FLASH, THE: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot of this superhero television series about Barry Allen, a police forensic scientist with the ability to move at superhuman speeds.
A young Barry Allen wakes up in the middle of the night to several unexplained phenomena, including objects breaking and the water in his fish tank floating of its own accord. He goes downstairs to find his mother surrounded by a strange energy and yelling for him to run before he finds himself mysteriously transported outside of his house. Fourteen years later, Barry has a job as a forensic investigator for the Central City police department, and helps detectives work on the case of a bank robbery perpetrated by a pair of recently released sibling criminals, the Mardon Brothers. Despite his tardiness to the crime scene, he is able to instantly identify the type of getaway vehicle used by the Mardon Brothers. The case interrupts Barry’s plan to visit a demonstration of a revolutionary particle accelerator at S.T.A.R. Labs spearheaded by Dr. Harrison Wells, a noted physicist whose theories could greatly expand human scientific understanding as a whole. He is to be accompanied by Iris West, his friend and the daughter of Detective Joe West, his closest friend in the police department. He is permitted to attend the testing after he manages to deduce that the Mardon Brothers are hiding on one of a few farms outside the city.
He and Iris arrive at S.T.A.R. Labs and he has a conversation with her about their relationship status; they grew up together and view each other as essentially siblings, but he wonders if they could become more romantically involved. However, she does not see him in this manner, much to his disappointment. Dr. Wells begins his presentation and someone in the crowd makes off with Iris’s laptop. Barry chases the purse-snatcher through an alleyway but is beaten up by him and he escapes, only to be taken in by a policeman moments afterwards. They all return to the station, where Barry identifies the policeman as Eddie Thawne, a newly transferred officer from Keystone City. Barry returns to his lab in the police station, where he secretly keeps files and clippings relating to his mother; it is believed that his father murdered her, and he has spent years trying to uncover the truth.
Detective West tracks down the Mardon Brothers, but is ambushed into a gunfight by one of them. His partner Detective Chyre is shot and killed as the criminal escapes in a nearby single-engine aircraft. Barry sees a television news broadcast reporting that the particle accelerator at S.T.A.R. Labs is somehow malfunctioning, and immediately afterwards he witnesses a massive explosion at the site from his window. Strange pulses of energy envelop the entire city which trigger a number of effects: the Mardon Brother’s plane explodes in midair, objects start floating about, and Barry is struck by what appears to be lightning and topples over onto a shelf full of chemicals. He is knocked unconscious by the blast and soon is sent to a hospital in critical condition. Nine months later, Barry awakens from a coma and finds that he is in S.T.A.R. Labs being tended to by staff introducing themselves as Cisco Ramon and Dr. Caitlin Snow. Barry is distressed and disoriented, especially when he discovers that he has gained muscle mass; Dr. Snow notes that his cells have somehow entered into some sort of regenerative state.
Barry also finds himself greeted by Dr. Wells, now wheelchair-bound, who explains that S.T.A.R. Labs has not been operating since the location was classified as hazardous by FEMA due to the deaths and injuries suffered by many of the staff during the particle accelerator malfunction. He also explains that the explosion of the accelerator caused the lightning bolt which struck Barry, and that he was transferred to Dr. Wells’s care after Barry somehow caused power outages at the hospital even while comatose. Barry’s heart was moving too fast for the EKG to register, leaving the doctors to believe that he had mistakenly flatlined. Iris and her father agreed to have Barry transferred to S.T.A.R. Labs in order to care for him. Barry wants to leave, but Dr. Wells and Dr. Snow insist that he remain so they can conduct more tests, unable to anticipate all the changes which have occurred in his body. However, Barry believes that he is perfectly healthy and leaves to find Iris, who is now working in a coffee shop. They have an emotional reunion, and Barry notices that he can seemingly perceive events in slow-motion.
One of the Mardons, Clyde, attempts to rob another bank, but this time he exhibits the superhuman ability to create some kind of smoke out of thin air. Barry reunites with Detective West and his fellow police officers before they are called away to respond to the robbery. While at the station, Barry prevents a newly-arrested criminal from seizing an officer’s gun by striking him at a speed virtually unnoticeable by the human eye. Surprised and confused, Barry goes outside to find that his entire body is moving at superhuman speeds, and he has difficulty controlling them. In light of this discovery Barry returns to S.T.A.R. Labs, and Dr. Wells and his assistants take Barry to a Ferris Aircraft testing facility in order to gauge his newfound speed. Cisco explains that Barry can move so quickly that the rest of the world seems to slow down by comparison. Dr. Snow also reveals that her career was cut short by the particle accelerator explosion, which also killed her fiancée. Barry runs down the runway at over 300 miles per hour, bit during the test he has a flashback to his mother’s death and believes that he sees a humanoid figure next to her. This distracts him and he crashes into a stack of rain barrels.
The Central City police interview witnesses to the bank robbery, perplexed by their accounts of what appeared to be a storm inside the building. They gather clues in order to track down the robber. Barry sustains bone fractures during the test which heal in a matter of hours, and the scientists are at a loss to explain how this occurred. He talks about his mother’s death and now believes that the figure he saw alongside her is responsible. Iris and Eddie began dating each other during Barry’s coma, and he discovers this when he sees them kissing. Iris asks him not to tell her father, as he does not know about their relationship. Before they can discuss it further, they are nearly struck by a police car chasing down Clyde Mardon. Barry runs after the car and causes it to crash, although Clyde walks away unscathed. He again summons a cloud of smoke to envelop the both of them, allowing him to elude Barry’s notice and escape, as well as causing a fatal car accident.
