Arrow S02 E08: "The Scientist"

This is it, the episode, no, make that the two-part mid-season finale episode, we have all been waiting for. "Arrow" has been teasing us with comic book Easter eggs throughout the first season, and it has taken on a manic pace in the second - now we will see the debut of Barry Allen, destined to soon become, in a CW pilot, the Flash.

Now this isn't Barry Allen's first merry-go-round on television. He was animated by Filmation in the 1960s, and Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s. He made his first live-action appearance in the much-maligned "Legends of the Super-Heroes," and over a decade later starred in his own short-lived and low-rated TV series on CBS in the early 1990s. It was an expensive show, disliked by the comics community at the time, but it has aged well. Many look back on it fondly, myself included, but I liked it at the time as well.

The Flash was a mainstay of the DC Comics Animated Universe as a member of the Justice League, and was even in the TV pilot that some folks hated more than "Legends." Probably the less said about that the better. The character is almost a lock for a cameo at least, if not more, in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, Batman vs. Superman.

In the comics, the Barry Allen was the first of the Silver Age superheroes, imbued with super speed after being splashed with electrified chemicals. He was my brother's favorite, and thus became my favorite. I've been reading Flash comics for almost five decades. So yeah, I'm psyched to see Barry Allen, even pre-Flash.

In "Arrow," Grant Gustin, formerly the warbling villain from "Glee," is our Barry Allen. Initially I thought he was miscast, but five minutes after he first appears I am sold. You can say he's a bit nerdy, but let's face facts, Barry Allen is a nerd, a comic book geek, and a police scientist. Gustin, except for his hair color (but then again, the 1990s version, John Wesley Shipp, also had dark hair), is perfect.

With all the myriad plots and subplots going on in this series, this episode starts with a new story. A man with super strength has stolen a centrifuge from Queen Consolidated. Similar crimes in Central City brought CSI Barry Allen to Starling City. I love that he's always late, he runs after a cab in the rain (just like in his origin story), and there seems to be foreshadowing lightning in the sky over Starling City. And he and Felicity are smitten with one another. I guess Iris West must be in another area code.

While I suspected it was one of our subplots, our perp turns out not to be Deathstroke or Solomon Grundy, but a partaker of Professor Ivo's super-serum. Oliver says Ivo is dead, as were all his subjects, but apparently someone's trying to make more. Turns out I was two-thirds right, as that someone is Brother Blood, and the guy who beat Oliver down is none other than our buddy Cyrus Gold, the as-yet-named-thusly Solomon Grundy.

Meanwhile, Barry Allen is not all he seems. He's not in Starling on assignment, but in a personal agenda. Similar to his post-Flashpoint origin, Barry's mother was murdered when he was young, by 'a man inside a tornado,' and his father went to prison for it. We know that man was Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash. Since then Barry investigates other unexplainable cases of superhuman beings, and also idolizes folks like The Hood who could've saved his mom. Nice set-up. Outed by Oliver, he hits the road.

In the subplot department, Roy finds an overdose that was caused by Ivo's serum, The Hood tells him to stay out of it, and puts an arrow in his leg to make sure he does. Malcolm is still adamant that Thea is his daughter and he's going to take her away, but Moira puts the fear of the demon in him - by informing Ras Al Ghul that Merlyn is still alive. Oliver has one mean momma. She is positively icy when she tells Malcolm he should run.

After the ersatz Grundy (actor Graham Shiels growls and moans perfectly for the part) nearly beats Oliver to death, and our hero is accidentally jabbed with an unknown drug, Diggle and Felicity need help. In a scene reminiscent of a Bat Gas moment from the 1960s "Batman" TV show, they kidnap Barry. He wakes up in the 'Arrowcave,' secrets unraveling, cue credits.

There is also a nice shout out to Kord Industries, an indirect reference to the Blue Beetle, and the countdown has begun for the particle accelerator in Central City. I'm not sure if this will play out on "Arrow" or the new Flash series, but I can't wait. See you next week, same Arrow time, same Arrow channel.

