The Flash S1 E2 - 'Fastest Man Alive' Review

Doubt Is His Real Enemy.
The Flash builds upon its debut episode with another fun adventure featuring a man who can produce clones of himself.
Multiplex, as Danton Black became known, was another one-note villain who it seems will never get a chance to build upon his character. The only benefit which came from this villain was some cool sequences involving Barry and his powers being used to fight crime. The best of these was the grand finale, when Barry smashed his way through an army of Black's clones to then spear-tackle Danton himself. It seems a waste to me for Multiplex to be killed off after only one appearance, but it does at least add a darker tone to the show which it was feared to be lacking.
The relationships between Barry and those he considers friends and family continued to develop this episode, as we watched Joe finally let go and believe in his surrogate son, whilst we also saw Barry struggle to hold back his emotions as he watched Eddie kiss the woman he loves. Generally there was some solid development in this sophomore outing which enabled the viewer to grow more attached to the characters we are rapidly being told we should love.
Overall, 'Fastest Man Alive' does a good job of continuing to flesh out the bonds between our main cast whilst also furthering Barry's origin story, as he learns to believe in himself and most importantly, that he has to eat a LOT of food to keep being a speedster.

STARRING: Multiplex

AWESOME MOMENTS:

• That final battle was just overall bad-ass!
• Joe finally agreeing to help clear Barry's father!
• That shocking post-credits scene!! DAMN the mystery around Harrison Wells only became more complex after this!
• Iris' obsession with the Flash begins!
• Seeing Barry get assaulted by literally hundreds of minions was an impressive feat of CGI and cfreated a genuine sense of peril!

EASTER EGGS:

- Barry's voiceover at the beginning of the episode is a fun little poke at the beginning of Arrow, which always starts with a monologue explaining who Oliver Queen is.

- Cisco notes that Barry's speed hits 352 miles per hour at the beginning of the episode. There's your prerequisite "52" mention out of the way early again.

- One of the firetrucks that responds to the fire in the beginning of the episode is named Ladder 52. That's two 52 references in the first couple minutes of the show

- Barry runs down Queen St. at one point during the episode. That's a relatively common street name, but it could be a little nod to Oliver Queen, who stars in The Flash's sister show, Arrow

- The gun shop robbed at the beginning of the episode is named Hex's Gun Shop. This is likely a reference to Jonah Hex, the DC western character and star of several recent comic books published by the company. Created in 1972, Hex is a former Confederate soldier turned bounty hunter with a hideous scar that covers much of the right side of the face. While most of Hex's appearances have been in traditional Western comics, he's also participated in several DC events, including Crisis on Infinite Earths and Blackest Night (in which he was resurrected as a Black Lantern). Jonah Hex has also time travelled at least twice, and has fought Batman several times. Jonah Hex was also the main character of a 2010 movie starring Josh Brolin.

- The clothing store Barry buys/steals his jacket from is named after Tyler Harron, the production designer for The Flash

- In two of the flashbacks, Barry's wearing a red backpack with yellow trim, a nice little nod to Barry's Flash costume

-  We learn this episode that Iris is studying to be a journalist. In the comics, Iris is a reporter and meets Barry by covering Central City's crime beat.

- Barry discovers that he needs to consume a whole lot of food to compensate for his heightened metabolism. In the comics, all the Flash characters have increased appetites as a result of their powers and are seen consuming food all of the time. Several cartoons featuring the Flash have used his appetite as a recurring gag of sorts

