conflicts with the comic book version. The comic book Flash had a sleek costume which was compressed and stored inside the top of a ring (I know, I know, but it's Silver Age comic book science. Accept it and go with it) and Barry would change clothes at super speed to avoid being seen. With the TV series, because of the bulky costume (and presumably the lack of wanting to stretch suspension of disbelief) the ring gag was out. The thing is, aside from the pilot episode, viewers never see exactly where Barry is storing the costume -- he simply runs off and then reappears in costume.
In the end, not a terrible episode but rather more a dull one. The one redeeming factor being that viewers now probably won't have to put up with the whole "My father isn't a good father!" routine from Barry. Yay.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Who Names These Things?!
The Flash
Episode 5: "Double Vision"
Plot:
Something is happening in Central City's Hispanic neighborhood. As both Barry Allen and his alter ego the Flash try to unravel the mystery he discovers that a law enforcement officer is under government protection until he spills the beans on the leader of a drug cartel but the man's daughter is in hiding in the neighborhood. The cartel boss has hired someone to try to find the girl in order to use her as leverage and the man he has hired has, in turn, used technological wizardry to gain control of the Flash and turn him into a puppet! Barry must find this puppet master and figure out a way of cutting the strings or else a number of people will pay a very heavy price and an evil man will walk away scott free!
My Take:
Who chose the name for the episode? Because "Double Vision" has, as far as I can see, nothing to do with the plot. A better title would have perhaps have been "Puppet Master" or "Under the Influence" or something along those lines.
You know, I won't claim to be an expert on the Santeria religion nor on the Day of the Dead festivals but somehow I doubt both are portrayed in anything like a reasonable light here. Heck, the Day of the Dead parade alone here looks like a cross between Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnivale in Rio.
I will forgive the crappy sci-fi science here which basically makes no sense because, well, that sort of thing is actually a comic book staple. The more crazy and impossible it is in many ways the better it is. The grelbin* device created here is actually pretty good by comic book standards -- just vague enough and sounding just plausible enough to not break suspension of disbelief. Good show from the writers on that one.
As for the rest.... Well, we finally get a villain who is pretty close to being a supervillain. He has gadgets which help him pose more of a threat to our hero and he has a bit of a weird look which at least implies he has enhanced himself above human standard model. He also chews the scenery and overacts with all the verve of Snidely Whiplash.... eh.... this is not such a good thing. While fans expect a certain amount of over-the-top from supervillains there is a fine line which, once crossed, takes the villain into comedy territory. This guy crosses it. He also lacks a cool supervillain name. Half of selling a supervillain to the audience is giving him/her a cool and/or intruiging name and here the writers just copped out and didn't bother with one at all.
The story also feels a bit choppy, just like the one earlier in the season. It seems almost as though there are some scenes which were cut and this leads viewers to have these "What the heck just happened?" moments which jerk them right out of the story.
The villain is not the only one who overacts here -- several of the guest cast, and even Shipp, are guilty of scenery chweing like a flock of termites and/or going so far over the top they actually achieve escape velocity and are probably still orbiting somewhere around Jupiter.
From a technical standpoint, like with the previous episode, some of the special effects still look good today, some look a little dated. The props, though... oh boy. The villain's 'control unit' looks like the Nintendo Power Glove gone over to the Dark Side of the Force as interpreted by Darth Vader's father's brother's nephew's counsin's former roommate (bonus geek reference). The 'Power Glove's' sudden ability to shoot lightning also comes across as a 'What the h-e-double toothpicks?!' moment as you sit there trying to figure out where THIS came from.
Overall, a flawed episode but one that at least gives a glimmer of hope for the future in that we see some signs that the writers may actually be starting to understand that a superhero needs some supervillains to fight.
Flash Facts:
At one point in the story Barry has a nightmare in which he sees himself as the Flash with strings attached to his body, a la a marionette, being manipulated. This might, possibly, be a tribute to a famous Silver Age Flash comic book cover and story (The Flash #133) in which the 35th century supervillain Abra Kadabra (see what I mean about a good villain having a good name and hook?) turns the Flash into a life-sized wooden puppet (yes, the story is as bizarre as it sounds. That's the Silver Age for you -- lunacy where ever you look).
