The Flash (1990)

While I haven’t seen any of the new Flash TV series, most folks seem to forget that there has already been one in the far away land known as: the 90s.

Ah yes, the 90s. The golden era of childhood. Where fashion was crap, toys were amazing, cartoons were all the rage, and Tommy Oliver was the aspiration of every child. I mean, can you blame us? Dude’s a practical war veteran turned paleontologist. Who else can pull of such a career path?

Back to the subject at hand, among the fads of the 90s, most would agree that it was Batman who held the reign of people’s childhood. Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman brought the Dark Knight to life once again. But before Batman: The Animated Series could take carry that reign, there was: The Flash

The Flash was a television series that aired on CBS from September, 1990 to May, 1991 with only one season under its belt. At that time, the show carried Warner Bros. most expensive budget, each episode costing about 1.6 mil to produce. And with 22 episodes, this whole series was quite a number on Warner Bros. wallet.

And it showed. The effects and costume designs were among the best any TV show could make in the era. But we’ll get to that later in this review. A sidenote, however: the costume of the Flash was made by Stan Winston Studios. Stan Winston Studios: the same group responsible the practical effects of movies like Jurassic Park, Terminator, Edward Scissor Hands, and even the first Iron Man. For now, here’s the rundown of what’s gonna happen.

With only 22 episodes under the show’s belt, I’ll just be going over the plot, the central casting, and some select episodes. Spoilers for the worst episodes to save you the trouble, and basic summaries on the best ones. So, let’s begin.

Plot

The show takes place in Central City; where one day, forensic scientist Barry Allen is struck by lightning while next to several chemicals in his lab, where the mixtures and electricity altered his body entirely. Now, Barry Allen is gifted with the power of super speed. Not only physically, but even Barry’s mind is sped up to process and think faster than any human on earth. While at first Barry is against this power, when his brother is killed by a gang and pushes Central City to its brink, Barry dons the identity of the Flash and swears to protect Central City with his new powers. He begins by first avenging his brother by defeating Nicholas Pike, and from there on hijinks ensue. 

Cast/Characters

John Wesley Shipp – Barry Allen: While known back then for his various roles in soap appears John Wesley Shipp brought life to the character of Barry Allen. Barry Allen was a common run-of-the-mill white guy who worked in forensic science in Central City’s police department. John Wesley Shipp gave the character his own form of charisma, all the while making sure you don’t forget that Barry is a bit of a dork in the long run. A guber till the end, Barry’s role as a scientist is never forgotten as he always finds a way to embarrass himself.  As for when he dons the costume, John can be every bit intimidating as he is charming. It’s also a gigantic plus that John was recently cast as Barry Allen’s father, Henry Allen, in the 2014 The Flash series. I may start watching the series after learning that factoid myself.

Amanda Pays – Christina “Tina” McGee: Christina McGee is a scientist working at STAR Labs, the DC Universe’s scientific base of operations and source of common trouble. Christina is introduced in the show as a exposition spewing character only there to explain Barry’s powers and whatever scientific mumbo jumbo is going on at the moment. Appropriately enough, she’s British. As is the normality with common folk, scientific explanation is only explainable with a British accent. However, test audiences liked the chemistry with Amanda and John’s characters and she evolved from being just an exposition dumper. She serves as Barry’s love interest, confidant, physician, and maker of whatever wacky gadget Barry needs to counter the villain/s of the week. Christina is funny, intelligent, and never gets in the way. She’s always helpful, and is just a great compliment to Barry. Along with John, Amanda Pays has her EXACT role as Dr. McGee in the 2014 The Flash series as well; another good reason to check it out.

Alex Desert –Julio Mendez: Julio is Barry Allen’s best friend and fellow scientist. Julio is more or less a comic relief character, but he’s not entirely useless. Julio is entertaining and can even be a key element in certain episodes with his abilities. Two running subplots ran throughout the show between these two characters. The first was Julio constantly trying to hook Barry up through blind dates, mostly ending in disaster. The second: in just about every episode: Julio would find some form of evidence of Barry being the Flash, which just about gets Barry in trouble here and there.

