"The Flash Is Born" killed the Flash

Having recently gained access to all the episodes of CW's Flash series, I decided to watch them to see just Where It Went Wrong.

The series was amazing is so many ways, I think we would all agree.  But it also shot itself in the foot many times. Many have opined on Where It Went Wrong, but I wanted to nail down my own opinion.  

It didn't take long.

It was Episode Six, which I had almost completely forgotten.

[Even before that, the choice of Multiplex as the villain of the week for the SECOND episode was definitely... non-ideal. But a villain with improbable powers does not immediately break a show whose premise is "believing in the impossible". Besides, it was overshadowed by Harrison Wells at his funniest ("... I eat.") and scariest (unexpectedly getting out of his wheelchair and stabbing Simon Stagg).]

In Episode Six, titled "The Flash Is Born", the villain of the week was Tony "Girder" Woodward, who had been a childhood bully of Barry's. Empowered during the particle accelerator event to turn himself into solid metal, Girder beats the crap out of the Flash a time or two and starts hitting on Iris (um, metaphorically). Barry fusses about being unable to defeat his now superpowered bully and the S.T.A.R. team determines that do so Barry must Run Faster Than Ever and hit Girder with a very precise punch.

Barry, eventually, does just that and Girder is imprisoned in the "Pipeline" at S.T.A.R Labs, newly renovated to contain supervillains, whereupon Barry unmasks and reveals to his bully that it was his childhood victim who defeated him.

The elements that are the downfall of the show are present only six episodes in. Sure there were other problems with the show (the proliferation of heroes, many more powerful that Flash; the intrinsic childishness and ickiness of his infatuation with Iris; the overuse of Evil Speedsters; the writers writing to keep the existing cast on the show, rather than let the direction of the storylines determine the casting).  But those aren't what doomed the show; These are.

Overpersonalization of Everything. In this episode,  that means a villain with a personal connection to the hero, which is a Marvel trope. We are interested in seeing the Flash do cool stuff and have to creatively defeat villains, not in seeing Barry wrestle with personal demons.  But it WAS a CW show and, although the Flash showrunner should be commended for never being embarrassed about it being a comic book show, they MIGHT have been better off being a bit MORE embarrassed about it being a CW show.

Barry overcomes self-doubt, again and again and again. Everyone who watched the show noticed and got tired of this pattern and this is the episode where it actually BECAME a pattern (after his crisis of confidence nearly stopped him from defeating freakin' MULTIPLEX).  Over on Arrow, Oliver Queen leads his team (even if it's often rough going); on the Flash, Barry Allen is always the one being lead by others.

Barry and his Team use his powers exotically (and stupidly) rather than simply. It is maddening to watch the writers have them insist that Barry MUST PERSONALLY PUNCH Girder (which MIGHT wind up atomizing Barry).  Geez, Barry; learn to THROW A ROCK.  Or just hit him with a BASEBALL BAT.  Such things are harder than your fist and you won't atomize yourself if they don't do the job.  

Is Jay really THAT much smarter than Barry?

Jay Garrick knew he wasn't confined to close combat attacks. And he BRANDED accordingly.

Barry, supposedly a scientist, is wildly emotional and has zero control over his emotions and make no attempt to keep them from determining his actions.  And, oddly, for someone so riddled with self-doubt, Barry NEVER questions whether his feelings are an appropriate guideline for action.  

I assume the writers intended for our hearts to swell with sympathetic joy and pride when Barry reveals his identity to Girder.  But any comic book reader naturally just shook their head; you don't EXPOSE your secret identity to a VILLAIN simply out of PRIDE.  Anyone who's ever read a Golden Age Batman story knows the inevitable fate of a bad guy who learns a secret identity: the bad guy gets killed, almost immediately. Sure enough, exactly that happens to Girder in the next episode.  This is where the writers started painting themselves in corners that made the plots predictable.