Last night the CW premiered their newest comic book adaption The Flash which sped through the ratings scale. In the 18 to 49 age demographic it ranked third behind NCIS and The Voice gaining 4.5 million viewers. It was the most watched and highest rated series debut for the CW since The Vampire Diaries premiered five years ago in 2009. It was much higher than last year’s Tuesday night premiere of The Originals, which brought in 2 million viewers, even beating Arrow’s premiere of 4.1 million. The speedster was the third best premiere ever for the CW.

The Flash premiere holds great promise for its opening season. As Barry Allen, Grant Gustin played the speedster with a likeable sincerity and desire to help people. The episode solidified Barry’s intelligence, his affections for his best friend Iris, and devotion to his incarcerated father. It set up the exploration of the potential of his speed and agility. There was also a significant question posed regarding what is going on with Harrison Wells, the man who caused Barry’s change and is testing his abilities.

Next week’s preview showed a teaser of Wentworth Miller as Captain Cold. The Prison Break star is no stranger to action and will undoubtedly bring intensity to the role. Captain Cold was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino in Showcase #8 in 1957. The Silver Age villain began as Leonard Snart a small time thief who built a weapon in a cyclotron lab that freezes the moisture in the air effectively creating a freeze gun.