*For more on "grelbin" see my next post
Episode 5: "Double Vision"
Plot:
Something is happening in Central City's Hispanic neighborhood. As both Barry Allen and his alter ego the Flash try to unravel the mystery he discovers that a law enforcement officer is under government protection until he spills the beans on the leader of a drug cartel but the man's daughter is in hiding in the neighborhood. The cartel boss has hired someone to try to find the girl in order to use her as leverage and the man he has hired has, in turn, used technological wizardry to gain control of the Flash and turn him into a puppet! Barry must find this puppet master and figure out a way of cutting the strings or else a number of people will pay a very heavy price and an evil man will walk away scott free!
My Take:
Who chose the name for the episode? Because "Double Vision" has, as far as I can see, nothing to do with the plot. A better title would have perhaps have been "Puppet Master" or "Under the Influence" or something along those lines.
You know, I won't claim to be an expert on the Santeria religion nor on the Day of the Dead festivals but somehow I doubt both are portrayed in anything like a reasonable light here. Heck, the Day of the Dead parade alone here looks like a cross between Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnivale in Rio.
I will forgive the crappy sci-fi science here which basically makes no sense because, well, that sort of thing is actually a comic book staple. The more crazy and impossible it is in many ways the better it is. The grelbin* device created here is actually pretty good by comic book standards -- just vague enough and sounding just plausible enough to not break suspension of disbelief. Good show from the writers on that one.
As for the rest.... Well, we finally get a villain who is pretty close to being a supervillain. He has gadgets which help him pose more of a threat to our hero and he has a bit of a weird look which at least implies he has enhanced himself above human standard model. He also chews the scenery and overacts with all the verve of Snidely Whiplash.... eh.... this is not such a good thing. While fans expect a certain amount of over-the-top from supervillains there is a fine line which, once crossed, takes the villain into comedy territory. This guy crosses it. He also lacks a cool supervillain name. Half of selling a supervillain to the audience is giving him/her a cool and/or intruiging name and here the writers just copped out and didn't bother with one at all.
The story also feels a bit choppy, just like the one earlier in the season. It seems almost as though there are some scenes which were cut and this leads viewers to have these "What the heck just happened?" moments which jerk them right out of the story.
The villain is not the only one who overacts here -- several of the guest cast, and even Shipp, are guilty of scenery chweing like a flock of termites and/or going so far over the top they actually achieve escape velocity and are probably still orbiting somewhere around Jupiter.
From a technical standpoint, like with the previous episode, some of the special effects still look good today, some look a little dated. The props, though... oh boy. The villain's 'control unit' looks like the Nintendo Power Glove gone over to the Dark Side of the Force as interpreted by Darth Vader's father's brother's nephew's counsin's former roommate (bonus geek reference). The 'Power Glove's' sudden ability to shoot lightning also comes across as a 'What the h-e-double toothpicks?!' moment as you sit there trying to figure out where THIS came from.
Overall, a flawed episode but one that at least gives a glimmer of hope for the future in that we see some signs that the writers may actually be starting to understand that a superhero needs some supervillains to fight.
Flash Facts:
At one point in the story Barry has a nightmare in which he sees himself as the Flash with strings attached to his body, a la a marionette, being manipulated. This might, possibly, be a tribute to a famous Silver Age Flash comic book cover and story (The Flash #133) in which the 35th century supervillain Abra Kadabra (see what I mean about a good villain having a good name and hook?) turns the Flash into a life-sized wooden puppet (yes, the story is as bizarre as it sounds. That's the Silver Age for you -- lunacy where ever you look).
*For more on "grelbin" see my next post
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thieves Among Honor
And now we return you to your regularly scheduled Flash frivolity.
