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Flash, Season 1, Episode 14 – Fallout

To Spin-Off or not to Spin-Off

Hello again, all! Joey Shakespeare here again to throw out some thoughts, make some musings and otherwise blog away.

So the last two episodes of The Flash have brought the Firestorm story arc to the forefront. Last week, we got to see the mysterious “Burning Man” in action, and this week we saw the men that made up the “Burning Man.” One mushroom cloud and young Ronnie Raymond and the esteemed Dr. Martin Stein were free of each other. But in truth, that was just the beginning of the fun.

In Fallout, what kept jumping out at me (aside from psychic super-apes) was the chemistry between Robbie Amell and Victor Garber. Those familiar with Firestorm know that he’s truly a gestalt hero, and the success or failure in adapting him depends very much on the actors cast. Amell and Garber exceeded my already-high expectations. When they bickered, I believed it. Both made points that were valid. And their senses of humor played nicely off each other. No one has ever made eating pineapple pizza funnier than Victor Garber. Also…those effects. Wow. The visual aspect of Firestorm very much matched the talent of the men playing him.

So of course, my mind started drifting to “Hey, The Flash was a spinoff of Arrow. Is Firestorm perhaps being set up for his own spinoff?” The more I watched Fallout, the more I found myself hoping to see Firestorm get his due. An hour a week of Amell/Garber odd-coupling combined w/ DC villains and cool effects? I’ve seen shows made from worse. The idea I kept tossing out towards Tony…imagine a DC equivalent of the old 1970s Hulk tv show. Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein traveling the DC landscape, seeking help with their new abilities and learning what it means to work together. And in an on-the-road show, there’s no limit to which villains could make an appearance.

The question, of course, is “Does DC need another spinoff?” Honestly, probably not. There are a lot of super-hero shows out there now. Are we reaching critical mass? I’m not sure. But at the end of the day, I care less about how many comic book shows are out there. The source of a show matters less to me than the quality of it. In the end, that’s why I’d love to see a Firestorm show, even if it’s an 8-episode miniseries. I think we’ve seen how good Firestorm could be, and now I’d love to see him get a quality sandbox to play in.

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Don’t forget, although Flash is on Hiatus, GSM has a ton of other podcasts you can listen to!

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