Mike Genovese – Lt. Warren Garfield: Lt. Garfield is Barry’s commanding officer, and a key figure in the Central City Police Department. Lt. Warren seemed to most as a just a gruff cop, but he does care for his men and is something like Jameson from Spider-Man. He’s mean and tough, but he has his moment and always has a nice one-liner ready for hipfire.

There were several recurring characters throughout the series, the two most prevalent were two beat cops named Francis Murphy and Tony Bellows. While Officer Bellows would notice the Flash constantly throughout the show, Bellows wouldn’t and would still be convinced that the Flash is just an urban legend. They were amusing, and both had their own little subplots every other episode. I wouldn’t say they were essential as to why the show as good, but both were plenty funny.  

Now for the episodes; I’ll just be going over three of my personally least liked episodes and my three favorites. If you know a single thing about me, you know I’ll be covering the worst first. I mean what could be better than looking at pure 90s cheese? Honestly, it’d be a crime not to.

A fair warning: there will be spoiler-ish summaries of the Worst episodes, but I would recommend still watching them if only to appreciate what the show was in the day and lament it’s unfortunate circumstances (to be acknowledged)

Episode 2: Out of Control 

This episode I can give a little leniency to, seeing as its the second episode of the series and still finding its stride. Putting that aside, it really isn't all that great. 

The plot of the episode is that someone is going around killing homeless people. We see that the killer injects his victims with some kind of serum, they turn into mutant-like freaks and die shortly, turned back to normal. All this lines up with one of Tina's old colleagues coming to town and doing presentations about human genetic research. Two and two together he's the villain. 

He really was a bit of a let down. Subtlety would've been appreciated, having the villain be Tina's friend revealed not so soon and obviously. But once again, considering the era, it could be looked over. However, the ending is where this entire episode falls apart. The antagonist is built up well as a man who's seeking to improve humanity through his research and fall apart, but when he injects himself with his own serum it's gigantic let down. The make-up isn't bad, but I was expecting a bit more than just a yellow-ish Hulk. 

And even then, why'd he pick homeless people as his victims? Well because they're a burden on society! Normally a very understandable motivation for your average mad scientist. There's also the part that his parents were homeless and he hates them for it. Daddy issues: turning people into super-villains since 1930. 

Plus, there was the scene where he injects his serum into a dog and it turns into a werewolf...this show takes a weird turn at times. 

So I don't hate this episode, but it's ending is just a gigantic let down.

Episode 7: Child’s Play

This episode is honestly just a complete mess. Spoiler alert: it’s a 45 minute anti-drug PSA. 

Barry encounters two homeless kids, brother and sister, currently on the run from something but won’t reveal what. Barry takes them in as a local reporter is digging into a new drug craze. The boy just happens to be played by Jonathan Brandis, and unfortunate actor who lost his life in 2005. He and John Wesly Snipe also happen to star together in Never Ending Story II: The Next Chapter as father and son. Their chemistry is still there, and it makes the episode at least bearable. As a whole, neither kid are written annoyingly in this episode so it helps endure the wonders of PSA Hell.

The villain of this episode is a famous drug lord from the 60s who faked his own death and is planning a comeback by getting the entire city high on his new drug (some kind of Prince-inspired pixie dust) and wants the kids because they hold a computer disc he needs.

Ah, wait, correction: a FLOPPY disc. You could get up to 1.2 MB on those pieces back in the day. Hey, don’t laugh at me. Those things were hardcore software back when I was  putting Play-Doh in my ears.

The episode is complete garbage. The villain is hardly a threat at all, and his acting is just horrific. And the way they portray drugs is the typical PSA that all 90s commercials did: over-exaggerated lapses of seizure attacks and turning into violent raving lunatics (granted drugs have evolved to that point now, but that's another story). This episode is just a longer version of the drug dealer turning into a snake; just with hippies. It was the 90s: don’t ask.