Episode 4: "Honor Among Thieves"
Plot: Six of the best thieves in the world arrive in Central City at the same time a priceless Russian artifact comes to the city as part of a traveling exhibit. Coincidence? The CCPD don't think so and they step up security on the museum. This brings Barry back into contact with his old college professor/mentor/father figure and reopens bad memories of the rift that broke their relationship. Everything may not be as it seems, however, and these six villains may have something even more spectacular in store for Central City... not even the Flash can be everywhere at once...
My Take:
And the series continued to show it had settled a bit more with the writers getting more of a handle on the pacing and concept of the series.
The villains, though, sadly continued to remain not only flat but one-note. Each villain is boiled down to one specialty and stereotyped characteristics and as such they become plot instead of characters. These are also still garden variety crooks raather than super powered foes. Their one saving grace is that the writers at least give them a little flamboyancy -- which helps to overcome the lack of real menace. Also, the sheer numbers of them -- having six intelligent (or reasonably so) highly skilled criminals make the audience at least briefly consider the idea that they might give the Flash a run for his money.
The writers also try to inject a little emotional drama here as we return to the themes set out in the pilot -- of Barry feeling forever dismissed by his father and never quite fitting in -- being neither fish nor fowl, neither street cop nor pure scientist. This all does get laid on with a trowel though as seen at one point where Barry states that his dad was "not much of a father." Ouch. Despite some of the heavy handedness, though, there is something sweet and genuine in the scenes between Barry and his former mentor and both of the actors involve hit the notes just right and make the dialogue for the scene a lot more easy than it might have been.
The special effects are kept to a bit of a minimum but that actually works well here as it creates a nice balance where the flashy (yes, I went there) Flash effects do not overwhelm the story. In addition to the usual generated effects there are a couple of nice pyrotechnic scenes which look good and make a nice impact.
From a comic book standpoint there again isn't much to fuss about here. We get confirmation that Barry wants to keep the Flash an urban legend and this is in contrast to the comic book Flash who was often appearing in parades or charity events or being announced on the news as lending a hand to the police. Interstingly, there are also some indications that for this series there were no other powered heroes anywhere else. If the show had gone on beyond the single season it would have been interesting to see if they would have kept to this. Even the other superhero show of the 1990's Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman occasionally dropped hints that Batman was running around Gotham. And the modern equivalent Smallville has had most of the Justice League hanging around for several years.
Flash Facts:
Another name check for Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick as the episode mentions "Garrick St." again. Also, another possible reference is the fact that, in one scene in the Central City Museum, Barry is seen studying a statue of Hermes. The Golden Age Flash's costume, most notably his helmet, was inspired by depictions of Hermes, fleet footed messenger of the gods.
Episode 4: "Honor Among Thieves"
Plot: Six of the best thieves in the world arrive in Central City at the same time a priceless Russian artifact comes to the city as part of a traveling exhibit. Coincidence? The CCPD don't think so and they step up security on the museum. This brings Barry back into contact with his old college professor/mentor/father figure and reopens bad memories of the rift that broke their relationship. Everything may not be as it seems, however, and these six villains may have something even more spectacular in store for Central City... not even the Flash can be everywhere at once...
My Take:
And the series continued to show it had settled a bit more with the writers getting more of a handle on the pacing and concept of the series.
The villains, though, sadly continued to remain not only flat but one-note. Each villain is boiled down to one specialty and stereotyped characteristics and as such they become plot instead of characters. These are also still garden variety crooks raather than super powered foes. Their one saving grace is that the writers at least give them a little flamboyancy -- which helps to overcome the lack of real menace. Also, the sheer numbers of them -- having six intelligent (or reasonably so) highly skilled criminals make the audience at least briefly consider the idea that they might give the Flash a run for his money.
The writers also try to inject a little emotional drama here as we return to the themes set out in the pilot -- of Barry feeling forever dismissed by his father and never quite fitting in -- being neither fish nor fowl, neither street cop nor pure scientist. This all does get laid on with a trowel though as seen at one point where Barry states that his dad was "not much of a father." Ouch. Despite some of the heavy handedness, though, there is something sweet and genuine in the scenes between Barry and his former mentor and both of the actors involve hit the notes just right and make the dialogue for the scene a lot more easy than it might have been.
