Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (July 2, 2024)
After the massive success of 1989’s Batman, a brief – and largely unsuccessful – run of comic book-related movies and shows appeared. For one example of this, we go to a 1990-91 TV series called The Flash.
This six-Blu-ray package includes all 22 of the show’s only season. The plot synopses come from IMDB.
Pilot: ” A laboratory accident endows police scientist Barry Allen (John Wesley Shipp) with the ability to move at superhuman speed which he uses to battle a menacing gang as a superhero.”
At the start, I referred to how 1989’s Batman spawned a short-lived revival of superhero movies and TV. At least as seen in “Pilot”, this becomes pretty literal.
Not only does “Pilot” come with visuals and a tone that remind me of Batman, but also the episode comes with a theme song from Batman composer Danny Elfman and a score by that echoes Elfman’s work. None of this appears coincidental.
This does feel out of place for Flash - at least for fans of the comics. Flash was always on the lighter side and not as grim as the Caped Crusader so a push toward a darker vibe comes across as a decision to capitalize on the popularity of Batman more than anything else.
That said, “Pilot” gets lighter as it goes, and I shouldn’t judge where the series will go based on one of 22 episodes. Its conscious Batman vibe might evaporate after the one show.
I never saw Flash in 1990-91, so I do regard it as a positive that it lacks the cheesiness I expected. Shot on film, “Pilot” looks good and it shows production values superior to what I figured I would get.
Does any of this mean “Pilot” becomes especially entertaining? Not really, but it also acts as a basic “origin story”, which means it devotes a lot of time to basic character/scenario setup.
All of this makes “Pilot” a show that doesn’t make me excited to see the next 21 programs. However, it also comes with enough positives to make me curious to find out where things go from here, as I feel Flash enjoys promise.
Out of Control: “Homeless people are disappearing/dying but no one can find the bodies. Christina' McGee’s (Amanda Pays) friend Dr. Carl Tanner (Stan Ivar) comes to town for a visit.”
The early 90s acted as a period of greater awareness of the homeless among the general public. Heck, Crystal Waters even scored a hit song about the topic via “Gypsy Woman” in 1991!
“Control” comes with its heart in the right place but it can feel preachy in its look at the homeless. These elements can seem somewhat condescending, even if the episode means well.
As a bigger negative, “Control” leaves no doubt who the villain will be. This leads to a predictable episode without much in the way of thrills.
Watching the Detectives: “Corrupt District Attorney Thomas Castillo (Vincent Guastaferro) hires a private eye named Megan Lockhart (Joyce Hyser) to find out the Flash's identity. He then blackmails Barry to work for him, or he'll expose his secret.”
The influence of 1989’s Batman continues here, as “Detectives” offers a setting, characters and tone that feel more logical for that film. In particular, this comes out via the depiction of a corrupt city and the involvement of some gangsters.
Not much about this episode’s story seems especially compelling. Hyser does entertain as the sly private eye, and I like the appearances of longtime character actors Helen Martin and Dick Miller.
Otherwise, “Detectives” sputters. The series’ third program feels awfully early to worry about Flash’s secret identity.
Honor Among Thieves: “Central City Museum prepares to receive a valuable historical object. A group of specialists try to steal it.”
Springsteen fans will enjoy the sight of the late Clarence Clemons as one of the thieves. In addition, a sexy new character named “Celia Wayne” (Elizabeth Gracen) makes one think of a potential Batman connection.
If such a link to the Dark Knight existed, Flash never explored it. Celia appears in this episode only and we never get a reference that connects her to Bruce Wayne.
Which seems weird. It feels tough to swallow that a DC Comics-based series would involve a character with the last name “Wayne” and not make that role in some way part of the Batman universe.
But perhaps no one involved felt audiences would think of this. Or maybe they intended more appearances for Celia and just abandoned the role after one show.
Whatever the case, “Honor” feels like another missed opportunity, mainly because it sets up the criminals as potential members of Flash’s famed “rogues gallery”. Instead, they wind up as forgettable and underused threats.
“Honor” follows some predictable paths. It generates a smidgen of drama toward the end but not enough to redeem another fairly flat episode.
Double Vision: “Someone spreads graffiti and messages asking to meet the Flash at a church. Shortly after Barry visits that location, he begins to experience blackouts and memory losses.”
