The Flash (2014 TV series)

Did You Know?

• The series won the People's Choice Award for 'Favorite New TV Drama' in 2014.
• The Canadian premiere was watched by 3.11 million viewers, making it the most-watched broadcast that night.
• The complete first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Region 1 on September 22, 2015.

Series overview

The initial season introduces Barry Allen, a crime-scene investigator who, after a particle accelerator explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs, acquires incredible speed and takes on the identity of the Flash. He uses his newfound abilities to battle criminals and other metahumans in Central City. Over time, Barry uncovers that his mentor, Harrison Wells, is actually Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash, a future enemy who traveled back in time to kill Barry's mother, Nora Allen, when Barry was a child. Thawne is eventually wiped from existence after his ancestor, Eddie, sacrifices himself, which then creates a singularity. That singularity, in the second season, brings the speedster Zoom from Earth-2, a parallel universe. Zoom aims to destroy all other speedsters, and during this conflict, Barry meets Jay Garrick, the Earth-3 version of his father, Henry Allen. After Zoom kills Barry's father, Barry defeats him and then goes back in time to try and save his mother. This decision, in the third season, creates an alternate timeline called Flashpoint. Barry manages to partially fix the timeline, but this action causes Savitar, a god-like speedster with a personal grudge, to appear. When Barry accidentally sees a future where Iris West is killed by Savitar, he becomes determined to change that outcome. After saving Iris and defeating Savitar, Barry enters the Speed Force as penance for creating Flashpoint. The fourth season has the team successfully pulling Barry out of the Speed Force, but this releases dark matter that transforms a dozen bus passengers into metahumans. The mastermind behind this is Clifford DeVoe, a villain with the fastest mind alive. Once DeVoe is defeated, Barry and Iris are approached by their future daughter, Nora West-Allen. In the fifth season, the team learns that Nora's arrival has changed the timeline, unleashing Cicada, a serial killer who targets metahumans. Additionally, the aftermath of stopping the Thinker causes ordinary objects to become Meta-Tech, imbued with dark matter. The team eventually discovers Nora's secret alliance with an imprisoned Eobard, who orchestrated her arrival and trained her to fight Godspeed. Barry and Nora manage to subdue an escaped Eobard, but they are forced to release him, and Nora is erased from the timeline.

Cast and characters

Grant Gustin portrays Barry Allen / The Flash, a Central City assistant police forensic investigator who gains superhuman speed after being struck by lightning and doused by chemicals affected by the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion. Gustin was cast in September 2013, and Andy Mientus also auditioned for the role. Gustin researched the character during the audition process and read as many comics as possible, primarily focusing on The New 52 series. Candice Patton plays Iris West-Allen, daughter of Joe West, sister to Wally West, and eventually Barry Allen's wife; she works as a journalist at Central City Picture News and later establishes The Central City Citizen. Danielle Panabaker portrays Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost / Frost / Khione, a bioengineering expert who believed her fiancé Ronnie Raymond was killed in the particle accelerator explosion until he returned part way through the first season; she is a metahuman with cryokinetic abilities and later gains a persona called Khione. Rick Cosnett plays Eddie Thawne / "Malcolm Gilmore" / Cobalt Blue, a CCPD detective who transfers from Keystone City and works as Joe's partner and Iris' boyfriend; after learning he is the ancestor of Eobard Thawne, Eddie commits suicide to wipe him from existence. Years later, Eddie is resurrected and given a false life as Malcolm Gilmore, and when he remembers his real identity, he becomes the speedster Cobalt Blue before eventually forming a truce with Barry.

Production

On July 30, 2013, it was announced that Arrow co-creators Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, Arrow pilot director David Nutter, and DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns would develop a television series based on the Flash for The CW, detailing Barry Allen's origin. Kreisberg revealed that Allen would first appear as a recurring character on Arrow in three episodes of season two, with the last episode acting as a backdoor pilot. Kreisberg added that Allen would be a forensic scientist and the introduction of his superpowers would be very human and grounded. Johns stated that the character would resemble his comic book counterpart with his trademark red costume. Barry ultimately appeared twice in Arrow's second season, and the planned backdoor pilot was cancelled in favor of a traditional pilot by The CW executives, who had been impressed by early cuts of Barry's first two episodes on Arrow. This allowed the creative team to flesh out Barry's story on a bigger budget. The pilot was officially ordered on January 29, 2014, written by Berlanti, Kreisberg, and Johns, and directed by Nutter. On May 8, 2014, The Flash was officially picked up as a series with an initial order of 13 episodes. Three more scripts were ordered in September 2014 following a positive response, and a back ten was ordered the next month for a full 23-episode season.

Other media

A comic book tie-in called The Flash: Season Zero was written by Andrew Kreisberg, Brooke Eikmeier, and Katherine Walczak, with art from Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur. Its story fits between the show's first two episodes. Kreisberg explained that Barry is already active as the Flash with his full team, and the comic brings in original villains not featured on the series, including a band of circus performers who got their powers from the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion. Their leader is Mr. Bliss, a character first seen in the Starman comics. The digital version launched twice a month starting September 8, 2014, and the first print collection came out on October 1. On February 24, 2015, The CW started a Tumblr blog called The Chronicles of Cisco, written as if by the character Cisco Ramon. At first it posted profiles of metahuman villains, but from season two onward it became his general thoughts on the show's events. The blog moved to Instagram on September 17, 2019. A four-episode short series titled Chronicles of Cisco: Entry 0419 premiered on April 19, 2016, sponsored by AT&T. Carlos Valdes and Britne Oldford returned as Cisco and Shawna Baez, also known as Peek-a-Boo. Set during season two, Cisco works on making the Flash suit bulletproof and odor-proof. When Peek-a-Boo breaks in demanding a weapon, she shoots him. He survives because orange soda he spilled on his shirt turned out to be the missing ingredient for his bulletproof formula. After she locks him in a cell, he wakes up from a call with Barry and finds the bullet on the floor, unsure if it was real.