The Flash: "Plastique"

Another metahuman arrives in Central City: Bette Sans Souci (Kelly Frye), an army veteran with the unwanted power of turning anything she touches into an explosive. She is on the run from the US military under the command of General Wade Eiling (Clancy Brown). When she encounters the Flash (Grant Gustin), he thinks he and the team at STAR Labs might be able to help her. Meanwhile Iris (Candice Patton) continues to blog about the Flash, potentially putting her life at risk.

The problem with a 'bright and breezy' series like The Flash is that there can often be a very narrow line between what makes an episode enjoyable and what makes one grating. It comes down to the acting and the specific dialogue: the storylines are generally quite formulaic and simple, so it is really up to how the story is told to actually make a difference. In this case I think the series fails. The dialogue feels particularly forced, and the performances simply aren't very interesting. Certainly there is much worse television drama produced in America pretty much every week, but critically there is also much better stuff being made as well. In the context of those series, "Plastique" is a difficult episode to recommend.

The Flash: "Going Rogue"

It's 28 October 2014, and time for another episode of The Flash.

After foiling the attempted robbery of an armoured truck, Barry (Grant Gustin) makes an enemy of career robber Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller). When Snart comes into possession of a super-powered freeze ray, Barry finds himself with a real challenge on his hands - although Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) has arrived to lend a hand.

Of the four episodes of The Flash so far, "Going Rogue" is by far the one that most resembles a comic book. It does this by employing two fairly key tropes of the medium. Firstly, it features a crossover character from another title. In this case Felicity pops over for a week from sister series Arrow. Secondly, it introduces the series' first fully-fledged super-villain in the form of Leonard Snart - aka Captain Cold.

The Flash: "Things You Can't Outrun"

Random victims around Central City are being gassed to death, without any evidence of who committed the murder or how they delivered the gas. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that another metahuman criminal is at work, and it's up to Barry (Grant Gustin) to take him down. At the same time, the growing number of metahumans terrorising Central City brings an important question: where does the team imprison them once they catch them?

I think "Things You Can't Outrun" is my favourite episode of The Flash so far (so basically the best of three). It has fast-paced adventure, some cool visual effects, a bit of character development and a gentle pushing along of the series' various ongoing storylines. While it is fairly simplistic stuff, it has a bright, pleasant tone and some great production values. This is not a perfect television series, but it is an incredibly easy one to like.

The Flash: "Fastest Man Alive"

Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) begins using his super-speed to help those in need, but soon finds himself suffering dizzy spells and fatigue. He has little time to rest, however, after encountering a second meta-human: in this case a murderous scientist named Danton Black (Michael Christopher Smith) who can split his own body into multiple clones.

"Fastest Man Alive" feels a lot more relaxed than the slightly shaky pilot. It has a defined and clear purpose, and goes about its business in an efficient and effective manner. It is still a fairly superficial and breezy sort of a series, but for now at least The Flash seems content to throw super-powered villains at an appealing protagonist on a week-by-week basis, and not too much else.

That's okay: there's definitely a place for this kind of populist, non-taxing adventure show. It's enjoyable stuff, and not too taxing, and Grant Gustin goes a long way to making it all a pretty entertaining hour of television. It's also manna from heaven for hardcore DC Comics fans.

The Flash: "Pilot"

Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is a young forensic analyst working for the Central City police department. During a freak confluence of a particle accelerator explosion and a thunderstorm Barry is struck by lightning and falls into a coma. When he awakes nine months later he finds he has the power to move at super-sonic speeds. He decides to use his new-found powers to fight crime and track down everybody else given strange powers during the storm.

The Flash is a live-action television series based on the popular DC Comics character. It is also a spin-off from the already successful CW series Arrow - also based on a comic book - and has been a reasonably big hit for the network since its debut last year. I am a huge fan of the Flash in the comics, and liked the original television adaptation way back in 1990 or so, so I was keen to see if the new version lived up to its potential.