“The Flash” continued its momentum from last week’s premiere in a stellar second episode that successfully developed and explored several major characters, but fell short in quality with its villain-of-the-week.

Barry’s arc for the season was made especially clear this week – he wants to be a hero. This was evident in a touching scene between a young Barry (who has a surprisingly similar likeness to Grant Gustin) and his convicted father, who explicitly states, “You can’t help me.” It is apparent that this was a very influential moment for Barry, and it gives his character a little more depth.

The centerpiece this week was the stressed relationship between Barry and his foster-father, Joe, who took Barry in after his father was sent off to prison. When Joe disapproves of Barry’s vigilantism, Barry is quick to lash out with a simple, “You’re not my father.” Both Grant Gustin and Jesse Martin delivered superb performances in these scenes. Joe’s fatherly characteristics felt utterly genuine.

One of these scenes, in particular, stood out from the rest. Dr. Wells approached Joe because he believed Joe’s disapproval was causal to Barry’s self-doubt. Ultimately, Wells wins Joe over, and it spoke volumes about how much Joe loves Barry – so much that he would let a stranger change his perspective on the law. Gustin might have continued to showcase his acting chops in this episode as the titular Flash, but Jesse Martin’s performance as the concerned, fatherly Detective Joe topped all others.

These tensions were resolved in my favorite scene this week when Joe arrives with pizza at Barry’s apartment. This scene carried drama and emotional weight without seeming cheesy (pun intended), and after a subtle apology from Barry, Joe reveals that he’s going to pick up Barry’s crusade to help prove Barry’s father’s innocence. In just an episode, the writers were really able to build the relationship between the two characters.

Despite consistently stellar performances from the leading cast, this week’s villain was sadly lackluster. “Clone Man” was a good foil for Barry’s character development, and the special effects used to duplicate him on-screen were well done, however, his crusade against Simon Stagg lacked depth or complexity. And the cliché villain-monologue during his final confrontation with Barry was cringe-worthy. Undercooked bad guys were an issue throughout most of the first season of “The Flash’s” sister show, “Arrow”. Let’s hope this issue won’t plague “The Flash”, as well.

This week’s episode began Barry Allen’s “Year One” arc, in earnest. And despite a lackluster villain, we saw some surprisingly emotional scenes between several of the main characters and got a few more ideas of the hierarchical plot of the season. Let’s hope the show keeps putting its best foot forward.

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