I'd crack this episode in only just to laugh at the over-exaggeration of dangers of drugs.

"YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!"

Episode 5: Double Vision 

By God, this episode is horrific. It all comes down to the villain. This is honestly one of the worst villains I have ever seen in a show, movie, or even video game. This guy (down below) has microchips in his face connected to a device that lets him control victims like a puppet. Gonna redirect your attention to the pic below. 

That's the damn Nintendo Power Glove. This was an early episode, and I find it hard to believe that the budget was already trashed enough to not be able to make something out of a few pieces of cardboard. Instead, they painted a Power Glove black and called it a remote control to make the puppet the guy's slave.

Now, here's the real kicker: this guy has his mind control device implanted into the Flash's brain, making him a complete slave to the Nintendo Power Glove. Wonderful, the villain has a definite edge. What does he do with such a power?

Makes the Flash move status out of a church to scare the Latino locals into thinking it as a curse. Lovely idea, ain't it? This guy doesn't use his ultimate control over the Flash to do anything of value throughout the entire episode. His whole object in this scheme: to kill a witness from testifying in court against a local mobster. Rather than have the Flash do it in a FLASH he instead takes control of the witness's daughter to SHOOT him. 

I laughed like a psychopathic maniac (I say "like" loosely) watching the villain get his gloved hand shoved into a fuse box and electrocuted (not sure if he died; never really specified) because this entire episode was a waste of 45 minutes. I would just skip this one because there's nothing to it worth viewing beyond utter disappointment that the Nintendo Power Glove seems to be able to control the Flash, but can't play a single video game.

Well, we've gotten through the first layer of crap. Let's move on to the golden nuggets buried beneath. Now this section will have a little a stipulation: episodes with a sequel/follow-up will also be included and I won't spoil much. 

Episode 15: Fast Forward

Nicholas Pike breaks out of a jail and acquires a very fast targeting missile. He sets a trap out for the Flash with the missile. The missile explodes behind Flash as he runs and the explosion sends the Flash to the future where Pike rules with an iron fist as mayor and has turned the city upside down. Even worse yet, the Flash has lost his powers and now has to fight alongside the underground resistance to get back to his time and prevent any of this from happening. 

Pike alone was already a fantastic villain in his appearance in the pilot, so bringing him back was an amazing idea. Going into the future without the Flash was a great way to see just how much of an impact he had on Central City. This episode also displays that this show truly was made to honor the Flash's canon. 

In this future, the underground resistance (which Lt. Garfield leads) has constructed a small Flash Museum (similar to the one in the comics) which contains just about every iconic item associated with Barry's time as the Flash in the show; from costumes of him and villains, artifacts he helped prevent being stolen, vehicles, and was a wonderful homage to hero. An "It's a Wonderful Life" episode does just about any show good and this one especially. 

Episodes 9/16: Ghost in the Machine/Deadly Nightshade 

Low and behold, Barry was not the first superhero in Central City. The first was actually Dr. Desmond Powell, otherwise known as: The Nightshade (Jason Bernard). In the 50s, the Nightshade's arch-nemesis was a technology-obsessed villain by the name of: the Ghost. During their final confrontation, the Ghost enters a cryogenic sleep and escapes being arrested. Forty years later, the Ghost wakes up and begins causing havoc with the new technology in a way that the Flash can't understand. So the good Dr. Powell comes out of retirement and dons his mask again to help Barry take down the Ghost. 

In the sequel episode later on, a fan of the Nightshade adopts the hero's costume as his own and begins killing criminals throughout Central City without prejudice, and seems almost manic in his quest to do so. Once again, Barry and Dr. Powell team up to stop this faker from destroying the Nightshade legacy. 

