So if you were anywhere near this website yesterday then you know the pilot for CW's The Flah leaked and was taken down. By a stroke of luck I managed to follow a link and watch it. Was it worth it? Will the show be a success? As a person who has knowledge of the Flash but not a fan, I can come at this from a unbiased position because I'm not denying Flash is cool but at the same time it's the pilot's job to grab me. I will kinda sorta be comparing this to Arrow considering it's a spin-off and I felt the same about Green Arrow before I started watching his CW show.
The Casting
First off on the good things list is the casting. I thought the casting was very good and I love Grant Gustin as Barry Allen. The supporting characters never really stood out to me except the two workers at Star Labs and the Weather Wizard. I felt the other cast members were somewhat wooden and need more personality but that could be fixed as the show progresses. Iris had a little personality to the point where she could catch your attention for more than 30 seconds so I think she'll be one of the standouts when the rest of the world witnesses the show. I'm not positive if making Iris's father a douchebag is the angle they're going for. If it is then they succeeded if they wanted him to be liked then they failed for the first episode. Everyone else was pretty much expendable and failed to give the pilot and the setting any more life. Even GA seemed a little more 'CW friendly' for this episode despite the gritty tone the rest of the series has. Granted, Arrow has it's humor but Flash seems to be a full-n comedy attempt at the superhero genre by CW. At the end of the day it depends on the rest of the series because this episode failed to grab me into it for more than 5 minutes.
Story
The story was so-so. It felt very 'Amazing Spider Man' like to the point where the episode felt rushed and a little more character development could've worked wonders. The overall plot of the episode is good, Flash is a klutz, gets hit by lightning, gets powers, gets prototype costume, and fights crime. However, with the amount of stuff that had to be packed into here I felt like it should've spanned two episodes and the pilot should've just ended with him either getting hit by lightning or saving Iris from the speeding car. That would've added some mystery and intrigue to the character because you now know he has no clue what's happening to him. Instead he accepts and gets used to his powers in all of 10 minutes. Also they really didn't build up the Barry Allen-Iris relationship enough for me to actually care or feel for him. After he awakes from the coma he goes and finds Iris kissing another guy (I forget his name, which is my point about character development) so he's sad. They didn't put emphasis on the fact that Barry and Iris were supposed to be the flagship couple enough for me to actually root for them to happen.However when I watch Arrow, I find myself rooting for several couples because they all have significant character development. However that didn't stop me from being intrigued yet I wasn't immediately sucked into watching it which is the one job of the pilot episode. The DC easter eggs were enjoyable and I would like to see Gorilla Grod but I'm not sure how they would do that without being to much like the 'Planet of the Apes' movies coming out so good luck to them.
Final Thoughts
It's not a bad show it just needs some revision and editing done and considering it comes out in Fall I can see that happening. You can never have too much character devlopment so my advice is to split this episode in half and just focus on getting to know the little tweaks that make these characters good. I thought the short emphasis on Barry's genius was great so definitely spend some more time on that. All in all, I want this show to happen but don't rush and keep a consistent tone because rigth now the pilot seems a little familiar in terms of pacing. They shouldeave unanswered questions and the only one this left was 'Will his dad ever be found innocent? and 'What's up with the wheelchair guy?'. Finally, this show has earned my attention. Is it a 'Oh my God when is Fall coming?" type thing? No. I will be there when it premieres on TV though.