- Simon Stagg is the owner of Stagg Industries, a prominent R&D company, and a longtime antagonist of the superhero Metamorpho. In the comics, Stagg's daughter, Sapphire, fell in love with Rex Mason, a former employee of Stagg Industries turned soldier for hire. Stagg was insanely overprotective of his daughter and, in an attempt to break Mason and Sapphire up, he hired Mason to retrieve the Orb of Ra, an ancient meteor/Egyptian artifact. When Mason arrived in Egypt to retrieve the artifact, he was attacked by Java, Stagg's bodyguard, and left for dead. While unconsious, Mason's exposure to the radiation transformed him into Metamorpho. Despite Metamorpho's freakish appearance, Sapphire continued to date him, spurring Stagg to make several more attempts to kill Mason. At one point in time, Stagg manipulated the Metal Men into attacking the Justice League in order to retrieve Mason and Sapphire's son. At another point, Stagg was transformed into an energy being along with his daughter and grandson in a freak lab accident and began attacking his former colleagues, forcing the Birds of Prey to intervene. Simon Stagg was created by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon. His first appearance was in Brave and the Bold #57. Stagg has made several appearances in other forms of media. Stagg was the villain of the animated Justice League episode Metamorphasis, and also appeared in several episodes of Beware the Batman. Stagg and Stagg Industries were also mentioned in the Arrow episodes "Legacies" and "Burned". Stagg is played by William Sadler. Sadler has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, including Iron Man 3, where he played President Ellis.

- Stagg mentions that his company is a leading researcher of cloning technology. In the comics, Stagg Industries has perfected the use of cloning, and at one point in time, Stagg clones his bodyguard Java

- Stagg's treacherous bodyguard is named Mr. Java. In the comics, Java is the neanderthal bodyguard of Simon Stagg, and another longtime foe of Metamorpho. In the comics, Java's body is discovered by Rex Mason and brought back to life by Simon Stagg. Stagg later orders Java to kill Mason in Egypt, which leads to Mason being transformed into Metamorpho. Java became a rival to Mason for Stagg's daughter, Sapphire, which led Java to attack Metamorpho several more times. After Metamorpho was presumed dead, Sapphire married Java, and Java became a surrogate father for Metamorpho and Sapphire's son, Joey. Stagg eventually murdered Java when the neanderthal refused to obey his orders, but later revived him via cloning technology.Mr. Java is played by Michasha Armstrong. Armstrong previously played security guards in X-Men 2, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Arrow. I guess he's been typecast a bit. He also appeared in Catwoman in a bit role.

- Multiplex makes his first (and possibly last) appearance in the Arrowverse this episode. In the comics, Danton Black is the assistant of Dr. Martin Stein. Stein later fires Black after he discovers the lab assistant has been stealing plans for a nuclear plant the two were designing together. Black returned to the nuclear power plant the night it goes online, and is caught in the same explosion that fuses Stein with high schooler Ronnie Raymond into the superhero Firestorm. Black gains the ability to create multiple versions of himself (called duploids), and becomes the first villain that Firestorm fights. Multiplex was created by Gerry Conway. Multiplex becomes a recurring foe of Firestorm and a member of the Suicide Squad. At one point in time, Multiplex is eaten whole by the Superman villain Parasite during a Suicide Squad mission and believed dead. However, Multiplex later returns to life through unknown means. Multiplex's duploids have been used several times to staff Amanda Waller's office in between missions

--- The blue lines on the ski mask Multiplex wears is reminiscent of his original mask from the comics.

- A large map of the city is shown. It is a map of Portland, Oregon with different names

- STAR Labs' modifed treadmill bears a resemblance to versions of the Cosmic Treadmill, a time travel device used by the Flash. The cosmic treadmill also allowed the Reverse Flash to travel back in time to the present day and pose as Barry Allen for a time.

- Harrison Wells mentions that Caitlin's (supposedly) dead fiancee was named Ronnie. That's Ronnie Raymond, who has a long history in the comics.

- Towards the end of the episode, Cisco designs a special type of energy bar for Barry to use to keep his calorie intake up. In the Justice League animated series, the Flash endorsed the Lightspeed Energy Bar brand, which made several appearances on the show.

- Stagg describes the Flash as being "like Mercury on Earth". The Golden Age's Flash's appearance was designed to be similar to images of the Roman god Mercury. In the New 52, Jay Garrick receives his superspeed from Mercury after he discovers the dying god

RATING: 7.7/10