Detective West finds Barry and Iris at the scene of the crash. He tells Detective West that Clyde is responsible and that he survived the plane crash which was thought to have killed him. Furthermore, he suggests that Clyde has gained the superhuman ability to control the weather. They get into an argument about Barry’s assertions and about the night of his mother’s death; Detective West believes that Barry’s claims about his mother being killed by a surge of energy are merely a coping mechanism his mind developed to block out the horror of that night. He yells at Barry and Barry walks away just before Eddie arrives to show Detective West a sketch of the bank robber, which almost perfectly matches a photograph of Clyde. Barry returns to Dr. Wells and tells him that Clyde and possibly others were affected by the particle accelerator explosion. Dr. Wells reveals that the accelerator opened a “dimensional barrier” which caused unknown energies to “leak” into the world. There are many potential people who were exposed to these energies, although there is no way of ascertaining who or how many. Dr. Wells calls Barry and people with similarly superhuman abilities “metahumans,” and Barry urges that they have to stop Clyde before he can cause more death and destruction. Dr. Wells notes that Barry’s metahuman physiology presents unprecedented opportunities for genetic and medical research, and that he should not risk his own life to jeopardize these discoveries.
Barry runs across the city, again recalling the night of his mother’s death. He remembers seeing the police arresting his father, and going inside to see Detective West covering up his mother’s dead body. He offers the young Barry comfort, as he is good friends with the family. He runs all the way to Starling City and relates all of these events to Oliver Queen, the master archer and protector of that city. Barry feels guilty that his attempt to capture Clyde inadvertently resulted in a civilian fatality, and asks Oliver for advice on how to better protect the innocent and prevent similar occurrences in the future. Oliver explains that it will require some trial-and-error, but that Barry has the potential to be a hero and “inspire” the people of Central City, suggesting that he become a costumed vigilante like himself. Barry shares a load of unsolved case files with Cisco and Dr. Snow, believing that metahuman criminals are responsible. He asks them for their assistance in catching both Clyde and other metahumans, and Cisco produces a special insulation suit he has been working on, which could both protect Barry from the friction he experiences at high speeds and allow him to better control his movements. Dr. Snow manages to find Clyde’s whereabouts via meteorological disturbances, the same farm where he was hiding months ago.
Eddie and Detective West investigate the farm of their own accord, although they still believe Clyde is dead. They find him inside and try to arrest him, but Clyde uses his weather control abilities to toss them aside. He summons a tornado inside the barn and Eddie and Detective West try to escape. They are nearly crushed by falling debris, but Barry arrives just in time to save them. Clyde and the tornado approach the city and Barry tries to determine a way to stop it. He decides to try running around the tornado in the opposite direction and “unravel” it, although doing so could push his body beyond its limits. Clyde knocks Barry down with a lightning bolt and intensifies the magnitude of the tornado. Dr. Wells contacts Barry and assumes responsibility for the creation of metahumans, giving Barry words of encouragement. This time Barry manages to dispel the tornado and Clyde tries to shoot Barry, but Detective West shoots Clyde first. He realizes Barry is responsible for stopping Clyde and admits that Barry was right about the emergence of metahumans. He apologizes for not believing him earlier, and for not believing his claims about his mother’s death. He makes Barry promise not to tell Iris about his newfound powers, fearing for her safety. Later, Barry visits his father in prison and promises that he will find his mother’s real killer soon, and that he will get him released. With that, Barry adopts the moniker “The Flash,” and uses his newfound powers to save the lives of the citizens of Central City. Unbeknownst to Barry, Dr. Wells is not paralyzed and has a holographic copy of a newspaper from ten years in the future, with a headline talking about the Flash’s disappearance during a “crisis.” Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CW, The
- DATE: November 30, 1999 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:45:51
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 116191
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SERIES RUN: The CW - TV series, 2014-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Nutter … Executive Producer, Director
- Greg Berlanti … Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Andrew Kreisberg … Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Sarah Schechter … Executive Producer
- Geoff Johns … Developed by, Writer
- DC Comics … Based upon characters published by
- Grant Gustin … Cast, Barry Allen/The Flash
- Candice Patton … Cast, Iris West
- Rick Cosnett … Cast, Edward Thawne
- Danielle Panabaker … Cast, Dr. Caitlin Snow
- Carlos Valdes … Cast, Cisco Ramos
- Tom Cavanaugh … Cast, Dr. Harrison Wells
- Jesse L. Martin … Cast, Detective Joe West
- John Wesley Shipp … Cast, Henry Allen
- Michelle Harrison … Cast, Nora Allen
- Patrick Sabongui … Cast, Captain David Singh
- Al Sapienza … Cast, Detective Fred Chyre
- Chad Rook … Cast, Clyde Mardon
- Logan Williams … Cast, Young Barry Allen
- Stephen Amell … Cast, Oliver Queen
- Fulvio Cecere … Cast, Officer Vukovich
- Yoshie Bancroft … Cast, Nurse
- Marc Gaudet … Cast, Highway Patrolman
- Jennifer Kitchen … Cast, Female Dispatcher
- Rowan Longworth … Cast, Albert
- Demetrice Nguyen … Cast, Bike Rider
- Adele Noronha … Cast, Nurse #1
- Troy Rudolph … Cast, Paramedic #2
- Eli Shapera … Cast, Trent
- Brendon Zub … Cast, Kyle
- Nelson Leis … Cast, Scraggly Witness
- Matt Kelly … Cast, Coroner
- Olivia Cheng … Cast, Linda Park