[Review] The Flash – Pilot

**WARNING – MINOR SPOILERS BELOW**

With the official debut of the show set to debut this fall, it comes as a surprise to many to find that its initial pilot was leaked online. But as quickly as it made its way on the internet, it was pulled just as quickly.

But where there is a will, there is a way. Fans were able to copy that pilot and it was moved from site to site faster than the scarlet speeder himself.

The pilot opens the night of the explosion and leads up to the origin scene seen in Ep 9 of Arrow Season 2. Then the show strides into its own pace and really gets going. Surprisingly Grant Gustin really holds his own as the iconic character. Showing a more of a fanboy-ish attitude than we initially expecting, the actor gave new life to a character that we all thought we knew. At times the pilot felt like we were watching Sam Rami’s Spider-Man, with scenes showing the character discovering his powers and learning to love them, but as it went on they established that this show would be much more than what fans were expecting.

The biggest surprise of it all was the HEAVY slew of Easter Eggs. Right off the bat in its intro scenes we see a quick glimmer of Reverse-Flash aka Professor Zoom killing our hero’s mother but it doesn’t stop there. From a quick glimpse of an animal cage labeled “Grodd,” a conversation with the Green Arrow about being a hero, to a news paper dropping the headline of a “Wayne Tech / Queen Inc Merger” this show is setting itself firmly in a universe much bigger than itself. Don’t believe me about the Grodd and Wayne name drop? See for yourself:

With a steady balance of humor, action, and teenage romance drama CW’s The Flash has it all where it counts. If the rest of show follows the quality of the pilot, fans will have nothing to worry about.

The Flash – Pilot 4.5/5