Will Flash ever tire of attempted comedy related to the way Barry’s hyper-fast metabolism forces him to eat incessantly? Apparently not, as those gags continue to abound.
Otherwise, “Vision” brings another program with potential that it squanders. It uses religious elements as a cheap backdrop and treats the Latin community as a stiff collection of stereotypes.
Sins of the Father: “Bank robber Johnny Ray Hix (Paul Koslo) escapes from prison. He goes back to Central City to get his money and revenge on the cop who busted him: Barry’s father Henry (M. Emmet Walsh).”
If nothing else, Flash scores points due to the occasional presence of the always engaging Walsh. Though Henry doesn’t offer him a great role, he delivers his usual quality performance as the grizzled old cop.
Outside of Walsh, though, we get a fairly flat program, mainly because it exists more as family melodrama than superhero action. Now if “Sins” explored the Barry/Henry relationship well, that’d be fine.
Instead, “Sins” just takes predictable paths. Walsh makes the show watchable but it never develops into anything memorable.
Child’s Play: “Reporter Phillip Sullivan (Freddie Dawson) gets killed as he researches a drug story. Barry tries to help homeless kids Terry (Jonathan Brandis) and Cory (Remy Ryan), a choice complicated because Terry possesses information that Sullivan’s murderers want.”
Another episode with a theme related to the homeless? Socially conscious stories can work but Flash just treats them as cheap melodrama.
At least Flash shows some signs of weird life via the 60s-obsessed villains. “Play” works better than usual, even with the sappy thread about the orphan kids.
Shroud of Death: “Someone kills Judge Malcolm Foster (Fred Pinkard) and former DA/senatorial candidate Frank Dejoy (Don Hood). Barry finds a connection and investigates.”
Barry’s boss Lt. Warren Garfield (Mike Genovese) played a small part in prior episodes, but “Death” gives him more character space. In this program, Garfield gets engaged to his long-time girlfriend Mavis (Lenore Kasdorf).
You don’t suppose that Mavis – who appears in only this single episode – might end up in harm’s way, do you? They should’ve just named Mavis “Plot Device” as she lacks any purpose beyond “potential victim”.
This contributes to a fairly stagnant feel across “Shroud”, and it can’t recover from its basic sense of triteness. The scenes in which Barry’s coworker Julio Mendez (Alex Désert) sees signs his buddy is the Flash entertain, at least.
Ghost in the Machine: “After 25 years, a villain named the Ghost (Anthony Starke) emerges from a deep freeze, intent on continuing his plan to extort money from the city. Dr. Desmond ‘Nightshade’ Powell (Jason Bernard) comes out of retirement to help the Flash stop him.”
Wow – an episode that includes superpowered characters other than Flash? Might the series finally make a move toward the noted Rogues Gallery I mentioned earlier and away from forgettable hoods?
Sort of. Ghost definitely offers a more intriguing baddie than we usually get, and the use of Nightshade adds spark. While not a great episode, “Machine” manages to give the series a good jolt.
Sight Unseen: “After an invisible man (Christopher Neame) gets into Star Labs and releases a neurotoxin with Tina inside the lab, he starts killing scientists who worked on the project. Flash must find this villain and save his friend.”
Despite that theme, “Unseen” feels surprisingly devoid of tension. Granted, some of that stems from the fact we know no harm will come to Tina, but even without that realization, the episode simply seems lackluster.
The invisible man simply never turns into a particularly interesting foe. Without any real threat to Tina, the story fails to kick into a groove.
Beat the Clock: “Julio's jazz musician friend Wayne Cottrell (Jay Arlen Jones) will be put to death for a murder he didn’t commit when evidence emerges that could exonerate him. Barry has less than an hour to investigate and free the condemned man.”
We get unintentional humor from the episode’s attempts to depict the hipster jazz scene. Expect lots of clichés.
The show’s urgency theoretically delivers some tension, but the fact we never heard of Elliott prior to this program undercuts that. We just enjoy no investment in his tale, and “Clock” doesn’t flesh out the role enough to change that.
This leaves us with a spotty episode. Nothing much of interest develops, and it concludes in an utterly predictable manner, though we do get Angela Bassett in a small but crucial role.
The Trickster: “An insane magician wreaks havoc throughout Central City as the maniacally clever Trickster (Mark Hamill).”