The special effects are kept to a bit of a minimum but that actually works well here as it creates a nice balance where the flashy (yes, I went there) Flash effects do not overwhelm the story. In addition to the usual generated effects there are a couple of nice pyrotechnic scenes which look good and make a nice impact.
From a comic book standpoint there again isn't much to fuss about here. We get confirmation that Barry wants to keep the Flash an urban legend and this is in contrast to the comic book Flash who was often appearing in parades or charity events or being announced on the news as lending a hand to the police. Interstingly, there are also some indications that for this series there were no other powered heroes anywhere else. If the show had gone on beyond the single season it would have been interesting to see if they would have kept to this. Even the other superhero show of the 1990's Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman occasionally dropped hints that Batman was running around Gotham. And the modern equivalent Smallville has had most of the Justice League hanging around for several years.
Flash Facts:
Another name check for Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick as the episode mentions "Garrick St." again. Also, another possible reference is the fact that, in one scene in the Central City Museum, Barry is seen studying a statue of Hermes. The Golden Age Flash's costume, most notably his helmet, was inspired by depictions of Hermes, fleet footed messenger of the gods.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
It's "After School Special" Time!
The Flash
Episode 2: "Out of Control"
Plot: Someone is killing homeless people in Central City but before the men die they undergo strange and horrific transformations. Barry investigates as a favor to a friend and wonders if it is a coincidence that an old flame of Tina McGee's arrived in town just about the time the deaths began...
My Take: First episode of the regular season and already viewers can see a few cast changes. The actress playing Iris West is quickly and effortlessly written out and Barry's new supervisor -- Lt. Garfield -- is written in equally effortlessly.
The overall story is quite the mess here. The pacing is terribly off -- the story moves to slowly in some places and too quickly in others making the whole thing feel jerky. There is a lot of heavy-handed moralizing of the type one used to see in those "After School Specials" and the villain is less than a cardboard cut-out. There is little explanation of his motivation and little reason for most of the things he does. When they do decide to give him a quasi-motivation he pulls an Inspector Javert out of nowhere (in the musical version of Les Miserables Inspector Javert reveals to Jean Valjean towards the end of the musical that he was born inside a prison -- a child of one of the prisoners there -- and this is one of the reasons why he dislikes convicts) and here there isn't the benefit of some pretty good musical numbers and a background of the Paris Uprising of 1832.
Many of the scenes are just plain bad. Badly written, the tone of the actors off, and leaving huge plotholes or else requiring the that viewers accept that the characters are simply stupid. There are also several moments -- mostly the transformation scenes -- which are 100% Velveeta cheese.
Some of the transformation scenes, however, look pretty good from a technical standpoint. The "monster" makeup for the villain of the piece though looks like something from a 'C-Grade' horror movie. A few of the scenes of the Flash using his powers are also a bit lacking -- showing their age and some obvious green screen work.
From a comic book fan standpoint... Removing Iris from the series is about the equivalent of removing Lois Lane from a series about a grown up Superman (and no, Smallville doesn't count). Among DC's superheroes Barry was one of the earliest to actually marry his love interest and stay married to her (except for a brief period when she was believed dead and then a long stretch when he actually was dead. Comic book death... might as well put a revolving door on the coffin) so the complete removal of her character so that the writers could use Dr. Tina McGee for romantic tension in the series is a bit irritating.
Another disappointing surprise is the revelation that Howard Chaykin was one of two script supervisors on the series. Chaykin is, and has been for some time, a well known comic book writer and artist. He is probably best known for his satirical, adult tribute to sex, drugs, jazz, and pulp stories in the comic book series American Flagg! finding him attached to this mess seems a bit incomprehensible... but I'm willing to chalk it up to either editorial interference, the story getting chopped up in post-production, studio influence or any combination thereof.
