The CW has released the description of the fourth episode of The Flash season two, which will air October 27. Fair warning, this description contains SPOILERS for the season premier. If you haven’t watched the premier yet, you might want to wait to read this description.
“The Fury of Firestorm” airing October 27, 2015 (description taken from The Flash Podcast website):
INTRODUCING FIRESTORM — Barry (Grant Gustin) and the team look for another Firestorm match for Dr. Stein (Victor Garber). When the team meets Jefferson “Jax” Jackson (guest star Franz Drameh), Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) has her reservations about whether Jax is the right match for Dr. Stein. Iris (Candice Patton) surprises Joe (Jesse L. Martin) while Barry and Patty (guest star Shantel VanSanten) grow closer. Stefan Pleszczynski directed the episode written by Kai Yu Wu & Joe Peracchio (#204). Original airdate 10/27/2015.
Wow! We’re going to meet the new Firestorm in just a few weeks! Can’t wait to learn more about Jax! Things may have changed since the early planning of this show, but below is how Jax’s character was originally described:
Former high school football star who lost out on a chance to go pro after an injury. Now an auto mechanic, Jay finds a surprising affiliation to the S.T.A.R. Labs crew. A regular, street smart guy who unexpectedly gains powers, and then, as part of the team, regularly quips about the insanity of the situations.
It sounds like Jax will have that “regular guy” quality that Ronnie brought to the character in the comics. Also, Franz Drameh’s character’s full name is Jefferson Jackson?!?! Long time Firestorm fans will recognize that name as Ronnie’s best friend and high school basketball teammate! Looks like the TV show has maintained the sports connection, given that Jax’s description involves playing football.
October 27 can’t get here quick enough!
Support Firestorm (and Jax)! Fan the flame!
Hmm… is it me, or does it seem like Jax is going to be more like Ronnie than the show’s first Ronnie was?
It could be interesting for the show (and LoT) to have TV!Stein go through what Jason did for awhile in the comics, where he can bond with anyone, but has to be careful about a time limit when he does so.
I wonder why they didn’t go with Jason Rusch, since they had him show up last season.
Good catch there! Makes me feel a bit better for the show’s respect for the character and his history and world. Still it seems we never get the Firestorm we expect when a new series/major appearance is announced.
SPOILER SPACE…
Now we never saw a body or Ronnie actually die, did we?
Trying to replace Ronnie = speeds up Caitlin’s inevitable transformation?
I don’t know why they always have to replace Ronnie. I mean, when you say Firestorm, it is generally him that comes to mind, and yet, they always seem to be in a rush to replace him. I want My Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond, and if I have to someday Jason Rusch, but not this Jefferson Jackson, stop messing with the continuity. Give the fans what they want, Ronnie and the Professor.
James — had the same thought. They fissioned on the threshold of the event horizon according to the tech babble — it wouldn’t be a stretch to say Stein went one way and Ron went the other — meaning if and when Robbie Amell is available for a guest appearance, Ron could be found on one of the other Earths. They don’t have to ever play the card, but they left it up their sleeve.
I’m a little surprised they didn’t go with Jason as well, maybe they couldn’t get that actor for a longer commitment either. My gut says they would have left us with Ronnie if Amell had been available — personally, I would have just recast him and moved on without a suspiciously close substitute.
The singularity flashback also opens the door for Ronnie Raymond to possibly be connected to Zoom somehow… not just Eddie Thawne…
I watched THE FLASH season premier this morning in order to prepare for this episode of Fire & Water. Overall, I was a little disappointed with the episode because a) I usually don’t like season premiers that are all about setting the stage for what’s coming, and b) Atom Smasher was dumb. I did like seeing Firestorm, however. His fate was noble and heroic, but I wish they would have structured the episode better so the emotional punch of his “death” came closer to the episode’s climax instead of right before the first commercial break.
A lot of folks are speculating that because we didn’t see his body, he’s not dead and gone. I’m inclined to agree with the feelings shared in earlier comments; the show runners left his fate intentionally vague so they can bring him back at some point.
I never had a problem with how Robbie Amell portrayed Ronnie as written. As you both said, he was fine. Just fine. My problem was how the character was written, which was not at all like Ronnie. He was too smart, too successful, too accomplished, and there was no dramatic tension between him and Professor Stein. I’ve told Shag before that I don’t especially care which two characters comprise the Firestorm matrix as long as one of them is a brain and the other is not. Ronnie and Stein. Ronnie and Jason. Jason and Gen. Jason and Stein. Whoever. One of them needs to be a genius; the other an underachiever.
And it sounds like that’s what we’re finally getting with the new version. As soon as Shag said “Jefferson Jackson” I remembered a discussion on a recent F&W episode (maybe in the Listener Feedback section) where Shag talked about Ronnie’s friend Jefferson, who Gerry Conway sometimes called Jackson because he forgot his name. That’s great as a nod to the longstanding Firestorm history, and it brings the character closer in line with his in-comics roots. I like that they’re going with a black man to give the show and the superhero world more diversity, but I didn’t want to see Jason Rusch step into the part because–as mentioned above–Jason is already too much like Stein. Firestorm needs that blue-collar, street smart jock element and that’s what Jefferson can bring.
As for fan casting Cliff Carmichael, I did that a couple years ago. My choice back then was child actor Charlie McDermott because I was thinking of Cliff as Ronnie’s high school foil. If the CW was to introduce the character in THE FLASH I would go a little older with the character and make him an evil genius rivaling Professor Stein. How about Michael C. Hall from DEXTER and SIX FEET UNDER fame?
Plus I couldn’t see McDermott as Cliff after seeing him for years as Axl Heck on The Middle.
As the street-smart black guy who is thrown onto a super-powered team and who is always quipping about the insanity of the situation, you might think Ronnie, sure, but I immediately think of the character Charles Gunn from “Angel.”
Who would play Cliff Carmichael? How about Justin Bieber? Everyone hates him.
[…] case you missed it previously, here is the description of next week’s […]
Judging from the preview, it looks like Jackson and Hewitt will fight over who should merge with Stein… I wonder who will win…
[…] AND find a solution (it probably would have worked better had it been a 2-parter). Jax is in fact drawn from the comics and was one of Ronnie’s teammates on the football team. Thus on TV he remains true to his […]