This episode immediately has earns a gold star because it covers a topic I love in just about any genre: old generation of heroes/villains joining together with the new one to combat a threat from the former's time. I covered a bit of this during my Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker review, but I think I'll go deeper. It's something of a turning point in a hero's journey when he is forced to confront a force that plagued his world prior to his entire birth and must either join with his teacher to combat them or do it alone. 

And it helps that Barry and Dr. Powell are excellent together. The quick thinking and impulsive Flash is slowly educated and shown-up by the experience Nightshade. But it's not one-sided; Flash even gets to show up Nightshade here and there. They're conflicting styles makes for excellent dialogue and situations between the two and it's an utter joy. 

The fact that they brought Dr. Powell back for "The Deadly Nightshade" just makes the situation all the better. Dr. Powell even made a few more appearances just as an adviser figure. These are two episodes that I would watch over and over again.

Episodes 12/22: The Trickster/Trial of the Trickster

And now, the cream of the crop, the best of the best, these two episodes are the best episodes of this entire series. So good, that I pray that the new Flash series brings them to the new generation of viewers. And that is:

Mark Hamill as James Montegomery Jesse. AKA: The Trickster 

The Trickster starts off with Mark Hamill as James Jesse, a mentally unstable killer who is thwarted by the Flash and stopped from killing his latest victim, considering her his sidekick "Prank". After the Flash stops him James is inspired by the flair of the costume and swears to don his own in order to defeat the Flash and save his sidekick/lover Prank under the name: The Trickster. The Trickster fights the Flash with prank toys and tools but prove to be one of the most dangerous enemies throughout the entire show and just a force of nature. This entire character's purpose gives Mark Hamill a chance to go completely batcrap insane with various impersonations, references, and pure hammy delight. 

I would not doubt that this role is what Mark Hamill used when decided what kind of voice to use for the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series (1992). 

In the sequel episode, Trial of the Trickster, James Jesse is back and is about to be put on trial. That is, until he is freed from prison by a woman who becomes obsessed with the Trickster and dons her own costume, naming herself his new "Prank". The Trickster's back and his rampage even more dangerous. He brings the city to its knees and even finds a way to mind control Flash. Unlike the Nintendo Power Glove from earlier, the Trickster uses his control of Flash to its fullest and seems at a near victory over ruling the city. 

The best part of this episode is only enhanced by Mark Hamill's performance. The writing is beyond hilarious and tense, the action is the best in the entire series, and are episodes I would without a doubt put in a Top 10-like list of favorite TV show episodes (ALL shows I've watched). 

I would highly recommend finding a way to watch these episodes if you can't but the whole series box on DVD (10 bucks at Wal-Mart; a lovely deal). 

This show was without a doubt one of the best series to ever be on television. It had a tremendous budget, amazing writing, an astounding cast, and was a great faithful adaptation of one of DC's finest and most famous heroes. 

Now the obvious question on everybody's mind: if this show was so great, why was it cancelled? 

Well, that dates back to the 90s. See, CBS was in a little bit of a ratings war with Fox pushing their respective Cosby Show against The Simpsons. To win the ratings war, The Flash was pushed into later time slots, not being on when its intended young audience would be awake enough to watch it. And so with that combined with piss-poor advertising, the show was cancelled due to not enough people watching it. That...actually sounds familiar. I'm not sure why though  (*COUGH* FIREFLY *COUGH*) Had this show come on the air after this little ratings war, it could've thrived as one of the best TV shows that have ever come on.

I would highly recommend buying this DVD set and enjoying this show to its fullest, and like many others, lament its unfortunate demise. I will be checking out the newer version of the series, and will do my best to not compare it to this great show. If you want a good analogy, think of this show as a badass Adam West's Batman with a Danny Elfman-esque soundtrack (he did the opening theme).

And a new little feature to this series, I'll be adding a rating system to this as well, if only for more experimentation. Grab it wherever you can. 

A+

Best episode runner-ups: 

Sins of the Father
Done with Mirrors 
Captain Cold