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The Flash

Out of Control

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired Sep 27, 1990

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Homeless people are dying and their bodies are disappearing. Tina rekindles a relationship with a former colleague who is an expert in genetic engineering.

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Robert Benedetti

Dr. Mortimer
GUEST STAR
Bill Dunnam

Jack
GUEST STAR
Macka Foley

Cop

Alex Désert

Julio Mendez
John Wesley Shipp

Barry Allen
Amanda Pays

Dr Christina McGee

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Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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Jekyll and Hyde come to Central City

6.5

"Fair"

By jseger9000, Nov 20, 2011

This first 'real' episode of The Flash is something of a clunker.
Someone is attacking Central City's homeless, injecting them with something that causes them to mutate and die in agony. Meanwhile, Barry and Tina attend a lecture on genetic engineering by a scientist who happens to be an acquaintance from Tina's past. Yeah, you can see where this is going.
That the story is obvious from the beginning could have been overcome if the rest of the writing were up to snuff, but it isn't. There;s too much stuff that either goes nowhere or is just dumb.
One of the hobos went to school with Barry and Barry helps him by getting him a job. But once he serves his plot point, he drops from the story. Maybe he will be back in future episodes?
The visiting creepy scientist is constantly after Tina, wanting her deceased husband's papers. Tina's lab is broken into and the only thing touched is those very papers. Tina refuses to see the connection.
Not all is bad. The production design is still well done, keeping things feeling comic-book-y. There's a bit where the Flash fights something called Dogzilla that was fun.
But overall the episode was a little too dumb.moreless
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The Flash tries to out-run some DNA-gone-wild cliches but loses the race!

5.0

"Mediocre"

By nemoiam, Jan 18, 2006

Time has not been as kind to the 1st real episode (after the pilot) as my memory had been. The clarity of DVD presents these flaws pretty clearly: soap opera-style acting, leaden pacing and direction, bad hairstyles, and oh yeah, a pretty god-awful plot. A suave but eventually mad scientist trials-and-errs while injecting some DNA mutation gumbo serum thing into the arms of street people who are expecting a cash handout but end up with a severe case of deadly pizza face.

The cops' lack of involvement with these killings prompts Barry to investigate the slightly-less-than labyrinthine plot. A dog turns into a man in a furry suit. Panic in the street ensues. The Flash particpates in one of the most standard 'speed' cliches, untying a bound Tina by spinning the rope around and around at high speed.

Generally the special effects are pretty slim for the first 3/4 of the show--the Flash's appearances are fleeting-- but once Tanner "hulks-out" in the final portion, we're treated to some non-stop action. Although I tire a bit of the constant blue lighting of the street scenes, I continue to dig The Flash 'suit'. That seems to be where are all the budget for this show went to--for all my gripes, my favorite parts of this episode is when Barry stops conjecturing and gets red.

This episode's not without some other merits. Jeff Perry actually does a pretty good job as Charlie, tossing off the cynical one liners but unfortunately he eventually gets converted to a working class hero in a nicely pressed uniform, and then is forgotten by the script.

There's also neat sequence with the Flash trapped in a glass booth, fighting to free himself as the oxygen is vacuumed out.

Also to enjoy--some scenes that elicit a few (sometimes unintentional) laughs:
Garfield's question to Barry during the homeless group's police station riot: "What are you, King of the Hobos?"
And how about that look Officer Bellows gives his gun when confronting the were-dog creature. For a moment I thought the gun was talking to him telepathically. Now that would be a plot to explore!moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- 4th and Willow is the location of Central City's Skid Row.
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- We find out that Tina's middle initial is "R".
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NOTES (3)
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- This episode was released on a promotional disc from Warner Brothers with the DVD release of Smallville Season 4.
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- When Murphy calls for backup, he is at the corner of Gardner and Fox. Gardner Fox wrote for DC comics for quite a long time, and was one of the creators of the character "The Flash."
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- When Barry brings his yearbook in to show Charlie's picture to Julio, that is John Wesley Shipp's actual high school photo.
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