I've been interested in this series as I like the genre and I'm a big fan of "Arrow". But we have some serious writing problems to deal with if this show wants to stay alive for long.
It was nagging me a little bit in episodes 1-4 but the insistence upon keeping everything hidden from Iris is intellectually insulting even by Hollywood standards. Detective West's insistence on this under the guise of 'safety' is stupid, unbelievable and not even remotely realistic. Barry letting this man pressure him into keeping this secret is stupid, unbelievable and not even remotely realistic. After Iris meets 'the Streak', hears his plea (which he does a lousy job of delivering), taking flak from Barry about her blog and then hearing him say it's not about his parents and she STILL doesn't immediately put 2 and two together?... stupid, unbelievable and not even remotely realistic. And then to top it all off, Dve. West wants Barry to announce his true feelings while simultaneously insisting that she be kept in the dark about everything. For 'Safety'.
Stupid, unbelievable, and intellectually insulting.... even by Hollywood standards.
This was almost intolerable when the same ploy was used with Thea in "Arrow", but she was at least young enough that we could understand the motive for not telling her everything right out of the gate. Iris, however, is a grown woman with a detective father and detective boyfriend and she's been Barry's best friend for all of their lives. DOES NOT COMPUTE. Unless she plans to become a super villain in the next two episodes this show is about to lose me. We don't have enough back story to make "villain of the week" engaging for an entire season, unlike "Arrow" which had three stories happening at once: the island, today, and Moira vs. Merlyn. (I keep referencing Arrow for the obvious reason that these are sister shows).
So: no compelling back story + intellectually insulting love triangle/secrecy = thin ice for what could've been a great show. Let's hope this gets fixed soon.
It was nagging me a little bit in episodes 1-4 but the insistence upon keeping everything hidden from Iris is intellectually insulting even by Hollywood standards. Detective West's insistence on this under the guise of 'safety' is stupid, unbelievable and not even remotely realistic. Barry letting this man pressure him into keeping this secret is stupid, unbelievable and not even remotely realistic. After Iris meets 'the Streak', hears his plea (which he does a lousy job of delivering), taking flak from Barry about her blog and then hearing him say it's not about his parents and she STILL doesn't immediately put 2 and two together?... stupid, unbelievable and not even remotely realistic. And then to top it all off, Dve. West wants Barry to announce his true feelings while simultaneously insisting that she be kept in the dark about everything. For 'Safety'.
Stupid, unbelievable, and intellectually insulting.... even by Hollywood standards.
This was almost intolerable when the same ploy was used with Thea in "Arrow", but she was at least young enough that we could understand the motive for not telling her everything right out of the gate. Iris, however, is a grown woman with a detective father and detective boyfriend and she's been Barry's best friend for all of their lives. DOES NOT COMPUTE. Unless she plans to become a super villain in the next two episodes this show is about to lose me. We don't have enough back story to make "villain of the week" engaging for an entire season, unlike "Arrow" which had three stories happening at once: the island, today, and Moira vs. Merlyn. (I keep referencing Arrow for the obvious reason that these are sister shows).
So: no compelling back story + intellectually insulting love triangle/secrecy = thin ice for what could've been a great show. Let's hope this gets fixed soon.
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