In the end, this is one story which could easily be skipped. Or else watched MST3K style with jokes and riffs.
Flash Facts:
At one point two patrol officers call in from the corner of Gardner and Fox streets. Gardner Fox was a longtime writer for DC and several other comic book companies but most of his comic book output was through DC. Not only did he write the first stories featuring the Golden Age Flash (1939), he also wrote the first several years of stories featuring the Silver Age Flash (1956). He was credited with creating DC's first "multiverse" and by the time he left DC there was probably very few characters he had not written in either solo stories or as a part of team books. There were and remain very few writers out there as prolific as Fox nor writers who have had such a profound effect on the face of comic books. He passed away in 1986 but his legacy lives on.
Episode 2: "Out of Control"
Plot: Someone is killing homeless people in Central City but before the men die they undergo strange and horrific transformations. Barry investigates as a favor to a friend and wonders if it is a coincidence that an old flame of Tina McGee's arrived in town just about the time the deaths began...
My Take: First episode of the regular season and already viewers can see a few cast changes. The actress playing Iris West is quickly and effortlessly written out and Barry's new supervisor -- Lt. Garfield -- is written in equally effortlessly.
The overall story is quite the mess here. The pacing is terribly off -- the story moves to slowly in some places and too quickly in others making the whole thing feel jerky. There is a lot of heavy-handed moralizing of the type one used to see in those "After School Specials" and the villain is less than a cardboard cut-out. There is little explanation of his motivation and little reason for most of the things he does. When they do decide to give him a quasi-motivation he pulls an Inspector Javert out of nowhere (in the musical version of Les Miserables Inspector Javert reveals to Jean Valjean towards the end of the musical that he was born inside a prison -- a child of one of the prisoners there -- and this is one of the reasons why he dislikes convicts) and here there isn't the benefit of some pretty good musical numbers and a background of the Paris Uprising of 1832.
Many of the scenes are just plain bad. Badly written, the tone of the actors off, and leaving huge plotholes or else requiring the that viewers accept that the characters are simply stupid. There are also several moments -- mostly the transformation scenes -- which are 100% Velveeta cheese.
Some of the transformation scenes, however, look pretty good from a technical standpoint. The "monster" makeup for the villain of the piece though looks like something from a 'C-Grade' horror movie. A few of the scenes of the Flash using his powers are also a bit lacking -- showing their age and some obvious green screen work.
From a comic book fan standpoint... Removing Iris from the series is about the equivalent of removing Lois Lane from a series about a grown up Superman (and no, Smallville doesn't count). Among DC's superheroes Barry was one of the earliest to actually marry his love interest and stay married to her (except for a brief period when she was believed dead and then a long stretch when he actually was dead. Comic book death... might as well put a revolving door on the coffin) so the complete removal of her character so that the writers could use Dr. Tina McGee for romantic tension in the series is a bit irritating.
Another disappointing surprise is the revelation that Howard Chaykin was one of two script supervisors on the series. Chaykin is, and has been for some time, a well known comic book writer and artist. He is probably best known for his satirical, adult tribute to sex, drugs, jazz, and pulp stories in the comic book series American Flagg! finding him attached to this mess seems a bit incomprehensible... but I'm willing to chalk it up to either editorial interference, the story getting chopped up in post-production, studio influence or any combination thereof.
In the end, this is one story which could easily be skipped. Or else watched MST3K style with jokes and riffs.
Flash Facts:
At one point two patrol officers call in from the corner of Gardner and Fox streets. Gardner Fox was a longtime writer for DC and several other comic book companies but most of his comic book output was through DC. Not only did he write the first stories featuring the Golden Age Flash (1939), he also wrote the first several years of stories featuring the Silver Age Flash (1956). He was credited with creating DC's first "multiverse" and by the time he left DC there was probably very few characters he had not written in either solo stories or as a part of team books. There were and remain very few writers out there as prolific as Fox nor writers who have had such a profound effect on the face of comic books. He passed away in 1986 but his legacy lives on.
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