RIP Lou Scheimer

Lou Scheimer, the father of Filmation, and the king of American television animation for many of our childhoods, has passed away at the age of 84.

Filmation was a small animation studio, one of the few still doing animation in the United States, rather than shipping it overseas. Founded by Scheimer, Hal Sutherland, and Norm Prescott in 1962, they did some little known cartoons like "Rod Rocket." They really caught fire when they licensed the DC Comics characters in 1966.

Beginning with "The New Adventures of Superman," they began to expand to shorts that featured other characters like Superboy, Aquaman, Batman and Robin, and later the Justice League of America and the Teen Titans, as well as those groups' individual members. These cartoons were, along with the 1966 "Batman" TV series on ABC, my gateway drug into comic books. My love of Aquaman, Superboy, and others sprang from early viewings.



The DC deal brought another comics company to Filmation's offices, and Archie came to Saturday morning animation for years under their guidance. Later in the 1970s, Filmation became a major player in the animation game, producing cartoons of "The Brady Kids," "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids," and "Star Trek: The Animated Series" among many others.

Filmation delved into live-action with shows like "Isis," "Space Academy" and Shazam." While the studio began to get a reputation for repeating backgrounds, limited animation, recycling designs, rapid jump cuts, and using the same music over again, they had also produced some real quality programming as well.



In the 1980s Filmation produced some of its most well known shows like "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," which featured, like many of the previous shows, a lesson at the end of every episode. Before closing up shop in 1989, Filmation also produced over the years some very cool versions of Flash Gordon, Tarzan, and the Lone Ranger, using then fairly new rotoscoping techniques.

With the loss of Lou Scheimer on Friday, we have lost one the legends of animation, and for me, a big chunk of my childhood. He'll be missed.

Superman Vs. The Elite

Superman Vs. The Elite ~ In the spirit of full disclosure, I need to say I did not like the Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke story this is based on, "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way" from Action Comics #775, but then I didn't think much of that run, nor of the characters Manchester Black and The Elite either. Sorry, when it comes to Superman, I'm pretty much a traditionalist, although the story did raise a few salient points. I remain unconvinced.

I definitely dug the punk rock pop culture Warhol-ization of the Filmation cartoons from the 1960s mashed up with Curt Swan art of the 1970s for the opening credits sequence. A nice touch. I loved the cartoon at the beginning, the interaction between Lois and Clark, and loved the battle between Superman and the Atomic Skull too, someone really wants me to like this movie. The animation style is a bit odd in places however, Lois most notably stands out as small and sometimes cross-eyed in a bad anime way. That and Superman's ridiculously huge chin, I mean, he's not the Tick, ya know?

The gist of the story is Superman is old-fashioned and passé in our world. Why simply capture and imprison a murderous destructive criminal like the Atomic Skull when Superman could so easily rid the world of him. We need a proactive hero, not a reactive hero. Manchester Black and The Elite exploit this when they stop escalating war in Bialya while Superman watches and acts futilely.

Later, after a team-up between our 'heroes,' the Elite declare war on the baddies, promising punishment and zero tolerance. Superman is starting to look bad, and in his investigation of his competitors, they are not looking great either, he just can't prove it. At this point, Lois begins to get annoying. She is less the Margo Lane equal partner and more the Doiby Dickles comic relief. Not cool for this Lois fan.

Speaking of comic relief, I liked the Rush Limbaugh clone doing a Aaron Sorkin style soapbox rant as Superman races to stop the Elite from killing more soldiers in the Bialyan conflict. Superman gets his butt handed to him, when saved by the Elite, and given medical attention at their headquarters, there is even more Sorkin preachiness. On the other hand, I like the preaching provided by Pa Kent. Like Lois should be, his parents are Superman's rock.

A second battle with the Atomic Skull, this time against both Superman and The Elite, completely turns the tide toward Black against the man of steel. As The Bride would be wont to say, "Is it time for the good guys to win yet?" I liked the movie less and less the more I watched. This was just too much morality play in my comic books for me.