FLASHBACK: Crazy for You (S01E12)

Time to take a little time off, go to the bar, and hang out with friends. Or was there something more in this week’s The Flash? The latest Flashback is here with all of the inside bits and pieces you may have missed.

Synopsis

Caitlin brings Barry out to a karaoke bar, hoping they both meet someone new; Cisco thinks about Hartley’s dangerous proposition; Henry’s snooping gets him into trouble.

VODKA & SUPERSPEED

There were a number of Flash’s powers that we got to see in action this week:

Vibration Powers – The Flash has had the ability to vibrate through things since Jay Garrick demonstrated Quantum Tunneling in Flash #123.

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet – Jay Garrick was the first to demonstrate that if you are moving the same speed as a bullet, you can interact with it easily – including catching, moving or deflecting the path of the projectile. By the way it is estimated that Barry needs to move at 1,700 miles per hour to do that.

Singing – If you were surprised that Grant Gustin can sing, don’t be. Gustin played Sebastian Smythe on the television series Glee from 2011-2013.

The kind of friend that will hold your hair while you puke – Who hasn’t been in this situation at least once in their life? Barry is such a great guy… he deserves a peek… ew.

SPEAKING OF POWERS…

Did you notice that Cisco had a device that created sonic vibrations to keep Pied Piper at bay?  Sonic Vibrations… Vibrations… VIBE….

PROFESSOR MARTIN STEIN

This week is the first time we’ve seen Victor Garber as Professor Martin Stein.  Dr. Stein is of course the other half of the entity known as Firestorm.  The character first appeared in Firestorm #1 (March, 1978) and was created by Gerry Conway and Al MIlgrom. In the issue, Dr. Stein and high school student Ronnie Raymond are caught in a nuclear accident that gives them the ability to fuse together into Firestorm.

Due to Stein’s being unconscious during the accident, Raymond was prominently in command of the Firestorm form with Stein a voice of reason inside his mind, able to offer Raymond advice on how to use their powers without actually having any control over their dual form.

Most of us probably know the floating head of Dr. Stein that talks and communicates with Ronnie. Unfortuantely, no one else can see or hear him, which has lead to some very entertaining exchanges.  Next week is called The Nuclear Man, so guess who’ll be the focus of the show?

PEEK-A-BOO

Peek-a-Boo (a.k.a. Lashawn Baez) first appeared in Flash Vol. 2 #180 in January 2002. I remember this book quite well as it was the point where I was in the middle of a six month break from reading comics, and was the first issue I read when I started reading a huge back log of titles.

As a grad student at the Central City Medical School, but gained her teleportation powers when an attempted kidney transplant triggered her metagene.  Why was she trying to donate a kidney? Her father, Tomas Baez, needed it. In an interesting twist, Lashawn became the “villain” because she was trying to steal a kidney for her father. She was capture by The Flash and Cyborg and sent to Iron Heights Prison. When she later escaped, she made it to the hospital in time to see her father pass away.

Peek-a-Boo was created by Geoff Johns and Scott Kollins.

Brithne Oldford played the character this week. She has been seen in television shows like Skins, and American Horror Story.

LINDA PARK

POW! The biggest surprise (at least for me) this week was the introduction of Linda Park as the new potential love interest for Barry Allen. Yeah… see a problem there?  Linda Park is the girlfriend/later wife of Wally West. Since we don’t know if Joe West has any siblings, that leaves us without the possibility of seeing a Wally West Kid Flash who grows up to marry Linda.

Linda Park first appeared in Flash #28. As a television reporter in Keystone City (KFMB Channel 4), she was originally not a fan of the Flash and many of her news reports focused on the property damage caused by the hero.  The two eventually became friends, started dating, married, and later Linda gave birth to the Tornado Twins.

Obviously things are quite different in the television series, as Linda (played by Malese Jow) is a sports reporter for the Central City Picture News. Yes, the same newspaper that just hired Iris West to cover the Flash.

Linda Jasmine Park-West was created in July 1989 by William Messner-Loebs.

BLACKHAWK SQUAD SECURITY

This is the second or third time the armored security service has popped up in The Flash. Originally the firm was introduced in the first season of Arrow.

IRON HEIGHTS PRISON

Iron Heights Prison has been a central feature of Central City since the first episode. It’s where Barry’s father, Henry, is locked up and serving time for the murder of his wife/Barry’s mother. Iron Heights Penitentiary is a maximum-security prison in the DCU that houses many of the Flash’s rogues.  The first appearance of the prison occured in Flash: Iron Heights in 2001.  This issue was written by Geoff Johns and featured the first appearance of Girder, Blacksmith, Double Down, and Murmur.  Since we have already seen Girder in the show, I expect these other Johns created characters will appear eventually.

CLAY PARKER

Is a former middle relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers…

No, wait… that’s not right…

MARCUS STOCKHEIMER

Stockheimer… Heimer… Hammer… HAMMER… see where I’m going with this?  Me neither…

From what I can tell,  both of these characters have been created for the series. I know shows should be creating original characters, but in a show like The Flash that is full of references to comic book history, this always seems out of place and weird to me.

JULIUS THE THUG

Gee, I sure do hope they aren’t saying that the thug in prison is named after Julius Schwartz, the brain behind THE FLASH OF TWO WORLDS!

GORILLA GRODD

We are still a few weeks away from Gorilla Grodd taking center stage, so we’ll wait until then to give you the full rundown on the mental monster. Until then, check out this LEGO Speed Build and Review of the LEGO DC Super Heroes Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas set.

LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas LEGO Set #76026 Speed Build and Review

Maxifigure in the house! Stephen takes a look at another DC Comics Super Heroes set – #76026 Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas. It includes Batman, Gorilla Grodd, C…

That’s all we have for this week. What did we miss? What did you see? Was the episode a good one or a bad one? Use the comment section below to sound off!