Hey, we finally get a real glimpse of Flash’s Rogues Gallery! About halfway through the series’ run, I wonder if this might become too little, too late, however.
Abetted by a flamboyant performance from Hamill, Trickster does add much needed fun to the series, and the return of the saucy Megan Lockhart adds some spark. This turns into a better than average episode.
Tina, Is That You?: “Tina tries to use bio-feedback to help Barry sleep but it backfires on her. She joins a gang, and she holds Flash at bay with her knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses.”
“You” allows Pays a chance to take more of the spotlight. She hams up Tina’s mood swings and makes her performance awfully campy.
“You” becomes a definite disappointment after “Trickster” seemed to point the series in the right direction. It sputters across a mix of story domains and doesn’t click.
Footnote: at one point, a female character praises Flash’s physique. In the same vein as Michael Keaton’s Batsuit, the Flash costume pads Shipp’s muscles.
This has always seemed weird to me, mainly because Shipp was pretty “built” back in 1990-91. He didn’t need the fake muscles, and the costume forms Flash’s “bulges” in a manner that looks lumpy and weird.
Also, Flash was never a particularly muscular character. Why make a traditionally thin guy look like the Hulk – and do so poorly?
Be My Baby: “Barry tries to help a young woman named Stacy Doubek (Kimberly Neville) after she finds out about her husband Phillip Moses's (Bryan Cranston) criminal life and tries to escape from him. She takes their daughter with her but he wants them back.”
That sounds like an awfully mundane plot for a superhero series. Of course, other episodes of Flash opted for “socially conscious” domains, so I guess “Baby” doesn’t seem out of touch.
“Baby” also adds a little theoretical spice because it makes Moses a powerful and sleazy character. However, this spark remains theoretical because the episode tends to feel overwrought and melodramatic.
Sure, it’s fun to see Cranston about a decade into his career but still well pre-fame. Just as Angela Bassett didn’t redeem the trite “Clock”, however, Cranston can’t do anything to make “Baby” a good show.
Fast Forward: “Nicholas Pike (Michael Nader) launches a missile to kill the Flash and this sends Barry 10 years into the future to a time where Pike is now mayor. The Flash's powers become unstable and he struggles to find a way back to 1991.”
Pike appeared all the way back in the series’ “Pilot”, so it becomes somewhat interesting to see him return here. In theory, at least, as Pike felt like little more than a stock street hood in his first show.
That doesn’t change here, and his return feels like little more than a cheap attempt to give Shipp some Big Dramatic Moments. Even with the time travel elements, this leads to another lackluster show.
Deadly Nightshade: “New vigilante Deadly Nightshade (Richard Burgi) fights crime by killing criminals. The Flash and the original Nightshade team up to take him down.”
Doesn’t it seem awfully soon to revisit Nightshade? Sure, “Deadly” expands on that role with the new version, but we just met the original a few episodes ago, which makes it seem like a short span after which to revisit.
The episode sets up some philosophical questions about vigilantism. However, Flash really wasn’t the series to dig into these topics with any depth, as it remained inherently superficial.
That proves true for this show, as it touches on topics in a flimsy manner. Still, it comes with enough action to deliver a decent experience.
Footnote: we get a double whammy of Trek actors, as the episode boasts both Denise Crosby of TNG and Jeri Ryan of Voyager. Of course, Crosby already left TNG a few years before Flash while Voyager remained in the future circa 1991.
Captain Cold: “A hitman named Captain Cold (Michael Champion) targets the Flash via cold-based weaponry.”
As noted, I like it when the series leans toward Flash’s “Rogues Gallery”, and Captain Cold exists as a charter member of that crew. His presence gave me hope this program would bring back the kick that made “Trickster” enjoyable.
Unfortunately, “Cold” lacks the same zing found in the earlier episode. It does come with enough punch to be above average for Flash, and I like the presence of Lisa Darr as a snappy reporter, but this still ends up as a somewhat disappointing show.
Twin Streaks: “Scientist Jason Brassell (Lenny von Dohlen) and his business partner Ted Whitcomb (Charley Lang) try to develop a being with super-speed but their attempts fail. Eventually they manage to clone the Flash so Barry must stop his twin.”
“Reverse-Flash” probably stands as Flash’s biggest foe, but he never appears across this series’ run. The Barry clone found here becomes the closest approximation of that character.
Though Clone Flash isn’t an actual villain, mainly because as shown here, the alternate Barry hasn’t developed mentally past childhood. That factor adds some spark to the episode.
Though not as much as we might get with a better actor involved. Shipp lacked much range as “regular Barry/Flash” and his child-like version doesn’t seem memorable. Nonetheless, the episode displays more life than usual.
Done With Mirrors: “Sam ‘Mirror Master’ Scudder (David Cassidy) steals a crystal from Star Labs. Tina will get fired if they can't recover it.”
That sounds like an awfully low-stakes story for a tale with a super-villain, doesn’t it? I guess there’s an implied threat that Mirror Master will cause havoc with the stolen crystal, but “Tina might lose her job” doesn’t sound especially dramatic.
Much of “Done” covers Barry’s connection with Stasia Masters (Signy Coleman), Scudder’s accomplice and Allen’s old high school classmate. This adds some complications beyond “Tina might end up on unemployment”.
As always, I regard it as a positive to see a Rogues Gallery member appear, though Cassidy’s campy performance doesn’t make MM effective. Granted, most of Flash comes with cartoony acting, but Cassidy seems a bit goofier than most.
Nonetheless, the MM character adds flavor to the series. The sight of Stasia as yet another Romantic Partner For Barry – of which we’ve gotten plenty already – feels tiresome, but the episode still entertains more than most.
Good Night, Central City: “Small-time crook Harry Milgrim (Matt Landers) gets a hold of a device that puts people to sleep and uses this to go on a crime spree. He plans to knock out the entire town and Flash needs to stop him.”
This becomes a fairly frisky episode, one that makes sense within the Flash context. Milgrim doesn’t act as one of the “Rogues Gallery” but along with Harry’s cousin Roger Braintree (Bill Mumy), he fits that motif.
I will say it seems bizarre how many characters we get who have some connection to Barry. “City” presents Roger as an old classmate of Barry’s, a link that feels unnecessary.
In any case, “City” works fairly well. While not the series’ best, it stands as better than most – and it gives recurring actor Dick Miller a more entertaining spot than usual.
Alpha: “An android called ‘Alpha’ (Claire Stansfield) built by the government to use as an assassin refuses to obey her orders. She escapes and befriends by Tina and Barry.”
Alpha herself creates a potentially intriguing character, but the episode doesn’t do much to make her especially compelling. Honestly, her presence feels more like fodder for a potential spinoff series than anything else.
Though the program also digs into some heavy-handed human rights issues. “Alpha” becomes a pretty average Flash episode, even with more Dick Miller than usual.
Trial of the Trickster: “With the help of an insane admirer who wants to be his sidekick (Corinne Bohrer), the Trickster escapes from police custody and places the Flash under his mind control.”
With “Trial”, The Flash ends its single season run. Since the prior Trickster episode stands as arguably the best of the series’ first 21, this gave me hope Flash would go out on a high note.
Meh. While “Trial” fares better than the majority of Flash shows, it doesn’t find much to make it special. Maybe the series just revisited Trickster too soon and he would’ve fared better if he waited for a theoretical second season.
Of course, that never happened, though I don’t know if the series’ producers realized S2 would never happened when they filmed “Trial”. Flash had mediocre ratings and cost a fortune by 1990-91 standards, so I assume the writing was on the wall.
In any case, “Trial” finishes a mediocre series on a decent note. It doesn’t entertain as well as “Trickster” but it still tops most of the series’ episodes, and the sight of Corinne Bohrer in her sexy “Prank” outfit compensates.
Did I consistently enjoy the first and only season of The Flash? No – it came with sporadic pleasures at best.
Would I liked to have seen a second season? Yes, as I think the series did improve as it went, and hopefully the tedious thread about the unexplored romantic connection between Tina and Barry would’ve resolved.
I think the producers hoped Barry and Tina would offer a Moonlighting-style sexual tension. That didn’t occur, and the “tease” got tedious.
Anyway, more than three decades after the fact, I feel happy I got to see Flash, a show I don’t even know if I realized existed back then. Due to very low expectations, I can’t really claim it disappointed me, but I do think it became a pretty spotty series.
